juvenile

[Miss C]

*sigh* I was grading my kids' vocab test just now. One of my boys defined "juvenile" like this: "A dilinkwint child sent away to jail (child jail)." Of course, the def. was "of or pertaining to young people". He just got creative I guess. I marked it wrong. Am I bad?
I mean, if you're going to define the word incorrectly, at least spell your wrong answer correctly, right?

 

[Chicago Teacher]

slang, but still wrong

All of my students are kids coming out of youth correctional facilities, so this one sounds familiar to me!

In the world of kids in the juvenile justice system, "juvenile" is actually the slang term for a juvenile detention center ("He got sent to Juvenile for breaking in to the car.") But, even with that, your student would still be wrong, because then the definition would be simply "child jail" without the "dilinkwint child" part.

So, in actuality, it seems his problem was that he was just too specific! =)

 

[SC]

Definitely wrong

I would have marked it wrong and then taken off points for spelling as well! My kids are lazy when it comes to spelling, so I add in points to each assignment so I can take them away for spelling if necessary.

 

[Eydie]

About spelling......

Yes, you were right to mark that question wrong! I was just wondering what grade you teach....I wouldn't mark off extra for spelling as suggested by SC unless a dictionary is provided and the children are just not taking the time to look up the words. My daughter is 8 and in the fourth grade. She is a gifted child with a very creative mind, never has earned any grade on any paper lower than an A....however, she can't spell worth a flip! The only thing I have to study with her is spelling. She can recite every spelling rule there is but somewhere in the application it doesn't process! If there was not a dictionary at hand and her core subjects were being graded with points deducted for spelling then she would no longer be an A student! Thank goodness for spell check and good dictionary skills!
I guess she comes by it honestly though. My Dad has a PHD from Cal-Tech in Chemistry and he can't spell either! Please everyone, don't be too harsh grading for spelling. If the information is correct and you can tell what the child means to say (like "dilinkwint") then let it go.....or tell the child to look it up and correct the spelling before counting it wrong!

Wow....sorry.....I just turned your post into my own personal vent!

 

[SC]

Spelling

I don't take off for every misspelled word. I add in 5 points to each assignment, and only up to 5 points can be lost, so you can misspell several words and still make an A. I don't take off points for words students in my grade probably don't know (so maybe "dilinkwint" wouldn't really lose points, depending on the assignment). I just don't think a student should make a 100 when there are so many misspelled words on a page. The worst it can do is bring a high A to a low A.