{"id":27173,"date":"2007-04-20T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2007-04-20T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/2007\/04\/20\/the-wisdom-of-seventh-graders-designing-an-elective-course\/"},"modified":"2007-04-20T10:00:01","modified_gmt":"2007-04-20T10:00:01","slug":"the-wisdom-of-seventh-graders-designing-an-elective-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/20070420-01\/?p=27173","title":{"rendered":"The wisdom of seventh graders: Designing an elective course"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.com\/oldnewthing\/archive\/2007\/03\/23\/1935433.aspx\"> I spent a few hours<\/a> reading essays written by seventh graders (ages 12 and 13) on the following subject:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"m\"><p> Electives are often fun and different from our normal core classes. Imagine you have been chosen to create <u>one<\/u> new elective for our school. In a multi-paragraph essay, <u>explain<\/u> what the new elective would be like and what students would learn. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> (Students were given two hours, plus one additional hour upon request.)\n Before I present you some of the responses, I&#8217;d like to take some time to address the students on the subject of writing. I know they won&#8217;t read this, but I have to tell <i>someone<\/i>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stay on prompt; in other words, make sure you address the     assigned topic in its entirety.     Don&#8217;t get so carried away describing the class itself that you forget     to explain what students would learn.     Going off prompt is an automatic disqualification. <\/li>\n<li>Stay on mode; in other words, write the type of essay requested.     This example demands an expository essay,     not a persuasive one.     You aren&#8217;t trying to convince other students to take your elective.     As with going off prompt, going off mode is an automatic     disqualification. <\/li>\n<li>Do not introduce new material in your conclusion.     Your conclusion is for tying your argument together;     it&#8217;s not a place for &#8220;oh, wait, I forgot something.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>Take it easy with the exclamation points!     It&#8217;s really distracting! <\/li>\n<li>Inside these questions there is often hidden another question,     usually a <i>Why<\/i>.     Here, the hidden question is &#8220;Why is it important that students     learn that which this elective teaches?&#8221;     Addressing the hidden question takes your essay to the next level.     This tip is only for advanced writers;     don&#8217;t even consider addressing the hidden question until you can     handle the explicit one! <\/li>\n<li>Mind your frame of reference.     Don&#8217;t start with <i>students<\/i> and then switch to <i>you<\/i>.     Example of error (exaggerated):     &#8220;Students who complete this class can show off to your friends.&#8221;     I&#8217;d say that over half of the essays made mistakes like this,     though none so blatant. <\/li>\n<li>Mind your antecedents.     When you use a pronoun, make sure the noun to which it refers     is unambiguous.     Example of error:     &#8220;If teachers or anyone else hears insults, they will be thrown     out of class.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;m sure there are adjectives other than <i>cool<\/i> and <i>fun<\/i>.     Try using them once in a while.     It&#8217;s cool and fun. <\/li>\n<li>Many rules of writing can be broken,     but don&#8217;t break a rule until you&#8217;ve first mastered it.     Richard Wagner can write     <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Das_Rheingold#Scene_1\">     an orchestral prelude that consists of a single chord     for over four minutes<\/a>,     but that&#8217;s because he&#8217;s Richard Wagner, and he knows what he&#8217;s doing. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> What electives would seventh-graders design for themselves? Here are the ones from the essays that I read (plus some that other readers shared with me, marked with asterisks), broken down roughly into categories, and illustrated with selected sentences from those essays or closely-related essays.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sports and exercise     \n<ul>\n<li>Skateboarding.     <\/li>\n<li>Fencing.     <\/li>\n<li>Cricket.     <\/li>\n<li>Soccer. The student explains that the problem with         standard gym classes is that you don&#8217;t get         to spend much time focusing on any one sport.         &#8220;This class will have more variety than any other class.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>*Basketball.         &#8220;Shooting is a exceedingly important part of basketball         because if you didn&#8217;t score you would have no points.         Shooting well helps your team&#8217;s chances of winning the game.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>*Swimming.         This essay had an excellent introductory paragraph that         ended with &#8220;We need more electives. We need variety.         We need swimming.&#8221;         It&#8217;s a joy to read from students who have such control of writing         that they can explore         <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anaphora\">         rhetorical devices<\/a>.     <\/li>\n<li>Paintballing [sic].         &#8220;There is not another elective where the goal is          to shoot another student to win.