This week is the first time i have ever met your son or daughter. Tell me about your scholar yes, you are getting a homework assignment. It was called, in a million words or less and consisted of parents being encouraged to write an essay no longer than a million words to tell the teacher anything they wanted them to know. Her language arts teacher sent home an assignment for the parents to tell her about your child in a million words or less. Why 30 million words are critical to your childs future. If your childs teacher or someone told you to write a 1. Million word or less parent homework by funs not just for. It is part of the revising stage of the writing process. In a million words or less free download as word doc. Like a blank canvas, it invites parents to fill up the space with a colorful and layered picture of their child. My daughter is hailey, she is in your 1st period 7th grade preap english class. The million words activity basically works this way.
Defending the 30 million word gap roberta michnick golinkoff, erika hoff, meredith rowe, catherine tamislemonda, and kathy hirshpasek. Its been almost 15 years since ive been assigned homework by a teacher. Feel free to download it, check out the links, look at the. Getting to know youthis is the one of the most difficult challenges i face at the beginning of each school year. By brad bosler the other day i was driving home from work, and i realized that i had not seen my daughter at all the last day. To get an idea of what one million words would look like for different grade levels, see the table below. Do your students struggle using strong word choice in their writing. In a million words or less tell me about your child.
We also have lists of words that end with million, and words that start. This page brings back any words that contain the word or letter you enter from a large scrabble dictionary. In a million words or less tell me about your son or daughter. There are no extra prompts, explanations, or requirements. He has an incredible photographic memory which is how i help him study. Besides my signature, the rest of the paper remains empty, wide open for a response. Blackburn, jordan parent letter million words or less. These are all the words i shouldve said did i miss my chance. In a million words or less first week assignment the. Risley d uring the 1960s war on poverty, we were among the many researchers, psychologists, and educators who brought our knowledge of child development to the front line in an optimistic effort to intervene early to forestall the terrible effects that poverty was having on some. Trying to tell you about my son in less than a million words will be a challenge. While thinking of how i can get to know a little bit about you but also your student, i decided to do some searching, and came across this interesting activity. A writing assignment given to me by my daughters english teacher in september of 2008.
I look forward to an exciting year of fun and learning with your young scholar. The kids love the title and the fact that the first person i am assigning homework to is their parents. The 30 million word gap by age 3 by betty hart and todd r. The purpose of this assignment is to learn as much about your. The new school year has brought new teachers, and one assignment in particular intrigued me. These in a million words or less letters are an amazing resource to help build relationships with your students and families. And the longer the effort is put off, the less possible the change becomes. Click here to read the blog post, in a million words or less. Education plus development talking with children matters. This is the first week of school for the kids, and along with all the forms ive had to fill out again and again and again, 2 of my daughters teachers requested a paper to be written about my daughter.
The reason behind this activity is that it takes us a great deal of. I like your million words or less i do something similar but in more of a question answer type format i. We are all familiar with the staggering achievement gap seen in children from low socioeconomic status ses in the united states only 48% of lowses children are schoolready by age 5 80% or more of africanamerican and latino public school students cant read or do math at grade level in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades. First day of school back to school word doc community manager homework management texts teaching education. It gives the teacher a chance to introduce herselfhimself to the parents and also get to know herhis students a little better by allowing the parents to tell and sometimes brag. The formation of neural connections during the first. Simply in words heard, the average child on welfare was having half as much experience per hour 616 words per hour as the average workingclass child 1,251 words per hour and less than onethird that of the average child in a professional family 2,153 words.
In a million words or less i have a lot of blogging to catch up on. Aug 27, 2010 this is the first week of school for the kids, and along with all the forms ive had to fill out again and again and again, 2 of my daughters teachers requested a paper to be written about my daughter. After doing the activity, i was suddenly a part of each childs life, said teacher trisha fogarty. I have been busily preparing and planning for your childs class. A million word gap for children who arent read to at home. In a million words or less, please tell me about your child. Aug 14, 2017 this is my attempt to complete the a million words or less tell me about your scholar project. Their assignment was to tell me about their child in a million words or less. I am thrilled to have your child in my class this year. Parentdirected approaches to enrich the early language environments of children living in poverty kristin leffel, b. I am very excited to have your sondaughter as one of my math students this year and am looking forward to getting to know himher in the upcoming months.
