I grade using a rubric. One category is vocabulary (spelling,
word choice, not repeating one word lots, etc), one is grammar
(conjugation, agreement, etc), and one is understandability (is
the message communicated). Sometimes, the first two could
affect the last, sometimes not. It is concrete that way.

Jocelyn

On 11/03/09, Whatever works for you.. wrote:
> When my I's and II's write essays I usually start with 10
> points and take off 1 full point for a mis-conjugated verb
> (yo tiene o yo teno quince annos) and a half point for
> smaller errors-- i.e. no se without the accent--no accent on
> this computer, sorry. I let mistakes like this go: Mis
> parientes son de Georgia. Mi madre es de Dalton y mi padre es
> de Altanta.
>
> But when I taught intermediate English to non native speakers
> I found it was easier to just grade an essay or dialog
on
> overall clarity based on what they should know. Here is a
> dialog I got from a lower intermediate student:They could get
> up to 10 points. Do you like car? Yes I like. How is
it?
> It's blue. (And so on with errors like this..it was about 10
> more lines.) That was a "B" so I gave it 8.5/10. (Had i
> counted errors and taken off .5 per error it would have been
> lower than 8.5/10.)
>
> It's not a A because they should know to use "the car" and "I
> like it" (both basic errors and topics we'd covered)-- but
> the literal translation como es doesn't hurt the grade
> because we hadn't covered how to translate como es.
>
> A C- dialog was: You want car? No, thank. I want other car..
> bigger green car. Is very beautiful this car.. you like? That
> was 6.5/10; it's much harder to follow due to the student's
> incorrect basic grammar.
>
> But my way isn't the only right way :).. in French my French
> teacher graded our essays that said: Me llamo Sarah. Tengo
> veintidos annos y soy de Georgia by first deciding the over
> all essay was a "B-" and then later figuring out how many
> points to give to a B- essay..say 15/20. The problem I see
> with system that is students will get upset if you can't tell
> them exactly why the essay was only a B- and not an A+.. but
> on the other hand it's much easier than counting up 3 mis
> conjugated verbs and 7 smaller errors in an 8 sentence essay
> and trying to give that a point value..
>
> So try different ways to grade and see what works for you..
> buena suerte!
>
> On 11/03/09, TrishW wrote:
>> I'd like to know how others grade paragraphs and essays. I
>> am teaching a high school Spanish class for homeschoolers
>> for the first time.
>>
>> I thought of assigning a total point value and then docking
>> a quarter point for each missing accent and spelling
>> mistake and one point for incorrect verb conjugation. Any
>> other thoughts on this? Thanks in advance!

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