August 14, 2007

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Room 18! The students and I have had two very busy days getting to know each other and learning classroom procedures. I am looking forward to a terrific year with your eager and energetic children.

As always, we place a very strong emphasis on reading. Even as much as we will be reading in the classroom, it will not be enough. Your children need your help and support as well to become fluent readers.

#1. Read to your children (at least through elementary school) to develop academic language, vocabulary, concept knowledge, and interest in reading. Engage their attention and stretch the language. This also gives them opportunities to visualize, which mimics what good readers do when reading to themselves. At ages 10 and 11, you are probably wondering why you should read to them. The reason is, you can read more books to them with more challenging vocabulary, and you can take time to discuss meaning. The more they are exposed to increased vocabulary, the easier it is to comprehend complex vocabulary found in academic books they will encounter later. Besides, reading to kids is a great way to expose them to the classics.

#2. Encourage your children to read to themselves for pleasure. Most kids read only when bored, so create boredom. Send them to bed early and tell them they can read for 30 minutes or more. Go to the library. Psychologically, kids are more likely to think, "I had better read this book now because it is going back in two weeks."

#3. Limit the TV. Make a big deal out of it. If kids spend too much time watching TV, it reduces their reading time, reduces time parents can read to them, and can cause a disinterest in reading. It"s not easy!

#4. Help non-fluent readers practice reading easy books in which they miss no more than 1/10 of the words. There should be lots of practice at a level not too hard. Fluency will get better even with easy books.

Book reports will be required monthly as well as a nightly reading log with parent signature. Hopefully, these school requirements will support you in your efforts to get your child to read more at home. (Book report instructions are included in this packet.)

Math is the other major emphasis in our classrooms. If your child does not yet know multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction facts quickly and effortlessly, it is urgent that he/she master them now at home. We will have daily timed tests in the classroom but no time for the drill required to learn them. Expect math homework nightly; it is very rare that we do not assign homework. Also, any real world math opportunities that you can provide are invaluable: figuring change, estimating, calculating miles per gallon, average miles per hour on trips, measuring (especially in the kitchen using fractions!) Our math program carefully follows the demanding state math standards; a new concept must be taught daily, especially in the fifth grade. Please make math homework a priority. It is very beneficial if you can look over the homework to ensure your child is doing it correctly. If a student gets behind, it will be very difficult to catch up.

I am committed to making this a successful year for your children. Each child in this class is special and unique. Parents, teachers, and students must all work together to ensure a successful learning experience. If you should ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me either in person, by phone, or by e-mail: gguest@fcusd.org. (I also usually send a nightly e-mail with homework and other information as long as I have your e-mail address.)

We are off to a great start -- this is a fine group of students!

Sincerely,
Gwen Guest