What are potential strengths and weaknesses of the letter that ...

[jparksx]

What are potential strengths and weaknesses of the letter that Ms. Gonzales sends home to parents and guardians? In your analysis, draw on principles of effective parent-teacher communication.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Is Mr. Collins wise to let his students make their own choices about what they read?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[amy.lauersdorf90]

Answer to Question 1

Possible strengths and weaknesses include these:
Strengths:
 It communicates that parents/guardians are welcome in the classroom.
 It alerts parents/guardians to an upcoming classroom activity that may require their involvement (at a minimum, in helping their children obtain costumes).
 It provides concrete suggestions about how parents/guardians can help.
 It takes some student diversity into account

Answer to Question 2

On the positive side, choices promote a sense of self-determination and also enable students to read books in which they are interested; as a result of both of these effects, choices foster intrinsic motivation. On the negative side, some children may be reading easy booksbooks that don't challenge them and help them develop their reading competence. Probably a better course of action would be to give students a narrow range of choices of books that are all at an appropriate reading levelthat is, books that they can read successfully yet will introduce new vocabulary words and challenge them to acquire greater reading proficiency.