Help for Donna.

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Home : 2001 : November : 4

Help for Donna.
By Mariette Coleman

Dear Donna,
Motivation is the key to your problem. Make a lesson "come alive". This is the "Let me entertain you" generation. Tie the printed word into something they can watch, hear, or eat. Then they'll have
something to write about. Sell the sizzle as opposed to the steak. They can't appreciate until they experience. Provide opportunities for "feeling" the assignment. I give stickers for children who finish their full page Journal entry first, second, and third. They also enjoy sharing their enties with the class. I take the first three who volunteer. When you talk to them express what

you feel. Have your students write you letters. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn about your students, which will give you more insight into how to reach your class. Learn their triggers. Have an attractive "mailbox" for them to deposit their letters into for you. Answer their letters in writing. This need not be extensive. I use an attractive notepad on which I reply with a few lines, question, or comment. They love getting mail from me and I enjoy finding out about their lives. Sometimes I share a bit of myself, if it applies, but this is all about them. Don't neglect
the Art projects of making you own notepaper, books, picture frames for poems, etc. Locate those books with unusual titles ie. Stinky Cheese Book,etc. and read to them with feeling or in costume, which can be as simple as a hat.
Last, but not least, check out the Accelerated Reader Program for your computer. You can find them on the Internet.
Above all,enjoy and they will too.
Mariette Coleman