Case
"Grammar should not be graded in social studies!"

I have a parent who does not agree with how I grade my students assignments. I currently teach social studies and the parent thinks it is wrong to count off on spelling and grammar. The parent thinks that essays and written responses should only be graded based on content. What would you say to the parent? Do you think grading for spelling and grammar in all subject areas is important?

Posted on: 03/10/15 | Views: 968
Solution #1
Top Solution
Speaking as an ELA teacher, hallelujah! I do think that you need to be careful with this, though. Strong critical reading and written communication skills are necessary in all core subjects and build literacy, but rarely are students held accountable for them outside of the ELA classroom. I would make sure that the points taken off are minimal in the grand scheme of the assignment. You can tell them that you are working through a cross-curricular approach by supporting the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language. You can find them here: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/CCRA/L/

I would explain to the parent the importance of cross curricular assignment. State test are moving more toward constructive responses, and the students need to understand how to properly and correctly express their ideas.

Great resources and advice! Grammar is important and it should be taken into account.

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Solution #2
As the person before me stated, I would instruct the parent of the push for more cross-curricula activities that encourage students to find more relevance in the contents being delivered, however, I would tell the parent that I encourage students to always use proper grammar and mechanics. I would also inform the parent of a need to answer constructive response questions that must be written free of errors and graded accordingly. In closing, I would tell her that my goal is to educate his or her child not only in social studies, but in all areas of life.

I agree with this solution. I have never heard of a job where a letter, full of errors, that was sent to a client, was acceptable because it contained the correct factual information. Our job is to educate, but also, we are now charged with also preparing our students to be work ready. That means that our subjects need to have the "real world" factor added in. Correct grammar and spelling, in my opinion, are real life!

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Solution #3
I believe while all subjects should be integrated, one should have more importance than the other depending on the lesson. For instance, with history, content should be extremely important. While correct spelling and proper grammar is expected, it may not count for a large amount of the grade.
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Solution #4
I would direct the parent to the Georgia Milestones website and allow them to view the rubrics and expectations for the extended writing portion of that assessment. Prior to GA Milestones, students were not assessed on spelling and grammar when taking writing assessment(in my district we took the Write Score), however, that is changing in the wake of Milestones. Students will now be assessed on spelling and grammar in their writings, therefore, it is important and makes sense to assess them on those things in all classrooms when requiring them to produce a writing.
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Solution #5
While i believe that we should emphasize the use of correct grammar across the curriculum, I don't believe that you should weight it heavily in all the other subjects. Social Studies is more geared toward assessing for understanding of the facts learned. While you should continue to highlight the grammatical errors to improve communication, the student need to understand what is the focus, and become afraid to expressing themselves for fear of making mistakes.
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