“What is meant by the phrase, “Italy was a quilt of city states?”
“The government was like a blanket covering city-states of Italy.”
“The two spaceships, Eagle and Columbia, separate. They orbit in sight of each other one last time. Then the Eagle begins to descend…” (Question: What does the word descend mean?)
The above are exact quotes from worksheets a bewildered 8-year old, third grader received. There were various red marks on the page. The child, Chloe, was drowning in red ink.
Chloe had little idea what Italy was. She certainly didn’t know wjhat a quilt of city-states meant. She had no clue about Eagle and Columbia, no less the word descend.
As conveyed to the parent from the teacher’s perspective, the child had a probable “medical problem” that needed diagnosing (code for “She’s ADHD and needs medication.”).
From my vantage point, the child was confused, pure and simple.
The concepts and vocabulary were well beyond her. How could she pay attention?
The issue not a “medical problem.”