Just Kate Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I'm not homeschooling (although I used to!), but I have an education question and would love your help. My ds has attended brick & mortar school since 3rd grade. He is in 6th grade now. So far, I feel that his writing education has been atrocious. Actually, when I think about it more closely, it has been nonexistent. I want to help him with this. He was recently given a project to do. The (very general) instructions say that he is supposed to interview someone in an older generation (list of questions provided) and then write a paper. He is also supposed to present this to the class and include some visuals, if available. The instructions say that part of his grade is following directions. I'm still not sure exactly what those directions are. Ds already wrote his paper and it is not good at all. It is only one paragraph and written in a very basic format. I want to help him to improve his paper, not for the grade, but because I feel that it is vital to know how to write a simple essay. My questions to you...Since this is supposed to be a paper that describes an older family member/friend's life, would you recommend that I steer him toward a 5 paragraph essay? Any tools that I could use to teach this to him? I have a feeling I will be doing more of this in the future with both kiddos. I really wish that our school taught kids HOW to write before just giving out random assignments. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Anyone? I don't normally post on this board, so perhaps I posted in the wrong place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 My 5th grader starts with a first draft in handwritting that is everything that comes to out of head. No regard to spelling, grammar or punctuation, no erasing. This gets a lot information down on paper and avoids writer block by trying to state something perfectly. If I think that he tried to write perfectly on the 1st draft, I ball it up. Then I have him do the second draft with some structure using the 1st draft (making sure that it is a re-write of the 1st draft, and not a new story) with little criticism. Then he reads the second draft out loud, with a red pen in hand. I ask questions as he reads (the five w-s), trying to keep mood playful. He answers with what he was trying to say, and then I tell him to write it like he just said it, making the revisions with the red pen. Then he does the 3rd draft and we repeat the process. Usually, at this point he is allowed to type/input the piece, and we red pen edit from there. Our mantra: good writing is re-writing. We started this in the 3rd grade, so we have edited 20-30 pieces together using this process. Now, his red pen edits look like the teacher corrected it. I only spot check now to make sure he sticks to the process. Please note that i believe the handwritten early drafts are important. The computer makes things look prettier than they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I would steer him toward more of an essay. Maybe not 5 paragraphs if he's not used to it, but using the 3 sentence rule. I used to have my kid divide a paper into 6 parts (fold in half, then in thirds, all the same direction). The top section was for the title. The next five were for 5 mini subjects and the order he wanted to write them in. He had to write at least four notes for each section, and then use those notes to write the paper. It seemed to work better for him than traditional outlining and if he had already done a rough draft he could input that information first, then build around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Thanks everyone! It is frustrating when ds comes home with an assignment but no real direction. "Write a report" does not count as direction to me, especially since they have never been given any rules for writing a report. I'm working with him on his paper now. I'm making him do five paragraphs. He's not super happy with me, since his teacher didn't say she required five paragraphs, but I feel like he needs to learn this stuff at some point, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I wouldn't do a 5 paragraph essay. I would email the teacher and ask for clarification on the length she expects. If length remains unspecified, I would focus on helping him put what he has into a more organized format whether that is just one paragraph or more. For example, I might say, look how these sentences all talk about how things were when you were young. Can we group them together. Can you write a sentence that introduces that idea? Now, I'm not sure what this sentence means. Can you give more information about that or an example? Help him improve HIS paper. Don't give him a whole new assignment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Eldest use to not know anything about how to write, well anything. :p He has really blossomed with IEW. Only doing 15 minutes or so a day for a month has him now writing without complaint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 I wouldn't do a 5 paragraph essay. I would email the teacher and ask for clarification on the length she expects. If length remains unspecified, I would focus on helping him put what he has into a more organized format whether that is just one paragraph or more. For example, I might say, look how these sentences all talk about how things were when you were young. Can we group them together. Can you write a sentence that introduces that idea? Now, I'm not sure what this sentence means. Can you give more information about that or an example? Help him improve HIS paper. Don't give him a whole new assignment. That's a good point. I guess this is sort of what we did, as he took his original paragraph and split it up so it made a bit more sense (he grouped like ideas together). He also read it out loud several times and found areas where he could make improvements. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The five paragraph format is usually reserved for thesis based essays - which this is not. Therefore, I wouldn't steer him toward that. I really second asking what the intended length of the paper is supposed to be. The assignment does sound incredibly vague. It sounds like something that could be fun and rewarding - it's a potentially good way to get kids writing - but when you can't picture the end result, any assignment, no matter how interesting otherwise, will likely become stressful and difficult. I think it's also really difficult for kids this age to pop out a paper where they don't know the structure ahead of time. That's one of the reasons why the "five paragraph" format is such a nice bulwark. Kids know the shape of the house they're trying to build when they begin one. It can also be one of the reasons why such papers can become formulaic and stilted, but ideally they're the basic architecture and a good writer creates a good design. However, drawing up the plans from scratch can be difficult for any writer, much less a very unseasoned one. Once you know the length, I would sit down and help him figure out what the paragraphs should be by making an outline together. Maybe the first paragraph is an introduction that explains how he chose his subject. The middle paragraphs might be about the subject's answers. Perhaps there's a paragraph about the subject's childhood and another about adulthood. Or perhaps there's a paragraph about what the subject looks like and another about what the subject said. Or maybe there's some other organization that presents itself. I'd help him look for that. Maybe the final paragraph is about what he learned from the interview - either the process or the person or both. Maybe the length means it only really needs two paragraphs or maybe it means his one paragraph is plenty and you can focus on the internal structure and the words. In any case, I'd help him brainstorm - what are all the things you could put in the paper about you, the subject, the interview, the process, etc. and then try to group that into paragraphs. Then let him write the paragraphs more individually. I hope that's helpful. When I was teaching middle school, I had to learn to get more and more specific with assignments and requirements to help students be their best. A well-written assignment is more likely to get well-done responses than a poorly written one. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Thanks Farrar. The project is due tomorrow, so we just went with five paragraphs. I wish I would have asked the teacher for more info ahead of time. I think I may ask her later. She is a very nice person and I know she's open to parent interaction. Thanks so much for your thoughts. This is when I really, really wish I was able to homeschool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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