Dear students
3rd blog entry assignment:
As Jordan's teacher, write a short note to Jordan's mother describing how Jordan was included as part of the class in the process of building a ramp in the school.
-How he contributed; how he has been successful
-What have been put in place to support him
-Invite parents’ support, thoughts & resources
You may write about 200 words.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
63 comments:
Dear Mrs. Martin,
It is my pleasure to inform you that Jordan has been participating in all activities that we are having for the theme on “wheelchairs accessibility/ ramp building”. During a time when there is a free choice of activities, Jordan has been looking up on the internet for more information about the different types of ramps and how ramps can be built in schools, office buildings and homes. In addition to that, Jordan has been playing some games regarding ramps provided by the centers. These activities allow Jordan to have a better understanding on the topic ramps.
With those information and knowledge, I encouraged him to share it with the class. However, before doing that, I started a mail box system for Jordan. His classmates will come up with a list of questions for him to answer about ramps and he will answer them by letter writing. With lots of praises, encouragements and rewards, Jordan has started to communicate with his friends. Not only has that, his classmates always valued his advices and suggestions to the building of the ramps which helps him to increase his level of confidence and self-esteem.
As our center believes in parental involvement, I strongly encouraged you to join in some of the upcoming activities I have planned for the class. Not only that, it is my pleasure to invite you to our parental gatherings which takes place on the last Friday of each month. During these parental gatherings, parents will come together to share ideas for the different themes of the term, share their problems they face with their child at home and share information on how to deal with the problems at home as well. It will be a good opportunity for you to listen to some advices to help you and Jordan to cope with his disability.
I hope to see you soon in future parental gathering and hope Jordan continue to work hard in these activities.
Yours Sincerely,
Charlotte Teo Yi Xin
Form Teacher of Kindergarten 1
Charlotte Teo (Group B)
Dear Parents of Jordan,
Recently, Jordan’s class has been involved in the project of examining the possibilities of building a ramp in our school, so as to increase accessibility for children who need wheelchairs to move around.
I would like to commend Jordan’s contribution towards the project. He has been actively updating his peers on the different shapes and sizes of ramps he had seen on books. He was also responsible for leading the internet search for information on ramps in the classroom. Jordan also did an excellent illustration of the ramp’s structure using the computer as well as typing an important letter which was sent to the city engineering office.
During the project, I planned for both individual work time and group work so as to cater to Jordan’s needs for solitary work time and to practice socializing skills with his peers. Due to the workbench which caused much noise when children were handling the building tools, I have also provided Jordan with a headphone so as to reduce distractions while he was working on the project. To cater to his interest, figurines of cats were used as a non-standard method of measuring ramps when we went on a fieldtrip. These were some ways which I carried out to support Jordan’s learning.
For Jordan’s continued success in the classroom learning, it would be encouraged for you to guide Jordan’s learning at home. One suggestion is to spend time to do online search with him for information on ramps. Another suggestion is to share books on related stories or information of ramps at home. Feel free to contact me for further queries on this project and on Jordan’s progress in class. Your support will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Teacher Siew Chin
Ng Siew Chin (Group A)
Dear Ms. Martin,
Recently, a situation has triggered the interest of the children in ramps. To extend on this interest, the class is currently in the process of constructing a ramp for the school.
The process of constructing a ramp has been divided into small groups where each group has been assigned a task to venture on. Jordan, considering his flair in reading and interest in using the computer, has been assigned in the research group. He and his group members have to research on all information about constructing a ramp. This includes searching for the various purpose of a ramp, how it should be constructed, the material to be used and etc.
I am pleased to inform you that Jordan has been actively involved in this project. He has contributed quite a lot of information about ramps that are really helpful to the project on the whole. Considering that Jordan works best on his own, he has been allowed a fraction of research time on his own. There are also times where he is required to work with a partner, Ross Geller, and also time for him to work in a group (to synthesise information collected). At times he may be a little reluctant to vocally share what he has found, so he does it through words and drawings.
The project of constructing a ramp has been going on quite well, so far. However, the children and I would be really pleased if parents could contribute their support in any way possible to the project. Perhaps, you as an architect could come to school one day and help the children map out a building plan. I’m sure any contribution, big or small, will make the project a more meaningful experience for the children and will be greatly appreciated by them.
Regards,
Siti Rahmah
Siti Rahmah M.M.
