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Right. So, if it is learned by memorizing the song repeatedly played in class that leaves out the words, should points be taken off when the child does not include the words? I'm not so concerned about the "prosterity" part.
Yes. The odds are very good that an actual print copy was made available. Second, they weren't being tested on their knowledge of Schoolhouse Rock; they were being tested on their knowledge of the Preamble. The song is only an aid.
Quote:
This was one part of a larger test about our government and The Constitution.
What do you think about these questions below regarding The Bill of Rights? How can you answer "true or false"? They aren't true or false statements, they are "yes/no" questions.
The barracks at the US Army base is overcrowded. Eric's mother tells him the US Army has ordered her to let soldiers stay in his room. Eric says, "No way!" Can the US Army make them do this? True or False?
Jon and his friends have been tried and found guilty of putting toilet paper all over their teacher's trees. They have been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison. They argue this is not constitutional. Are they right? True or False?
Frankly, a five-second question to the teacher during the test would have clarified any problem. Self-advocacy at all ages and at all levels is a crucial skill in school. That might be a choice you suggest for your child in the future. Rather than seeking to punish someone for writing a test whose wording and grading you personally didn't like, try putting at least some of the responsibility on your child: "Okay, when you were confused about this, what did you do? Did you ask the teacher what it meant or express your confusion? What steps did you take to help yourself?"
The other choice you could encourage your child to make is by answering the question two ways, e.g., "The U.S. Army can force their way into the house and allow their soldiers to stay in Eric's room, but the Constitution does not allow the army to do that legally. If the soldiers were to force themselves inside, they would be in legal violation of the Constitution."
Right. So, if it is learned by memorizing the song repeatedly played in class that leaves out the words, should points be taken off when the child does not include the words? I'm not so concerned about the "prosterity" part.
This was one part of a larger test about our government and The Constitution.
What do you think about these questions below regarding The Bill of Rights? How can you answer "true or false"? They aren't true or false statements, they are "yes/no" questions.
The barracks at the US Army base is overcrowded. Eric's mother tells him the US Army has ordered her to let soldiers stay in his room. Eric says, "No way!" Can the US Army make them do this? True or False?
Jon and his friends have been tried and found guilty of putting toilet paper all over their teacher's trees. They have been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison. They argue this is not constitutional. Are they right? True or False?
This test is written in an awkward manner. I wonder did the teacher write the test or did the it come from a teacher's guide book? The creator of the test could have eliminated the true/false answers and let the students answer yes/no or however they saw fit.
Your son was told to memorize the preamble--not schoolhouse rock. He did not follow directions, so it is reasonable for points to be deducted from his grade.
Really? Because it's a good idea in the first place to use a cartoon to teach children about documents that came to form the foundation of our country and then not mention important nuances that would help promote higher understanding and comprehension of what the documents mean. As far as you know, the teacher may have just replayed the cartoon five times and then told the kids to memorize the preamble for a test without even explaining the significance of it. Maybe, just maybe, perhaps the teacher thought it wouldn't matter to mention "of the United States" and thus the child's grade faltered.
I am simply stating that one or two points off of a test because he forgot to mention the United States in the end shouldn't be make or break because she is probably wondering in regards to the grade. Just go over the concept with your son about the preamble instead of getting all singy-songy. That's what education should be doing first and foremost. Provide background and then the song can function as extra help.
My comment was directed at your comment that it did not matter.
It does matter. The grade is not the issue.
The teacher needs to be unambiguous in what is taught (such as pointing out that the version in the song is not totally correct), and the teacher needs to know that "true" and "yes" do not mean the same thing. It would appear that this teacher has some deficiencies, and I do not think they should go unchallenged.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Wallace
Yes. The odds are very good that an actual print copy was made available. Second, they weren't being tested on their knowledge of Schoolhouse Rock; they were being tested on their knowledge of the Preamble. The song is only an aid.
