In most subjects, grading is a simple matter of what’s missing. If students have a math or history test on Wednesday, studying the material—applicable formulae in math and the contexts surrounding historic events in history—will most likely yield a high grade. If they miss a logical progression in solving a problem, or a fact and its implications in history, then they will receive a lower grade because of what’s missing.
In the humanities, and especially English, that sort of formula only works for reading quizzes and work that can be quantified. Command of language, a graceful prose style, and level of complexity are qualities of the best English papers, but can’t be reduced to a formula.
How we’d love to reduce writing to numbers! Where do you think the attachment to the five-paragraph essay came from? Never mind that it exists only in the classroom (try to find one in your local newspaper or any anthology of contemporary essays), yet many students arrive in college thinking that an essay isn’t “real” unless it has five paragraphs.
This invented writing form consists of: one introductory paragraph, three containing one example each, and a conclusion that repeats the point of the first paragraph. In my classroom, that would earn a C, at best. And as deadly as the five-paragraph essay is to read, it is beloved by many students and teachers because of its predictability.
Students would also love for teachers to hand out a grade sheet that would quantify grading standards in writing: 1-3 errors = A, 4-6 errors = B, 7-10 errors= C, more than 10 errors = you don’t want to know.
Even in the Advanced Composition classes I teach at George Mason University, some students have difficulty understanding that writing is about more than what’s wrong or missing. Papers are graded based on the writer’s clarity, style, concrete examples, level of sophistication, and mechanical correctness. For many, words like “style” and “sophistication” contain a degree of subjectivity they find unsettling.
Writing is an art, and judging art is subjective. Learning to create something of artistic merit has no easy formula, either. Artists always recommend practice, but native gifts also factor into the learning process. Composing a ballet or a symphony, as well as judging them, all defy quantification. The coach or teacher can merely give guidelines: practice, expose yourself to the best examples of the genre, revise, and follow your passion. That advice works equally well for any art form, including writing.
Yet I sympathize with students who want some control over how their work is judged. In my high school and college classrooms, I never base the entire grade on subjective standards; I always include quizzes, participation, and completion of work grades along with writing grades. That takes some of the mystery out of the bottom line.
Yet at its core, grading in the humanities will never be an objective process and will always cause students anxiety. It’s a wonderful moment when students begin to see improvement in their work and realize that they, too, are participants in this subjective journey. Ultimately, the learning process gives students the control they seek.
What Kids Are Reading
This weekly column will look at lists of books kids are reading in various categories, including grade level, book genre, data from libraries, and data from booksellers. Information will also be based on the study of children’s reading habits published by Renaissance Learning, Inc.
2nd Grade
1. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
2. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
4. If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff
5. If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
6. Big Words for Little People by Jamie Lee Curtis
7. We the People: The Story of Our Constitution by Lynne Cheney
8. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
9. Harold and The Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition by Crockett Johnson
10. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The first five are listed in order of popularity based on the Renaissance Learning study. 411,181 second graders logged onto a website to record what books they were reading. The last five are based on bestsellers in that age group on Amazon.com.
