Copy of Parent Letter - Communication about Child's Progress
Dear First, Second and Third Grade Parents,
As the mission statement of our school states, we pride ourselves on our commitment to developing “independent and autonomous learners.”The skills of reflective thinking and using feedback are two very powerful tools that help your child to become a more active learner.These skills are introduced in science class in grades one, two and three and continue to develop as your child enters the Middle School science classroom in grade four.
To best assess and communicate your child’s growth in science knowledge and skills, we have developed the “Framework for Feedback about Student Performance in Science (Grades 1-5).”It incorporates the latest research about brain functioning, best practices for teaching and learning and national science standards/benchmarks.In addition, it has grown from my ongoing collaboration with Middle School science teacher Amy Fossett over the past few years as we have examined evidence of students’ growth through their notebooks.
Your child’s science class meets once every six days for forty-five minutes in first and second grade and meets twice every six days for fifty minutes in third grade.It takes time for children to manipulate materials, observe, organize, question and wonder. The “Framework for Feedback” focuses on both assessment of and feedback on your child’s knowledge and skills development throughout the year.Assessments are made through informal observations, individual discussion and careful reading of a student’s science notebook.Notebook entries may be minimal for students in the earlier grades and in the early stages of their literacy development, but a progression and pattern of thinking and communicating does emerge.
In an effort to give you a clear picture of your child’s progress in science, it is important that you are able to see evidence of your child’s reflective thought processes and his/her level of skill to communicate and organize what he/she knows.A narrative comment alone will not clearly communicate your child’s growth in scientific thinking.To understand each child’s growth over time, I am keeping individual science portfolios, which include the child’s science notebook from each year starting in grade one.Students actively engage in creating learning goals by looking at their own portfolios and by receiving teacher feedback, either orally or in writing.
As a result, communication about student progress will follow a specific timeline.At this point in the school year, students are actively launching their science notebooks, so this letter takes the place of a typical progress report comment for November.In the February progress report and then again in May, I look forward to sharing with you your child’s progress when a more substantial body of work has been completed—either through a progress report based on the “Framework for Feedback about Student Performance” or through sharing your child’s annotated notebook.To determine what you will receive about your child’s progress at each reporting period, please read over the schedule of reporting attached.In addition, please review the attached copy of the “Framework for Feedback about Student Performance” for more specific information about the goals for students’ learning. As always if you have any questions about your child’s progress, I will be available during conference day.