Case Book One

Remy Leus is preparing a monthly newsletter home to her parents. She passes a draft copy out to her colleagues and asks them to provide her with feedback, if they were parents reading this, does it make sense?

REMY: Thanks so much for agreeing to read this. I am very concerned that parents read this letter correctly, and don't jump to the wrong conclusions!

MS. DUNNER: Okay, Remy, let's start at the beginning: "Dear Parents," Didn't you say that some of your kids are in foster homes, and living with grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.? Wouldn't, "Dear Parents and Caregivers," work better, or "Dear Readers,"

MR. FRANGUE: I have been using, "Dear adults concerned with grade X," since, I know that more than parents read the letter.

MS. DUNNER: Good point. Okay, now here is the rest of your letter: "I know you hear news and television announcements telling you to read to your children. In my first letter to you, I told you to read to your children, and have your children read to you. Now, I would like to give you some more information to think about. I want to encourage active reading. Long ago, we learned that the brain makes connections when circumstances or objects are paired together. Some adults read to children when they are in bed, or read to children so that the children fall asleep. Guess what happens in the classroom to these children? Someone starts reading, and they start to fall asleep. They often can't even stay awake when they themselves read. We have to change the brain connections, so children don't fall asleep. Reading is great, but we have to make it active reading. Kids should not be reading themselves to sleep, or reading in bed. Please, have kids read in other parts of the house, and don't have them read themselves to sleep. We need kids to be awake so that they can learn."

It is good, but Remy, I think that it is a little bit too repetitive. Praise, tell them what you want them to do, and tell them why.

MS. LEUS: I thought I did that. You are right, it is repetitive. I want to get the point across.

MR. FRANGUE: You did, Remy, but are you really sure that you want to tie classical conditioning here without talking about it a bit more, or giving one clear example? Maybe you could make the sleep when reading connection a bit clearer. I am not sure. Actually, it wasn't that bad, but you are a bit wordy!

MS. LEUS: Okay. If I clean it up and describe the situation using language that is easier to understand, do you think parents will get the message?

MS. VALDEZ: I hope so! This is a common problem we all face. Parents don't understand the connections, and how reading kids to sleep can lead to kids falling asleep when they read! I bet half of my class starts to doze within ten minutes of starting any reading. Remy, share with us what you finally develop, so we can use it, too!

Teacher Notes:

• As teachers it if very important to encourage parents to read to and with students. You want to help parents develop skills that will support students in the classroom. Always make sure that suggestions you give are not meant to be critical of anyone's parenting style, but instead focused on supporting students in the classroom.