Group B
Dear Mr/Mrs Martin
Recently, Jordan and his classmates have been very interested in ramps. It started when the children noticed the wheelchair sign at the church’s parking area which then led to the wheelchair sign on the only door without stairs and eventually to the idea of the ramps. As the class were discussing, Jordan suddenly pointed out that there is a ramp at his grandparents’ house. The other children were very surprised because not many people have ramps at home. Thus, we gave allowances to Jordan to explain the situation to his classmates and they now understand the reason behind it. I am very pleased with Jordan because he is responding well to in-class discussions and am willing to interact with his classmates though he may seem to be a little reserved at times.
I understand that Jordan is very familiar with computers and he is able to read very well. Therefore, I have put him in charge of the research team on the topic and he appears to be more than delighted to be using the computer in school. Currently, he has provided the class with many detailed measurements and various types of ramps used around the world. I am also aware that if I were to make Jordan read or share his thoughts in a big group, he might not feel comfortable. Hence, I have decided to pair him up with a buddy so that they could share their ideas with each other and also catch up on more readings. At the moment, he is doing well in sharing his thoughts and ideas with his buddy and he does not show any signs of agitations.
I believe that Jordan has shown tremendous progress in terms of his social skills and it would be great if you could come down to the school someday to watch how Jordan is doing in class. We would also be grateful if you could provide us with some expertise on the building of ramps. I am very sure that the children would benefit much from your contributions. Thank you.
Nurfarah Mohamed
Group A
Good day to you Ms. Martin!
Since we last met for the parent-teacher conference in August, I have been making modifications to classroom activities related to the current class-initiated project of building a ramp for a church. These modifications were based on the strengths and interests that we observed and shared with each other during that meeting. This is done in order to promote Jordan’s involvement in enhancing his knowledge about ramps, by actively engaging in activities that supports his interests and caters to his learning style. In addition, he will be able to experience success in completing tasks.
Some examples of the activities mentioned include…
1. Using the classroom computer to research about the features of ramps and how people build them. He was also provided with a tape recorder where he verbally document and share his ideas to his classmates.
2. Providing him with a visual learning experience by bringing him and his classmates on a field trip to the church, where he was also given the task of picture-taking.
3. Including books on ramps in the library corner to build on his knowledge of ramps as well as support his love for reading.
I’m pleased to report that Jordan now reads the books on ramps to his friends during story-time. Also, he is more open to working with a partner when using the classroom computer as he likes to share his expertise with others.
The progress he makes at school can be further enhanced at home as well. I will be enclosing a science take-home activity kit whereby you and Jordan can build a ramp using different materials and experiment which ramp allows a marble to roll down smoothly. I thank you for your support this far and hope to work with you on a regular basis towards developing strategies to enhancing Jordan’s learning. Thank you!
Teacher Amirah
Group A
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am glad to share some great news with you! Jordan has been performing fairly well in participating in school activities.
For this month, Jordan’s class has been actively involved in a project which aims at improving the school facilities to ensure a more accessible environment for children with disabilities. Recently, we had a project involve building a ramp in the school, and Jordan seems to enjoy the activities that have been planned out.
As this was a project by the children, they had come together for discussions and realizing Jordan’s interest in reading and playing the computer, he was given the task on doing research and finding information from the internet. Jordan seems to be very happy with the assignment of task and takes pride in the task given to him. As I am aware that he does not like to participate in large group activitie, I have team his up with two other students to work together with him on the research. Within his research group, he cooperated well with his teammates and they manage to find essential information on building of the ramp. Up till today, he is comfortable working with his teammates and sharing ideas with them as well as actively involved in sharing his thoughts and ideas. During this whole period, I am very proud of Jordan, as he was able to control himself and did not show any signs of agitation.
I am sure that you must have been proud of Jordan after reading his success academically and socially. I would very much welcome your visit in watching the progress of Jordan in action, as well as joining the other parents currently involved in the project to make it a wonderful and successful experience for both you and your child. Together as a class we will be looking forward to having you joining us in this enriching and fun filled experience. If you have any queries about this project or Jordan’s progress and well-being, feel free to drop me a mail or give me a call and I will be very glad to share more with you. Your support in any form of contribution would be greatly appreciated by us.
Teacher Sam =)
SAMANTHA CHIA
GROUP A
22nd September 2008
Curriculum Information
Dear Mr/Mrs Tan,
I am very excited to update you about the current theme that Jordan’s class is working on. Jordan and his classmate had showed great interests in the neighbourhood ramps. Through a discussion, the class had come to a consensus of working on the theme, Ramps for this semester.