&#8221;         (How about photography?)     <\/li>\n<li>A single sport (chosen by the student).     <\/li>\n<li>Exercise for students who are overweight or have         physical disabilities.     <\/li>\n<li>Weight training.         It         &#8220;<span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"strengthens\">strenthens<\/span> strength.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>*Skydiving.     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Arts     \n<ul>\n<li>Glass blowing.     <\/li>\n<li>Metal shop. (The school already offers woodworking.)     <\/li>\n<li>Drawing.         &#8220;There is, quite literally, a fine line between a sketch of         a drawing and the actual drawing.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>Cartooning.     <\/li>\n<li>Architecture.     <\/li>\n<li>Creative writing (2&times;).     <\/li>\n<li>*Rock music performance.         &#8220;Would you rather be         <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shred_guitar\" style=\"border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"shredding\">         shreding<\/a> (on the guitar) or playing         <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"Beethoven\">         Betovon<\/span>.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Sciences     \n<ul>\n<li>Electronics.     <\/li>\n<li>Material science.     <\/li>\n<li>*Writing video games.         &#8220;Each kid would pay a fee of $20 to pay some real         <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"programmers\">progromers<\/span>          to teach the class for a year.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Personal development     \n<ul>\n<li>Make-up and beauty.     <\/li>\n<li>Style and fashion. Specifically, shopping for clothes.     <\/li>\n<li>Self-image improvement.         Specifically, by improving one&#8217;s hairstyle         (&#8220;Braids, twists, and buns, OH MY!&#8221;), make-up, and fashion sense.         &#8220;From color choices to what fashion style best suits them,         it can get very         <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"confusing - but see also 'fuss'\">         confussing<\/span>.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>Information. A combination of writing and public speaking.         The student&#8217;s recommendations for presentations?         The second slide should contain ten bullet points.         &#8220;The third slide would be a five paragraph essay about the topic.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Languages and cultures     \n<ul>\n<li>Foreign travel.     &#8220;The students might have to take quizzes.&#8221;     The class concludes with     trips to seven countries, each lasting one week.     &#8220;It would be worth it to say, &#8216;I have been to all seven countries     just in Middle school.'&#8221;     The student acknowledged that this class     would be expensive.     &#8220;It will cost you     <a href=\"http:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/currency\/convert?amt=1000&amp;from=USD&amp;to=EUR\">     1000 dollars<\/a> to get your seven tickets to fly to all those countries.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>Foreign language (unspecified).         (Most schools in the United States do not introduce foreign languages         until high school, typically age 14.)     <\/li>\n<li>Mandarin Chinese (2&times;).     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Life skills     \n<ul>\n<li>Introduction to automobile driving and safety.         Students are too young to drive cars,         so they will train on         <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/Kart_racing\">go-karts<\/a>.         &#8220;Go-karting would allow you to practice those basics          so much that driving a car would be a walk in the park.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>Wilderness survival. The final exam is a practical.     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Careers     \n<ul>\n<li>How to get a job. Focusing on the mechanics,         like filling out an application.     <\/li>\n<li>Choosing a career. Students research various careers to learn         more about them.     <\/li>\n<li>Veterinarian.         &#8220;This elective would teach students all that they need         to know to become a vet such as the basics         of being a veterinarian and how to treat animals.&#8221;         The basics are all you need to know!     <\/li>\n<li>Doctor. Students will attend class in surgical scrubs and         perform dissections and autopsies.         Field trips include going to a local hospital         and assisting an actual doctor.         (You are responsible for your own malpractice insurance.)         &#8220;In conclusion, having a class about what a doctor does         is what we should have at our school because         it is informative yet amusing.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Wildcard     \n<ul>\n<li>*&#8221;I sugjest reshersh and repor class.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>*Adobe Photoshop.         This essay was a one-page advertisement for Photoshop,         going into the product&#8217;s features in fantastic detail.     <\/li>\n<li>Fire.     <\/li>\n<li>Inventing. Students will create an invention         over the course of the term.     <\/li>\n<li>Television appreciation.         &#8220;Our current electives require thought and work. &#8230;         This class is a much needed easy         <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grading_in_the_United_States\">         A+<\/a>. &#8230;         This class will prepare our students for the real world.         You can learn more life lessons in an episode of         <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nick.com\/all_nick\/tv_supersites\/spongebob\/main.jhtml\" style=\"border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"SpongeBob\">         Spong Bob<\/a>         than the average person can learn in his life. &#8230;         Watching mindless television for a whole period for credit         will be a great elective.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>*Being lazy. This student cut to the chase.         Not like that &#8220;television appreciation&#8221; student who tried to         disguise it as something remotely educational.     <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Social hall.&#8221; This class is limited to fifteen students         and consists only of students you choose to take it with.         One of the school buildings will be converted to &#8220;social hall,&#8221;         with one classroom for doing homework,         another classroom converted to a movie theater,         and others available just for hanging out with your friends.         Food and beverages will be provided, of course.         There is no examination.         &#8220;I think Social hall would be an excellent elective.         Students will          <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"enhance\">inhance<\/span>         social skills, physical skills and eating ideas.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Anything you want.&#8221; Students are free to roam the campus         for this double-length period.         &#8220;It would be the greatest elective yet to be invented.         There will be no teachers, no rules, no fighting.&#8221;     <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <b>Other sentences<\/b>, taken completely out of context for maximum amusement.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>*&#8221;Sure fit people are in good shape but they     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"need\">nee<\/span>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"exercise\">exersise<\/span> too.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Students would prefer it for its     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"ingenious (see also 'ingenuous')\">ingenuous<\/span>     content.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;There is only so long a 7th grader can sit in a cluttered room and write.&#8221;     (A comment on the assignment, perhaps?) <\/li>\n<li>*&#8221;In this class, students will learn how to vacation.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>*&#8221;We would be able to go to the lake three times a week,     Tuesdays and Thursdays.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>*&#8221;It would most likely shock the students that     when you have a job you have to do just about everything by yourself.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>*&#8221;Art is hard and easy but not both.&#8221; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <b>Spelling corner<\/b>: See if you can guess the word before reading the answer.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"soldering\">     soddering<\/span> <\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\" width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"hazardous\">     hazardist<\/span> <\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"3\" width=\"20\"><\/td>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"conclusion\">     conclonstion<\/span> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"graduates\">     gragwwhts<\/span> <\/td>\n<td colspan=\"3\">     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"Junior Achievement\">     Joner of Achievement<\/span> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"towards\">     tords<\/span> <\/td>\n<td>     <span style=\"cursor: default;border-bottom: dotted .75pt red\" title=\"insurance\">     enchurens<\/span> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p> <b>Best new word<\/b>: &#8220;confussing&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <b>Note<\/b>: Hover over dotted words for explanations\/answers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last month, I spent a few hours reading essays written by seventh graders (ages 12 and 13) on the following subject: Electives are often fun and different from our normal core classes. Imagine you have been chosen to create one new elective for our school. In a multi-paragraph essay, explain what the new elective would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1069,"featured_media":111744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[103,109],"class_list":["post-27173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oldnewthing","tag-non-computer","tag-the-wisdom-of-seventh-graders"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"<p>Last month, I spent a few hours reading essays written by seventh graders (ages 12 and 13) on the following subject: Electives are often fun and different from our normal core classes. Imagine you have been chosen to create one new elective for our school. In a multi-paragraph essay, explain what the new elective would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1069"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}