Great to hear. I find it so depressing how schools now promote the learning off of sample essays to regurgitate during exams - standard practice it seems unless you are ‘exceptional’ (as I was told) and can be allowed to write your own. This is not English! I was horrified the first time I learned of this practice - back in the early Noughties - and as far as I know primary school children don’t write what we would have called essays at all. I’m all for education moving with the times but not allowing for creative writing (and learning how grammar and sentence structure works in the process) seems like a very backward step to me.
Hi Gemma. Thanks for your comment, and it's an interesting viewpoint. I can't say I've come across the practice of sample essay writing, but it does indeed sound depressing. This residency is in a primary school, and I know in third to sixth class, the students write pieces that are about a page or a page and a half long. I ask them to write an A4 page length story as their final product, and certainly in fifth and sixth class, they accomplish this quite easily, often writing more than a page. So hopefully all is not lost yet.
I know they are in very good hands with you and it’s great to hear they will be writing their own stories. Unfortunately the learning off of sample essays is very much the done thing these days - I’m of the opinion that, with screen time being so prevalent in their lives, kids need all the opportunities they can get to be creative. And to get good at creative writing, you need to write.
Great to hear. I find it so depressing how schools now promote the learning off of sample essays to regurgitate during exams - standard practice it seems unless you are ‘exceptional’ (as I was told) and can be allowed to write your own. This is not English! I was horrified the first time I learned of this practice - back in the early Noughties - and as far as I know primary school children don’t write what we would have called essays at all. I’m all for education moving with the times but not allowing for creative writing (and learning how grammar and sentence structure works in the process) seems like a very backward step to me.
Hi Gemma. Thanks for your comment, and it's an interesting viewpoint. I can't say I've come across the practice of sample essay writing, but it does indeed sound depressing. This residency is in a primary school, and I know in third to sixth class, the students write pieces that are about a page or a page and a half long. I ask them to write an A4 page length story as their final product, and certainly in fifth and sixth class, they accomplish this quite easily, often writing more than a page. So hopefully all is not lost yet.
I know they are in very good hands with you and it’s great to hear they will be writing their own stories. Unfortunately the learning off of sample essays is very much the done thing these days - I’m of the opinion that, with screen time being so prevalent in their lives, kids need all the opportunities they can get to be creative. And to get good at creative writing, you need to write.