Being aware that Jordan enjoys and loves reading, I had assigned him to be one of the researchers for the Ramps projects. His role is to collect findings about ramps through reading books that are available in the library corner. Initially, he was a bit reluctant to read books on ramps as he was more attracted by the variety of books on cats. After a discussion with him, we had an agreement that for every book that he read about ramps, he will get to read a book on cats in exchange. This agreement has greatly motivated him as he is able to read about five to eight books regarding ramps each day presently.
I realized that while Jordan was engaging in his reading, his peers were involved in constructing ramps models which created noise level that was not within Jordan’s tolerance range. To ensure that Jordan feel comfortable and have undisrupted time in reading, I had set up a corner far away from the area where the construction activities take place and provided him with mufflers as well as cushions.
In addition, to enable Jordon to work on his strengths, I have provided him the opportunity to present his findings to the class through the use computer. He has the opportunity to use a variety of computer software that he is familiar with. Last Friday, he presented his first findings to the class with the used of animations and sounds. Both his peers and I were amazed by his findings and form of presentation.
To facilitate Jordan’s and his peers’ learning about the ramps and its’ importance, you can be involved by giving talks to share your knowledge on ramps and its importance. Also, I would really appreciate if you could provide us with recycled materials that can be used for constructing of ramps (E.g. Cardboards) and time off to participate in the Final Ramps projects (Date: 17th October 2008).
I hope that the information provided has enabled you to gain a better understanding about Jordan’s learning in school. Please feel free to email me at tanyj@ntuc-childcare.com or call the centre at 64889884 if you have queries, suggestions or views to share.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
Teacher Tan Yi Jun
Tan Yi Jun
Group A
Dear Mrs. Martin,
Thank you for being so supportive of the curriculum the past months on building a ramp in school! Our class had a great time working on the building of a ramp and enjoyed the whole process; observations of other ramps in the environment, the research done on how to build a ramp… etc.
Throughout this process, Jordan was very participative and had seemed to be enjoying himself too. As Jordan is strong in his reading skills, we assigned him as one of the researchers to find more information on ramps and the building of ramps. We provided books and internet websites as sources of information for them. After retrieving some information, we would get the researchers to share to the class what they have found and hold a discussion to plan the next step for the working process. For Jordan, we took extra efforts to encourage him to speak up and interact with the class. At first, he was unwilling to do so. However, with much encouragement from the class, Jordan gradually spoke up and could share with the class for at least 5 minutes about the things he had found.
In addition, as Jordan is good with the computer programme, KidPix, we gave him another task, which was to try building and designing a ramp that was most ideal for the school. Having in mind that it is quite challenging for Jordan to sit still and listen to a person speaking for a long period of time, we took the extra mile to get some pointers from the guest speakers before they come in to give a talk. This allowed Jordan to be able to read the notes as the guest speakers spoke.
All in all, Jordan’s social development is improving significantly. His development and successes during this process will be documented in his learning profile.
Do feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions, resources or feedback on the curriculum or Jordan’s development.
Yours sincerely,
Teacher Isabella
- isabella [groupB]
Dear Mrs. Martin,
The children have been working on the project of building a ramp in the school recently. This topic was brought up in our discussion about the church and its signs when one of the children suggested that we had too much stairs in the school, which thus all of them decided to build a ramp in school to improve accessibility.
Before the children start working on the ramp, I had them read up and gather information about ramps using books, magazines and internet. Both of us understand that Jordan is an excellent reader and is efficient with the computer. Hence I have decided to assign him to the research and development team where he is able to put is capabilities to good use; reading about ramps and searching for pictures and information about ramps on the internet. In addition, I have also provided building materials like ramp-shaped blocks for Jordan to present his thoughts in a different method.
We are still in the midst of the project, however at this point of time I am glad to inform you that Jordan is progressing well with his research work and I can see that he is enjoying the whole process, and is starting to work harmoniously with his peers. Whenever his friends have an idea of how the ramp will look like, they will draw sketch a rough copy and pass it to Jordan. He thus uses one of the programs in the computer to duplicate an electronic sketch of it.
All in all I would like to seek your fullest support and co-operation in creating a meaningful learning journey for the children. It would be great if you could also suggest resources to further facilitate the children’s learning, especially Jordan’s.
Thank you.
Ms Jasmine Chong
Little Tots Learning Centre
Form teacher of Kindergarten Class 2008
Jasmine Chong
Group B
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am delighted to share with you the progress of Jordon’s class theme on ramps. The class has shown great interest in ramps and therefore we decided to further investigate on ramps through the various activities planned out.
