kitchen table math, the sequel: writing website

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

writing website

Susan's find:

TOEFL-Prep Writing Practice Site
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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

If anyone has any good sites on middle school writing, please let us know. We're covered grammar-wise and spelling-wise (Megawords), but everything else is a mess.

It seems that the fabulous new program that they implemented a few years ago has created the most massive writing block I've ever seen. He seems to be totally confused.

The fantastic writing program was to better align our schools with the state tests, which at the time wanted 3rd graders to write 6 paragraph essays even though no one has bothered to teach them how to spell or what a noun is.

Apparently, it isn't necessary 'cause the little buggers can do it if you just force-feed them the stucture. Somehow, they will just pick up those spelling and grammar rules along the way.

I'm also guessing that the amount of projects that took the place of writing assignments over the years hasn't helped much either.

Add that to absolutely no spelling program (and no corrections to his many mispelled words so that he may SEAR the wrong spelling into his brain.)

Also, he has been choosing to type everything for years so I'm now finding out that the the basic mechanics of writing are not automatic with him at all, and that spell check is most definitely not his friend.

He has basically forgotten how to write in cursive, but his printing is fairly labored, as well. It's all just a struggle.

I suppose, like constructivist math, once you "understand" how to write, you no longer need to actually do it.

So, we will be writing our asses off this summer.

June 20, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

spell check is not your friend

June 20, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

at all

all you have to do to find this out is spend some time using voice-activated software

June 20, 2007 at 2:00 PM
Anonymous said...

WriteAtHome, recommended by lots of homeshcool moms.

http://www.writeathome.com/

Eval-U-Write by Write Source. It is "an instructional writing practice and evaluating tool that provides an instant, holistic score and diagnostic feedback for student's essays.

http://www.greatsource.com/store/ProductCatalogController?cmd=Browse&subcmd=LoadDetail&level1Code=01&level2Code=002&level3Code=wseuw&frontOrBack=F&sortProductsBy=SEQ_TITLE&division=G01

June 20, 2007 at 6:20 PM
Karen A said...

susans--

I've been involved with an after school Creative Writing Club for 4th and 5th graders the last few years. Some of the kids seem to write effortlessly; others struggle mightily with writer's block. We always have prompts and story starters, but some of the kids really just don't seem to know how to get started. They want to be there, and they want to write, but for some, getting their thoughts on paper is a real struggle.

One of the techniques we use is to get them to start talking about something that interests them: it can be about a sport that they like or play, a trip that they took, an event that happened to them, you name it. Then we say: let's write that down. Or, sometimes, they will get bogged down in writing down their thoughts and we will have them dictate it to us and we write it down for them. We are trying to get the reluctant writers comfortable with the idea that writing is essentially telling a story: who was involved, what happened, where did it take place, and so on.

This technique also works for expository writing as well. You can choose an age-appropriate article of some sort, have your son read it, and then start asking him a series of questions about the article. As he answers the questions, either you or he can write them down. Start with 4 or 5 sentences, and then weave them into a paragraph.

If you have handwritten it for him, then have him type it later. The cool thing is that when he types it, it will reinforce both the grammar and the spelling.

In my mind, the initial goal is to make the process of writing less traumatic.

June 20, 2007 at 6:38 PM
SteveH said...

"Or, sometimes, they will get bogged down in writing down their thoughts and we will have them dictate it to us and we write it down for them."

Exactly!

I've used this with my son. It's amazing how easily words and stories come out of his mouth. He would be stuck on what to write and we would ask him questions. He would say something and we would say: "That's perfect. write it down."

He would talk and I would try to write it all down really fast. The results may not be overly organized and polished, but it's a start. If he has to write it down himself, it's too slow and doesn't work. There seems to be something quite different about how the brain works with talking versus writing. Taking the time to write (or type) seems to cause the brain to disconnect. Even though I type pretty fast, I still find that I lose some ideas that fly through my head while I'm concentrating on typing.

Does anyone have any experience with the current state of speech recognition software?

June 20, 2007 at 7:30 PM
VickyS said...

Scored writing samples (elementary and middle school) from Oregon Department of Education.

June 20, 2007 at 8:59 PM
Anonymous said...

Thanks guys!

I will definitely look into all of your suggestions. They look great.

