NM

[ErinE]

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Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE

[RootAnn]

Oy! Totally meshes with a book Chrysalis Academy mentioned she was reading, so I picked up the older edition at my library. Anyway, . . . 

 

This year, dd#1 has been reading multiple sources about something that happened in history - or a person in history. Usually, they have different perspectives - so we talk a lot about bias & knowing your source. Then, I ask her to write a a paragraphs to summarize the event or person and then sometimes she has to write her answer to a controversial question. Like, Attila the Hun leaving Rome - Which account is probably closer to the truth? Back it up with quotes from your sources. Or, was Pope Innocent III good or bad? Would France have been better off without Cardinal Richlieu?  Would Europe have been better off?

 

Dd#2 has mostly been doing WTM-style summaries from the (white) Kingfisher.

 

I'm not good at writing across the curriculum yet, but I'm hoping to improve next year!

 

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

This was an interesting article- here are some thoughts...

 

Writing Across the Curriculum at the university level- great idea, but I don't think it's a new idea.  I wrote across the curriculum my junior and senior years of high school (AP classes had the most writing, because AP exams had essays, including the science exams) and all through university.  I don't know that I wrote in math class, except for a proofs class.  I did go to a good U, but I just can't fathom the idea that students at university level are NOT writing across the curriculum- what is the alternative?  That all U classes are turning to multiple choice tests? 

 

The idea that U professors should be correcting grammar or structure in students' writing baffles me.  If a (English speaking native) student is making significant enough grammar mistakes that they require correction, then I'd say that student is not ready to be in a university, or should be taking remedial writing instead of whatever content course he's in where the grammar mistakes are occurring. 

 

I guess my problem is with the assumption that students entering University are so poorly prepared for writing that they would need anything more than English 101 to catch them up.  The whole "University is the new high school" idea is very frustrating to me, and I imagine U professors as well. 

 

Of course students should be writing across the curriculum, both at high school and U level.  That doesn't mean that every professor should have to turn into a writing teacher.  It means that every professor should expect decent quality (clear, concise, correct) writing from students who are supposedly U level, and feel free to subtract points for those who cannot. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Oy! Totally meshes with a book Chrysalis Academy mentioned she was reading, so I picked up the older edition at my library. Anyway, . . . 

 

This year, dd#1 has been reading multiple sources about something that happened in history - or a person in history. Usually, they have different perspectives - so we talk a lot about bias & knowing your source. Then, I ask her to write a a paragraphs to summarize the event or person and then sometimes she has to write her answer to a controversial question. Like, Attila the Hun leaving Rome - Which account is probably closer to the truth? Back it up with quotes from your sources. Or, was Pope Innocent III good or bad? Would France have been better off without Cardinal Richlieu?  Would Europe have been better off?

 

Dd#2 has mostly been doing WTM-style summaries from the (white) Kingfisher.

 

I'm not good at writing across the curriculum yet, but I'm hoping to improve next year!

 

Yes, this link is totally connected to the ideas in that book!  And Erin, I have a post saved in a word doc called "How to Teach Writing by Erin" that I'm pretty sure is from you, so I've been following your good ideas for awhile.  :)

 

One of the major insights I'm gleaning and trying to apply is the idea of exploratory/open form writing - writing as an aid to thinking, as a part of the process of working something out, not just writing as creating a finished, polished piece.  The whole idea that real writers don't always sit down to write with their essay all planned out - sometimes writing is a thinking exercise where you figure out what you think by writing it, or you identify by writing what you need to learn more about and do research on.  I'm definitely thinking about creating more short, exploratory writing assignments, microthemes, etc.

 

Also more question- or problem- driven writing assignments, instead of straight reporting, but I have to be careful not to get ahead of myself here.  My biggest challenge is creating interesting assignments that my 6th grader actually has the tools to pull off.  We recently read and discussed The Giver along with a couple of dystopian short stories, we discussed them for several days and I came up with a whole list of potential writing assignments/prompts.  The challenge has been helping her pick something interesting, but not so complex and analytical that she gets lost.  You can't expect a kid to go from writing summaries and WTM-style middle grade literary analysis to suddenly writing an essay about how much personal freedom is reasonable to give up in exchange for security in a society, KWIM? You have to do something else to get from here to there, and that's what I'm trying to figure out right now.

[ErinE]

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Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE

[Pen]

I have required practice writing--lately just sentences to work on more mature ways to write a sentence. In any case, this has been kept separate from the content subjects, by and large.

