Post by sardines on Sept 12, 2008 15:00:19 GMT -6
It would be good to have some idea on the grading of summer HW. We have also seen those sort of differences in grading of summer HW at WV.
I wasn't aware there is an honors English in place in our MS already. If there is, the kids in that class should be getting the HS honors prep.
Asking the right questions is often the first step...
Just so we're on the same page: This is the Hill 8th Graders from 2007/2008 year (Honors English) -> WV 9th Grade Honors English this year (2008/2009).
My son previously did the same 8th Honors@Hill (2004/2005) --> WV 9th Honors English (2005/2006) and the same 'gap' existed.
The styles and types of papers 9th Honors English does is barely if even touched on in the 8th grade honors English course... but the students are expected to already know this by 9th grade. We've dubbed it like a Russian Ballet class.. "This is the assignment, just do it". With no 'how' because it's assumed it's there. For the kids who had PA, it is... for the Non-PA kids.. it really isn't.
Needless to say, we had many before/after school times for additional student/teacher time which was nice of them to accommodate.
We went through the PA program at Granger and I would concur with Momto4, I have never heard of an 8th grade honors course and to my knowledge they did not address the 9th grade Honors reading early.
I actually like the idea, though. Why not? Have all of the enrolled Honors English students read the book (my kid also had Asher Lev in 2007-2008 as a Freshman) at the end of the 8th grade year and assist with the paper when teacher resources are available? Let them see for themselves (the teachers) if the kids are prepared to complete the HS assignment with the required writing style and everything that accompanies it. My kid was certainly exposed to gerunds and participles, etc...(though he'd prefer not to discuss it:) but I still wonder if there is enough emphasis in general right down to the elementary level.
More importantly, I would hope that all classes are being exposed and that there is some unified plan that the teachers are using in their methods. It almost seems to me from talking to different kids that it may be depending on the teacher just how much emphasis a kid receives?
