It was great to meet with parents and students over the past ten days for our annual conferences. I enjoyed getting to know all of you better, and learn more about the goals that you and your child have for this school year. There seemed to be some underlying themes that many parents were concerned about:
* How can I get my child to read more (or more challenging) books, and also read a greater variety of literature genres?
* My child does not enjoy (or has difficulty) with writing - how can we help?
It is quite common for children at the beginning of fourth grade to have difficulty making the "jump" to reading more (and more complex) chapter books. They are more likely to read what their friends are reading, and want to be involved in choosing their own books. Of course, the prevalence of the Internet, WII games, and other competing activities seem to have reduced the amount that children read. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD'S READING HABITS and motivate them to become more interested in different genres of literature by taking them regularly to a nearby library. Starting next Monday, 10/18, they will bring home a nightly reading response log (Mon. - Thurs) and then turn it in on Friday. We have talked alot of reading response in this class, and I will continue to give them instructions for connecting to what they are reading and then writing down those ideas. I expect students to write at least ONE paragraph per night! This will be in addition to their regular homework.
If your child does not enjoy writing or has difficulty in coming up with ideas, it might be helpful for him/her to carry a "writing notebook" around to jot down ideas as they think of them. Depending on teacher-generated ideas does not always spark "inspiration" for them. When I teach writing, I just encourage them to "write it all down" before they try to revise and edit what they've written. Too many children are worried that a word is spelled wrong or the punctuation is incorrect. They should just WRITE and let their ideas flow! Many authors must revise their work up to fifty times before it is published!!
Just a reminder - first trimester report cards will be sent home Friday, Dec. 3, so they have lots of time to work on their goals over the next month and a half!
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