Jean in Newcastle Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Ds11 (6th grade) is doing the Jr. High level of The Beautiful Feet Guide to Medieval History. He is reading an abridged version of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which he loves. He answered the following questions (the questions from the book are in black, his answers are in red). Do you think he answered these questions thoroughly enough? And if not - how do I get across to him how I want him to answer? I guess I expected something more on the line of a paragraph or two as answers. The teacher's guide for some reason skips giving any answers for this assignment. This child does not like to write things out by hand. 1. By what device did the fox deceive Chauntecleer? What weakness of the cock did he prey on? By flattery did the fox deceive the rooster. By Chauntecleer's vanity did he prey. 2. Discuss the passage of Chauntecleer after he has escaped from the grasp of the fox, "God will never prosper a creature who stubbornly shuts his eyes when he should see". Check to see if there are any traps, and look after yourself. 3. What does this story teach about dreams and the Biblical perspective of dreams? Name some incidents from the New Testament where God used dreams to speak to his people. Pay attention, God warns and speaks through dreams. As for references, see Ananias' dream concerning Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 One thing I have done with Calvin is to get him to assume ignorance in the reader. Your son is answering in short hand, with the assumption that the reader will have read what he has read and reached the same conclusions. As he works up into higher levels of writing, he'll need to provide references or explanations for each of his points. If I were working with him, I'd say that he needs to give more detail: how did the fox deceive the rooster (summary of story)? How was Chauntecleer's vanity expressed? The answer would go something like: In the story of the fox and the cockerel, the fox deceived Chauntecleer by...... Chauntecleer's weakness was vanity, which he showed when ... Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SapphireStitch Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I suggest you first determine what you want to accomplish by having him answer the questions. Is your goal to have him express his knowledge of the subject thoroughly? Or is your goal to have him express his knowledge of the subject in writing? At his age, and with his dislike of writing, these two may be mutually exclusive. If this were my child, and I have been in this exact position with my daughter, my goal at that age would be to determine how much of the material was understood. The later high school years (rhetoric stage) is when I would be more concerned about written communication. When I got answers like that from my daughter I asked for oral elaboration. "What do you mean when you say xyz about the fox?" "Explain that concept to me." "What is flattery? What is vanity?" etc, etc, ad infinitum and like pulling teeth, I might add. :glare: If after interrogation you think he grasped the idea and was able to articulate it, then you're done. I often ended up sending my daughter back to reread sections...and often having had the discussion about the questions seemed to help clarify her thoughts so that the rereading made more sense to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Thank you both for your answers. SapphireStitch (Beth) - I think he really does understand the material quite well. In fact he wants me to find him a copy of Chaucer in Old English so that he can take a stab at that! But I do like your idea of going over the assignment orally with him. Laura - you were able to put into words what I'm ultimately going for. I really like what you said about having him assume ignorance in the reader. This is the child who when I asked for narrations when he was young, would roll his eyes and say, "You know what happened. You just read it to me!" I had to put my foot down then to make him narrate properly. I think I need to put my foot down again to make him narrate in writing properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 When I got answers like that from my daughter I asked for oral elaboration. "What do you mean when you say xyz about the fox?" "Explain that concept to me." "What is flattery? What is vanity?" etc, etc, ad infinitum and like pulling teeth, I might add. :glare: I"ve been having to do this - she gives her "2-3 sentences" for the answer, but it's not exactly like it should be.... i get her to then expand it orally, THEN she writes it again and it is like night and day. I just wish she could start doing it the first time around! LOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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