4th grade science teacher help...

[shelly3girls]

DD just brought home a science test from school. The test was on vertebrates. The front page list all 5 kinds of vertebrates. She had to fill in two traits for each kind. The directions did not say different traits, just "Fill in two traits for each kind of vertebrate."

DD's test looks something like this...
Fish- gills, cold-blooded
Mammals- lungs, warm-blooded
and so on...

The teacher marked all of it wrong. I just don't understand why. One of her study sheets was a check off list where they had to mark if each kind of vertebrate was cold-blooded, warm-blooded, eggs, live birth, fur, etc. so she definitely studied these traits as part of the chapter. I am sending a note in tomorrow to ask the teacher but I have a very sad little girl who normally gets A's crying over a C. Any advice is welcome!

 

[agnes!]

I'm puzzled too. I wonder what the other kids had for their answers? If you could discreetly activate the Mom's Network, talk to a firend who has a kid in your DD's class? Maybe the teacher was looking for specific facts , I dunno. I'm subscribing to this one, I want to know what the teacher's reply is.

agnes!

 

[shelly3girls]

Talked to one mom but her DD did just as poorly but did get one of them right. For mammal she wrote "breathes air, fur" and got full credit.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Talk to the teacher. It is very possible that she had an aide or someone grade the tests and the answer key was not complete so she just marked the answers wrong and the teacher never reviewed it.

 

[tchrrx]

Hmm..I don't know why they would be wrong. I agree with PP that someone else may have been asked to grade it. Also, is there any chance that the teacher told the students to write in complete sentences or something and then counted your DDs wrong b/c it wasn't in complete sentences?

 

[LadyZolt]

I agree with talking to the teacher and seeing -- seems to me if a high percentage of kids got a lot of these questions wrong, the teacher didn't explain the directions clearly enough. That said, when I read the first post, I thought "mammals" should be something like "has fur, gives birth to live young" since "lungs, warm blooded" could also apply to birds. I thought maybe the teacher wanted things that apply solely to the cagegory, but then "breathes air" like the other child answered would also apply to birds, yet that child received full credit. So, yes, talk to the teacher. (Maybe this is a test for the parents to see who can figure it out!)

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[shelly3girls]

Hmm..I don't know why they would be wrong. I agree with PP that someone else may have been asked to grade it. Also, is there any chance that the teacher told the students to write in complete sentences or something and then counted your DDs wrong b/c it wasn't in complete sentences?

Normally I would say yes but there was not enough room for a complete sentence. Her answers filled the whole space as it was. DD gets so upset when I want to question the teacher so I let most grading mistake go by without mention. I just cannot let this one go. The questions were worth 20 points and from what I see she should have only lost 2.

 

[shelly3girls]

I agree with talking to the teacher and seeing -- seems to me if a high percentage of kids got a lot of these questions wrong, the teacher didn't explain the directions clearly enough. That said, when I read the first post, I thought "mammals" should be something like "has fur, gives birth to live young" since "lungs, warm blooded" could also apply to birds. I thought maybe the teacher wanted things that apply solely to the cagegory, but then "breathes air" like the other child answered would also apply to birds, yet that child received full credit. So, yes, talk to the teacher. (Maybe this is a test for the parents to see who can figure it out!)

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

I think you are right. That is probably what the teacher wanted. The problem is that the directions did not say this. If she wanted what makes each group different, I think she should have written directions that said name two traits that are unique to each group.

 

[tchrrx]

Did you ever hear from the teacher? Just wondering what was finally decided!

 

[shelly3girls]

I did receive a note back from the teacher. She said the class did a test review two days before the test and she told them to "remember to talk about the differences in the vertebrates." There was a sub in the classroom the day before and the day of the test who forgot to remind the kids to use unique traits instead of the directions that just said name two traits. All of the children told the teacher that the sub did not remind them but she felt the warning two days before should have been enough. I see the teachers point but honestly at 9 years old I think it was unreasonable to expect the children to remember something from several days before. Oh well, I just feel sorry for DD. I found out that this was the first test of the marking period and there will only be one more test. DD needs to ace the next test to even get a B for the marking period, a tough pill to swallow for a child that makes honor roll every marking period. I told her she should use this as a lesson learned and be a better listener. I still feel terrible for her.

 

[MM27]

I did receive a note back from the teacher. She said the class did a test review two days before the test and she told them to "remember to talk about the differences in the vertebrates." There was a sub in the classroom the day before and the day of the test who forgot to remind the kids to use unique traits instead of the directions that just said name two traits. All of the children told the teacher that the sub did not remind them but she felt the warning two days before should have been enough. I see the teachers point but honestly at 9 years old I think it was unreasonable to expect the children to remember something from several days before. Oh well, I just feel sorry for DD. I found out that this was the first test of the marking period and there will only be one more test. DD needs to ace the next test to even get a B for the marking period, a tough pill to swallow for a child that makes honor roll every marking period. I told her she should use this as a lesson learned and be a better listener. I still feel terrible for her.

That seems odd. Are their final grades determined only by two test grades?