THE QUESTIONS PARENTS ASK

1. Can I edit my student's English papers before s/he turns them in?

Yes.

At a recent district English teacher meeting I asked all present how many had a parent edit their writing in high school. Every teacher had a hand raised with immediate recollections of gratitude. My own mother was my number one teacher. There is nothing better than a personal audience for our writing and 1-on-1 assistance.

2. What is the best way to edit my student's paper so that s/he becomes a better writer and doesn't depend on me to do her/his work?

Here's what my mom did.

1. Circled misspelled words
2. Marked sentences that were not fluent, confused or unclear (she never rewrote them)
3. Wrote questions like

Why do you think so?
What do you mean?

4. Wrote notes like

Expand
Repetitive
Contradictory
Check a thesaurus

5. Double underlined incorrect capitalization

6. Circled punctuation errors (students should avoid semi-colons this year as the computer incorrectly defaults to them when they write run-on sentences)

In addition, insist that your student first go through Spell and Grammar Check and a self-reading before coming to you.

3. If my student is reading a book that is too hard, can I read it out loud to him/her?

Our goal is to challenge students to become better readers so it would be better if your student read to you.

Please send me an email if your student has difficulty with reading the assigned work. Sometimes students are too shy or embarrassed to tell me. There are also often additional things I can do through classroom activities to help with the reading if I know someone is struggling.

4. What are some ways I can help my student improve his/her writing?

1. If you can purchase a copy (or download online) of what we are reading then a student can use a high-lighter as s/he reads to mark significant passages. Color-coding different categories of things can keep a mind active and on-task. Examples:

Blue: Related to possible theme, i.e. quotable insight about life
Green: key action in a chapter (after reading only highlight one or two sentences that identify the key action of the chapter)

2. It's okay to read your own copy of the book or article we are reading. Talk about a chapter at the dinner table or while driving in the car. Compare your perceptions.

What's happening now?
Which character do you like and why?
Who do you mistrust and why?
What do you think is going to happen next?
What did you like about this chapter?

3. Encourage your student to write notes on his/her bookmark (a class requirement)