Any teachers out there?

[Veronica]

I am amazed that the administrators and teachers at your school have not been pouring over the school's test scores. We spent a LOT of time analyzing scores - too much it seems sometimes. We're all so worried about losing funding if we go down.

Funny story - at least it is to me. Our 4th grade did really well in math this year. They also happened to implement a math program that many teachers are resistant to. So of course administrators are saying, "Look what happens when you do what we say." Funny, these kids also had awesome scores as third graders and as second graders. Admin ignores that little detail. They also ignore that the teachers didn't implement the program, exactly as directed. Whatever...

About the drawing, visualizing is a valid technique in reading comprehension. If the staff at your child's school is using Strategies That Work by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis or Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell they have probably elected to start with visualization as the first comprehension strategy they are teaching. It is one of the easier ones to teach.

There are six Comprehension Strategies in these books - making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining importance and synthesizing.

We usually start with making connections at the elementary level - even in 5th grade. You have new kids who haven't had the strategies instruction before.

V.