elegantlion Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I talking about assignments and tests. Ds is not yet able to crank out an essay easily. We put together a lot of our own material, some has built in testing, some is easy to figure out assignments. He's very organized orally, and we're working on the writing. History is the subject in my mind right now. I'm looking at using Tindall's America next year. There are online supports with quizzes, and there are plenty of essay ideas. But what about in-between? I've read through Bloom's taxonomy- I've worked to find alternative assignments this year- He's kind of a right brained learner, so he's got the creative part down. Part of the issue, is *I* need something a little more planned for next year. I'm not going to be able to study ahead in every subject and the workload is going to be higher (10th). Budget is a huge issue, I won't be able to outsource anything at this point, and I don't really want to this year. We work through most subjects together, so we've done some oral grading and assignments. I don't want to do that for all subjects though. He's also a slow perfectionist in his creative endeavors. If I said, go make me a powerpoint or video of this assignment, it would take him much longer than I'd be willing to allow. Deadlines are another skill we're working on. Ugh, this feels so unorganized. I guess I'm looking for something better then multiple choice, fill in the blank, and less than write an essay on topic X for the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 We're using Biblioplan history, and it has been a good fit for what you describing. BP has short answer questions that can be completed using the spine and a short research essay; i.e. 1-3 paragraphs. It's been a good fit for dd, who is still building her writing skills. Actually, the BP work has been part of building those skills because the work isn't overwhelming. In addition, dd writes one short essay per week with Classical Writing, and it's all worked together beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 We're using Biblioplan history, and it has been a good fit for what you describing. BP has short answer questions that can be completed using the spine and a short research essay; i.e. 1-3 paragraphs. It's been a good fit for dd, who is still buidling her writing skills. Actually, the BP work has been part of building those skills because the work isn't overwhelming. In addition, dd writes one short essay per week with Classical Writing, and it's all worked together beautifully. I looked at their sample and something like that might work, but we would need a secular option. I created something like that for his history last year, not as organized, but it worked. The short answer questions and short essay might be workable. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Discussions, discussions, discussions. Talking about the material should easily reveal his level of understanding and his ability to synthesize and analyze. As a final semester project, he could prepare a research project for National history Day and present it as poster display or make a documentary, or he could also prepare and deliver an oral presentation with visuals to friends and family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Discussions, discussions, discussions. Talking about the material should easily reveal his level of understanding and his ability to synthesize and analyze. As a final semester project, he could prepare a research project for National history Day and present it as poster display or make a documentary, or he could also prepare and deliver an oral presentation with visuals to friends and family. We have been doing discussions for his grade in philosophy this year. He's not afraid to speak up about what he knows well. I do think there is a disconnect because we do work well together. The child finishes my sentences when I'm stuck. It's not a lack of respect, it's being overly familiar with each other. Preparing projects or essays for others is a good idea. He needs to see the difference between preparing work for someone who basically can read his mind, and someone who is not familiar with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Also, you might want to look at the "High, Low, and Middle Stakes Writing" blog post by Julie Bogart. I wasn't really suggesting Biblioplan, but using it plus Classical Writing amounts to want Julie is suggesting; i.e. formal writing plus opportunities for informal writing. We don't do freewriting because dd writes in her journals all the time. Btw, CW seems like it would be completely at odds with Julie's philosophy, but somehow it hasn't been that way for us. In fact, maybe it's what I learned from Julie that makes working with CW so easy. Also, Julie used to offer a service where she would help plan writing assignments for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 EL, when I read your original post I thought I had written it a few years ago:) and then again this year concerning my 7th grader. The blog article was helpful. I wish I had a whole list of questions like the middle stakes questions. A book with accompanying questions like that would be so great, as It is time consuming to read what they are going to read and then write questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medawyn Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Would you consider assigning outlines instead of essays? I require a formal outline of an essay often instead of fleshing out the entire essay itself; this helps overcome time issues and lets us focus on particular parts of essay writing. My basic outline would be for a five paragraph-ish essay, but I have extended it to research projects, etc. I find this to be very useful in refining writing thesis statements, as many times we discover that a particular thesis does not actually lend