10HP

WHAT WE DID IN CLASS TODAY:
We discussed the degree to which Frankenstein is guilty for the deaths in the novel. This is a topic you will have to address in the timed writing tomorrow.

We also reviewed the rubric for the time writing and looked at samples of timed essays and their scores from the beginning of school.

Here is the SAT rubric:
The New SAT Writing Rubric:

The rubric for the new SAT writing section will be similar to the one used for the current SAT II: Writing Test, which follows below:

Score of 6
A paper in this category demonstrates clear and consistent competence though it may have occasional errors. Such a paper:
• effectively and insightfully addresses the writing task;
• is well-organized and fully developed, using clearly appropriate examples to support ideas;
• displays consistent facility in the use of language, demonstrating variety and sentence structure and range of vocabulary.

Score of 5
A paper in this category demonstrates reasonably consistent competence though it will have occasional errors or lapses in quality. Such a paper:
• effectively addresses the writing task;
• is generally well-organized and well developed using appropriate examples to support ideas;
• displays facility in the use of language, demonstrating some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary.

Score of 4
A paper in this category demonstrates adequate competence with occasional errors and lapses in quality. Such a paper:
• addresses the writing task;
• is organized and adequately developed using examples to support ideas;
• displays adequate, but inconsistent facility in the use of language presenting some errors in grammar or diction;
• presents minimal sentence variety.




Score of 3
A paper in this category demonstrates developing competence. Such a paper may contain one or more of the following weaknesses:
• inadequate organization or development;
• inappropriate or insufficient details to support ideas;
• an accumulation of errors in grammar, diction, or sentence structure.

Score of 2
A paper in this category demonstrates some incompetence. Such a paper is flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:
• poor organization;
• thin develop;
• little or inappropriate detail to support ideas;
• frequent errors in grammar, diction, and sentence structure.

Score of 1
A paper in this category demonstrates incompetence. Such a paper is seriously flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:
• very poor organization;
• very thin development;
• usage and syntactical errors so severe that meaning is somewhat obscure.

Essays that appear to be off topic or that pose unusual challenges in handwriting or other areas should be given to the Table Leader.


Here is a 6 essay:
Not understanding chemistry. Struggling with Spanish. Needing glasses to see the board. These are all common learning difficulties and special needs hundreds of high school students encounter at some point. Individuals with autism experience also face similar challenges - not understanding implied meanings and facial expressions, struggling with social interactions, needing a schedule or a constant to refer back to when things are too much to handle and they can't see clearly anymore. While one may argue that the difficulties autistic children face are not often problematic for normal students, ultimately they are all the same - simply being more skilled in one area of life than another. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and these differ from person to person.
Although autistic children may have trouble learning certain things, they are often capable of excelling in other fields. Christopher Boone in Curious Incident demonstrates this. Christopher acknowledges throughout the novel that he finds many expressions hard to understand - metaphors, similes, raised eyebrows. He even had his teacher, Siobhan, draw out a chart with pictures of common facial expressions and their meanings to help him decipher what others are saying. Unless what is said is very straightforward, Christopher often has trouble comprehending something's actual meaning. Yet despite this learning difficulty, he is extremely talented at math. He earned an "A" on his maths A level exam, and is able to calculate multiples of 2 and prime numbers in his head, and solve complicated puzzles such as Conway's soldiers with effortless ease. The concept of the time-space continuum and the Monty Hall Problem give him no problem. In terms of math, Christopher is far more skilled than the majority of America. He is only seen as different because he needs extra help understanding how to socialize with people.
Why should this be held against him? After all, people who have the reverse problem are never categorized or discriminated against. There are countless people who may be street smart, but not book smart yet society does not hold it against them. Even typical average teenagers have learning difficulties. For example, although I had an easy time in biology, this year I'm struggling with AP chemistry. I flat out don't understand physics or calculus. Special needs? I've got those too - my reading glasses and a quite, calm, environment to study in. I even have trouble learning some of the social aspects of life - I'm forever behind in the new slang and IM abbreviations, which are now a part of every day life. Yet these difficulties to don make me "mentally challenged. They are simply difficulties I must deal with. Everyone has his own challenge to overcome.
Thus, it is unfair that we, as a society, alienate those with autism. They are human beings no different from us - they simply struggle with a different set of challenges. But it doe not mean they are intellectually lower than us. After all, some of our greatest historical figures had autism - Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell. They just have their own special needs. As stated best by 5th grader, Martin, with Asberger's Syndrome, "We need to accept us and be friends with us, while we learn to survive and be successful in your world."

Here is a 5 essay:
Lia is a fourteen year girl. She loves board games and classical music. Lia is amazing at crosswords and logic problems in the paper, but when she does something to upset a classmate at school she is seen as the retard because she is autistic. While people with disabilities have strengths and limitations, we tend to assign labels to them because there limitations are evident in their speech or manner of being; ultimately, when we label people it becomes easy to see their limitations and not their strengths.
Everyone has strengths and limitations, but when a person's limitations are highlighted, we ignore their strengths. Martin, a 5th grade boy with Asperger's Syndrome wrote a letter to his fellow classmates and said, "I can be unbelievably smart at some things, like remembering different computer codes, or remembering dates and facts and trivia . . . on the bad side . . . I flap my hands, or not look at you when I talk, or not understand your hints or body language . . . (Fitting In). Though Martin was a smart kid who knew trivia and other facts the kids in his class quickly jumped to conclusions when they saw "the bad side," instead of looking past the exterior they labeled him as goofy and stupid. Martin's limitations were evident to the human eye, easy to point out. When we focused on limitations we end up labeling people.
We can't seem to get away from labeling people. Our society needs labels to organize the world, to organize everything. In August of this summer, I received my test scores in the mail, I scored Advanced in two subjects, proficient in two more, but scored basic in one. When school started everyone was talking about test scores. People were labeling each other advanced or those kids only scored basic, there not smart. We are labeling kids according to test scores from one year - anywhere from below basic to advanced. Does being below basic or advanced really define who they really are? If someone is labeled below basic, there stupid. They skim by, nothing is expected out of them. While if someone is advanced their smart, ahead of the class and everything is expected from them. But high or low that does not define what someone is made of. Labels, only seeing the strengths or limitations or someone, is like labeling tuperware. Their is only one side. Everyone has limitations that is how we were built.
We need a shift in culture. We need to take responsibility for our actions. We need to use that responsibility when other's use labels to point out someone else's limitations. Our society cannot change over night, a shift like this will take time but there are things we can do to help move the process forward. One, we can read books together like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time to help others better informed about the limitations of autistic kids. We can educate out society about, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell who both had autistic traits but did great things for our country. It is true everyone has a disability or limitations that are hard for them to over come but we do not need to make it any worse or harder for them by labeling.