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homework help

3 replies

Jojo3973 · 06/03/2013 20:08

Hi. My DS is in year 4 and has to write an explanation text for his homework about how a machine he has dreamt up works. He has a list of things to include - title, introduction and sequential steps to explain. He has written a pretty short bit of writing with no description or anything. He says he doesn't need adjectives in an explanation, is this true?

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CitrusyOne · 06/03/2013 20:15

This is a bone of contention of mine (ks2 teacher on maternity leave)

Non-fictions shouldn't be 'descriptive' as such, but to get a decent level he will need adjectives, yes. Something as simple as 'the big, blue lever' or 'the tiny, brown button' should cover it, in my opinion.

Jojo3973 · 06/03/2013 20:23

Thankyou. I will take his word for it then. Just seems a bit short, doesn't seem the standard he'd usually come up with but I don't know how to make it better. Maybe it's just the nature of explanations!

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Ferguson · 06/03/2013 20:28

Hi - retired TA (male) here :

Yes, I would think this is probably right (but I stand to be corrected by teachers more expert than I).

Like in a recipe book, you wouldn't expect unnecessary descriptions, merely a list of equipment, ingredients, and the method, cooking time, temperature etc.

But there should be information about what the machine does, how it works, why it is better than other similar machines, possible snags or problems. Even environmental or cost details could be provided.

These kind of things can sometimes be done just as bullet points, not necessarily even requiring normal sentences, but DS has probably seen examples of the kind of thing wanted by the teacher, so should have a reasonable idea of what he is aiming at.

It should not be too brief, and should show that he has thought about the task carefully and not just done the minimum amount of work to see if he 'can get away with it'.

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