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Kathryn
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Do you do "graded" writing assignments? How do you judge and/or grade something objectively? I can buy any program and have her do any number of reports, writing assignments etc. but there's no right or wrong answer for these things. I'm having a hard time discerning where she SHOULD be at her age. I feel like a lot of her writing skills are weak but may be I'm expecting too much from a 6th grader (DD 12).
I thought about enrolling in one of the courses from Seton or someone else to have her writing assignments sent off for grading. What are your thoughts about that?
Don't they need to have strong writing skills as they progress to high school for essays and such?
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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| Posted: April 27 2011 at 7:13pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn-
I am a big fan of the Bravewriter lifestyle. Julie Bogart, the author, focuses on growing a writer. She posted guidelines on her website (though I do not see them there anymore) indicating that you should not expect anything from writers under 10 and you should expect bad writing in beginning writers (ages 10-12). She defines bad writing as poor spelling, lousy punctuation, improper grammar usage, etc. She suggests you focus on flashes of insight, good understand of the subject, creative word pictures, clever language choices, connections with other subjects, and passion.
Since you are growing a writer, it is a process and once they turn 12 they will not blossom overnight into a great writer. She focuses on progress.
I am not sure what approach she takes at the high school level as we are not there yet.
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| Posted: April 28 2011 at 1:27pm | IP Logged
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Also, it may be helpful to take a peek at Ruth Beechick's You Can Teach Your Child Successfully for writing samples by grade. (I was able to find the book at my library.)
She gives some samples for different writing assignments by grade. It may help you to determine what you should expect.
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MichelleW
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Kathryn,
Writing can be evaluated objectively if you have an objective.
--If you are having your daughter write as part of another curricular area, then the objective will most probably be understanding of the concept. In that case, you evaluate her writing looking for evidence of understanding.
--In terms of teaching composition, if you are teaching topic sentence, then you check each paragraph for a topic sentence with supporting details. If you are teaching subject/verb agreement then you check for that.
--Recognize that there are different kinds of writing and that not all need to be evaluated in the same way. Sometimes writing in geography is simply evaluated for understanding that then returned. Sometimes, journals are simply flipped through to make sure that they are being completed regularly. However, to make real improvements in writing a child needs guidance. That means that we also spend time learning the structure of a paragraph and then expecting the child to use that knowledge in composition.
--You can make up a rubric to use at the revision stage of writing that includes the skills you are teaching. As a particular skill becomes routine, you can remove it to make room for a new skill.
Blessings!
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Michelle
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Kathryn
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MichelleW wrote:
--You can make up a rubric to use at the revision stage of writing that includes the skills you are teaching. As a particular skill becomes routine, you can remove it to make room for a new skill.
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How do you do this? Would I make a list of each thing:
proper spelling
proper grammar
no run-on sentences
good use of adjectives
etc.
And then have her focus on each task?
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Kathryn
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Tracey...I'll try to find that book at the library and check out the website too. Thanks!
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Kathryn in TX
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MichelleW
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| Posted: April 29 2011 at 7:37pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn wrote:
How do you do this? Would I make a list of each thing:
proper spelling
proper grammar
no run-on sentences
good use of adjectives
etc.
And then have her focus on each task?
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Yes; however "proper grammar" is probably too vague. "No run-ons/sentence fragments" would work.
Here is one from a recent expository assignment for my 12 yo dd:
-Does the introduction grab the reader?
-Does each paragraph have a topic sentence (in any position)?
-Does each paragraph have at least 3 supporting details?
-Have you avoided run-ons and sentence fragments?
-Are all words spelled correctly?
You can see that this rubric would change depending on the assignment.
For my learning disabled son I might use:
-Does your paragraph begin with a topic sentence?
-Does your paragraph have at least 3 supporting details?
-Did you capitalize words at the beginning of sentences?
-Did you remember that b's and l's should not be capitalized unless they begin a sentence?
-Are your spelling words spelled correctly?
For my 7th grade son writing a story I might use:
-Do you grab the reader from the very beginning?
-Have you vividly appealed to each of the 5 senses?
-Did you develop the characters by "showing" instead of "telling?"
-Is there a conflict to be resolved?
-Is the conflict resolved?
-Did you use effective transitions between paragraphs?
-Did you punctuate the dialogue correctly?
-Are all words spelled correctly?
I am a bit of a stickler on correct spelling on the final draft. I don't look at it at all on a rough draft. Often, I let it slide on a first revision. By the time we have taken the piece to a final draft there is no excuse for poor spelling.
I always call the first draft of anything we do a "rough draft." A lot of our writing stays in rough draft form. We will take a piece through several drafts about every 1-3 months.
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Michelle
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: "Grading" writing assignments
