For Those of You With 3rd Graders (Need Some Writing Feedback)

[ShutterBug]

I need some input in regards to writing.

 

Not penmanship or creative writing...more composition.

 

Ds writes really well creatively. He can write pages and pages with wonderful descriptive stories, separated into paragraphs with excellent spelling, capitalization and punctuation. When writing original stories, he has no problem organizing and sequencing his thoughts.

 

I'm referring more to having a given directive (compare and contrast two characters from a story, persuasive paragraphs, narrative paragraphs, etc..) and then organizing their ideas into a topic sentence with well organized supporting details and then a closing sentence.

 

I know it's a skill, and that it takes time..but what I'm struggling with is how much practice should ds 8 be getting and what types/difficulty of assignments should he be doing. I don't know why I'm stressing about this, but I am.

 

I've always loosely followed and agreed with the classical system for writing..copywork, narration, dication, reading and having lots of good literature read to him, etc... BUT (and I know I shouldn't), I've been looking into what is expected of ps kids in regards to writing. I know that there is a big jump in 3rd grade in regards to writing expectations and I'd like to at least try and keep those in mind as we progress on with writing (humor me).

 

We're currently using WWE3 for narration and dictation, copywork (paragraphs) once or twice a week, and we just started Paragraph Town (still getting used to the loosey goosey, no schedule or structure format for this but ds is enjoying it thus far).

 

I've just started giving ds a topic about once a week to write one or two paragraphs about. Today his assigment came from a Grade 3 Test Prep book we've been working through to prepare for our state mandated standardized testing.

 

The assignment was..

 

"Think about some of the changes you have experienced or new things you have recently tried to do. (Gives lots of examples) Pick one of these changes or areas of interest. Then write a few paragraphs about how you think this has made a difference in your life."

Ds's paragraphs looked like this (spelling, puncution, etc. is kept as is)..

 

Over the past year I have become a better reader. I have become a better reader by reading books with words that I didn't understand. By asking my mom what these words ment and learning their meaning I have increased my vocabulary and therefore become a better reader.

 

Being a better reader and having a better vocabulary has helped me in many ways. One of the ways it has helped me is in school. I am much better at summerizing because I know words that combine words into one. It has also helped me in spelling because I know how to spell many more words.

I know the assignment asked for a "few" paragraphs and he only did two..but this is average for a third grader, right?

 

Soooo....if you could please oblige me by filling me in on what you're using for third grade writing and what type of assignments you assign I would so much appreciate it!

 

Also, if you have (or have had) a child in ps third grade, could you relay what type of assignments they are working on?

 

Thanks!

Edited December 10, 2010 by ShutterBug

[fairfarmhand]

that is FABULOUS! My 3rd grader would not do as well. I think he is AWESOME!

 

most of our writing comes from BJUP spelling. It has a weekly journal entry with topics similar to this one.

[HomeschoolingMy4]

I was going to say the same thing! I think it's age- appropriately good! My dd8 (Sept) is also a 3rd grader and struggles w/writing. She's my very sweet right-brained child and it's just hard for her.

[susankenny]

Above average. You have NOTHING to worry about.

 

Susan

[ShutterBug]

Thanks...I think part of the problem is that I google things like "3rd grade writing samples" and come up with things like this...

 

 

...then I freak out.

 

So, to reassure myself that my expectations are on target I look up my state ELA standards for writing and they word it with verbose educational jargon so that it seems much more complex and sophisticated than it really needs to be so I freak out some more and start searching around for stuff to supplement my already cluttered curriculum with.

Edited December 10, 2010 by ShutterBug

[Crimson Wife]

Today must be my day for plugging EPS' The Paragraph Book series. It's designed for remedial use in middle school, but IMHO deserves a wider audience. It's at about a 3rd-4th grade skill level and walks the student through how to write narrative paragraphs, compare & contrast paragraphs, etc. What I really liked was how thorough it was- there were a bunch of important topics in it that hadn't occurred to me to teach my student since I take them for granted. Things that aren't in Paragraph Town because MCT obviously assumes the student has already learned them in PS.

