my sixth grader has not learned to write in MCPS

[Anonymous]

DD is a sixth grader in MCPS. She went to a W cluster elementary school. She received all ESs and Ps is writing in 4th and 5th grades. However, she has never learned how to write an essay. Now she is in middle school, and the teachers in various subjects have been regularly assigning HW essays. DD is constantly in tears because she can't get started, and when she does finally get something down, I look at it and have a lot of comments because she is disorganized in her thoughts and she has many spelling and grammar mistakes. It is not as simple as saying that I should "stay out of it and let the teacher do the commenting," because when I do that, the teachers simply give a lower grade without constructive comments or suggestions on how to better organize the essay the next time (MCPS is all about the "grading rubric" - so DD will see where she lost points, but won't know how to do that differently the next time). She never has learned the basics on how to organize an outline before writing, how to structure an essay, etc.

Any tips for a website or book I can have DD read for basic essay instruction? When I try to help, she gets very frustrated and isn't open to my suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like she needs a tutor more than a book

[Anonymous]

Ding, ding ding. Another first poster of the:

"You need a tutor, psychiatric evaluation, or some medication" answer.


OP, many kids are struggling because ES does very little to prepare them and MS has such high ratios that the teachers comment very little. You aren't alone. It takes time. Try making her do a rough draft and meet with the teacher to have her look it over. It makes a big difference having that one on one time.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has a crappy curriculum. So the better question is why haven't you taught her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has a crappy curriculum. So the better question is why haven't you taught her?

I might agree here if the majority of 6th graders were like OP's DD, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So, perhaps OP's DD has had bad teachers in their "wonderful" W cluster ES.

OP, some kids are just "natural" writers, like some are "naturals" at math. My ES DD likes to write, though she wasn't that great at it. She wanted to go to an after school activity that taught creative writing. After that 6 week course, I could see marked improvement in her writing skills. Unfortunately if your DD hates writing, then this won't be much of a solution. However, perhaps a tutor would be an idea if she is really struggling. I know of some kids in a W cluster school who do have writing tutors. Or, if your DD can take instruction from a parent, then you could do it. Some kids just need the extra help. No shame in it.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with OP. There are a lot of children going into
Middle school that do not know how to write a proper essay. The issue with 2.0 is they aligned the writing assignments with science or social studies topics. So in addition to learning the structure of writing, they also have to research and learn the content. It is a great skill, you need to know how to research properly, but first the kids need to know how to write. It is difficult when the kids are writing essays when they don't understand their research. It is hard for them to then focus on the mechanics.

[Anonymous]

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.)

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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?

[Anonymous]

MCPS doesn't seem to teach writing very well, so I supplemented the kids' education in that area because I wasn't satisfied with the standards they were meeting.

I'm not sure it'd work for you at this point, but we used the Writing With Ease & Writing With Skill books from first through 7th grade. We also used resources from The Write Foundation and the University of Maryland Writing Center.

I think the most important thing is to just teach an easily repeatable method for how to organize essays -- you can do this without any specialized curriculum just by sitting with her and helping her prewrite, outline, & draft her next assignment.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Op -- you should definitely stay out of it but get a tutor. At this point, your DD has a lot of angst about this and needs a neutral person like a tutor to help her. If after tutoring, you find that she still is not getting it, then I would have her evaluated. But this is something to work on first with a tutor and hopefully the extra support gets her up to speed. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

One of the many reasons I switched my son to a Catholic middle school. That and the crappy math sent me over the edge. It's sad you need to pay tuition for such basic skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS doesn't seem to teach writing very well, so I supplemented the kids' education in that area because I wasn't satisfied with the standards they were meeting.

I'm not sure it'd work for you at this point, but we used the Writing With Ease & Writing With Skill books from first through 7th grade. We also used resources from The Write Foundation and the University of Maryland Writing Center.

I think the most important thing is to just teach an easily repeatable method for how to organize essays -- you can do this without any specialized curriculum just by sitting with her and helping her prewrite, outline, & draft her next assignment.

Not the OP, but thank you for this suggestion. My DD is in 3rd grade and isn't the best writer. FTR, we never get homework sent home, so it's tough to know how your kid is writing other than for homework.

Have thought about getting a tutor, but will check out your suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Did her elementary school teachers use graphic organizers to help the kids structure their writing projects. My 6th DD had a quarterly writing assignment in her SS 5th grade class. The assignment was broken into smaller parts using graphic organizers, outlines, etc. She still isn't a great writer, but she at least can get out a half way decent essay.
If your child hasn't had this kind of practice (seems odd because I thought it was a standard curriculum cross the county), then go online and get some sample graphic organizers to help her learn structure.