itself to an outline/essay (too broad, too narrow, etc.). We extend outlines by writing one paragraph of the outline - focus on intro paragraphs, or on a body paragraph to emphasize incorporating evidence, etc. I also find that assigning an annotated bibliography is a good way to practice citing sources (and why do I have graduate students still incapable of this skill?) as well as seeing the parts of a research project without diving all the way in. None of these exclude essay writing/research projects, but I do find that for weekly output, focused outlines/single paragraphs render much better results for some students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 10, 2013 Author Share Posted February 10, 2013 Would you consider assigning outlines instead of essays? I require a formal outline of an essay often instead of fleshing out the entire essay itself; this helps overcome time issues and lets us focus on particular parts of essay writing. My basic outline would be for a five paragraph-ish essay, but I have extended it to research projects, etc. I find this to be very useful in refining writing thesis statements, as many times we discover that a particular thesis does not actually lend itself to an outline/essay (too broad, too narrow, etc.). We extend outlines by writing one paragraph of the outline - focus on intro paragraphs, or on a body paragraph to emphasize incorporating evidence, etc. I also find that assigning an annotated bibliography is a good way to practice citing sources (and why do I have graduate students still incapable of this skill?) as well as seeing the parts of a research project without diving all the way in. None of these exclude essay writing/research projects, but I do find that for weekly output, focused outlines/single paragraphs render much better results for some students. I would, but outlines are not the way he gathers the information. It sounds like a copout, but we spent some time a few years ago working through how he processes the information. Outlines are very linear and *I* get them, but he's VSL and outlines are like asking him to put his pants on backward and inside out. We use other organizers for his "outline". He gets how to cite sources and we probably won't move into full blown research projects until 11th. One of our goals for this year and next is to work on thesis statements. We're just started using Argument Builder (beginning rhetoric) and it's going well. I've been looking at million things in the last few days. I'v downloaded many samples. We'll be starting in the fall with Ken Burns' Civil War and there are lesson plans for it on PBS website. Then we'll use some of the ideas from the Tindall support site. After that I'll pull some lessons from the Critical Thinking in US history (book 3 - which I own thanks to a lovely poster here ) which goes through Progressivism. We'll look at some primary sources and add literature. Our next semester will be WWI - WWII, which will take more time to pull together. Thank you all for your input. I'm feeling less frazzled about how to handle all of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 What about letting him put together PowerPoint presentations instead of essays? sure, he'd need to work on writing separately, but it could be a great way for him to showcase his knowledge on different subjects.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Paula, due to a shortage of time, I have taken to shamelessly borrowing from some of my favorite AP history teachers' websites. One great project was to create a "Farcebook" page that mimics Facebook, but is for a famous historical figure. There is actually a fair amount of synthesis when you have to describe friends, timelines, profiles, etc. For quick projects, if you don't want to take the time to do a comparison and contrast essay, have him make a chart that compares and contrasts two different geographical areas from the same time period. Just search "SPICE chart" and you can flip one of those on its side in landscape and add a second column for the other area. You can have him do a Venn diagram instead. Whatever works for you. It is easy to take one of those charts and turn it into an essay when you are ready. Discussions are a great way to verify if the student has read and understood the information, but I am requiring more written work these days to build up Sailor Dude's stamina and reduce his resistance to work. :tongue_smilie: The written work has a purpose and is often a first step in a larger project or will be part of his notes for finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopytwo Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Also, you might want to look at the "High, Low, and Middle Stakes Writing" blog post by Julie Bogart. I wasn't really suggesting Biblioplan, but using it plus Classical Writing amounts to want Julie is suggesting; i.e. formal writing plus opportunities for informal writing. We don't do freewriting because dd writes in her journals all the time. Btw, CW seems like it would be completely at odds with Julie's philosophy, but somehow it hasn't been that way for us. In fact, maybe it's what I learned from Julie that makes working with CW so easy. Also, Julie used to offer a service where she would help plan writing assignments for the year. Could you post a link for this? I've looked, but can't find the article anywhere. Thanks, Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 http://blog.bravewriter.com/2005/11/21/middle-stakes-writing/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 What about letting him put together PowerPoint presentations instead of essays? sure, he'd need to work on writing separately, but it could be a great way for him to showcase his knowledge on different subjects.... I do need to come up with a few graphic design projects. Paula, due to a shortage of time, I have taken to shamelessly borrowing