Question about middle school English differentiation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I’d have to say that some of the students’ work was remedial, at best. Probably most of them had limited English skills. I’m talking about the inability to write a complete sentence or spell common basic words. Very very low level — what you might expect from a kindergartener or first grader with not much imagination or interest. These students need more intensive help at their English proficiency level or capability. And students who have advanced skills need something different. MCPS tracks for math starting in ES. Why are they doing this? Some sort of attempt at “equity”? This makes no sense and benefits no one.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think a lot of they do in 7th is critical literature and you don't need perfect grammar or spelling to participate in a sophisticated way.
I worked with a non-native English speaker who was actually a beautiful writer in English. He had grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes all over the place but those were easily fixed. His insights and analysis were extremely valuable to our workplace. He conducted his research in English at the same high level as everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I’d have to say that some of the students’ work was remedial, at best. Probably most of them had limited English skills. I’m talking about the inability to write a complete sentence or spell common basic words. Very very low level — what you might expect from a kindergartener or first grader with not much imagination or interest. These students need more intensive help at their English proficiency level or capability. And students who have advanced skills need something different. MCPS tracks for math starting in ES. Why are they doing this? Some sort of attempt at “equity”? This makes no sense and benefits no one.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think a lot of they do in 7th is critical literature and you don't need perfect grammar or spelling to participate in a sophisticated way.
I worked with a non-native English speaker who was actually a beautiful writer in English. He had grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes all over the place but those were easily fixed. His insights and analysis were extremely valuable to our workplace. He conducted his research in English at the same high level as everyone else.

LOL

What was his background? Educated parents? Or parents who valued education and could support this 7th grader at home?

First off, the kid you are referring to is actually an English speaker. Our MS has kids who have been in MCPS since ES (I know because my kids went to school with them) and still don’t have a strong handle on English.

At my kids’ MS, the kids who are not English speakers also often come from families who don’t necessary value education and the parents are unable or unwilling to support them at home.

There is a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Reviving this to see if parents believe things have changed now that kids are back in school in person. Is your MS English class reading novels or engaging in full texts?

[Anonymous]

6th grade class reading Hatchet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reviving this to see if parents believe things have changed now that kids are back in school in person. Is your MS English class reading novels or engaging in full texts?

No novels in 7th this year. Had none last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reviving this to see if parents believe things have changed now that kids are back in school in person. Is your MS English class reading novels or engaging in full texts?

No.

My kid is reading a novel in HIGH. 8th grade English has been short stories on Study Sync or random events excerpts from books. It’s pretty terrible.

[Anonymous]

My 7th grader’s advanced English class doesn’t mandate reading a complete book yet, but he mentioned that they were expected to complete a book report by MP1. In his HIGH class, it is mentioned that the NHD project at MP4 will expect reading several books in order to complete a comprehensive analysis of a historical event. In the past, how NHD project is handled in HIGH class? Once the topic is identified by student, will the teacher provide some guidance or a list of books for kids to explore?