my sixth grader has not learned to write in MCPS

[Anonymous]

First of all, where are you seeing all these writing assignments?

Second, might this be school-dependent?

My son went to a Bethesda-area elementary which implemented the Lucy Calkin (sp?) writing program and had a LOT of essay writing in 4th and 5th, which was great practice. But now in middle school as a 6th grader, I haven't seen any piece of writing come home, and the only writing I see him preparing are completely inane "literature profile" questions which seem very basic. And that's in the supposedly Advanced English class!

Very weird.

To answer your question, OP, I think you might want to coach her yourself for while. Explain the basics of doing a little list or diagram (depending on whether she's more text or pict-oriented) while brainstorming ideas, checking the rubric to hit all the points, and then writing each paragraph with the thematic sentence first and simply stated. Lastly, crafting the intro and conclusion - although she could do a simple chronological order, but kids often find the intro and conclusion to be a little challenging.
Lastly she needs to practice doing it with a time constraint. You set a timer and she needs to write something in 15-20 minutes on a set question.

Basically there's a recipe she needs to follow. What I impressed on my son is that it's not necessarily good writing, but it's what MCPS wants to see. BIG difference. Until he understood that, he was forever getting poor grades... you really need to dumb it down in this public school system, and not be too creative at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Responding to the prior poster, I don't see any shame in her needing help. That's why I posted! Before I take the step to hire a tutor, I was hoping that we could find some good instruction/groundwork rules from a website and/or book. I do try to help but she gets very upset quickly when I step in. (I also didn't say that her W cluster elem school was wonderful - in fact my implication was quite the opposite if she received ESs in writing but still can't write.)

This is what I don't get, how did she get to grade 6 and NO KNOW YOUR KID CANNOT WRITE?
How did you not ever look at assignments , go over homework , look at tests and not know your child had problems with writing??
How is that ?
I saw my kid's homework and saw where he was weak or not .
The only thing I did not like about 2.0 in writing was not always grading for each element of writing, content, grammar etc. at the same time .
So while the teacher may not of been grading assignments and grammar it was a requirement in my household that much I'll have to check his homework copy edit for grammar and everything else before turning something .
So I'm still amazed how regardless of what it said on the report card how you could not have firsthand knowledge of what your child can I cannot do.

Any advice in there or just judgment?

Not sure, but there's definitely bad grammar...

[Anonymous]

I didn't learn to write until 11th grade. MCPS GT program from elementary school. 11th grade was the first year a teacher cared enough to correct my writing. He bled all over my paper. At the time I was shocked and angry---no one had ever criticized my writing. And then he made me write an additional essay each week. I was so mad. Each week he would critique it. Over the course of 11th and 12th grade, my writing improved significantly. It was only once
I got to college that I could appreciate what he did for me.

[Anonymous]

The curriculum sucks, as it did, if less so, when I was a kid in MCPS two decades ago. At least the teachers back then were permitted some flexibility.

Make sure your child is reading for fun. A lot. My MCPS third grader writes exceptionally well, and I think it has everything to do with her being a reader. She has had good teachers, too, but they have to teach her a rigid academic writing that doesn't allow for style, editorial discretion, etc.

[Anonymous]

Do the teachers give out the rubric ahead of time? If so, see if you can take the Exceeds or meets column and make it into a checklist for her.

First have her read the prompt a few times and circle the key words. What specifically is it asking her to do?

Then have her make a web with her main idea in the center. Her reasons should stem off of that and then the details for each reason to stem off of that. That will help with organization.

I would plan the essay one night, write a rough draft the next, then revise and edit the next.

Make her read it aloud.

[Anonymous]

There will always be students how fall through any system be it for low intelligence, unstable home environment, poor specific peer group, learning disabilities or even a personality/mental disorder. If your child is falling through the cracks, I would focus on the root cause on why they are deficient and not try to shift blame to the school system that works for so many. Deflecting blame will just delay proper diagnosis of your child problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will always be students how fall through any system be it for low intelligence, unstable home environment, poor specific peer group, learning disabilities or even a personality/mental disorder. If your child is falling through the cracks, I would focus on the root cause on why they are deficient and not try to shift blame to the school system that works for so many. Deflecting blame will just delay proper diagnosis of your child problems.

HA ha ha! This is so ridiculous I can only laugh.

