CAP writing assignment help

[Mom-ninja.]

The end of CAP 3 book has an historical fiction story assignment. It gives 3 plot choices to choose from. It also has many steps to complete to assist with putting the story together. One of those is to write what you want the beginning to be and the end. It also has you write an outline.

 

My 11 yr old skipped these parts even though he told me he had completed everything. He says he did not see the last page with the above assignments. 

 

He wrote out a really long story (over 1000 words) and took the week to do so. 

 

I just read over his story. He basically did not do the assignment as written in the book. He didn't use one of the 3 plots. It seems like he just rambled for 1000 words. 

 

What do I do with this?

 

When I asked him which plot line he followed he said he chose the one about the animal helping the protagonist, but then he "forgot to use it" once he started writing. 

 

I told him that his story does not meet the assignment and he started crying saying he worked really hard on it. Okay, but he didn't do the assignment correctly. 

 

Again, what would you do?

 

This is my ds with attention and focus problems. 

[8filltheheart]

I would not have him redo that assignment, but I would create a new assignment similar in nature to complete. I would break it down into specific steps and I would review his work for each step before moves on to the next step. I am unfamiliar with CAP, but maybe something like write a brief synopsis of your story (like the back over of a book), list of main characters, setting, etc.

 

I would have him work with you on creating a sequence of events. I would then have him bring it to you to review intermittently to make sure he is staying on target.

[Mom-ninja.]

He basically spent so much time and effort on details like descriptions and dialogue that he has zero plot. There is no real ending. The story just kind of stops. There is no conflict. No antagonist. No climax. There is no structure. It really is just rambling. He was trying to make the story funny with his dialogue and you can tell ALL his focus went there.  

 

Ok. New assignment.  

[Mom-ninja.]

I would not have him redo that assignment, but I would create a new assignment similar in nature to complete. I would break it down into specific steps and I would review his work for each step before moves on to the next step. I am unfamiliar with CAP, but maybe something like write a brief synopsis of your story (like the back over of a book), list of main characters, setting, etc.

 

I would have him work with you on creating a sequence of events. I would then have him bring it to you to review intermittently to make sure he is staying on target.

 

This is exactly what CAP had him do. Except he didn't do it all because he claims he didn't see it. The parts he did do he didn't use in the story. At all. Says he "just forgot" to look at his papers. 

 

Well, I've learned a valuable lesson. When he says he wants to "surprise" me with his story the answer is no. He is not capable of staying on task. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

I totally agree with just putting this aside and working on the skills with a different assignment. It is so demoralizing for a kid to work for a long time on something and then be told they did it all wrong, and they have to redo it!  This happened with us last year at the beginning of 7th, I asked Shannon to do a "literary essay" about The Hobbit and she really had no idea what that meant, so she wrote a really long plot summary with a few nice bits, but not at all what I had in mind.  8 probably remembers this, she helped me analyze what went wrong.  I chalked it up to a learning experience for me - how to teach this form, what she needs explicit instruction about, what she pretty much gets, and I used that in teaching the next essay.  But I let this one go, she had worked too hard on it to be able to take it being shredded.

 

And you know what? I love the assignments in the CAP lessons, but I don't really like making the kids write Fables or Narratives completely on their own at the end of those books.  I mean, if they want to, great. But it's not my goal to make them write creatively in a structured, rule-following form.  I make them follow the forms for academic writing, but I want their creative writing to be theirs. I don't like the idea of making them do assignments like the ones at the end of those books.  So, I skipped them.

 

My dd might have had a hard time with that assignment in 4th or 5th grade.  I remember her early stories and plays having no interesting conflict, no great resolution, only kind of semi-interesting plots.  It really wasn't till 7th grade that she started to really be able to put it all together in her own creative/fiction writing.  Lots of reading and talking about great stories and how they worked helped with this, along with maturity. I don't think it's really something you can force or teach before they are ready.

[Mom-ninja.]

Thanks for the suggestions and input. You're right that maturity is important. I can't expect him to come out with Stephen King worthy plots and story lines. 

 

He liked doing the assignment because if it's creative aspect unlike my eldest who balks at anything creative. I'm liking CAP as well except for how they teach (or imo don't teach) outlining. I think WWS does a much better job of that. 

 

This was his first long writing assignment, and I learned a lot from it. Mainly, that he needs more scaffolding than he wants or I realized. That's my issue with this kid. He wants to do everything on his own without instruction from me. Then when I try to correct/critique his work he melts down.

 

It's tough trying to find the balance of how to give him the assistance he needs while letting him do his thing. 

[Mom-ninja.]

I would not have him redo that assignment, but I would create a new assignment similar in nature to complete. I would break it down into specific steps and I would review his work for each step before moves on to the next step. I am unfamiliar with CAP, but maybe something like write a brief synopsis of your story (like the back over of a book), list of main characters, setting, etc.

 

I would have him work with you on creating a sequence of events. I would then have him bring it to you to review intermittently to make sure he is staying on target.

 

Reviewing his work after each step is the key. Thank you for pointing that out to me. 

 

He was just so excited to write a story and surprise me with it. I think I need to separate the expectations for what he writes. 

 

Any suggestions on how I can give him free reign of expression for certain writing and then have him follow a more step by step approach with me reviewing each step for other assignments? 

 

This is new for me because my oldest has not and is not interested in any type of creative writing, and our focus is strictly on academic writing. 

[8filltheheart]

My children start writing completely independently when they have mastered organizing and outlining on their own.

 

My children first master single paragraphs independently. Then they move to working on multiple paragraphs with me. When they first start writing multiple paragraphs, I help them organize all of their info. They need to be able to identify why certain info belongs in different paragraphs. They take what we have discussed and create an outline. I help them create topic sentences for each new paragraph. Then they write their paragraphs.

 

In your example, I would ask them to list the sequence of events in their story. We would discuss how that sequence needs to control the flow of their writing. I would help them break down the story ideas into organized units and discuss how they need to keep those details together in order for their reader to follow the storyline. I would help them create a basic outline to follow and then send them off to write independently. I would ask them to bring me the first couple of paragraphs to make sure they are following the outline we created.

 

A couple of my kids are big fiction writers. They don't write from outlines anymore, but they did when they first started. Until they write sequentially and coherently, outlines really help prevent their writing from random wandering.

 

Fwiw, I have written a long post describing how my kids progress through writing. It isn't specific to fiction but just general little kid to high school flow.

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/239259-bringing-karens-mention-of-essay-writing-to-a-new-thread/page-1?do=findComment&comment=2363522

[Junie]

My ds did something similar:  He wrote a great essay, but it was not what was assigned.  IIRC, I took of 15 percent for not following the directions.  I knew that emotionally I would be doing more damage than it was worth to have him redo the assignment.