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xp: Keeping grades


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I'll be cross posting this on a couple different forums, so you may see this more than once.   :)

 

Next year I want to start giving grades to my 6th grader.  I think it will be good for him to begin to get used to it so that by the time he's in high school, it's not something new.  

I'll admit, I also like grades.  I currently grade the boys' papers, of course, just not with percentages or letter grades.  

So next year, I want to implement letter grades and stuff for Link.  So for those of you who do/have done so, how did you do it?  Did you count daily assignments, just with a low weight?  What all goes into the grade - I can think of daily assignments, tests, and for some subjects, projects.  Anything else?  Final tests, I guess, too, for some subjects.

 

Also, I know there may be some who would be tempted to dissuade me from keeping grades - please don't bother.  I'm set on it and looking forward to it, and am just interested in the ways that others have done it.   :)  

 

thanks!

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I do not grade daily work. Daily work is for learning, and I do not see any reason to penalize a learner for mistakes. It simply has to be completed and corrected.

I grade one comprehensive math final at the end of the semester or year, as well as longer writing assignments and projects in history/science. I do not give science tests before high school.

 

Giving few actual grades makes record keeping very simple.

 

ETA: I only give letter grades in the five core academic subjects. Music, PE, and other electives receive a grade of P indicating participation/passing.

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Yeah, I think that for most subjects, daily work won't get a grade.  The only exception might be Bible, because he's got it open in front of him and can pretty easily find the answers.  But for things that are more problem solving - math comes to mind as the most obvious - I definitely wouldn't grade that.  Possibly completed/ not completed, but honestly I can't think of a reason for anything to be not completed.  

 

What sorts of projects are done with different subjects?  I feel like just grading on tests alone is very slanted toward the good test-taker, so I would like to be able to sort of balance that out.  

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You could give a discussion grade - obviously not a class setting, but I think we tend to evaluate if a kid got something that way quite often. And it doesn't just have to be demonstrating knowledge - it could also be asking questions, etc. For projects, I think you make a rubric and grade on that.

 

Decide how you want to handle retests and second tries in terms of the grades. Also what you'll do if the grade is unacceptable to you or what you'll do if you realize that your own standards need to be re-evaluated (such as if you've been too easy a grader or if you realize you were grading too harshly and need to adjust the expectations - something that happens to most people at some point).

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What sorts of projects are done with different subjects?  I feel like just grading on tests alone is very slanted toward the good test-taker, so I would like to be able to sort of balance that out.  

 

My kids did a lot of oral presentations with visuals in science and history. DD made a poster on her 6th grade history project. They wrote reports.

None of them cared for any hands-on projects.

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I grade similarly to Regentrude, except for math :).

 

Daily work we go over to make sure they understand everything. I do not give grades on this because this is practice/learning time.

 

I give grades on tests and papers. Tests in all the core subjects and any other subject where it makes sense (classes like PE & music don't lend themselves to tests). While I grade papers, the only grade I give is an A. If the paper isn't good enough to get an A, it is returned to the student so they can continue working on it.

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I give my kids grades/ percentages on some of their papers that need it. Examples would be math papers, spelling tests, language arts worksheets etc..It helps my kiddos to see where they are at and how well they have done.

 

I really don't give them grades on their writing, history, or science assignments. I make sure they do them accurately and when they are done, a big smile and hug comes from me. :) We do a lot of map work, narration/ out loud question and answer, projects, coloring pages, and the like. We do not do testing for those subjects until high school. 

 

 

 

 

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