How do you come up with writing topics?

[Holly IN]

My son wants a written assignment for writing topic.  (He is NOT my humanity kid at all) I need resources to use for producing writing assignments for literature or history.

 

Thanks!!

[regentrude]

I let my kids pick their own, because I think they will do a better job writing about a topic that interests them than about something I pick.

 

Our TC lectures have plenty of suggestions for discussion questions. So should have most textbooks.

In a pinch, use Cliff Notes or Sparks notes for inspiration.

[merylvdm]

I bought My Access from Vantage Learning for many years and used that. The added benefit is that it automatically "grades" their work. I used to buy the 6 student package (which is now $99 for the year) and share it with 6 friends. I thought for under $20 a year it was a great deal as I got topics to choose from (you still pick what you want to assign and due dates etc) and it was graded. 

 

 

[regentrude]

I bought My Access from Vantage Learning for many years and used that. The added benefit is that it automatically "grades" their work. I used to buy the 6 student package (which is now $99 for the year) and share it with 6 friends. I thought for under $20 a year it was a great deal as I got topics to choose from (you still pick what you want to assign and due dates etc) and it was graded. 

 

I am curious as to how that works. What does "graded" mean? Is there a live human who is giving feedback on writing assignments? For only $20 per year????

[merylvdm]

I am curious as to how that works. What does "graded" mean? Is there a live human who is giving feedback on writing assignments? For only $20 per year????

 

No - it isn't a live person grading - it is a very sophisticated (though not perfect) automatic system. They explain it somewhere on their website but if I remember correctly the first time they offer a new prompt it is handgraded for a certain number of students. This is then fed into the program so that it can use the data to grade other submissions (ie using machine learning techniques).

 

On the whole I found it pretty good. It points out grammar errors and also lack of cohesion, no topic sentences etc. They have learning modules the students can work through to learn about the areas they are struggling in. And they can resubmit as often as they like for better grades.

 

I would help my kids work through the problems - and found this far less stressful than me grading and them arguing with me about the grade I gave them. I was now on "their" side helping them do better.