I would like for you to write a letter to me to introduce yourself. The reason behind this is that it can take us a while to get to know your child. It is with great excitement that we usher in the start of another school year. This is my attempt to complete the a million words or less tell me about your scholar project. A list of words that contain million, and words with million in them. The thirty million word gap a summary from the early catastrophe. Read what others had to say about the million words activity. In a million words or less tell me about your scholar. When analyzing words and phrases in political contexts, glm uses the.
The reason behind it is that it takes teachers a great deal of time to get to know your children. In a million words or less, tell me about your child. For those who dont know, the assignment is for parents. The reason behind it is that it takes teachers a great deal. Last summer, teacher deborah bova introduced the million word essay to teachers on the middleweb listserv. My name is adam reed and i am fortunate enough to be your students 8th grade us history teacher. She had been out with friends, and i had been busy. Does she need to sit up front because its hard for her to see the board. Now im half a world away from you but youre always on my mind theres a million words that i couldve said and you might still be mine and if theres someone where i used to be i hope he tells you every day with the million words that i shouldve said.
Rather than giving the students a homework assignment on the first day, i decided to give one to you. May 21, 2018 education plus development talking with children matters. We had to write about our child so they could get to know them better. One million words or less in an effort to get to know your child and hisher interests, needs, likesdislikes, and learning styles, i am assigning the first homework to the parentsguardians of. I wanted to first say this projectassignment is such a great idea, and i hope i can provide you with everything you need to know about hailey. Tax code is seven times the length of leo tolstoys war and peace one of the longest reads of all among the academically minded. Thirty million words tells the story of a remarkable womans unrelenting mission to give every child the chance to thrive. My mentor teacher used this activity when i was student teaching and i fell in love. In a million words or fewer free download as pdf file. This 30 million word gap profoundly impacts childrens. A million words a wonderful tool to connect with parents.
Million words or less parent homework assignment by. One of my favorite back to school activities is in a million words or less. I would like to ask you to write about your student. It was called in a million words or less the assignment is for the parents, not the student. Seeing as i am a writer, i will do my best to keep it closer to 995,000.
It is also part of a series of writing mini lessons designed for scaffolding in writing workshop. They know their children better than anyone on earth. In general, reading or listening to one million words is considered both a feasible and ambitious goal for students k12 and the inspiration for this initiative, but feel free to adjust this goal based on your own judgment. It was still on my computer this morning so i thought i would share snipits of haley jo with you in a million words or less. Would you please, in a million words or less, tell me about your child. Thirty million sounds unfathomable, but, in reality, you get there one word at a time. Very eyeopening and a quick way to get to know your students better and get. As suskind explains, every routine and activity can be an opportunity for brain building and language.
I would love to find out more about my students through their parents eyes. We see 30 million words not to be just about reading. An outfit in austin, texas called the global language monitor has announced that the english language has one million words. Dana suskinds work as a pediatric surgeon with the deaf helped her to understand the amazing power that words have on a childs development. Tell me about your scholar yes, parents, you are getting a homework assignment. Haley is just a couple months away from becoming a teenager. Parents or guardians in some cases want to brag about their kids. And the students love the fact that their parents have homework on the first day of school and they dont. Last august at meet your teacher night, i gave all of my parents or guardians an envelope and a piece of paper with the words tell me about your a million words or less. Dear room 430 families, i know that this time of year is especially busy and stressful and there are countless items on your to do lists, but i have a small assignment for you lets call it a bit of homework in a million words or less, tell me about your child. In a million words or less i a m th rille d tha t y o ur child is in m y class t his ye ar. Weve captured the conversation in this middleweb million words resource file pdf. If youre intrigued by this idea, see how he shaped the million words strategy to his own needs.
