| Dear
Parents: This year your child will be involved in a writing program that is based on years of research and development and has a few special features. I will be keeping your child's original finished compositions here at school in a writing folder rather than sending them home. The compositions are being kept here so that we can review them to see how writing skills are developing and to look for major problem areas. During the year you are welcome--in fact I encourage you--to come to school and review and discuss the compositions. Another major feature of this program is called focus correcting. The focus correcting system is based on the belief that student writing improves more quickly when the student works to improve a few writing problems at a time. It will be hard for me not to correct every error on each paper, but this year I will be grading errors on each paper in only one, two or three areas. These areas will be announced in advance so that my students can focus their energy on them. We will keep a record of all the focus correcting areas we cover during the year. Parents often ask, "How can I help?" Let me make a suggestion. Be a helper and encourager, not a critic. Provide a quiet place to write with good lighting and a dictionary. Talk about the assignment and help your son or daughter get lots of ideas. Look for good things in a composition. And if you are asked to review a composition, read the composition out loud. Ask if it sounds right. You'll be surprised at how many of their own mistakes they will be able to hear--and then correct. If you have questions about the program, please call or e-mail jgoins@manistee.org . I would appreciate having your e-mail address so that I can contact you. Sincerely, Jenny Goins |