[ShutterBug]

Today must be my day for plugging EPS' The Paragraph Book series. It's designed for remedial use in middle school, but IMHO deserves a wider audience. It's at about a 3rd-4th grade skill level and walks the student through how to write narrative paragraphs, compare & contrast paragraphs, etc. What I really liked was how thorough it was- there were a bunch of important topics in it that hadn't occurred to me to teach my student since I take them for granted. Things that aren't in Paragraph Town because MCT obviously assumes the student has already learned them in PS.

 

Thank you! I'm going to check this out now :) .

[Carrie12345]

Oh, sure. Make me freak out about my own 3rd graders writing! ;)

Seriously, my daughter isn't anywhere near that, and I still consider her a fairly smart cookie. That was excellent!

[angela in ohio]

I've been looking into what is expected of ps kids in regards to writing. I know that there is a big jump in 3rd grade in regards to writing expectations and I'd like to at least try and keep those in mind as we progress on with writing (humor me).

 

Look at the results the public schools are getting and ask yourself if you really want to worry about how they do it. Really. :glare:

 

We are not slackers in writing. My freshman will be writing many 10+ page essays, reports, and literary critiques this year. She spent junior high writing at least a paper every other week. We work through Strunk & White and The Art of Styling Sentences and such, and I pick apart their every written word.

 

That said...

 

I have a third grader, and I am doing roughly what I did with the older dds. He is doing narration, copywork, dictation, and reading great literature. He is also learning grammar. He does creative writing on his own, and I don't mess with it. He enjoys it, and he is learning through that that writing is an enjoyable task.

 

These skills WILL culminate in a few years in an accomplished, mature writer. It works. :001_smile: Don't worry about the lame prompts or writing paragraphs.

[Halcyon]

I think it's wonderful! Thumbs up :)

 

I am going to share a sample of my 8 yo, 3rd grade son's writing from last week, so you have something to compare to. This is from WWE2 (we switched from K12.com, beginning with WWE2 in March, we're not into WWE3 yet). This is from Week 29, Day 4 if you have the book. He was asked to write a summary after reading an excerpt from The Story of Mankind about Greek life. Here is what he wrote:

 

"Greek houses were very simple, with four walls and one room. In the courtyard, the cook prepared the meals and the teacher taught the kids. The Greeks' food was also simple. They ate green vegetables and meat, and they usually did not drink water. (They thought it was unhealthy)."

 

 

The next week, he was asked to summarize a section from The Story of the Greeks and wrote:

 

"The Spartan children left their families when they were only eight years old. The Spartan children were not taught much reading, writing or arithmetic, but did learn how to memorize poems. They learned to march for miles without shoes in the hot sun."

My son does not really do much creative writing, certainly not independently as your son seems to enjoy, so I think your son is doing JUST fine!

[Sun]

I used to teach late elementary school, and your son's writing is EXCELLENT for third grade. In fact, it's stronger than many, many fifth graders. He uses some sentence styles (" By asking my mom what these words ment and learning their meaning I have increased...") that are for more sophisticated than what your average third grader does.

 

As for the writing sample that you found, I don't actually see that as superior to the your son's sample. It's rather repetitive ("feel good" twice in very short order). What stands out most about is the use of punctuation for quotations. That is perhaps a bit advanced for a third grader at the beginning of the year, but by the end of the year, many kids will understand that from having studied it. To me, that piece of writing looks as if it was modeled after a sample and based on instructions that said to use quotations.

 

Is there something in particular in your son's sample that concerns you?

[susankenny]

The child's example you shared is from the top percentile of 3rd graders in a specific state (whichever you googled). Seriously. Don't worry. Your son is above average & doing wonderfully! Here's a sample from my 3rd grader....

 

 

"Once there was a baby grinch and the old ladys found him at their door. They named him Seuss. Seuss ate a lot of food. One day Seuss went to school. He really liked a girl there, but the other kids were mean. When he went to school he gave the girl Sendyloo a present. She liked the present. But the mean boys made the grinch mad. Then the grinch hated Cristmas. But in the end, he ended up cutting the turkey for everyone. They all lived happily ever after! The End"

 

Feel better now??? lol.

 

No worries!!

 

Susan

[JoJosMom]

Oh, sure. Make me freak out about my own 3rd graders writing! ;)

Seriously, my daughter isn't anywhere near that, and I still consider her a fairly smart cookie. That was excellent!

 

:iagree: I could have written this, word for word. No worries, OP. You're kiddo is doing great!