History essays

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katel
Posts: 960
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:30 pm

Post by katel »

Guest - it sounds as if your dd is at a private school - there are no "proper" SATS for history.
Not sure how you will know how your child does - to be honest, that's one of the arguments against provate schooliing.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Anonymous wrote:Hi,
My daughter's tests are marked in percentages not by levels.She will not be taking her keystage three sats.Her school doesn't do them.How will I know what level she should be at by the end of year 7.She was graded with a level 4A for history at the end of year 6.
If her school doesn't do them it must be an independent school, so as long as it has a good reputation I would just heave a huge sigh of relief that they are not wasting the pupils' time and your money on these ridiculous assessments. They are undoubtedly putting the time to much better use. As long as you trust the school you don't need to worry what level she would have got. If you don't trust the school and would actually welcome a KS3 assessment, get her into the state sector quick!
katel
Posts: 960
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:30 pm

Post by katel »

"The comments that he had back were mainly on his conclusion and that he didn't expand enough on why he thought one particular factor had more impact on the Roman expansion than another. I guess next time we will sit down with him and work on these types of responses."

I am interested in this contribution. I just let daughter get on with her essay - answering occasional questions like "How do you spell archers?"I certainly didn't sit down with her and work on any aspect of her work. Do other people? Is it the norm? Bit concerned now - was dd's not brilliant mark because she didn't get enough help? Or was it a more accurate assessment of where she is now if I don't help?
laid back son worried mum
Posts: 4083
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am

Post by laid back son worried mum »

katel, it is a very rare child who ,at the age of 11 (maybe even 12), can ace a History or R&S a55ignment with the purposeful clarity and critical analysis that even we, grown ups, sometimes struggle to attain.

These are new working methods that they are not used to...boy :roll: : comics, football,game cards, technological wizards, act-before-you-think types. Girls ? different set of interests but unle55 you are a keen reader of the more dry humanities subjects, you wi11 face the same i55ues. Doesn't matter if you have a high reading age.

I do sit down with my son to guide him so that he wi11 learn how to think outside the box and see it from a different point of view (not his, which wi11 invariably be to raze everything to the ground)). Learning facts about History and Religion and repeating them is what happens at Primary level.

I am not guiding him so that he can get a bri11iant mark (although that is what gives him the satisfaction and the motivation to do we11), I am helping him learn the ski11s required to produce a senior school standard of work. I would also say that I have an accurate idea of his level as I have to drag 'thoughts' out from him without actually saying the answers.

By late Yr 8 and in Yr 9 they wi11 be tackling GCSE style questions in cla55work, so it is a good idea to start laying the foundations for good e55ay writing...it's not INTRODUCTION, MIDDLE,CONCLUSION anymore.
chad
Posts: 1647
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:49 pm
Location: berkshire

Post by chad »

Same here......

Son left to do his own thing......disjointed blurb of excellent ideas with no cohesion or flow. :(
son persuaded to write ideas down (bullet point style) as a draft, highlight the 'best fit' ones, put them in order, expand on the most important ones and then write an essay around it.... a readable piece of work that is all his. :)
It is getting better and son (now in Year 8 ) starts out with bullet points on his own accord. Hopefully by GCSE he will have got the hang of it completely. :wink:
laid back son worried mum
Posts: 4083
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am

Post by laid back son worried mum »

:lol: :lol:
Hopefully by GCSE he will have got the hang of it completely.
I have already got a Christmas list, written in E55ay form, with the pros and cons of what he would like and how to convince Mum and Dad it is absolutely e55ential for the survival of a Yr 7 child in the Modern World. :lol:

Only joking... have threatened to make him do it if he keeps complaining that Essay writing is a chore.(Why can't we just do bu11et points,says my budding historian?)
Guest

Post by Guest »

chad wrote:Same here......

Son left to do his own thing......disjointed blurb of excellent ideas with no cohesion or flow. :(
son persuaded to write ideas down (bullet point style) as a draft, highlight the 'best fit' ones, put them in order, expand on the most important ones and then write an essay around it.... a readable piece of work that is all his. :)
It is getting better and son (now in Year 8 ) starts out with bullet points on his own accord. Hopefully by GCSE he will have got the hang of it completely. :wink:
Aren't the teachers supposed to be teaching them this? I had hoped my days of acting as teacher and filling in all the gaps, were over when my daughter left her primary school. But her class were asked to each pick a paragraph from their Hastings essay and re-write it. I had to sit and explain to my daughter what was wrong with her essay and how to improve it. How on earth does a child manage if the parents' don't know how to help, of don't have the time?
Bexley
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:13 pm

Post by Bexley »

abcdef wrote:Hi Bexley
That sheet that gives an idea of the levels sounds like a great idea. I hope you don't mind me asking - is it the content that differs between the levels or the style of writing? How would you improve an essay from a level 5 to a level 6 for eg? Any advice gratefully received.
Hi abcdef,

here is what it says for level 5 & 6

LEVEL 5 :

I can put the story of 1066 in the correct chronological order.
I have written about the reasons why William won and Harold lost.
I have also written about how some of the reasons may be connected.
I have organised my work into an introduction, main paragraphs and a conclusion.

LEVEL 6 :

I have put the events of 1066 in the correct chronological order.
I have included as much of my own knowledge as possible and have fully explained the reasons.
I have included all the reasons why William won and Harold lost.
I have made links between all the reasons.
My work has a structure.

The reasons they mention are things they went over in class. Hope this is of some help :)
katel
Posts: 960
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:30 pm

Post by katel »

Hmm . I need to think about this. I try to be as hands off as possible with homework - on the assumption that the teachers need to know what they haev to work with - I wouldn't like to help daughter with an essay and then find out she couldn't reproduce a similar standard piece of work at school. I also wouldn't like the schools expectations to be artificially heightened. It sounds a bit like 11+ coaching - it raises the bar!

When it comes to writing analytical essays surely all the children are in the same boat (of never having done anything like that before) and it is up to the school to help them learn how to do it. If too many people are getting lots of help at home, won't the ones whose parents can't/won't help get left behind?
laid back son worried mum
Posts: 4083
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:18 am

Post by laid back son worried mum »

Anonymous wrote: Aren't the teachers supposed to be teaching them this? I had hoped my days of acting as teacher and filling in all the gaps, were over when my daughter left her primary school. But her class were asked to each pick a paragraph from their Hastings essay and re-write it. I had to sit and explain to my daughter what was wrong with her essay and how to improve it. How on earth does a child manage if the parents' don't know how to help, of don't have the time?
Yes, the teachers are doing their jobs as my son also gets target levels like what Bexley has posted. But in reality, the teachers do not have time to individually help a child fine tune this kind of work, even in a grammar school. There are clinics and you could go and see your teacher if you have a problem but in reality, the school day is so busy and your break and lunch time is so precious. For a child who's not getting any guidance at home or if the parents can't help, it can be very frustrating and can contribute to a loss of confidence if they are consistently struggling with what is a new concept..

Sometimes the problem gets worse and they fall more behind when you get to the summer term. If you are able to oversee your child's work, they will benefit from it. If you are not able to, the best thing will be is to keep a close look on the comments he/she receives after marking and try to arrange for teacher's personal help if things don't improve..
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