Anonymous
10/20/2025 11:07
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Weird - my 6th grader just had to write a three page story for her English class. It was painful, but a good exercise and split into steps (characters, plot outline, rough draft).
She's in the advanced English class at a non-W feeder MCPS middle school.
I thought there was no advanced English any more?
All middle school English is named "advanced English."
Not true.
Anonymous
10/20/2025 11:06
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Teachers can't grade papers. In the past, mcps fed us a big BS sandwich that "children learn better when we dont correct them," and everyone ate it up. Now we arent even saying that. Your children will not learn how to be successful college students while enrolled in MCPS. Full stop.
And yet my child (class of ‘24) has been successful at UMD.
Anonymous
10/20/2025 10:08
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Weird - my 6th grader just had to write a three page story for her English class. It was painful, but a good exercise and split into steps (characters, plot outline, rough draft).
She's in the advanced English class at a non-W feeder MCPS middle school.
I thought there was no advanced English any more?
All middle school English is named "advanced English."
Anonymous
10/20/2025 09:57
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:There is no writing in middle school beyond filling in braindead templates for braindead essays where every single sentence is assigned a prescribed format.
The exception is the National History Day essay, which is national and not designed by MCPS. That's a long paper, that the kids are completely unprepared for, due to yearlong lack of instruction and feedback, which the teachers grade by eyeballing and then assigning a random score with no feedback on the essay itself.
And this is only for students who choose not to draw a picture as part of a group project instead.
This is an issue at your child’s school.
Request a meeting with the English department head.
Anonymous
10/20/2025 08:46
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Weird - my 6th grader just had to write a three page story for her English class. It was painful, but a good exercise and split into steps (characters, plot outline, rough draft).
She's in the advanced English class at a non-W feeder MCPS middle school.
I thought there was no advanced English any more?
Anonymous
10/19/2025 23:19
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Here is what appears in Canvas for my 8th grader for the EWP, which was already due — in case helpful to others.
Prompt: Using the elements of short fiction that you have learned about so far in the short story collection Us, in Progress, write and publish a short story based on a positive personal experience. Your short story will be an original story based on your own ideas, experiences, and perspective. Even though you are writing a fictional narrative, you can use your own experiences to make your characters and plot events more realistic.
Your story must include:
a clear point of view
plot with clear conflict, exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution
realistic and correctly formatted dialogue
a clear setting with sensory details
well-developed characters with descriptive language that reveals their thoughts, feelings, and sensations
Your story must be 1-2 pages. It should be written in Arial Size 11 or Times New Roman Size 12.
You are expected to use Unit 1 roots (mal, fid, neg, sacer, ver).
Looks like this one, at least, comes straight out of CKLA. https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CKLA_G8U1_TG_Web.pdf
Wonder if all the other EWPs are as well? It would be too bad, the amount and type of writing in CKLA is not super rigorous.
Well, it's certainly more than was offered with Study Sync.
Anonymous
10/19/2025 21:59
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Teachers can't grade papers. In the past, mcps fed us a big BS sandwich that "children learn better when we dont correct them," and everyone ate it up. Now we arent even saying that. Your children will not learn how to be successful college students while enrolled in MCPS. Full stop.
Class sizes are too big. Wait until high school. My high schooler does get longer writing assignments but the poor teacher must have over 100 students. She is lucky if she gets a line or two of feedback on her writing. How in the world can you improve as a writer without feedback? The peer review process is a joke when her 'peers' also are not good writers.
Anonymous
10/18/2025 05:44
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Our kids don't need to be educated. The corporate overlords are replacing their workforce with AI
Anonymous
10/17/2025 22:08
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Here is what appears in Canvas for my 8th grader for the EWP, which was already due — in case helpful to others.
Prompt: Using the elements of short fiction that you have learned about so far in the short story collection Us, in Progress, write and publish a short story based on a positive personal experience. Your short story will be an original story based on your own ideas, experiences, and perspective. Even though you are writing a fictional narrative, you can use your own experiences to make your characters and plot events more realistic.
Your story must include:
a clear point of view
plot with clear conflict, exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution
realistic and correctly formatted dialogue
a clear setting with sensory details
well-developed characters with descriptive language that reveals their thoughts, feelings, and sensations
Your story must be 1-2 pages. It should be written in Arial Size 11 or Times New Roman Size 12.
