2019 Monday — Grading Done!

Another batch of grading done!

This was a summary project. The students have read four articles; then they needed to locate the main point in each one; then they needed to write a one paragraph informative summary of each article.

Then they do an in-class portion of the project — they read another article and answer some questions about it and also identify the main point.

I think that sounds like a do-able project, but my students find it to be overwhelming because they cannot locate the main point and without a main point, the summary is not accurate.

I tell them that summary writing is the most difficult writing that I do and that it takes careful reading, serious thinking, and focused observation. Most of them have no patience or motivation to do this work, so they tag the first impressive statement as the main point. Then they earn a zero on that summary. Then they aren’t happy.

Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol