Teachers, do you make your classes write about "what they did in the holidays"

[Takver]

on the first day of term? DD says she hates going back to school, because they invariably have to do this on the first day back. I remember hating the same task when I was at primary school.

Admittedly dd hates writing in all forms, so maybe other children don't mind doing it? But is it the normal thing to have to do? And if so, why?

[mrz]

Nooooooooooooooo!

[TheFlyingOnion]

Fairly normal I think although I don't always do it, it really depends what is planned...

Why do you ask why? Its nice to see what the children have been up to in the holidays! It is also a "recount", which is part of the syllabus...

[Takver]

I think dd needs the , not me! I did suggest she could make up something really improbable & see what the teacher says [bad mother emoticon] . . .

[Takver]

FlyingOnion - I guess its the predictability of it - also perhaps the impossibility of explaining in the time period set all the things you did over a six week holiday?

[upahill]

I'm not a teacher but DS's books came home at the end of term.
I read his writing book which obviously started last September and it was a clear dsscription of what he got up to on his holidays.
So clearly some teachers still ask the question!!

[spudmasher]

I have in the past asked the children to write about what they didn't do.....use their imaginations and write some crazy improbable stuff..as an initial ice breaker with a new class and to take them by surprise.

[PorkChopSter]

[Takver]

Actually, PorkChop, to make dd happy you could just set solid maths questions for a week . . .

[mrz]

I give my class the chance to tell everyone the best thing they did on holiday if they want to but we never ever write about it.

[mrz]

Was your DD in my class last year Takver because that was always their favourite choice.

[Takver]

Not unless you live in Wales, Mrz!

[pinkgirlythoughts]

Our head of year (also school literacy coordinator) insists on it as a way of comparing ability range across the year group. I don't really see the point of it, to be honest, as after six weeks of doing fun stuff, most of them in year 2 can't really remember any specifics, and just write something like "I went swimming and watched telly."

[Feenie]

God no, how boring!

[MrsDaffodill]

My son hates this task. In Year One he wrote "I had a shower". Hhhm.... one in six weeks... she must have wondered about our hygiene standards.

[Takver]

I like "I had a shower"

[ASByatt]

Hmm, interesting - we've had quite an active summer, and at various points my DC have commented about howthey're looking forward to writing about it when back at school so that their teachers will know what they've been up to - quite pleased tbh to hear this from my can-read-anything-but-struggles-to-hold-a-pencil-and-doesn't-see-the-point-of-writing-anyway DS (was 6 last week). Of course, if they are asked to do this, he will forget all the exciting stuff and write 'I had a cheeeeeesey wottsit' as the main feature of his 6 weeks away from school........

But as a teacher, I did not set this as a task.

[AbigailS]

I remember the days when I was on teaching practice when the whole school wrote their weekend news every Monday morning. Thank goodness that has changed.

[mrz]

My predecessor (a fairly recently qualified young man) did news every Monday

[Katisha]

I dread eventually seeing the "news", which goes along the lines of "Mummy and Daddy had an argument. And they went to the dump."

[mrz]

I've had My dad has a big willy

[TarquinGyrfalcon]

I never do it but a colleague gets her class to write news at least once a fortnight.

[JemimaMuddledUp]

My DC have to write "news" on a Monday morning.

I'm sure the teachers just do it to be nosey. DS2's teacher (Yr1&2) delighted in telling me what little gems he has come up with this week!

I'm hoping they don't do it when they go back in September though as one little boy's dad died suddenly at the start of the holidays and I think it would be a hard task for him :(