I thought I understood this, now I'm a bit confused! When I look at the credits for yr 3, I believe it is telling me that to earn a credit for English my student needs to finish 3/4 of ALL reading (and their assignments) AND 3/4 of all the writing assignments (as in WA assignments). To earn an honors credit, ALL assignments in literature and writing must be completed.

THEN when I look at the trimming and cutting, it says that if I cut (blue and green) this should leave enough time for the student to combine writing assignments to earn a honors credit in English.

Am I missing something? It almost sounds like there are other writing assignments besides those in the red pages. Now I admit, I haven't gone through the whole year reading every literature assignment to see if there are writing assignments within these pages (other than the lit work sheets, which I am aware of).

Any light on this problem of mine would be appreciated

Thank you!
Chris

Chris,

While you are waiting for an official response, I think can point you to some information that might answer some of your questions. If you pull up the Loom document called Teaching Rhetoric Literature, you will find a few charts at the end of the document(p. 34) that will help you plan your course. Tapestry recommends writing several literary analysis papers each year. If I am understanding this correctly, you would do these in place of the normal Writing Aids assignments on the weeks you assign these special papers for literature. The charts will help you decide how many papers to assign for the intensity you desire for your student and the courses your student needs.

Writing Aids does provide information to guide you in writing these papers. You asked about the writing assignments in the year plan and how that fits into this picture. If I am understanding the guidelines provided by Tapestry, you are encouraged to substitute 2-4 literary analysis papers for the regular writing assignments in your year plan. The red pages in your year plan are centered around historical themes, whereas the Literary Papers that make up part of the English Credit are centered around literature analysis.

I am still learning how all this works, so don't take my word for it. Perhaps someone with more experience can jump in to confirm or clarify for you. I just wanted to point you to this document-it is so helpful!!!!

Blessings,
Eia

Thank you Eia for your response. I had read that page before, but for some reason it was not clicking. I think my confusion comes from the wording on this chart vs the wording on the Y3 credits chart on the Loom under general resources. They aren't the same. I do understand (now) what page 34 is saying, assuming you are correct in that the writing assignments being referred to are WA assignments except the analysis papers which need to be substituted in. That makes sense to me.

Now for another clarification..... IF you pursue the Literate credit (not English), can you give a composition credit (1/2)? I know this may be a silly question, but under compositionit says if you are pursuing the English credit, don't give credit for this. Are there more writing assignments assumed under the English credit than the Literature credit? OR should I just assume that it just depends on what you want to call the class ~ English or Literature, and Composition is pursued independently w/o the lit reading assignments, just the writing assignments.

I sure hope I am making sense.

Thank you!
Chris

Chris,

I read back over the charts again and did a search on the forum to read some posts on this topic. I just wanted to say that my understanding and explanation above relates to the requirements for an English credit only. That is our focus for this year, so that is what I remembered most clearly. As I have read over more information tonight, it appears that it works differently depending on how you label the course.

English-is a combination of grammar, writing and literature. TOG gives clear guidelines about what must be completed for an English or Honors English credit (although this may vary due to state requirements).

Literature-focuses on the books and analysis of the books. It's a more narrow focus and therefore requires extensive writing of these special analysis papers. The assignments in Writing Aids do not count for literature credit.

I hope I haven't made this more confusing
Eia

Here's one discussion I found on this topic that might explain things more clearly.

Posted 15 June 2009 03:34 PM Hide Post


An English credit consists of some combination of literature, grammar, vocabulary, and writing. In Tapestry, we suggest that the literature comprise the largest portion of that English credit, with the second largest being writing. If you want to follow our suggestions, then yes, you would cut 9 weeks of literature assignments AND do two lit papers (one lit analysis and one lit comparison). These two papers *take the place of other writing assignments* if needed.

If your student is earning a literature credit (regular, not honors), he will complete at least 3/4 of the lit assignments AND complete three papers (one personal response, one lit analysis, and one lit comparison). These do not take the place of any writing assignments.

One BIG key before beginning is checking out your umbrella school's requirements. My umbrella school REQUIRES English I, II, III, and IV (and does not allow ANY honors). If you want to get lit or writing credits, those are considered electives and must be over and beyond the English credit.

Hope this helps!


Dana C. in TN

Eia, You have been most helpful!!!

Thank you for your time!
Chris