 

However, for longer projects I have let my son choose his own topics and have helped him narrow them to a manageable size.

 

I think one long or a few shorter projects per semester has been enough for the time being.

 

My sense is that book reports and so on, have not been productive. Though at one point a project which involved writing a pretend jacket for a book, including biographical information about the author, fake blurbs extolling the greatness of the book, a summary that did not give the whole book away, and so on, was fairly fun.

 

If I did give a prompt, I would probably look for a quote about the subject, and ask something like, what does this mean, and do you agree or disagree and why?

 

For example:

 

It has been said that, "Geography is destiny." What does this mean? Using some examples from history explain why you agree or disagree with the statement.

 

 

If I gave something like that as an assignment (and, maybe now that I have written it, I will!), I would probably let it be the only writing project for a whole term (6th grade).

[ErinE]

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Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE

[Chrysalis Academy]

I can share some of the prompts I came up with this year for my 6th grader.  They haven't all been successful, though, some of them were way over her head/too difficult.  I have a hard time sizing down assignment ideas, I've found.  We'll have these incredible, rich discussions, and I'll be like, "Great, go write about that" and she's totally clueless how to begin, so I have to do a lot of work with her on the how-to, step by step.  So I don't offer these as necessarily the best prompts, but they are ones that I've come up with this year:

 

Here was the basic, generic literary analysis assignment sheet we used for the whole year.  This was heavily cribbed from The Writer's Jungle:

 

Literary Analysis Assignments

When you finish a novel, let me know.  We’ll discuss it.  For each topic you will choose at least one book to write about, and you can choose any one of the following assignments (choose a different assignment for each topic/book, please). 

 

1.     Book summary:  summarize each day’s reading, then write an introduction, conclusion, analysis, and connecting words/phrases/paragraphs so you have a nice synopsis and analysis of the book.

2.     Write out a short screenplay for one of the scenes in the book.  Include set notations, acting instructions (like “He inquires pensively with a furrowed brow while looking stage right.â€).

3.     Pretend to be one of the characters and write a journal as that person experiencing the events of the book.

4.     Describe each of the main characters:

—What he/she looks like

—What his/her moral framework is in the book

—What he/she contributes to the plot

—Why you admire him/her or not

5.     Describe the setting and its importance to the story. (Time, place, mood)

6.     Examine the author's purpose in writing the book.  What was his or her motivation (sharing a personal experience, to send a message, to give information--combination of the three)?

7.     Write an alternate ending to this story.

8.     Fictionalize the story (if non-fiction) or, if it is fiction, write it as a newspaper article (as though it happened).

9.     Make a book jacket for this book—design a cover, then write a story summary on the front inside flap, then write an author bio blurb on the inside back flap and finally write some "pretend" reviews on the back of the cover. Don't forget the title, author and publisher on the spine of the book.

10.   Compare & Contrast two of your books that are similar in content or similar in time period—describing related events—like two books from the Great Depression period or the Civil Rights era, or biographies of two different people you’ve studied.

11.   Write a poem that summarizes the themes or that expresses the feelings of a character from the book.

12.   Write a letter to or from one of the characters in the book.

13.  Pretend you are the author of the book. Write a short article explaining why you wrote it, what your intentions were and what you hoped the reader would do after reading this story.

14.  Imagine you are the main character—tell what you thought of the other characters in the story and why.

15.  Write ten well-crafted questions that you would ask a reader of this book to test his comprehension.

16.   Identify one or two of the Literary Terms we have studied in Figuratively Speaking, and provide quotes from the book illustrating how the author used these literary elements in the book 

 

 

Here are the questions I came up with for The Giver, the  most recent book we've read:

 

The Giver Discussion Questions

Writing Assignment: Choose one of these questions and answer it in an essay.  Your essay should have an introductory paragraph that states your thesis, or main argument/purpose for writing the paper, then several paragraphs in support of your thesis.  Your supporting paragraphs should cite the text:  use quotes or examples from the text to support your argument.

1.       What is the theme of The Giver?

·         Theme is the pint or message of the story.  But themes aren’t something obvious like “murder is wrong.† Themes are a sharing of the author’s insight into the way things are, so they are usually something a little deeper and less obvious.  What do you think the author wants her readers to take away from The Giver?

