Letter to Stakeholder

Dear Parents,
            It is with great appreciation, that I thank you for your continued support of our school.  As a school, we firmly believe that every child can learn and deserves every possible method and tool to aid in doing so.  I wanted to share with you a concern that the teachers have with a focus area in reading.  We would like to also gain your support in this area and help our students to be successful.
Vocabulary is a vital piece of teaching children to read.  It is one of the core components.  If students do not have explicit instruction in this area, then they will not be successful.  Many of our students struggle to thrive in this area and it causes testing difficulty with reading.  It is hard to read a passage in it’s entirety with seamless fluency and couple that with comprehension when many of the words are unfamiliar. 
            I have seen lower test scores in the past few years and many of the questions that students miss, are caused by unknown words. I have taken it upon myself to not only analyze how these questions are being asked and practicing within that format, but also teaching students as many vocabulary words in context that we can.  While I am already teaching academic vocabulary within lessons, I would like to adopt a system that releases a certain number of words per day and students become familiar with them throughout the day.  It would be beneficial if these words could also be discussed and used at home.  The home and school connection is valuable.  The continued efforts at home do not need to be laborious or extensive.  They can be integrated into home life without much effort.  Simple conversations over dinner about what a word means after you use it in a sentence is one way.  Do not lower your standards when talking to your children.  Use ‘big’ words and then explain them so that they will be entered into your child’s mind for later use.  It is surprising some of the words that students stumble on or are unfamiliar with.  Being talked to consistently and having explanations of words, builds that schema or background knowledge. 
            I would also encourage you to continue to read with your child.  Reading at home also continues to promote literacy.  Any extra time spent in this area is incredibly beneficial.  Most teachers give reading homework.  It does not need to be lengthy as students need a mental break, but homework allows a continuation of what they learned that day and for parents to interact.  As students read their library books that they chose, they will increase their own personal word bank.  If you read with your child, you can listen for words that they skip over or mispronounce.  Talk about what the word means in that sentence and even think of examples and non-examples.  Discuss context clues within the sentence to determine meaning as well.  If your child reads on his/her own, have him/her write down unfamiliar words they came across and you can then discuss the meaning and use it in a sentence.  When words are discussed and explained within context, they are learned, not memorized.  Many times students read on their own and we ask a few comprehension questions.  It might seem as though they understand, but in reality they are missing parts of a story due to not understanding what words mean. 
            As we all work on supporting and focusing on this one area specifically, the data will show that students are responding.  After a few weeks of focused skill work, I am able to monitor progress by informal and formal assessment.  Students take a weekly assessment and I am able to highlight certain skills that were tested.  Those skills improve the majority of the time.  I am also able to listen to their reading in guided reading groups and take informal notes on whether or not they can determine the meaning of words. 
            I would like to conduct a meeting where we can all discuss this further and you all can share your own ideas and thoughts.  Perhaps you have tried your own ideas with your children and they have proven successful.  Together we can make a difference and improve the area of vocabulary in literacy.

Sincerely,
Meghan Glidden


References:
Understanding Vocabulary | Scholastic.com. (2016). Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/understanding-vocabulary

The Research Behind the Importance of Teaching Vocabulary | Zaner-Bloser. (2016). Zaner-bloser.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from https://www.zaner-bloser.com/news/research-behind-importance-teaching-vocabulary

Vocabulary A-Z - Why Learning Vocabulary is Important to Literacy. (2016). Vocabularya-z.com. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from https://www.vocabularya-z.com/vocabweb/research.do


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