from some of my favorite AP history teachers' websites. One great project was to create a "Farcebook" page that mimics Facebook, but is for a famous historical figure. There is actually a fair amount of synthesis when you have to describe friends, timelines, profiles, etc. For quick projects, if you don't want to take the time to do a comparison and contrast essay, have him make a chart that compares and contrasts two different geographical areas from the same time period. Just search "SPICE chart" and you can flip one of those on its side in landscape and add a second column for the other area. You can have him do a Venn diagram instead. Whatever works for you. It is easy to take one of those charts and turn it into an essay when you are ready. Discussions are a great way to verify if the student has read and understood the information, but I am requiring more written work these days to build up Sailor Dude's stamina and reduce his resistance to work. :tongue_smilie: The written work has a purpose and is often a first step in a larger project or will be part of his notes for finals. reduce their resistance, yes, that's a skill we need to work on. Stubborn boys sometimes don't realize where they get that stubbornness from, do they? :sneaky2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Good afternoon, Paula. Are you looking to use a 'writing program' for the times between subject assignments? I, too, am currently trying to implement some structured writing lessons into our current studies without adding in a full-fledged writing curriculum geared for a whole year. I don't think writing should be so difficult that it takes a year long program to learn how to produce a paragraph or a basic essay. Ds has plenty of work involving answering questions for his reading in History and Literature, and even in Chemistry. He has plenty to say, but needs more structure in actually saying it. I think he 'gets' how essays should be organized, whether it be a paragraph or the standard 5-paragraph essay. Our biggest problem seems to be finding meaningful topics that relate to his current subjects to use for these in-between times. I find the usual types of writing prompts produce pitiful student writing. And, so many prompts deal with things out of our realm...school uniforms, school lunches, homework (isn't it all "home" work?). I am trying to get ideas from the Georgia Virtual Learning free resources (Advanced Composition course). I have also downloaded a short course on essay writing from 7sistershomeschool. There are three levels and a research paper guide. I don't know if this is what you are wanting, just thought I'd suggest. Keep us updated on what you find...if anything. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Good afternoon, Paula. Are you looking to use a 'writing program' for the times between subject assignments? I, too, am currently trying to implement some structured writing lessons into our current studies without adding in a full-fledged writing curriculum geared for a whole year. I don't think writing should be so difficult that it takes a year long program to learn how to produce a paragraph or a basic essay. Ds has plenty of work involving answering questions for his reading in History and Literature, and even in Chemistry. He has plenty to say, but needs more structure in actually saying it. I think he 'gets' how essays should be organized, whether it be a paragraph or the standard 5-paragraph essay. Our biggest problem seems to be finding meaningful topics that relate to his current subjects to use for these in-between times. I find the usual types of writing prompts produce pitiful student writing. And, so many prompts deal with things out of our realm...school uniforms, school lunches, homework (isn't it all "home" work?). I am trying to get ideas from the Georgia Virtual Learning free resources (Advanced Composition course). I have also downloaded a short course on essay writing from 7sistershomeschool. There are three levels and a research paper guide. I don't know if this is what you are wanting, just thought I'd suggest. Keep us updated on what you find...if anything. Robin We'll still be doing a separate writing instruction program, still deciding on that as well. We're using Argument Builder right now after using WWS for a while. I have several options I already own. That is part of the issue, while I wouldn't mind writing instruction in some of his history, I don't want all the instruction to come from that. Also I don't want to overwhelm him with writing. As we tend to ebb and flow with our subjects, it would be possible to end up with a large writing instruction assignment due the same week as a history essay. I want options so I can prioritize if we get to that point. Plus he'll be doing literature analysis. My plan looks like a pile of goobly-gook right now. We're on break next week, I'll probably let it stew until then and then make some decisions. The writing instruction book won't be decided until later in the spring, have to see how he progresses now. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Paula, I have disconnected thoughts right now, but I am a firm believer in discussions. I think prepared discussions really help a student not only in writing, but later in classrooms and in life. I used to spend a lot of time studying for discussions with my ds. I'd look up eassy prompts as discussion subjects. It became increasingly hard for me because we spent so much time together. I knew his style and his patterns of thought. I was constantly trying to challenge him to make connections, synthesize information, support arguments from differnt points of view. I gave him long and short essays and papers along with some visual type projects, but discussions were major output during high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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