Writing 2 -- Thoughts & Details about Grades

 Dear CHAT Writing 2 Students & Parents,

I've just finished calculating the grades for the Spring semester, and you will be finding them in your inbox in just a few minutes.  As tutors, we give you suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

For those who are new to my classes, let me share my thoughts on grades.  As I homeschooled my own children, I didn't give them grades.  I felt that grades were far too subjective, especially coming from their mother.  Instead, I taught my own children for mastery, and we didn't proceed with a topic until they were ready, no matter how long that took.  In a class setting, knowing where each student is with regards to his/her understanding of a topic is not always possible, so any grade given is not a complete representation of what the student learned or accomplished this year.

Letter grades are a funny thing.  For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well.  For some, it becomes a measure of their worth as people or as  academic learners.  I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system.  On the other hand, grades can be a valid reflection and reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.

When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills.

For this class, I gave points for Quick Writes, short assignments, literature assignments, grammar exercises, and longer essays. (I tend to be an "easy grader" and like to see my students encouraged to do their best.)  The final drafts of the essay assignments were graded using a rubric that divided the papers into the following categories:  focus, content, organization, and mechanics.  

The scores for class work is divided into the following categories:  Quick Writes and Miscellanea, Writing, Literature, and Grammar.  A student may have been strong in one area and not in another, and this will be reflected in these categories.  These scores are also weighted; in other words, not all of the categories have the same importance. The Quick Write points are worth are 15% of the total grade, the Writing assignments are 30%, the Literature homework is 28%, and the Grammar work is 27%.

The grade breakdowns for Writing 2 are as follows:

98% - 100% (A+), 93% - 97% (A), 90% - 92% (A-),

87% - 89% (B+), 83% - 86% (B), 80 % - 82% (B-),

77% - 77% (C+), 73% - 76% (C), 70% - 72% (C-),

67% - 69% (D+), 63% - 66% (D), 60% - 62% (D-),

55% - 59% (Pass), 50% - 54% (Fail); 0% - 49% (Incomplete)

Each student (and parents) will receive an e-mail with percentages and a suggested overall grade for this semester. (Note:  You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the document.)   I’ve seen each student improve with each paper and have truly enjoyed my interactions with this class.  Good Work!

Blessings to all,

Mrs. Prichard

Writing 2 Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 5)

 Greetings!

We had a marvelous final day of Writing 2 at CHAT for the 2021-22 school year.  Every year when we get to this last week, I have a plethora of mixed perceptions and feelings.  We cover so much over the course of the year, that our heads are full; but the weeks go by so quickly that it seems hard to think that we're at the end.  For me this year, it's so much more bittersweet since it's my last CHAT class ever.  I'm grateful to have had this awesome class who made this such an awesome year!

We, as always, started with a Quick Write. I use a lot of story generator websites for my creative writing classes, but this week I had students as the story generators.  They wrote a noun on a slip of paper, then some else wrote a verb, and finally a third person wrote an interjection.  From those 3 words, students wrote their Quick Writes.  

Before Round 2 of the Poetry Jam, we had a short, "parts of speech" oriented game.  Our family calls the game "Bowls," but others know it as "Fishbowl."  (Here's a link to a description.)  Students wrote nouns and verbs on small slips of paper, and then they took turns as teams with trying to make their team say the words.  Round 1 was like Catch Phrase; Round 2 was Charades; and Round 3 students could only give a one-word clue.  Needless to say, lots of laughter ensued.

Our guest judges, Levi, Halle, Maria, Michael, Gabi, and Grace, came in for Round 2 of the Poetry Jam.  I must admit that this is one of my favorite parts of the whole year.  Some students love poetry, some tolerate, and some can't stand it.  That said, everyone is a great sport about standing up and reading/reciting a piece of poetry for their class mates.  And some even confess to liking it just a little bit more.  We had our individual finalists perform first, and then all of the teams recited again.  We had a number or original poems and memorized poems.

And the winners were . . . 

Team Scores	Round 1
1st Place	Anonymous Notes
2nd Place	Bull Frogs
3rd Place	Rhythmic Rhinos
4th Place	Things
Individual Scores	Round 1
1st Place	Rachael & Michelle
2nd Place	Michael
3rd Place	Annelise
4th Place	Nina

Now, for the nuts and bolts for finishing up the class.  Students can hand in any homework until Saturday morning midnight.  (8:00 am, to be exact.)  All of the remaining homework for the class can be handed in (and returned) via Google Classroom.  I will be sending out grades sometime next week.  Look for 2 emails from me:  one the explains how I grade and then the grades themselves.  

This has been a great year with these students.  They're bright and engaging, and they've worked hard this year. I will miss working with them next year but have complete confidence that Mrs. Gonsalves will be the perfect fit for Writing 2!

Blessings!

Mrs. Prichard

Links for This Week

Writing 1 Class Notes -- Week 15 (May 5)

Play the Fishbowl Game

Tamera M. Prichard

Writing Instructor at CHAT

Writing 1, Writing 2, Writing 3

ACT Prep, British Literature