The Support kids wrote one picture write already. Though that week did not go off without incident, it did work fairly well. We’re doing it again next week. One half of the class will work on the picture write notes, the other half on their video. We’ll switch jobs halfway through. The entire class working on videos is too chaotic and students take advantage of that to just laze away the period. Splitting things up should work to keep us more focused on the specific goal.
The Handouts
- PW #2 Assignment (Word) (PDF)
- PW #1 Example Sentences (Word) (PDF)
- PW Notes (Word) (PDF)
- This week’s image (from Flickr)
Grading
Writing: How correct is it? and Details: What senses are used? Those are the two categories for the grade, Writing worth twenty points and Details worth thirty. Another Excel spreadsheet makes this easy and leaves plenty of room for a comment. Printed out, I staple these onto the returned writing. Let me know if you want the spreadsheet.
Scores on Details were low last time. Not surprisingly, the visual sense was engaged with almost universal success, so we’ll improve appeal to the other senses. Candy, music, cheese, and random things inside shoeboxes (to be felt with eyes closed) will fill out the expected lesson plans to develop descriptive skills.
Example Sentences
Anytime I grade, I’m looking for the really strong component in the piece. There’s almost always at least one and students respond to work they know is their own. Last time around, I provided some example sentences written by the freshmen I had in 2005. This time, I pulled examples from just about everyone’s PW #1. We’ll look at those examples as the week goes on. If you put this to use, this is certainly something you should consider doing.
1. Vanessa says:
[10/25/2008 - 8:42 pm]
Awesome assignment! I’m always impressed with your fresh ideas in the classroom. No doubt your students appreciate your sincere dedication to their needs. I want to try this activity with my own Support kids. Thanks, Todd.