As you are aware, the school believes in including every child in all kind of activities. I’m glad to say that Jordon has been actively engaging in the activities in and out of class. One of which is when we catered to his interest in reading and computers. Jordon began researching and reading information from books and internet on ramps. At first he was reluctant but later we came to agreement that every two books on ramps that he reads, he’ll gain a cat sticker. However, after sometime he seemed to enjoy the activity. I am aware that Jordon might feel uncomfortable working with large group of people therefore; I have paired up the children. It seems that Jordon was much more comfortable working with his partner searching for information and sharing ideas on ramps. Through their research, we were able to know the different levels of elevation of ramps and how it affects a ball rolling down on the ramps.
Also recently, Jordon has volunteered to take pictures of ramps during the field trips to neighborhood areas. Probably, based on his readings and research, he is keener to know more on ramps therefore this opportunity given will expand his participation in class activities.
Besides that, I have also incorporated a headphone for Jordon to be able to work with materials at the work bench. This is to allow Jordon to participate with materials at the work bench area without feeling agitated by the loud sounds produced from working with the materials. I am in fact glad to see Jordon playing at the work bench more often now as compared to the past.
Overall, I am pleased to inform you that Jordon has increasingly showed participation in class activities on ramps. He is showing more improvements in the area of socializing with his peers especially his research partner and in his knowledge on ramps. Therefore, I have included a take-home activity kit that you can work with Jordon which will further enhance his learning. I would also like to seek for your support in suggesting strategies or resources that will contribute to the children’s learning. Your contribution is much appreciated. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me at amalina@gmail.com or at 67583729.
Yours sincerely
Teacher Amalina
Nur Amalina (Group A)
Dear Mr./Mrs. Martin,
I'm very pleased to inform you that Jordan has been making good progress in class. For the recent curriculum project: Ramps, he has shown interests in the topic as well as cooperating with his classmates to explore about this topic.
In the team, he played the role of a researcher. As he is good with IT, he actually demonstrated how he search for information about ramps to his classmates. He is able to copy the information from the computer to a piece of paper provided which aids in his communication of his ideas with his classmates during group discussions. Moreover, magazines and books were also provided for all the children to gather information about ramps. Knowing that Jordan has good reading skills, he was able to pick out useful information from the books and magazines as well.
In addition, the children were broken up into smaller groups of 2 and 3 to experiment with planks, wheeled objects, etc to find out about most appropriate height of the ramp as well as the texture for the surface of the ramp. Jordan wasn't very keen to share the materials during this activity but I've provided an extra set of materials for him. Looking on the brighter side, he was able to accept help from some of his classmates when he had some difficulty in using the materials.
After discussions, research and experimentations, the team has come up with their desired design of the ramp. Jordan then converted the design electronically into the computer which was printed and displayed in class.
In light of this, I would like to seek your support in reinforcing his concepts about ramps at home as well as contribute any areas of his interests as well as how he could better his communication skills and social skills. I thank you in advance and look forward to work with you as we do our best to support Jordan to achieve his goals for this year.
Teacher Adalene
Dear Yolanda
I am excited to share with you on what Jordan has achieved in school over the week!
Recognizing the diverse learning needs of every child, differentiated instructions were highly practiced in class when working on the project, "Ramps and Wheelchair". Hence, to arouse Jordan’s interest in this topic, I incorporated the use of technology and his fascination in cats into his learning.
For instance, in one of the activities, I provided him with a set of picture cards that illustrated an injured cat having difficulties in climbing the stairs. Using these pictorial scenarios, I encouraged Jordan to use the Kid Pix program to construct an architectural plan of a ramp for the “injured cat”. Upon completion of the plan, his peers were amazed by it and developed keen interest in using the computer software. Thus, I invited Jordan to demonstrate to his peers on how to construct an architectural plan using computer software.
I understand that Jordan is very sensitive to noise. Therefore, during small group activity, such as block play, children explored building of ramps on carpeted area. With the minimized noise level, Jordan was seen playing along side with his peers. At times, I observed that Jordan was having brief conversation with them!
On next Friday, there will be a fieldtrip to Pet Hotel at Pasir Ris Farmway II. I would really be glad if you could join us. I am confident that Jordan’s learning would be maximized with your presence. In addition to promote home-school partnership, there will be a “Build-a-ramp” contest. For more information, kindly refer to the bulletin board placed outside the main office.
If you have any queries or suggestions pertaining to this project, feel free to contact me via the school’s number: 6788 0099 or email me: wq@playhouse.com . Thank you.
Teacher Wanqin
[Cai Wanqin, Group B]
Dear Mrs. Martin,
As you already know, the class has been doing a project on ramps for the last three weeks. I would like to update you about Jordan’s progress and successes in this project and also would like to invite you to participate and support Jordan’s learning together with us.