·         Your essay should begin with an introductory paragraph that states your thesis: what you believe to be the main, overarching theme of The Giver

·         Supporting paragraphs should clearly explain why you think this is the book’s theme, using evidence from the text to support your thesis.  Use examples and quotations from the book that show how the author is making the point you claim she is.

2.       When authors write stories, they create a model of the world.  What kind of a world is being modelled in this book? What are the positive and the negative aspects of Jonas’s world?  How is Jonas’s world different from our world? What do these differences mean?

3.       Do you think the author is criticizing some aspects of our society? If so, what aspects of our society is she addressing? If not, what do you think her purpose is?

4.       It is difficult for us to imagine a world without color, personal freedoms, and love, but in the giver, the society relinquishes these things in order to make room for total peace and safety. Consider the pleasures and experiences that our own society discourages in order to preserve the public good (certain recreational drugs, for example.) In the context of the lessons Jonas learns in the giver, explain why we should or should not sacrifice an orderly community in order to allow individuals more spiritually or sensually satisfying experiences. Where do you think the line between public safety and personal freedom should be drawn?

5.       Euthanasia (eu=good, thanatos=death) is the practice of intentionally ending a life to prevent pain or suffering.  Do you think terminally ill people should have the right to safe and legal euthanasia? Why or why not?  How is Release the same as or different from euthanasia? Compare and contrast Euthanasia and Release, and your opinion of the two practices.

6.       Write an evaluation of or response to The Giver.

·         In an evaluative essay, you identify the work you are considering by its title, author, and genre, briefly summarize the plot, and then either:

a.       State your assessment of the work as a whole (an evaluation)

b.      Respond to the work as a whole or some aspect of the work – respond to the argument that you think the author is making in the work

·         Summaries should include the main character, basic plot conflict, setting, and background

·         Evaluations and responses can be positive or negative, or they can explain how your evaluation or response changed as you read.

7.       Extend the story by answering one of the following questions:

o   What happened in Jonas’s community after he left? Did the people learn to deal with memory? What changed about their society as a result of regaining the ability to feel?

o   What happened to Jonas and Gabriel? What kind of society was it that they entered?

[Chrysalis Academy]

And here are some of the history questions/writing prompts I came up with for this year's Modern Era topics:

 

Choose one immigrant group, research their experience, and write a report (i.e. Irish, Italians, Chinese, etc.)

 

Write a biographical sketch about one of the leaders of the Women’s suffrage movement (Lizzie Stanton)

 

Choose one artist to research and write a biographical sketch or a chronological narrative about their life and/or their work (Mary Cassatt)

 

How did the end of WWI and the events of the 20s and 30s lead to the conditions that allowed WW2 to happen? Read, Take Notes, and Discuss

 

​Why did totalitarian & fascist governments arise in so many countries?  Why was Hitler able to take power in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, and Stalin in Russia?

 

Essay:  Compare and contrast the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin

 

Why did citizens of the 3^rd Reich collaborate in the mistreatment and murder of their Jewish neighbors? How was it possible for something like the Holocaust to happen?  How did people resist the Nazis? 

 

​​Discussion: Why did Germans support Hitler and the Nazis? How did other European nations react to conquest by the Nazis (France, Scandinavian countries, etc.)? Who resisted, and how?

 

What separate wars were going on prior to December of 1941? Who were the main antagonists in these wars? Why did the Japanese decide to attack Pearl Harbor?  Read, take notes, and discuss

 

Essay: How did the US justify incarcerating Japanese citizens? Could anything like this happen again? Why or why not?

 

Essay: Choose a common misconception about WWII and discuss it.

 

Why did the US drop the atomic bomb on Japan?  Do you think this decision was justified? Why or why not?  

 

What is Communism? Who was Joseph Stalin? What was life like in the USSR before, during, and immediately after WWII?

 

How and why did the Cold War begin? What was Stalin’s primary concern at the end of WWII?  What was the American’s primary concern at the end of WWII?  How did these concerns put the US and USSR on a collision course?

 

Why did the cold war not turn “hot†in Europe?

 

When and why did the Cold War come closest to becoming WWIII?  What happened to avert this?

 

Why did the cold war turn hot in Asia and the Third World?

 

How did the Cold War end? Did someone “winâ€?  Why or why not?

 

What cultural and political changes in American society led to the Civil Rights Movement? What world events made it possible?

 

 

What were the approaches of different groups to acquiring civil rights? MLK, The Black Panthers, The Nation of Islam.  Which were most effective? Why?