Frankly, a five-second question to the teacher during the test would have clarified any problem. Self-advocacy at all ages and at all levels is a crucial skill in school. That might be a choice you suggest for your child in the future. Rather than seeking to punish someone for writing a test whose wording and grading you personally didn't like, try putting at least some of the responsibility on your child: "Okay, when you were confused about this, what did you do? Did you ask the teacher what it meant or express your confusion? What steps did you take to help yourself?"
The other choice you could encourage your child to make is by answering the question two ways, e.g., "The U.S. Army can force their way into the house and allow their soldiers to stay in Eric's room, but the Constitution does not allow the army to do that legally. If the soldiers were to force themselves inside, they would be in legal violation of the Constitution."
Problem solved.
From the original post, "Part of the test required him to recite or sing The Preamble to The Constitution. At home, he had been singing the Schoolhouse Rock song that teaches about The Constitution. According to him they had been singing it daily at school and I believe him because he knows the whole song (every single bit of it) by heart."
It seems to me that the teacher implied that the version they were listening to on a daily basis was acceptable to sing. If they were doing this on a daily basis, the teacher had ample opprtunity to point out that the version they were singing was not correct. I am not sure a sixth grader would pick up on the discrepancy between the Schoolhouse Rock version and the actual version. To sing it, he would have to add the missing words himelf.
I wonder if he was the only one of her students to make that mistake? Did any other children sing it and insert the missing words?
Why in the world does the song leave out those words?
By the way, Mom, did you not notice the song omitted those words?
Right. So, if it is learned by memorizing the song repeatedly played in class that leaves out the words, should points be taken off when the child does not include the words? I'm not so concerned about the "prosterity" part.
This was one part of a larger test about our government and The Constitution.
What do you think about these questions below regarding The Bill of Rights? How can you answer "true or false"? They aren't true or false statements, they are "yes/no" questions.
The barracks at the US Army base is overcrowded. Eric's mother tells him the US Army has ordered her to let soldiers stay in his room. Eric says, "No way!" Can the US Army make them do this? True or False?
Jon and his friends have been tried and found guilty of putting toilet paper all over their teacher's trees. They have been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison. They argue this is not constitutional. Are they right? True or False?
True=Yes; False=No. If my 6th grader could not figure that out I'd have much bigger problems than how the test was written. A little awkward yes, but nothing to complain about. I actually thought it was a clever way of having the students take the 3rd and 8th Amendments and apply them to real life situations. I would be more impressed with that than annoyed at the answers being true/false versus yes/no.
It sounds like you are upset your son didn't score well and you are now coming up with a reason why, blaming the teacher. Yes, the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon is great, I still remember the words to all of those from when I was a kid, however, this is the "Cliff Notes" version of the Preamble. The cartoon was made to get a point across, not to teach the exact words. It would be the same as if a child watched a movie vs reading the book for an English Lit test, sure you get the general meaning of the "book", however things were changed so they fit into the movie.
I'd have to say no, I'm not upset he got a bad grade. He's had those before, trust me. I've taught in this building for 19 years and wouldn't give such a poorly written test. It's one thing if you do poorly on a well written test, but this is not well written.
I think you are making my point though. The song is like a Cliff Note version. So as a teacher, would you use it to teach about the Constitution, play it repeatedly until this kids know the whole thing word for word, give them an option to sing the Preamble and then take off points because words are left out when what they memorized left them out? Why give the option to sing it?
I disagree. Is today January 27th? You can't answer "true" or "false". Neither makes sense. How can an answer of "no" be marked wrong because I didn't answer "false"?
Location: Long Island via Chapel Hill NC, Go Heels?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
My comment was directed at your comment that it did not matter.
It does matter. The grade is not the issue.
The teacher needs to be unambiguous in what is taught (such as pointing out that the version in the song is not totally correct), and the teacher needs to know that "true" and "yes" do not mean the same thing. It would appear that this teacher has some deficiencies, and I do not think they should go unchallenged.
Right and if you read my last post, you'd see that I agreed with you in that the teacher needs to teach and not be ambiguous by using the song as 95% of the lesson.
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