Laura Corin Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Calvin is working at around a 7th grade level for LA, I think. He wrote this for me and (he said) checked it. He's never had grades before, but he's starting to ask for them. I can see some problems with the piece (which I'll get him to fix) but what grade would you give it as it stands? He typed it, and used spelling and grammar checker. The assignment was to write a description of Silas Marner: The Character and Appearance of Silas Marner George Eliot wrote Silas Marner. It is the story of a lonely and cataleptic weaver who finds hidden emotions in him when his gold is stolen and seemingly replaced by the child Eppie. Eppie later marries her godmother’s son. Master Marner has large brown eyes. At fifty-five he already has white hair and bent shoulders, making him appear much older than he looks. His skin is very pale from weaving a great deal and not seeing the sun. Before Eppie came, Marner is lonely and rather greedy, his only pleasure being counting and feeling the gold that he got from his weaving. When Eppie comes, however, his character changes, as he finds love somewhere deep inside him. When Godfrey and Nancy come to adopt Eppie, he fiercely protects his right to Eppie, saying that they should have come and got her earlier, without giving Silas time to get to love her. Silas Marner has an odd personality. At first, he is just a lonely old man who is thought slightly odd by all and sundry. Then, Eppie comes into his life and changes all that. She makes him into a loving, nice man. Miracle-workers can sometimes take the form of children. Thank you Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Could he have used quotes from the story to support his assertions? Could he strive to make his paragraphs more: 5 sentence paragraphs and not 3 sentences? Wow, grading writing is sooo hard, so subjective. Maybe next time when you give a writing assignment you can have a writing rubric that outlines what you expect from the given piece of writing, and then grade according to whether or not the items on the rubric were met. He seems like a bright guy. Why does he want grades????? why are they important to him???? Wildiris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda in NM Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I'm tending to agree with Wildiris--what sort of rubric is he expected to follow for writing? My son (13) knows what I expect from him, thanks to IEW. On his outline sheets, I'll block out what I expect--"ly" words in each paragraph, 3 sentences for the intro, 5 sentences for the body, a clincher at the end...if he fulfills the requirements, he earns an A. He writes a draft after the outline, we review that together, and I point out any grammatical/punctuation errors, and he is expected to "fix" them in his final copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Thanks for the ideas. I don't enforce a particular number of sentences per paragraph, but I do expect varied use of language, consistent tense (!), an avoidance of hackneyed phrases ('all and sundry'), and assertions to be backed up by quotations/references. I was pleased with the organisation of the piece and its general thrust. I thought the expression was generally not bad, but it needed some more thought (especially as far as using evidence) in order to be complete. I'll think about creating a rubric for him to use. Thank you Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I agree with the others about giving concrete expectations for the next assignment - a rubric or list. But having said that, I will go with what you have here. Knowing that Calvin is in 5th grade and that he did describe both the character and appearance of Silas Marner, I would give him an A. Now, are there things that could be better worded, improved upon, and such? Yes, but that will be done as you said. I would still consider this a rough draft, since you are yet to edit it and request changes for the final draft. It is the final draft that I usually grade, but as a measurement of how he's doing on his own, I can see the rough draft being graded. WildIris makes a good suggestion of teaching Calvin to include supporting quotes and I would teach that next. It seems likes he's already there in the analysis of the book, and I suspect it would be easy for him. Way to go Calvin! I'm not an expert, but I think for 11 it was very good! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 My kids are still very young so I haven't even considered grading. I think one of the best things my Dad ever did for me was to have really high expectations for writing even at a young age. I would give him papers to read and he always sent them back covered with suggestions/corrections. (He wouldn't correct my mistakes but would circle problems and make me fix them.) At the time I would argue that he was too picky and that the teachers didn't care as much (which was true) but when I got to college I always got very good grades on my papers in English classes (and I was a chemistry/biology major). I would think the most useful thing for Calvin would be to show him what could be done better and then give him the opportunity to re-write it. Then if he's focused on grades you could show him the difference between the "grades" on the two papers and award him the grade on the re-worked paper. Also, I have to say that my son really is named Calvin so I always smile when I see your posts and especially your avatar. I do have another son, but his name isn't Hobbes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 As there's no way I can sleep, I've been working on a rubric: Writing rubric Non-Fiction - Introduction, middle paragraphs, conclusion - Paragraphs planned out on paper, including bullet points - Grammar and spelling - Varied sentence structure - Avoid wordiness and hackneyed phrases - Use examples/quotations for every assertion Fiction/Dramatised Non-Fiction – Third Person - Beginning, middle, end planned out on paper - Grammar and spelling - Varied sentence structure - Avoid wordiness and hackneyed phrases - Make it live by appealing to all our senses and allowing us to feel with the characters. - Use adjectives and adverbs, as well as dialogue where appropriate, to add life and colour Fiction/Dramatised Non-Fiction – First Person - Beginning, middle, end planned out on paper - Grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and spelling appropriate to voice - Employ the voice to draw us in, with its own style and usage - Use details to reinforce the voice and make sure the picture you paint is credible Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 This looks good, Laura! You can continue to add to it as time goes on, and change them up depending on the assignment. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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