 

How did life change for blacks in America as a result of the Civil Rights movement? Did it change everywhere? Did the movement achieve its goals?

 

What is it like to be a minority today? What are other groups in American society who face discrimination today? What racist attitudes remain strong in American culture?

 

Discuss the changing role of women in American society in your grandmother’s and mother’s lifetimes.  How was it different to be a young woman growing up in the 50s & 60s vs. 80s & 90s?

 

 

What is the “post-Watergate cohort� How and why did the events of the 60s and 70s change young American’s feelings about their government?

 

How and why has the gap between rich and poor in America grown since the 1980s?  Discuss policies of Republicans (Reagan/Bush/Bush) and Democrats (Clinton/Obama) and how they characterized and addressed the issues of economic inequality in this country.

 

[ErinE]

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Edited February 19, 2018 by ErinE

[Chrysalis Academy]

Here is a list of really great writing assignments from the Engaging Ideas book.  These are prompts or tasks that require analysis & critical thinking.  I'm thinking about how these different types of assignments can be applied across the curriculum.  So much richer than pounding away at 5-paragraph essays!

 

Writing Tasks

1.       Link course concept to personal experience or prior knowledge: how is this similar to something you already know?

2.       Explain concept to a new learner (of different levels)

3.       Summary or Abstract of text or lecture

a.       200-250 word summary

b.      One sentence summaries

c.       25-word precis

4.       Support or attack a given thesis

5.       Template Assignments: Provide a slot for the thesis along with an organizational frame students have to flesh out (i.e. They Say/I Say)

6.       Answer a question or problem (audience defined as part of question)

7.       Data Analysis – given a set of data, write an argument or analysis based on the data

8.       Role-playing “What If†assignment – take a certain perspective or respond to a hypothetical situation

9.       Dialogues or Argumentative scripts – role-play opposing views on a controversial issue

10.   Case studies or simulations – real or realistic stories or thought-provoking issue questions where there is no obvious right answer, student must take a position or propose a solution

[Pen]

This is an interesting prompt. It would require quite a bit of scaffolding for DS to be able to write it effectively. He's going into sixth grade and this might be an challenging end of year project.

 

If my son were to work on something like that, I would introduce it perhaps early in the 6th grade year so that it could be thought about and notes taken as one went through the year with a long project paper (likely with pictures and so on too) to be a major part of the second semester. A single topic like that pulls together an "across the curriculum" spread--at least history, geography, science (geology, weather, biology, environment, zoology, etc.), sociology, politics, economics etc. could all have parts to play. I'm not sure about mathematics, but even perhaps that.

[Chrysalis Academy]

If my son were to work on something like that, I would introduce it perhaps early in the 6th grade year so that it could be thought about and notes taken as one went through the year with a long project paper (likely with pictures and so on too) to be a major part of the second semester. A single topic like that pulls together an "across the curriculum" spread--at least history, geography, science (geology, weather, biology, environment, zoology, etc.), sociology, politics, economics etc. could all have parts to play. I'm not sure about mathematics, but even perhaps that.

 

Pen, this is brilliant!  It fits very well with the set of prompts I posted, too, and the whole philosophy in the Engaging Ideas book - you scaffold difficult assignments by first assigning a series of easier, more supported assignments, some open-form, exploratory style and some closed-form, thesis driven style.  Hmm, this is giving me a good idea for a year-long project in our Origins study next year . . . . 

[Penguin]

I have Engaging Ideas now. :hurray: Can't wait to read this thread and chime in!

 

That is all.

[Jayne J]

Can your 6th graders really cope with such huge issues in their writing?! My fifth grader has a hard time thinking through why he likes owls, or how to describe a Roman bath. A lot of the suggested assignments are things I would have expected to see in high school level writing. If I assigned something on the level of complexity of "Geography is destiny, " he would stare at me blankly, and even a comparison of euthanasia and Release would flummox him. Sure we can discuss it (though frankly even the discussions are difficult, as he seems to want me to tell him the "right" answer and get on with it) but I am not sure how much that would help in the end. I have had far more luck with more concrete assignments, like describing something or traditional subject reports (i.e. tell me about owls).

Does the book mentioned discuss this issue, or is it assumed that critical thinking is already developed and in place prior to the assignments? I'd love to read something geared toward helping me help my students toward critical/analytical thinking. I get the idea of scaffolding, but am not sure whether it is helpful in a case where the student is not there yet in terms of critical thinking. It seems like doing two hard things at once--thinking the thoughts/making the connections, and trying to write them down in an elegant and orderly way.

