onaclairadeluna Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 DS is in the 8th grade and dyslexic. He had the hardest time with this assignment. I'd love gentle feedback. Writing is something we have really struggled with. I have such a hard time giving him feedback that doesn't crush him. He is very sensitive and it's hard to know exactly what to do to help him improve his writing. Rikkii-tikki-tavi, by Rudyard Kipling is the story of a young mongoose who attempts to rid the house and the surrounding garden of snakes. The apparent differences between the snakes and Rikki-tikki-tavi disguise their true similarities. Not only are both mongooses and snakes ambush predators, they also share similar yet opposite goals. Nagaina, one of the two snakes states, "When the house is emptied of people (Rikki-tikki-tavi) will have to go away, and then the garden with be our own again." clearly showing her intention to strike at the people of the bungalo, people Rikki wishes to protect. However, the snakes also try to guard something against the mongoose, their eggs. In the final battle, Nagaina, the only surviving snake, and Rikki both move into the open in a last effort to destroy what the other creature protects. The only remaining question is who will win. Clearly the snakes and Rikki-tikki-Tavi are more similar than immediately apparent. Their similarities force the reader to ask the question "Who is the hero, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi or the snakes?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 But he still sometimes gets bogged down and confused by sequential instruction. Things that help other kids sometimes confuse him. DS is in the 8th grade and dyslexic. He had the hardest time with this assignment. I'd love gentle feedback. Writing is something we have really struggled with. I have such a hard time giving him feedback that doesn't crush him. He is very sensitive and it's hard to know exactly what to do to help him improve his writing. :lurk5: and thinking about these details. If anything occurs to me that might be helpful, I'll post. But I noticed you posted, after you posted these quotes, that my structured post about my son's sample was helpful, so maybe some good came of seeing the structure (and BTW, I edited the post so hopefully it's even simpler to see the construction)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onaclairadeluna Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 :lurk5: and thinking about these details. If anything occurs to me that might be helpful, I'll post. But I noticed you posted, after you posted these quotes, that my structured post about my son's sample was helpful, so maybe some good came of seeing the structure (and BTW, I edited the post so hopefully it's even simpler to see the construction)? Oh indeed yes. It's helpful for me. For him the sequence is like an extra step which isn't really bad- just hard. After the fact I can explain to him where we went wrong. Or at least how the lesson was supposed to go. There's always a judgement call about whether it's worth it to teach him to follow instructions or if I should just let him do it his own way. But I do like to explain to him the intent of the lesson (even when we go our own way). I have found WWS fantastic. Most of the time he even follows the steps. It's easy enough for him to follow and the material doesn't talk down to him. In this case it wound up being confusing for him (even though I understood what was expected and explained it to him...he still got confused). I didn't post his steps because (well first of all...all the typing) they don't really resemble the final product. Also he tried to edit them together to get the final product so they got a bit jumbled (didn't work!) It was a difficult day and he got a little frustrated but in the end it was a good learning experience. He really does need to learn to follow steps. I have to say I am not the best person to teach him this (I don't really follow recipes etc.) but I see the value. He knows when push comes to shove I will let him do it his own way if he really needs to. I respect the way he thinks. But I also remind him how important I think it is that he learns basic skills. He knows he is getting better. He doesn't love WWS but he knows it helps so I have buy in. Once and a while when it gets tough he gets frustrated. Writing is very hard for him. Thanks for posting about this lesson, it was challenging for us too and it was nice to have some moral support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 It's helpful for me. ... Ah, gotcha! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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