A Letter Home about “Grades”

It is the end of my second quarter minimizing grades and focusing on feedback. Here is the letter I emailed to parents explaining what the letters mean for our reading class on the grade reports going home today.

7th Grade Reading

Hello, Parents, Guardians, and Students,

To begin, it has been a privilege for me to be your student’s teacher for reading. I feel so fortunate to have time every day with your student to share meaningful literature, be a part of his/her discoveries, and read his/her reflections and analyses. I take the students’ trust and yours seriously and do my best to communicate to the students and you what is happening in our class and why.

Second quarter grade reports are coming home today. As you may know, in our class, we do not use “grades” to evaluate their learning throughout the quarter. A standard  (Common Core State Standards) is attached to each task, activity, or assignment. As students complete the task, activity, or assignment, I write students feedback and put in the SIS (grade system) a 2 if they met the standard, a 1 if they need revisions, and a 0 if they did not attempt the task. I make time in class for conferences with me during the quarter to work on revisions and allow students to move the 1s and 0s to 2s throughout the quarter. My chief concern is evidence that they are learning, so I have set up the classroom to support the learning process: try, feedback, revise, feedback, reflect.

At the end of the quarter, students write a summary of their learning for each standard. Then,  I meet with each student to look over the evidence of learning and the standards. We negotiate a grade and set goals for the next quarter. This was last week, and here is the description we used for the grades you now see on their report cards:

A. I can show evidence that I met every standard. I can explain what I learned for each standard. I have revised my work or taken instruction to bring my evidence to in-depth inferences, extensions, consideration for the purpose or impact of the text, or elaboration for the standards. I can do these standards on my own (see evidence).
B. I have completed all the tasks, activities, and assignments, which shows I have attempted every standard. I have revised my work for standards I did not meet the first time. However, I am doing the basics of each assignment  on my own and not elaborating, going in-depth or stretching my thinking beyond the skills or standards taught.
C. I can show most of the evidence, but there are a few standards that I do not have evidence because I did not revise or try the task. My work is inconsistent – sometimes thorough, sometimes basic. With help or with time management, I can do everything, but I have not shown I can do it on my own. I need more time and support to show all the evidence.
D. Most of my evidence is partial or incomplete. I am attempting most of the tasks in class and on my own, but the content is basic or does not really show the learning; I cannot show or explain the standard related to what we are reading.
U. I am missing most of the evidence. What I can show are things we did in  class or with partners, which shows that I don’t have evidence that I can do or understand the standards on my own.

Ask your child to show you his/her summary of learning.

For third quarter, standards we are focusing on is the form of the text and how different forms impact meaning: specifically, poems, informational texts, documentary, novel to film adaptation, spoken word, and literature. Students will be collaborating on Google slides to teach the class about a poem and its form. We have many NEW books funded by the Bokor grant. Students will be reading in book groups and doing research on the book’s subject. They will write comparison essays of the form. They will also be performing some of their original poetry. Each student was given a color to indicate the day they should prepare a poem to read. (blue, yellow, pink- see the calendar). They will be evaluated on their public speaking- volume, eye contact, expression, pace, pronunciation, and professionalism. Please encourage them to practice.  I am attaching aReadingQ3.

We’ll also work our way through a few “classics.”

Please talk to your child about finding 3 half hour blocks of time to read each week. I have worked with them on making a weekly schedule and how to find and make time for this. I encourage them to 1) find  a quiet place to read at home, the library, or places like Starbucks, 2) reading with sticky note to mark words, questions, places that move them, etc., and 2) to get a favorite snack to make the reading time special (no log, no timers). We want to promote independent reading as a positive experience.

Please contact me with any questions or comments. I look forward to a great third quarter!

7th Grade Writing

Hello, Parents, Guardians, and Students,

To begin, those of you who also have me as a reading teacher, some of this email will be familiar. Please, bear with me.

It has been a privilege for me to be your student’s teacher for writing. I truly enjoy writing, and over the years it has helped me make sense of my life and my interests through both creative writing, research, and forming arguments about issues I care about.  I have tried to share this passion with your students and help them find ways to use writing in similar ways. I take the students’ trust and yours seriously and do my best to communicate to the students and you what is happening in our class and why.

Second quarter grade reports are coming home today. As you may know, in our class, we do not use “grades” to evaluate their learning throughout the quarter. A standard (Common Core State Standards) is attached to each task, activity, or assignment. As students complete the task, activity, or assignment, I write students feedback and put in the SIS (grade system) a 2 if they met the standard, a 1 if they need revisions, and a 0 if they did not attempt the task. I make time in class for conferences with me during the quarter to work on revisions and allow students to move the 1s and 0s to 2s throughout the quarter. My chief concern is evidence that they are learning, so I have set up the classroom to support the learning process: try, feedback, revise, feedback, reflect.

At the end of the quarter, students write a summary of their learning for each standard. Then, I meet with each student to look over the evidence of learning and the standards. We negotiate a grade and set goals for the next quarter. This was last week, and here is the description we used for the grades you now see on their report cards:

A. I can show evidence that I met every standard. I can explain what I learned for each standard. I have revised my work or taken instruction to bring my evidence to in-depth inferences, extensions, consideration for the purpose or impact of the text, or elaboration for the standards. I have also tried the challenges offered. I can do these standards on my own (see evidence on the blog and my reflection).
B. I have completed all the tasks, activities, and assignments, which shows I have attempted every standard. I have revised my work for standards I did not meet the first time. However, I am doing the basics of each assignment on my own and not elaborating, going in-depth, trying the challenges, or stretching my thinking beyond the skills or standards taught.
C. I can show most of the evidence, but there are a few standards that I do not have evidence because I did not revise or failed to try the task. My work is inconsistent – sometimes thorough, sometimes basic. With help or with time management, I can do everything, but I have not shown I can do it on my own or consistently. I need more time, support, and/or effort to show all the evidence.
D. Most of my evidence is partial or incomplete. I am attempting most of the tasks in class and on my own (which means there are some I have not even tried). I cannot show or explain the standard related to what we are reading because I have not learned to do the standard on my own or using resources from class and teachers.
U. I am missing most of the evidence. I have not used class time well, and/or I have not made up notes or work from when I was absent (at lunch/academic support). What I can show are things I was able to finish in class or do partners, which shows that I don’t have evidence that I can do or understand the standards on my own. I will need to make changes to my time management, mindset, approaches to getting help, and/or attendance.

Ask your child to show you his/her summary of learning. In addition, ask your child to show you where you can listen to the beautiful WinstonCommunityStoryProjectPartI (2) submissions.

For third quarter,  we are focusing on developing skills from first semester– narrative, informative, argument writing, grammar, speeches, and interviewing. Students will choose their own topics and work through the writing process more independently. We will still have many conferences and continue to share our writing on the blog and in class speeches.

Please contact me with any questions or comments. I look forward to a great third quarter!

Peace,

Dr. Donovan

How do you explain your feedback-oriented ways, your minimizing grades approach to your students’ families?