 

(This sounds kind of snotty when I read it back, but it is not meant to be. I am genuinely interested in writing across the curriculum and am wondering if we are way off track here at our house in terms of my expectations for his work.)

[Chrysalis Academy]

No, it doesn't sound snotty at all, and it's a point that bears repeating - I said in my first post that my challenge is coming up with assignments my 6th grader can actually do, and she can't do all of these, for sure! Not without a ton of help or scaffolding.  I threw them all out because Erin was looking for ideas for writing prompts for writing across the curriculum, and that's something I've spent so much time thinking about this year.  But my 6th grader is not writing multi-page analytical essays!  That's the end I have in mind, but it takes a ton of scaffolding to get there.

 

The book we're talking about is directed at college professors, so it's definitely not about how to teach elementary or middle aged kids the fundamentals of writing.  I think it's extremely relevant for high school writing, though, the beyond-the-report stage.  I'm gleaning a lot of ideas about how to get my kid from where she is to where we want her to be, but it's not a roadmap the way something like WWS is, it's really helping me with the big picture (although it does contain a ton of very specific examples for assignment types).

 

Honestly, I think part of what you are talking about is related to developmental stage, too.  As a 5th grader my dd was a more concrete thinker too, and I wouldn't have asked for anything analytical in writing, we tried to get some of that into discussion, but that's it.  The change in her thinking this year has been huge, though, especially in the last couple of months - she's now starting to be able to consider these bigger issues, and to realize that there aren't always (or hardly ever) right answers to these big questions.  It's only now, when she seems ready to think more critically about what she sees and hears spontaneously, that I would consider giving her this kind of writing assignment.  

 

So partly it's developmental, and you just have to wait for it.  A typical 10 year old 5th grader won't be able to do what an 11 or 12 year old 6th grader can do in terms of critical thinking.  I do think that some of our studies this year has helped to foster the critical thinking ability - reading about modern history from a variety of sources, considering the similarities and differences of how history is presented, things that we've done this year via a wide variety of readings and discussion has really helped.  She's been able to change from seeing history as a story about the past, and is starting to see it as a story we construct to explain our world, and this is the crux of the ability to think critically about it.  Critical thinking is something that comes out of discussion and talk with an interested and informed older person, I think, and it happens when the kid has enough background knowledge and, for whatever reason, their brain and their point of view or their developmental readiness or whatever just kicks in.

 

I feel like this is rather muddled, I'm waiting for my coffee.  ;)  But I don't think there is anything wrong if these prompts seem over the head of a 5th grader.  They are mostly over the head of a 6th grader, too, but they are starting to be within reach.  And the book is giving my ideas about supporting assignments to help us get there.  So please don't worry that you are on the wrong track based on anything in my posts!!!  :)

[RootAnn]

Honestly, I think part of what you are talking about is related to developmental stage, too.  As a 5th grader my dd was a more concrete thinker too, and I wouldn't have asked for anything analytical in writing, we tried to get some of that into discussion, but that's it.  The change in her thinking this year has been huge, though, especially in the last couple of months - she's now starting to be able to consider these bigger issues, and to realize that there aren't always (or hardly ever) right answers to these big questions.  It's only now, when she seems ready to think more critically about what she sees and hears spontaneously, that I would consider giving her this kind of writing assignment.  

 

:iagree: This! My DD is older than Rose's and she started making connections and thinking deeper over a year ago, so we've had time to have some discussions leading to more critical thinking. I definitely wouldn't start asking for the analytical stuff until after their brains started showing this capability and interest. Then, we just discuss stuff. I tend to move slower than Rose in asking my kids to do things because my kids are very _average_ in their ability ( and judging from what I've read of Rose's daughter, she's above average in this sort of thing). So, mine is in 7th and I'm thinking toward 8th grade assignments. She's thinking about 6th & 7th but at the same level - or even higher than what mine will be capable of in 8th.  :tongue_smilie:

[Jayne J]

Phew! Thank you both for the responses! I was not sure if the questions/assignments Rose shared were the ones she felt were approachable for her daughter or the ones that were too difficult. It looks like ds is still not there with that critical thinking faculty, and I am not as far off base as I thought I might be! It is good to hear that it can "appear" between one year and the next like that, since I have seen little sign of it thus far. :rofl: