Final Writing Prompt and Guidance for Teachers A good final assessment for “My Mother, the Scientist” will encourage students to work with the ideas they discussed in class, but also give them an opportunity to express thoughts of their own that might not have surfaced during class discussion. Here are two different ways to do this. Choice One: Science teachers at Weddles Middle School want their students to become more interested in science. Therefore, they are planning to offer a class called Science for Everyone. But, the teachers disagree about what the students should read during the first week of class. One group wants students to read an essay called, “Madame Curie, Heroine in the Laboratory.” Another group prefers “My Mother, the Scientist.” You have not read the essay about Marie Curie, but you do have a very good knowledge of “My Mother, the Scientist.” Based on the knowledge you have, write a letter to the teachers at the Weddles school telling them why “My Mother, the Scientist” is the appropriate text for a class called Science for Everyone. In your letter, be sure to clearly establish your position, persuade your readers by offering thorough and compelling evidence for your reasons, and organize your ideas such that your letter has a beginning, middle, and end, and paragraph breaks wherever they are needed. Choice Two: On the next page are three separate passages from “My Mother, the Scientist.” Choose one and write a thorough, organized essay explaining how the passage develops one or more idea that is central to the text as a whole. Be sure to plan your essay in advance so your ideas are organized, establish the main idea or ideas you will discuss, cite specific evidence from the passage. Include discussion of other parts of the text where appropriate. Teachers should choose three passages most appropriate for their own class, but possibilities include: Mother and son in the kitchen (My introduction to chemistry came in 1970… when they said that science was boring.) Joan’s childhood (One of my mother's earliest memories…My mother had discovered her destiny.) Joan’s challenges when she becomes a full-time housewife (I cannot pretend that, as a boy…or a full-time madwoman.)
Final Writing Prompt and Guidance for Teachers A good final assessment for “My Mother, the Scientist” will encourage students to work with the ideas they discussed in class, but also give them an opportunity to express thoughts of their own that might not have surfaced during class discussion. Here are two different ways to do this. Choice One: Science teachers at Weddles Middle School want their students to become more interested in science. Therefore, they are planning to offer a class called Science for Everyone. But, the teachers disagree about what the students should read during the first week of class. One group wants students to read an essay called, “Madame Curie, Heroine in the Laboratory.” Another group prefers “My Mother, the Scientist.” You have not read the essay about Marie Curie, but you do have a very good knowledge of “My Mother, the Scientist.” Based on the knowledge you have, write a letter to the teachers at the Weddles school telling them why “My Mother, the Scientist” is the appropriate text for a class called Science for Everyone. In your letter, be sure to clearly establish your position, persuade your readers by offering thorough and compelling evidence for your reasons, and organize your ideas such that your letter has a beginning, middle, and end, and paragraph breaks wherever they are needed. Choice Two: On the next page are three separate passages from “My Mother, the Scientist.” Choose one and write a thorough, organized essay explaining how the passage develops one or more idea that is central to the text as a whole. Be sure to plan your essay in advance so your ideas are organized, establish the main idea or ideas you will discuss, cite specific evidence from the passage. Include discussion of other parts of the text where appropriate. Teachers should choose three passages most appropriate for their own class, but possibilities include: Mother and son in the kitchen (My introduction to chemistry came in 1970… when they said that science was boring.) Joan’s childhood (One of my mother's earliest memories…My mother had discovered her destiny.) Joan’s challenges when she becomes a full-time housewife (I cannot pretend that, as a boy…or a full-time madwoman.)
grade_7_my_mother_the_scientist_final.docx