Million Words or Less

I found this idea before my first year of teaching and haven't found a better "get-to-know-your-student" activity since. You find out so much about your students, their interests, learning styles, background, and fears. What surprised me was how much you also learn about their families living situation, educational background, and especially their opinion towards their child and his/her education.

The assignment is for parents to describe their child in ONE MILLION words or less. I give this as "Parent Homework" for extra credit the first week of school. The kids LOVE the title and the fact that the first person I am assigning homework to is their parents! My students are always pretty good about harassing their parents into completing it because of the extra credit, a chance to read about themselves (unless the parents send it in a sealed envelope), and just the fun in making their parents do a little work!

I usually ask for it back at the end of the first week of school and then read the letters over the weekend. I have also asked permission from some parents to make copies and share with the students other teachers.

Here is an example of the letter I use. You can click the link below and change it to suit your personality. (Hopefully it works, this is my first attempt at uploading a document!)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FILE

~Mrs. Scott