writing+grades

__**Grading the Writers' Workshop**__ ** All students MUST SUBMIT AT LEAST ONE PIECE FROM EACH OF THE SIX CATEGORIES in order to PASS ENGLISH 9!!! ** Students should submit their best piece for **each category** to their writing portfolio **each term**. (By the end of English 9, you should have TWO examples of really good writing in each category in your portfolio)
 * Here are the criteria for each of the grades for the writers' workshop (writing portfolio). Students only have TWO portfolio marks per semester--one in each term.**
 * Remember...this is a WRITING assignment, not a CUTTING AND PASTING assignment. Students who submit work that is NOT ALL THEIR OWN will be punished under ATSS' plagiarism policy (which ALWAYS results in a 0 for the assignment...which is your 100-mark writing portfolio).** **DO YOUR OWN WORK!**

Calculating Writer's Workshop Grades: You submit a piece of writing each week. You choose the category; you choose the subject matter. You can hand in class assignments (once you have polished them), or things you have written on your own time. Submit them with the self-assessment attached!

Your mark is fairly easily calculated: I mark each piece on the "snapshot" rubric (on the marking page). I add up these marks, for a total out of 36. Then, I divide your total score by 36 to get a percentage. That's what you get for your writing portfolio mark. If you are very close to the next grade (up or down), I take into account things like your work habits (Did you come in for extra help? Do you stay focused on your work? Is this the 5th draft of this piece, because you worked so hard to get it just right? Are you a kid who is constantly off-task? Does your work look like you scribbled it on the back of a napkin because you had to hand "something" in today?). If you are a hard worker, I tend to round up. If you are not, I tend to round down. Remember that you cannot put a piece into your writing portfolio unless it meets a "4" standard. This is the normal expectation of a grade 9 student. If you cannot produce a "4", you are not working at a grade 9 level.

Some students don't hand in all of their pieces in the first term (for example, they don't do a category 2 piece in term 3). This will lower their mark, and also means that they MUST hand in a category 2 piece in term 4. The Ministry says that you have to demonstrate ALL SIX kinds of writing by the end of grade 9--or you don't pass. Don't look at me, folks--not my rules.

Be aware of the plagiarism rules above. It is always preferable to do your own work! A mark of zero on your writing portfolio is a serious thing!