Hi! I just received my daughter’s progress report and she has received a D+ in language arts. We have worked with her ld problem for five years now and have been able to keep her grades c or above. I am trying to set up a meeting with the teacher to see exactly what the problem is, but in the mean time I do not want to sit idly by. I know she has truned in all her work, and does her homework. They have not had any tests. I guess my question is what kinds of things does a language arts teacher expect of an 8th grade student? She has a B- in reading from the same teacher.
LA
Hi,
Let’s get objective: The student must know which standard they are working on, how they are assessed and how they can improve.
That is clear, direct instruction that meets criteria for the No Child Left Behind act. Assessment for writing is usually in the form of a rubric. It shows scores 1-4 in several areas. Then the weaknesses can be identified. This also shows the student where they can work to improve their score. (And score the work themself)
If penmanship is an issue, have an IEP and get word processing added on the accomodations page so that she can hand stuff in typed.
BE NICE!!!! Teachers are overworked. Take the initiative to understand the writing process. I don’t know how old she is, but I’m guessing middle school or up. For a multi-paragraph essay she needs and introductory paragraph with a topic sentence (thesis paragraph). Probably 3 body paragraphs (have each one be about a different topic within the subject. And a concluding paragraphing wrapping it all up and leaving the reader satisfied.
Teach her to outline. No story webbing, outline in paragraph format.
Write me if you want more ideas. [email protected]
8th grade Language Arts
What 8th grade language arts is varies from school to school - even from teacher to teacher regardless of what standards say. Some teachers are simply much harder graders than others. All teachers derive their grades essentially by comparing student performance and if there are very skilled students in your daughter’s Language Arts class, it can make other students’ performances look worse.
It’s almost not possible these days for any parent to fully know if all work has been turned in - does your daughter’s teacher have a policy of informing parents of each and every piece of missed work? That would surprise me in an 8th grade teacher. Good news might be the B- in reading - it’s a pleasant middle of the road grade which suggests to me your daughter’s reading skills are acceptable.
When she turns her homework in, is it typed? I always suggest typing - even if someone else retypes it for her. Use spellcheck - some language arts teachers take off many points for even one misspelled word.
I hope you’ll post again when you’ve spoken with the teacher and know what the teacher believes the problem to be.
Good luck.
There could be a multitude of reasons why your daughter received the grade she did. I’d suggest calling or emailing the teacher to determine what the problem was. Additionally, perhaps your daughter could provide some insight as to where the problems lies. I could offer some ideas at this point but it would be pure speculation. Once you have the facts you’ll be in a much better position to determine what you can do to remediate the problem.
Hope this helps,
Chuck