In North Rhine-Westphalia, the school law bases every grade on two areas. One is written work. The other is Sonstige Leistungen im Unterricht, other performance in class, which pupils call mündliche Mitarbeit, oral participation. The law says both must be given appropriate weight. The state’s curriculum for German at grammar schools assesses die Qualität, die Quantität und die Kontinuität der Beiträge, the quality, the quantity and the continuity of the contributions. One school’s grading rules add a warning: Besonders zu beachten ist die Unterscheidung zwischen der quantitativen und der qualitativen Mitarbeit. The difference between quantity and quality of participation needs special attention.