Dear Parent/Guardian(s):

This year your child will be involved in a writing program that is based on years of research and development and has a few special features.

I will be keeping your child’s finished compositions here in school in a writing folder rather than sending them home. The compositions are being kept here so that we can review them to see how writing skills are developing and to look for major problem areas. During the year you are welcome--in fact I encourage you--to come to school and review and discuss the compositions.

Another major feature of this program is called focus correcting. The focus correcting system is based on the belief that student writing improves more quickly when the student works to improve a few writing problems at a time. It will be hard for me not to correct every error on each paper, but this year I will be indicating errors on some papers in only a few areas. These areas will be announced in advance so that my students can focus their energy on them. We will keep a record of all the focus correction areas we cover during the year.

This program will be used in conjunction with the rubric designed by the English, History, and Foreign Language departments. The rubric will be applied to various writing assignments throughout the year, including the students’ research papers and other compositions. You and your child have already received a copy of the rubric.

Parents often ask, "How can I help?" Let me make a few suggestions. Be a helper and encourager, not a critic. Provide a quiet place to write with good lighting and a dictionary. Talk about the assignments and help your son or daughter get lots of ideas. Look for good things in the composition. And, if you are asked to review a composition, read it out loud. Ask if it sounds right. You’ll be surprised at how many of his/her own mistakes s/he will be able to hear.

If you have any questions or comments about this program or about anything else we are doing, please call or send me an email.

Sincerely,

Mark E. Campopiano,
English Dept. Chair