Sorry Nellie. . .I already posted in the other thread! Just to give your clicking finger exercise! I guess I felt like the OP was asking about specifically how we grade math and writing and this is much more of a philosophical issue IMO. You'll have to just pardon me though. I am used to the very heavy moderation of families.com, so the freedom to go off in tangents here is different for me. ;-)
If I were to give a writing assignment, I would expect it to be neatly, just like I would expect it to be spelled correctly. With Faythe that is a REAL issue (both neatness and spelling). So I let her write it first and then I circle the misspelled words. The next day, she corrects that. Then the third day, she types it onto the computer. That way, it is neat. With Rachael's class, even her rough drafts had to be on computer. He would go over them, fill out his paper, and hand it back. Then she had to make corrections, etc. If he marked something and it wasn't corrected, he would take double off on the final draft!
Thank YOU Jackie! This is great! I have always needed this sort of thing! I always just graded for spelling and content and thats it! Now that I am actually working to create a CReative Writing COurse I will have to be more precise! YEAH! Well creating one is not totally true, I am buying stuff to make one, and using things I learned in Creative writing. OFcourse the begining we will not focus on perfection of spelling or grammar just on creativity. as my instructor taught us that for fiction writing.
I grade on a 93-100 scale. Last year we didn't keep an average, but starting this year I will and will give a report card. I just got out Garrett's "my schoolyears book" thing.. and was sad that there was no report card in the slot for 2nd grade. Grading writing assignments.. we haven't run into this yet, but 1st priority will be content.. did he get it or not?? Then it will be grammar (correct punctuation, sentance structure, formatting etc) and spelling, but I am not sure if I will just mark those things wrong so he realizes that they are wrong, or if they will have an impact on his grade. In ps we never lost points in history for poor grammar, but did lose points for misspelling terms that we should have known... so that is a tough one, I will have to start giving some thinking to!
In writing assignments I am most interested in the style of writing -for example, does the report have the features of a report? Is it well written? the actual content (e.g. what does she know about pandas?) is secondary to me. You can get information anywhere, but to write well is a learned skill that brings benefits for many, many years.
These are such good ideas! Also, Sneaky Mom, I like your rationale. Mastery is what we homeschoolers strive for. Thanks, Deana, for starting it!
grades Thanks girls I think I've come to the mastery conclusion too!!! I have got alot to learn.... School will be here before we know it. Lynne