You are expected to use Unit 1 roots (mal, fid, neg, sacer, ver).
Looks like this one, at least, comes straight out of CKLA. https://www.coreknowledge.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CKLA_G8U1_TG_Web.pdf
Wonder if all the other EWPs are as well? It would be too bad, the amount and type of writing in CKLA is not super rigorous.
Anonymous
10/17/2025 21:58
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Here is what appears in Canvas for my 8th grader for the EWP, which was already due — in case helpful to others.
Prompt: Using the elements of short fiction that you have learned about so far in the short story collection Us, in Progress, write and publish a short story based on a positive personal experience. Your short story will be an original story based on your own ideas, experiences, and perspective. Even though you are writing a fictional narrative, you can use your own experiences to make your characters and plot events more realistic.
Your story must include:
a clear point of view
plot with clear conflict, exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution
realistic and correctly formatted dialogue
a clear setting with sensory details
well-developed characters with descriptive language that reveals their thoughts, feelings, and sensations
Your story must be 1-2 pages. It should be written in Arial Size 11 or Times New Roman Size 12.
You are expected to use Unit 1 roots (mal, fid, neg, sacer, ver).
Prompt: Using the elements of short fiction that you have learned about so far in the short story collection Us, in Progress, write and publish a short story based on a positive personal experience. Your short story will be an original story based on your own ideas, experiences, and perspective. Even though you are writing a fictional narrative, you can use your own experiences to make your characters and plot events more realistic.
Your story must include:
a clear point of view
plot with clear conflict, exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution
realistic and correctly formatted dialogue
a clear setting with sensory details
well-developed characters with descriptive language that reveals their thoughts, feelings, and sensations
Your story must be 1-2 pages. It should be written in Arial Size 11 or Times New Roman Size 12.
You are expected to use Unit 1 roots (mal, fid, neg, sacer, ver).
Anonymous
10/17/2025 18:19
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For all of DD's subjects, she has not been required to write more than 1-2 sentences for a response. In English so far, she has written 1 paragraph all year.
She is in the "advanced" english class. She's not in the higher level history class- so she may have gotten more writing if she did this.
Straight As in everything...
Even in the standard social studies courses, she should have written full paragraph responses by 6th grade and multi paragraph responses by 7th grade. In 6th and 7th grade, this is the common writing task.
In 6th grade, it is whether Hammurabi’s Code was just.
In 7th grade, it’s Inca modifying their environment.
Ask her teacher why students didn’t do the MP1 CWT. There might be a legitimate reason like it is coming next week. Cutting it close to the edge, but doable. It also could be that students did a different authentic assessment.
OP- after I started this post, she did write her second paragraph this year with Hammurabi's code. I hope the pace picks up from this point through the remainder of the year with the writing expectations.
Anonymous
10/17/2025 18:12
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Private school parent here at a school known for its writing program-- my middle schooler only wrote paragraphs in English, but the instruction was very detailed and intensive. I don't think it's the length that inherently determines quality of instruction.
Anonymous
10/17/2025 18:11
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
My 7th grader in advanced English has had longer writing. Wrote an essay as a 6th grader.
Anonymous
10/17/2025 18:08
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Teachers can't grade papers. In the past, mcps fed us a big BS sandwich that "children learn better when we dont correct them," and everyone ate it up. Now we arent even saying that. Your children will not learn how to be successful college students while enrolled in MCPS. Full stop.
Anonymous
10/17/2025 18:03
Subject: No longer writing in middle school
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:For all of DD's subjects, she has not been required to write more than 1-2 sentences for a response. In English so far, she has written 1 paragraph all year.
She is in the "advanced" english class. She's not in the higher level history class- so she may have gotten more writing if she did this.
Straight As in everything...
Yes I thought this was great until my children got to the standardized testing age and discovered that their scores were under par, despite As throughout English classes. I suggest leaving. You can see from current headlines regarding enrollment, that you will be in good company.
DP I wish I could but cannot afford it. I wish people would stop suggesting this in a public school forum. It’s not helpful.
I’m a single parent public school teacher. If I can afford it, I’m sure most DCUMs can.