Along with my headache last night, Robbie had a writing assignment that he needed to finish and turn in today. When I picked him up from school yesterday, he started by saying that he needed extended time for his writing assignments. Students in Florida take a writing assessment in 4th grade called FCAT Writes. They have 45 minutes to write something based on either a narrative or expository prompt they receive. He swore up and down the entire way home that he is a horrible writer and there is no way that he could pass the Writes test. I, of course, told him otherwise and tried to encourage him to do better. He was given a prompt on Monday and the final draft was due Thursday (today). I'll be honest, his first draft was not good at all. He had a good idea but then went all over the place with it. I made him re-write it after that point where he started pulling strings. I gave him some ideas and sent him off to write. In total, he probably worked a good 2 hours on this assignment. Obviously he won't have this much time when the assessment comes but I think my re-direction helped him realize some where he needs to focus and expand in his writing. Anyway, long story a little bit shorter, he came home today with a high score. Students are scored on a 6 point scale. If you notice in the top left corner, there is a green 6.0 circled. I have a feeling this is Robbie's handwriting. He told me that the teacher went back and forth on how many points to assign. Over on the right side, there is a 6.0 that is circled and crossed out that is his teachers handwriting. In between those two is a 5.5 and a 5. I didn't notice before bed that this was probably his handwriting so I'll have to investigate that more closely. However, whether it is truly a 6, 5.5, or 5.0, he still did an awesome job. (Students need to earn a 4.0 to be considered on grade level.) We'll have to deal with the possibly falsified grade later...
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