My poor uninformed PP, this school system isn't very good.
It doesn't work for many, but it pretends to and many parents who don't know any better believe it. There are some of us that have traveled around a bit, sampled other school systems around the world, and happen to KNOW that MCPS lacks intellectual rigor and doesn't not teach good writing and basic math well. We coach at home, others hire tutors. Families work around this, because their jobs are here and their kids have friends at school, and school is "free" - we pay for it with our taxes. So we all find ways to manage.

There are many school systems in the USA that are far worse than MCPS. Sadly, that does not make MCPS good.

[Anonymous]

Stay out of it. You don't know the expectation so you aren't likely to be that much help anyway. Have her use her lunch period to see the teacher. Teachers in MS are very amenable to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Responding to the prior poster, I don't see any shame in her needing help. That's why I posted! Before I take the step to hire a tutor, I was hoping that we could find some good instruction/groundwork rules from a website and/or book. I do try to help but she gets very upset quickly when I step in. (I also didn't say that her W cluster elem school was wonderful - in fact my implication was quite the opposite if she received ESs in writing but still can't write.)

This is what I don't get, how did she get to grade 6 and NO KNOW YOUR KID CANNOT WRITE?
How did you not ever look at assignments , go over homework , look at tests and not know your child had problems with writing??
How is that ?
I saw my kid's homework and saw where he was weak or not .
The only thing I did not like about 2.0 in writing was not always grading for each element of writing, content, grammar etc. at the same time .
So while the teacher may not of been grading assignments and grammar it was a requirement in my household that much I'll have to check his homework copy edit for grammar and everything else before turning something .
So I'm still amazed how regardless of what it said on the report card how you could not have firsthand knowledge of what your child can I cannot do.

Any advice in there or just judgment?

Not sure, but there's definitely bad grammar...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at a small private. They use Shurley English. In third grade she learned to write an essay. They started with a 3 point paragraph the 3 paragraph essay and after that 5 paragraph essay. It was a very good way to ease her in. They have free resources so maybe you can have her read through those to get her started. Good luck.

They do the same in MCPS. It just appears that OP didn't give a damn about her child's education until MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is at a small private. They use Shurley English. In third grade she learned to write an essay. They started with a 3 point paragraph the 3 paragraph essay and after that 5 paragraph essay. It was a very good way to ease her in. They have free resources so maybe you can have her read through those to get her started. Good luck.

They do the same in MCPS. It just appears that OP didn't give a damn about her child's education until MS.

That really isn't fair to OP. Given her daighter's ES grades, she had every reason to believe things were fine. Ow she knows different and she's trying to figure out how to help get her daughter on track.

[Anonymous]

OP,
As our kids went from 5th to 6th and then again from 8th to 9th, MCPS seems to systematically remove support for what the kids are doing so the kids have to pick up the slack. So in 5th they might get an assigned topic and have to fill out a graphic organiser but in 6th grade they might get a topic for a SS essay but no organiser and in English they might get neither. From 8th to 9th seemed to be more about reducing the hand holding done in review sheets for tests.

Many kids don't like or think it is a waste of time to go through all the steps in writing an essay, especially if it is only 2 or 3 paragraphs. So they skip them when a teacher isn't grading every step. It sounds like your DD needs to go back to doing each step on paper and not hoping to do them all in her head/in her first draft. My guess is she knows how to do each step but doesn't want to do them or doesn't see how they lead to knowing where to start. You should be able to lead her through this.

[Anonymous]

I havent read the thread but i would help her out with graphic organizers. I think the basic intro paragraph, 3 supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion is a fine start. Once she has that down she can change the format for different assignments if needed. Maybe search for some examples online - where there is a topic and aomeone used the organizer and someone didnt. This will help her get a feel for what sou ds good and why. I like lucy calkins for a book. Not sure how far it goes up, im an elementary school teacher and supplement with that.

[Anonymous]

Teach her the five paragraph essay. Like PP said. Intro paragraph states the main idea and has three supporting facts. The body of the essay has three paragraphs, each one expounding on one of each of the three facts. The last paragraph is a conclusion paragraph.

Once she masters that, she can expand it. Two or three paragraphs to support one fact, and so on.

There is nothing wrong with your helping your child learn this. I don't get the people who say step back.

[Anonymous]

People are saying step back and let a tutor help bc OP's child is pushing back having the parent help. Sometimes parents make it worse instead of better. That is when you step back, get a tutor and see how it goes. If no progress, then OP has to look at what else could be going on.