The Great Debate

🌟 The Warda Way lesson

The Warda Way teaches us that:

• We must listen to learn.
• Argue ideas, not people.
• Courage, patience and teamwork make a difference.
• Stand up and speak out for what you believe in.
• If we must disagree, be respectful and disagree agreeably.

🎯 Objectives

Children will be able to:

1. Explain the difference between arguing about ideas and arguing with people.
2. Take turns speaking and listening.
3. Give a reason for an opinion, like each Pack member does.
4. Find a fair plan when people want different things.

📖 Read-aloud guide

1. Before reading: ask, “What do you do when friends want to play different games?”
2. Read each friend’s idea in a different voice, then ask why each one liked their game.
3. When everyone shouts at once, read it loudly, then pause in silence. Ask how that felt.
4. Read Charlie’s question slowly: “Are you talking with each other or at each other?”
5. Finish with the Warda Way lesson page.

💬 Discussion questions

1. What did each friend want to play, and why?
2. What went wrong when everyone talked at once?
3. What does “disagree agreeably” mean?
4. How did the Pack solve the problem in the end?
5. Charlie says, “Different views can share the same sky.” What does that mean?

✏️ Reading & writing

Opinion sentence: pick a simple question (Which is the best snack? Which game should we play?). Write “I think ___ because ___.” Then write one kind sentence about someone else’s idea.

🔢 Math & logic

Vote and graph: list the four recess choices from the book (kickball, racing, Jiu-Jitsu, puzzle). Ask family members to vote and make a tally chart and a bar graph. Which got the most votes? How many more than the least?

💛 Character & values

Talking stick: make a “talking feather” for Charlie. Only the person holding it speaks; everyone else listens. Hold a family discussion about a real choice (dinner, weekend plan), then plan a fair order like the Pack did.

✂️ Hands-on project

Paper eagle: trace your child’s hands on paper for wings, add a body and white head for a bald eagle like Charlie, and write “Argue ideas, not people” on the wings.