I was thinking about how you used the five-paragraph paper example of a way your DS can do writing without too much resistance. Mine was the same way--but in 7th grade his teacher responded to an Op-Ed piece by telling DS, this is NOT supposed to be a five-paragraph paper.
Then I remembered as a senior in high school, having to write a five-paragraph paper for the state achievement test.
I'm following this thread because DS is so tricky but am also beginning to wonder if we are just expecting too much, developmentally, from our kids. Maybe some of these skills are just ones that we need to wait out and do our best to scaffold, without so much anxiety.
I taught gifted freshman pre-AP English years ago and still remember how wildly disparate the kids' writing skills were. Generally, the boys seemed to lag more than girls, but I also remember thinking that evaluating writing is a very confusing process--the best writers have something interesting to say AND are organized, have a good command of language, etc., but some of the most interesting thoughts were expressed clumsily.
I also remember conferencing with students and telling them, if you have to explain (orally) what you meant to say, that just means we need to work on that part, in writing.
I'm just babbling, really, but am curious about others' thoughts. I wonder if some of our kids are going to be perfectly functional with their writing, except in a non-optimal timeframe.
