In a million words or less tell me about your son or daughter. Dana suskinds work as a pediatric surgeon with the deaf helped her to understand the amazing power that words have on a childs development. 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. If youre intrigued by this idea, see how he shaped the million words strategy to his. After all, we now have something very special in common your child. Her language arts teacher sent home an assignment for the parents to tell her about your child in a million words or less. Click here to read the blog post, in a million words or less. Its been almost 15 years since ive been assigned homework by a teacher. They love their child unconditionally and have more insight into their childs mind than. The reason behind it is that it takes teachers a great deal. Im writing this letter in response to the assignment you gave the parents of your new ninthgrade english students. A list of words that contain million, and words with million in them. Blackburn, jordan parent letter million words or less.
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. It was called in a million words or less the assignment is for the parents, not the student. 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. The early catastrophe the 30 million word gap by age 3 by betty hart and todd r. An outfit in austin, texas called the global language monitor has announced that the english language has one million words. In a million words or less tell me about your child. In a million words or less tell me about your scholar. Education plus development talking with children matters. Tell me about your scholar yes, parents, you are getting a homework assignment. First day of school back to school word doc community manager homework management texts teaching education. Million words or less parent homework assignment by. The new school year has brought new teachers, and one assignment in particular intrigued me. The formation of neural connections during the first.
Feel free to download it, check out the links, look at the. 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. We see 30 million words not to be just about reading. Getting to know your students from their parents learning lab. How one easytouse homework assignment can help build positive relationships with your students and families. These are all the words i shouldve said did i miss my chance. My mentor teacher used this activity when i was student teaching and i fell in love. The kids love the title and the fact that the first person i am assigning homework to is their parents. 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 purpose of this assignment is to learn as much about your. The reason behind it is that it takes teachers a great deal of time to get to know your children. He has an incredible photographic memory which is how i help him study. 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 is with great excitement that we usher in the start of another school year. 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. Dear parentsguardians, i want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and express my excitement about working with your child this year. In a million words or less tell me what you think i should know about your child. We had to write about our child so they could get to know them better. Does she need to sit up front because its hard for her to see the board. And the students love the fact that their parents have homework on the first day of school and they dont.
I would like to ask you to write about your student. This is my attempt to complete the a million words or less tell me about your scholar project. May 21, 2018 education plus development talking with children matters. 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. Sep 05, 2011 it was called in a million words or less the assignment is for the parents, not the student. Tackling the vocabulary gap between rich and poor children children from lowerincome homes may hear 30 million fewer words by age 3. Tell me about your student in a million words or less. This page brings back any words that contain the word or letter you enter from a large scrabble dictionary. 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. Getting to know youthis is the one of the most difficult challenges i face at the beginning of each school year. Defending the 30 million word gap roberta michnick golinkoff, erika hoff, meredith rowe, catherine tamislemonda, and kathy hirshpasek. It asks each parent to write the teacher a letter, in a million words. A writing assignment given to me by my daughters english teacher in september of 2008. In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words, the.
If your childs teacher or someone told you to write a 1. 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. Trying to tell you about my son in less than a million words will be a challenge. Johns sixth grade language teacher started out the year asking parents for a million words or less essay about their kids. For those who dont know, the assignment is for parents.
These in a million words or less letters are an amazing resource to help build relationships with your students and families. There are no extra prompts, explanations, or requirements. I am thrilled to have your child in my class this year. The assignment is for parents to describe their child in one million words or less. Words that contain million words containing million. They almost universally want them to be successful in life. Here are some examples that any parent can do to develop a rich language environment at home. I like your million words or less i do something similar but in more of a question answer type format i. If i dont hurry up ill have a years worth of pictures and events to post about all at once. Their assignment was to tell me about their child in a million words or less. I would love to find out more about my students through their parents eyes. It is also part of a series of writing mini lessons designed for scaffolding in writing workshop. Aug 14, 2017 this is my attempt to complete the a million words or less tell me about your scholar project. This 30 million word gap profoundly impacts childrens.
