summer chart is helping!

[Guest trudes]

I just want to share that the summer chart in the acntoday newsletter is cute--and works! at least for us. i have sent it to friends also. its not a new concept but it is something fresh to try. esp. w hen all my daughter wants to do is sleep in and watch TV

 

am going to add reading to her daily set. she tends to get rusty over the summer. Trudes

 

 

[Sheila]

Thanks for the feedback, Trudes. Sorry to have overlooked your letter! I'll pass this on to Miss Mona who made it! Sheila

[MissMona]

Hi Trudes,

 

Thank you for sharing your success with the summer charts! Please let us know if there are other types of charts that you think might serve you. I'll be happy to try to fulfill your request in the next issue...and that invitation is extended to other parents out there who would like to give a behavior chart a try!

 

You can send an e-mail to MissMona@latitudes.org with your ideas and or requests. Please put Behavior Chart in the subject line.

 

Best wishes,

 

Miss Mona

[Guest New and nervous!]

Dear Miss Mona, I'm a new teacher. I have seen your charts on the site and think they're super. I like that some of them are black and white so I can make copies of them for the class and not spend a lot of money on color copies. But I can see having special color ones sometimes. In fact for the one I am requesting below, maybe you could put just a little color since its just for one student? That is if you can do it for me.

 

I have just started in a school (4th grade) and have been told I have a student coming who is a very poor writer and gets really frustrated, scribbling over mistakes and throwing his work away. This may be more than you were offering to do but could you make a chart just for him? He sounds like a normal kid otherwise. Smart enough, reads well, can't write. I see you use pictures on the charts. Maybe something guy-ish? And what should it say? Do it day by day instead of by the week maybe? HELP!!

 

Am sending you an email like you suggest. But maybe others would want to see this too. Thanks. Are you a teacher also?????

 

(Also--if you have any tips about writing please let me know.)

 

Signed -- New and Nervous!!

 

Hey. I like these faces. Cheers me up!!

[MissMona]

Hi New & Nervous,

 

I think a chart might be really helpful for this student that you're talking about. I've created one for you that has a shark on it and it says: One Bite At A Time! It will look great in color and black and white if you choose to make copies.

 

Please look for this chart in the next e-newsletter sent out from Latitudes/ACN.

 

I'm working on a collection of Tips for Writing and will be happy to share them with you (and the readers) when I'm done. In the mean time, you might consider letting this child write short answers to questions instead of writing complete sentences. If writing is as challenging to him as it seems to be from your description, this might be a great help to him.

 

I found using this approach to be a win-win situation: The child is able to complete the task without frustration because there's so much less writing, and I received the assignment to grade to see if the child understood the lesson.

 

Creating complete sentences is, no doubt, a strong emphasis when teaching writing. And because we still want to know that students are able to do this, asking them to demonstrate their abilities to you orally when the assignment is completed is a great way to assess this.

 

I'll get back to you with more tips and accomodations that can be made to use with students who struggle with writing. This is a great area for discussion!

 

Best wishes with your new class! I remember my first year of teaching very well! Enjoy!!

 

Your students are fortunate to have a teacher like you who cares so much about them!

 

~Miss Mona

 

P.S. Parents, if your child is struggling with writing, or suspect that he/she may be, please contact your child's teacher to discuss your thoughts. Parent-teacher collaboration is an excellent way to find helpful approaches to use with your child both in and out of school.