Grading English

[coffeefreak]

Here's my question part two :001_smile:

 

How do you grade English in Jr High and High School? Does your grammar count as much as your writing? We've been separating everything out so I'd have one grade for grammar, one grade for vocab etc. How are you determining an English grade for your student?

 

Thanks!

Dorina

[regentrude]

I base the grade solely on writing assignments: essays and research papers.

Thus the grade naturally incorporates grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

 

Aside from the actual content, papers have to be free from any writing mechanics mistakes and perfect in spelling, grammar and semantics. Any mistakes in these areas would lower the grade (in practice, they would get the draft sent back until the mistakes have been fixed). They have to use a varied vocabulary and use words correctly, this takes care of the vocab portion.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I base the grade solely on writing assignments: essays and research papers.

Thus the grade naturally incorporates grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

 

Aside from the actual content, papers have to be free from any writing mechanics mistakes and perfect in spelling, grammar and semantics. Any mistakes in these areas would lower the grade (in practice, they would get the draft sent back until the mistakes have been fixed). They have to use a varied vocabulary and use words correctly, this takes care of the vocab portion.

 

 

I like this :001_smile:

[Vanna]

For my high schooler, I averaged the grades he received for assignments and gave some "bonus" credit for the "attitude" in getting the assignments done (good attitude = bonus points; bad attitude = no bonus points). I had a friend grade his writing assignments knowing she would be more objective than I would. (I had to come up with a "Creative Writing" course on the fly because of some problems with the class he was enrolled in at the beginning of the school year.)

 

For my middle and elementary kids, I gave them both an "A" because I knew they worked hard on their assignments and generally got them done on time. They did not have any essays to write like their big brother.

 

This all may seem very arbitrary, but this is what we did. :hat:

[coffeefreak]

I base the grade solely on writing assignments: essays and research papers.

Thus the grade naturally incorporates grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

 

Aside from the actual content, papers have to be free from any writing mechanics mistakes and perfect in spelling, grammar and semantics. Any mistakes in these areas would lower the grade (in practice, they would get the draft sent back until the mistakes have been fixed). They have to use a varied vocabulary and use words correctly, this takes care of the vocab portion.

 

Do you use a ruberic of some sort, or do you figure it out per paper?

 

BTW regentrude, your posts on this are so helpful. I appreciate it!:001_smile:

Dorinda

[regentrude]

Do you use a ruberic of some sort, or do you figure it out per paper?

 

 

I have found the rubrics not too helpful.

We aim for mastery. I send the paper back for rewriting until I feel comfortable that the paper deserves an A. Occasionally I have outside people who are qualified verify my judgment.

 

BTW regentrude, your posts on this are so helpful. I appreciate it!:001_smile:

 

 

Thank you, I feel flattered.

[coffeefreak]

I have found the rubrics not too helpful.

We aim for mastery. I send the paper back for rewriting until I feel comfortable that the paper deserves an A. Occasionally I have outside people who are qualified verify my judgment.

 

 

That's actually what I've done until now. I have been known to get frustrated with dd's attitude and lack of effort and give her a lower grade, but all in all she's rewritten until it's an A. Maybe there's a balance to be had. Some papers would still work like that and others would not. Hmmmm...

[Ellie]

Half the grade for grammar, half for literature. Vocabulary would be part of literature, not a separate sub-subject. :-)

 

ETA: half the grade for grammar *and writing,* half for literature.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Ellie

[Joani]

I'll answer both questions at once. :)

 

For 8th grade (I didn't grade English consistantly in 7th), my son used separate curricula for writing, grammar, vocab and literature, plus a few supplements. I called it all "English 8". I'm sure you could give some portion of the grade for participation/effort, but I went with:

 

20% Grammar tests

30% Short writing assignments

40% Essays about literature

10% Research paper

 

Maybe I'm a little strict, or stuck in a public-school mindset, but my son can ask for all the help he needs with his assignments before they're due. After they're submitted to me, there's nothing he can do to change his grade. I grade most of his essays myself, but I've had friends grade several to make sure I'm on the right track. I go over the corrections with him, but only require him to rewrite it if there is a major problem.

 

For 9th grade, he won't study formal grammar, but will do some timed essays and multiple research papers. So, his entire grade will come from writing assignments. I'm not sure yet how I'll weight them.

[Mom22ns]

I don't grade Language Arts in Jr High. The kids rewrite papers until I think they are good enough. I mark errors and they correct grammar, vocabulary and any other assignments.

 

In high school, I grade writing assignments and I do use rubrics. It really helps me to have some criteria to judge on.

[JanetC]

We don't do the "rewrite until mastery" thing here. My DD finds it demoralizing to work on the same paper over and over. Instead, I use a scaffolding or "target skills" approach. We work on one aspect of writing, the target skill, until it is there. Then, I expect future papers to show that skill, plus whatever the next one on the ladder is.

 

For 8th grade, DD worked on a well-structured essay with good supporting arguments. You can see her work in the "Looking back at 8th grade" post in the writing workshop board. In the earliest essay, it's really not well-organized. The second essay has great organization, but does not develop any of the ideas in detail. The third essay has both structure and supporting examples and is beginning to work on citing her sources. By the end of the year, goals were met, so she gets an A, even though the papers that got her to that skill level were not all "A" papers.

 

For 9th grade, we are going to continue working on citations and research papers. Many of her writing assignments will be for social studies rather than English.

 

For 10th grade, we are going to work on writing under deadline pressure using timed prompts, essay tests, and such to get ready for standardized tests coming in 11th.

 

For 11th grade, we are finally going to get around to writing the dreaded "English Paper" -- describing themes, character development, and other literary analysis. (I'm a less-is-more kind of writing teacher.)

 

Then 12th is a "putting it all together and filling in holes" kind of year. I might do public speaking, too.

 

She rarely makes grammar and spelling mistakes, so that is not an issue with us. Her vocabulary is also good, so she works through a vocab workbook just to fill in holes. I don't give vocab tests, so there's no real "grade" for that work.

 

So, her English grade is just her literature work (which was outsourced this year, she took Shakespeare at co-op), and writing. She had a 96 average on her work at co-op, also an A, so I didn't have to worry about how to weight things to get the final grade.