To get an idea of what one million words would look like for different grade levels, see the table below. I have been busily preparing and planning for your childs class. My daughter is hailey, she is in your 1st period 7th grade preap english class. If youre intrigued by this idea, see how he shaped the million words strategy to his own needs. Advisory is a 42 minute period that takes place during your childs day at lamuth. In a million words or less teaching, first day of school. In addition to a lack of exposure to these 30 million words. When analyzing words and phrases in political contexts, glm uses the. Who would have thought that sending my daughter off to 7th grade would change that. As suskind explains, every routine and activity can be an opportunity for brain building and language. Researcher and author betty hart described the results of their observations. I would like for you to write a letter to me to introduce yourself. Read what others had to say about the million words activity.
Million word or less parent homework by funs not just for. I wanted to first say this projectassignment is such a great idea, and i hope i can provide you with everything you. 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. A simple activity offers a powerful tool for learning about your students and connecting with their parents. After doing the activity, i was suddenly a part of each childs life, said teacher trisha fogarty. Would you please, in a million words or less, tell me about your child. Last summer, teacher deborah bova introduced the million word essay to teachers on the middleweb listserv. The reason behind this is that it can take us a while to get to know your child. The reason behind this activity is that it takes us a great deal of. I then had them take the paper home, write as much as they wanted about their child, and return it to scho. 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 a million words or less i have a lot of blogging to catch up on.
Do your students struggle using strong word choice in their writing. Jul 11, 2009 the idea was discovered while taking a college course at the university of montevallo. A million words a wonderful tool to connect with parents. I give this as parent homework for extra credit the first week of school. 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.
Besides my signature, the rest of the paper remains empty, wide open for a response. Risley d uring the 1960s war on poverty, we were among the many researchers, psychologists, and educators who brought our knowledge of child development. 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. 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. In a million words or less, tell me about your seventh grader. 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. As the title above says, in a million words of less, tell me anything you would like me to know about your child. In a million words or less, tell me about your child. This week is the first time i have ever met your son or daughter. This post is geared towards the upper elementary or middle school curriculum and uses the term million dollar words when referring to word choice. The million words activity basically works this way.
And the longer the effort is put off, the less possible the change becomes. It is part of the revising stage of the writing process. 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. In other words, children from families on welfare heard about 616. I know that i am biased, but i have to tell you that son is one of the funniest people i know. You may write as much or as little as needed, but it must be a million words or less.
In a million words or less, please tell me about your child. A million word gap for children who arent read to at home. In a million words or less first week assignment the. Parents or guardians in some cases want to brag about their kids. I am very excited to have your child as one of my students this year. Rather than giving the students a homework assignment on the first day, i decided to give one to you.
I look forward to an exciting year of fun and learning with your young scholar. The early catastrophe american federation of teachers. I would love to have an open line of communication between home and school. They know their children better than anyone on earth. Weve captured the conversation in this middleweb million words resource file pdf. The 30 million word gap by age 3 by betty hart and todd r. 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. Seeing as i am a writer, i will do my best to keep it closer to 995,000. Like a blank canvas, it invites parents to fill up the space with a colorful and layered picture of their child. One of my favorite back to school activities is in a million words or less. A million words or less about john marrs, 6 th grade a million words about john marrswhere to begin. During a discussion of school startup ideas, deb wrote. In a million words or fewer free download as pdf file. 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.
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. In a million words or less free download as word doc. Why 30 million words are critical to your childs future. 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.
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. Ive put a few questions below to get you thinking but please, tell me anything. Please complete the following information about your child. If your childs teacher or someone told you to write a 1 million word or less essay on everything about your. This year i sent home homework for the parents on the first day of school. Thirty million words tells the story of a remarkable womans unrelenting mission to give every child the chance to thrive.
My name is adam reed and i am fortunate enough to be your students 8th grade us history teacher. Tell me about your scholar yes, you are getting a homework assignment. The thirty million word gap a summary from the early catastrophe. 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. We also have lists of words that end with million, and words that start.
Tax code is seven times the length of leo tolstoys war and peace one of the longest reads of all among the academically minded. Apr 04, 2019 young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1. She had been out with friends, and i had been busy. Parentdirected approaches to enrich the early language environments of children living in poverty kristin leffel, b. Tell me about your child in a million words or less. Very eyeopening and a quick way to get to know your students better and get. 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. Thirty million sounds unfathomable, but, in reality, you get there one word at a time.
If that teacher wanted one million words or less, shed get one million effing words. Tackling the vocabulary gap between rich and poor children. Haley is just a couple months away from becoming a teenager. 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. 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. I would like to start this process with a little help from y.
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