Karen,

Those ideas sound great. He is really a kid who is in that stage where everything is stupid. If you have a teen you know what I mean.

So, part of his "block" is that he feels that whatever he puts down on paper is stupid. It's driving me nuts.

If my son had been graded like Christopher was a few times last year, I'd never get him to write again.

June 21, 2007 at 5:01 AM
Anonymous said...

Vicky,

That site is fantastic. That was what I was trying to google for the last week.

June 21, 2007 at 5:31 AM
concernedCTparent said...

That is a great site. It's interesting to see the range of response and levels of writing skills. Of course, having an idea of what is expected on standardized test writing prompts is good too.

I have a "reluctant writer" at home. So many great and fascinating ideas that just don't seem to make it from the mind to the paper. It's almost the mechanics of writing that she seems to want to avoid. It's somewhat better on the pc, but still that writer's block can be her worst enemy.

I also find that she doesn't trust herself and thinks there is some magical formula that give you a "right answer" for an essay. I attribute that to standardized testing and the fact that they keep pushing this rubric that is more aligned with scoring points on the test that truly good writing.

It drives me crazy that she believes that EVERY response must restate the question verbatim. It may score points but geez, it's just awful!

June 21, 2007 at 8:38 AM
Anonymous said...

I also find that she doesn't trust herself and thinks there is some magical formula that give you a "right answer" for an essay

Exactly! I think that's partly what's going on with my son. He's a math head, too, which makes it worse, I think.

He believes in one right answer. He also believes that he should be able to get it immediately, like in math. He does not appreciate process or fuzzy outcomes.

But I'm also suspicious that the use of the computer has knocked out a temendous amount of practice. Some of his letters are so goofy. Extra loops, weird connections from one to the other. It's almost like he is in fourth grade (around when he started getting permission to use Word.)

If you're from an older generation you had to write out your paper, do all corrections and rewrites by hand, and only then type it up. Looking back I can't believe we did that, but we did write A LOT outside of the actual final product.

I have a friend who is in grad school who still writes everything out by hand before typing into the computer. Her daughter thinks she's nuts, but she has the highest grades in the class, and she doesn't not consider herself to be a writer.

June 21, 2007 at 9:27 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

Or, sometimes, they will get bogged down in writing down their thoughts and we will have them dictate it to us and we write it down for them.

I WOULD TRY THAT!!!

Remember how I used to write down all of Christopher's math answers for him?

It worked!

June 21, 2007 at 9:33 AM
VickyS said...

Glad you liked that Dept. of Oregon writing sample site! I'd never have found it again if I hadn't bookmarked it. It is a real find (came from a homeschool list somewhere...).

I also find that she doesn't trust herself and thinks there is some magical formula that give you a "right answer" for an essay. I attribute that to standardized testing and the fact that they keep pushing this rubric that is more aligned with scoring points on the test that truly good writing.

It drives me crazy that she believes that EVERY response must restate the question verbatim. It may score points but geez, it's just awful!

Boy ain't this the truth.

#1: Rubrics are a cop out for the teacher and the student. They totally stifle creativity and "critical thinking" (hear ye, all you constructivists). The kids learn to "dial in" the score they want to have. They become unable to do assignments without a rubric. Teachers need to be clear about articulating their expectations to their students, but detailed scoring rubrics are a poor way to do this.

#2: Restating the question verbatim is poor writing practice but seems to be everywhere. The kids write like little automatons. Mine also finish their essays with "As you can see, blah blah" where "blah blah" restates the topic sentence, usually verbatim. Boring!

June 21, 2007 at 2:44 PM
Anonymous said...

It's too much too soon.

And they ARE like little automatons with their "Consequently.." and "In conclusion...."

If you are older with a bigger vocabulary and higher-order thinking skills, you can see through the structure and rules as something to help you when you need it or when you can't think of anyhthing better. But children look at it as the LAW.

My son is just a big mess about all of this. However, we finally found a subject that lit him up today. This computer game he plays that has a million levels to it finally got him to come up with topic sentences and "experience" and "opinion" sentences (I'm using the Hake curriculum at the moment) on his own. He just wrote them out happily. He didn't mind making them more detailed or anything. His little paper was starting to write itself.

June 21, 2007 at 4:27 PM

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