I am very excited to have your child as one of my students this year. If that teacher wanted one million words or less, shed get one million effing words. The assignment is for parents to describe their child in one million words or less. I would like to start this process with a little help from y. I wanted to first say this projectassignment is such a great idea, and i hope i can provide you with everything you. Sep 05, 2011 it was called in a million words or less the assignment is for the parents, not the student. A simple activity offers a powerful tool for learning about your students and connecting with their parents. I then had them take the paper home, write as much as they wanted about their child, and return it to scho. One thing that i would suggest to new and returnee teachers is something i call in a million words or less, tell us about your child. Tackling the vocabulary gap between rich and poor children. I am ver y exc ited to g et s t a r te d o n o ur p a th t o le ar ning to ge t her. The founder and director of the thirty million words initiative, professor dana suskind, explains why the most importantand astoundingly simplething you can do for your childs future success in life is to talk to him or her, reveals the recent science behind this truth, and outlines precisely how parents can best put it into practice.
At the early learning centers, we saw evidence that detroit is full of the sort of parents who, despite poverty, language barriers, and their own upbringings, are the sort who carve jackolanterns and want the best for their children. How one easytouse homework assignment can help build positive relationships with your students and families. The early catastrophe the 30 million word gap by age 3 by betty hart and todd r. In other words, children from families on welfare heard about 616. They almost universally want them to be successful in life.
Tell me about your student in a million words or less. Words that contain million words containing million. Getting to know your students from their parents learning lab. In a million words or less tell me what you think i should know about your child. In a million words or less teaching, first day of school. Please complete the following information about your child. Because it was my first year at the school and with these students, i wanted to be sure that i knew as much about them as possible. They love their child unconditionally and have more insight into their childs mind than. Dear parentsguardians, i want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and express my excitement about working with your child this year. Apr 04, 2019 young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1. I know that i am biased, but i have to tell you that son is one of the funniest people i know.
Here are some examples that any parent can do to develop a rich language environment at home. Jul 11, 2009 the idea was discovered while taking a college course at the university of montevallo. Johns sixth grade language teacher started out the year asking parents for a million words or less essay about their kids. If youre intrigued by this idea, see how he shaped the million words strategy to his. It asks each parent to write the teacher a letter, in a million words. This post is geared towards the upper elementary or middle school curriculum and uses the term million dollar words when referring to word choice. I give this as parent homework for extra credit the first week of school. This year i sent home homework for the parents on the first day of school. The early catastrophe american federation of teachers. I like your million words or less i do something similar but in more of a question answer type format i might try this idea this year thank you. Tackling the vocabulary gap between rich and poor children children from lowerincome homes may hear 30 million fewer words by age 3.
You may write as much or as little as needed, but it must be a million words or less. In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words. After all, we now have something very special in common your child. Advisory is a 42 minute period that takes place during your childs day at lamuth. Who would have thought that sending my daughter off to 7th grade would change that. If i dont hurry up ill have a years worth of pictures and events to post about all at once. In a million words or less, tell me about your seventh grader. Tell me about your child in a million words or less. Ive put a few questions below to get you thinking but please, tell me anything. If your childs teacher or someone told you to write a 1 million word or less essay on everything about your.
I would love to have an open line of communication between home and school. As the title above says, in a million words of less, tell me anything you would like me to know about your child. Risley d uring the 1960s war on poverty, we were among the many researchers, psychologists, and educators who brought our knowledge of child development. Im writing this letter in response to the assignment you gave the parents of your new ninthgrade english students. In the first month or so of school, the teacher asks parents to tell you about their child, in a million words or less.
In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words, the. Researcher and author betty hart described the results of their observations. A million words or less about john marrs, 6 th grade a million words about john marrswhere to begin. As i have already told the students, i do believe in homework, yet before i start to give them homework assignments i would like to give you one if you would be willing. During a discussion of school startup ideas, deb wrote.
296 158 1081 864 1267 52 21 1582 826 957 1003 1085 563 1084 685 396 121 141 939 679 180 1371 63 132 257 1309 1553 1137 1470 1076 318 1072 1254 529 666 1376 889 1105 555 585 709 121 1495 834 1482