Sometimes kids know less than adults think

Cross-posted from Kitchen Table Math: A few nights ago, I was having dinner with a friend and her very smart fourteen year-old son. My friend told me the story of how her son, who is in eighth grade, had come home from school with an assignment to write an 8-10 page paper. The exceedingly nebulous instructions included brainstorming a guiding question and due dates for various drafts, but other than that, there was not one iota of specific information about how these thirteen and fourteen year-olds were supposed to go about writing the paper. Never mind high school, it looked like the assignment sheet for a college term paper. My friend, a teacher herself, was a bit concerned that the assignment was unclear and emailed his teacher. She couldnt figure out whether the paper was supposed to be thesis-driven or whether it was just a research project, but the teacher wouldnt give her a straightforward answer. She asked her son whether hed been given clearer instructions in class. He shook his head. Do you know whether you need to have a thesis, or is it just research? she asked. He shrugged. Wait, I said. M., do you know how to write a thesis? He hesitated and looked confused. What exactly do you mean by thesis?