how to grade unit studies?

[MamaSweetie2]

We switched to unit studies mid-year. I am at a loss on how to assign grades to the different subjects that were more reading & project oriented.

Also, since composition and lit are required starting in grade 7, do I list a separate grade for these, or do I just include it all under the heading Language Arts.

Thanks!

Christine

[Dianna]

We switched to unit studies mid-year. I am at a loss on how to assign grades to the different subjects that were more reading & project oriented.

Also, since composition and lit are required starting in grade 7, do I list a separate grade for these, or do I just include it all under the heading Language Arts.

Thanks!

Christine

Christine, have you considered not assigning grades at all, just listing topics you've covered (in your biannual progress reports) instead? It would free you to focus on learning instead of grading. If that doesn't appeal to you, consider just giving a Satisfactory (S), Unsatisfactory (U), Exceeded Expectations (EE), Needs Improvement (NI) for each subject. If you still want to give traditional grades, just think about what your goals were for each subject, discuss with your children what their goals were, then talk about whether or not you met those goals and what kind of effort they put into it. If all goals were met and they put effort into it, then award an A. If almost all were met, and they wavered on their effort somewhat, then award a B. Figure out the rest of the grades from there.

Regarding Comp & Lit, since they're both required areas, document/assess them separately on paper (whether grades or a list of books read or topics mastered), but once they get to high school level, wrap them into English I, English II, etc., on the transcript. Since I don't use grades, I just list Language Arts as a general area, then list "Literature" as a sub-heading and list books read/discussed, then list "Composition" as a separate heading and put topics/types of essays mastered, then list Grammar or any other Language Arts topics and list topics mastered (sentence diagramming, etc). You could do the same with grades but giving grades for each sub-area, then rounding them to just one grade for Language Arts if it's easier for you.

I hope this makes sense!

Dianna

[MamaSweetie2]

Thanks Dianna,

You've given me a lot of food for thought. Who knew there were so many choices for grading! Thanks!

Christine