Upon the introduction of the pictorial schedules, Jordan is able to move on to other activities very smoothly. He no longer throws a tantrum in class and this has enabled Jordan to participate in many more learning experiences together with his classmates.
Jordan has been participating in this project with his buddy, Daniel. We understand that Jordan has a strong interest in reading and computers. Therefore, they have been working together to research and read up about ramps through books and the Internet. At the beginning, Jordan had a little problem getting used to working with Daniel even though they are good friends. However with constant encouragement, he is currently working very well with Daniel and both enjoy learning from each other. This is definitely an improvement in his interaction with others.
As most of the activities are done in pairs, there are times when Jordan and Daniel need to share their information with the rest of the class. During such times, Daniel usually takes up the responsibility of sharing the information. In the next three weeks, we hope to be able to encourage Jordan to pick up the courage to share with the rest of the class. I hope that both you and Mr. Martin could work closely with us to share with us some thoughts and resources to support Jordan.
Attached to this letter is an information sheet about how you and Mr. Martin can be part of the class’ learning on ramps. We hope to have you participate in this project together with the class so that Jordan will feel supported as he learns. Please feel free to contact me at 63489250 for more details. Thank You!
Yours Faithfully,
Miss Yi En
Teacher of Kindergarten One
Yi En
Group A
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am pleased to share with you how it had been an enjoyable experience working with Jordan during the last project which the class had participated in together. The class had embarked on a wonderful journey of learning about ramps, their uses, and we even got to help build one.
Despite his reluctance to work with his peers, he had contributed quite substantially and was of great help throughout the process. He had been in charge of reading up the book which we had on ramps, and had helped with the online research. Besides, he had designed the ramp using the computer software and it was agreed by the class that his design was indeed one which was fantastic. What aided him and made him successful had been his rich knowledge in information technology and using the computer had been easy for him.
Throughout this period of researching and finding out more about ramps, I had worked closely with Jordan, ensuring that his personal needs were met while not having to compromise those of his peers. For instance, when he had his design, I had him present it to his friends and as he was slightly uncomfortable with doing so, I had helped him out in communicating his ideas to the class. This way, the class gained something, while Jordan could experience success and accomplishment.
Having shared with you briefly how Jordan had participate in my class, I hope to understand more about his behaviors when at home and what he usually is like. I would also welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have which may help Jordan experience success in the classroom and I believe that positive experiences would create new learning opportunities for him.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
Amanda Liew
Form Teacher (K2)
Amanda Liew
Group A
Dear Mrs Matin,
Recently, our students did an online research on ramps, in hopes to look into possibilities of building a ramp in our school, so as to increase accessibility for children who need wheelchairs to move around. I am pleased to inform you that your child, Jordon has actually piloted this internet search and has been actively updating his peers on the different shapes and sizes of ramps he had seen on books.
In order to support Jordan’s learning, Jordan has been given an ample time to work individually, as he was seen to perform better on his own. There are also times where he is required to work with an assigned partner, Ross Geller, and also time for him to work in a group in order for them to look into the collated information. Jordan also did an excellent illustration of the ramp’s structure using the computer as well as typing an important letter which was sent to the city engineering office. His effort is highly commendable.
As far as the project goes, it has been going on quite well. The best thing you can do is to encourage your child to obtain more information about his area of interest, especially about the possible ramps that is suitable for our school. As we continue with the project in the school, we invite you to continue the process at home. You participation is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Regards,
Nur'Hazwani Ab Mutalif
(Group B)
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am very happy to inform you that Jordan has been coping well in school in the subject areas as well as with his fellow peers. Recently, we had finished the completion of a project - building a ramp in the school together as a class. Jordan had been of great help by reading up online articles and books about ramps. Knowing that he does not like being in groups, I allowed him to spend time on his own to do research on ramps. Later on, I got him to pair up with two other classmates of whom he was closer to and share about their knowledge on ramps. It was not very effective at first, as Jordan was not communicating with his peers. However, after much encouragement from me, Jordan started to engage in small talks with his peers. I believe that the speech and language therapy he had been receiving had been of great help towards this.
After much discussion about building the ramp, we got started and I had assigned specific tasks for Jordan to do such as designing a blueprint of the ramp using a computer program as well as using blocks to build a ramp with his two other peers which he was already familiar with. Through the building of the ramps with blocks, I got each group to showcase their work to the class and talked about each unique ramp they created. Jordan’s designed ramp using the computer program was also shown to the class and everyone was excited for his ramp to be built in school. Hence, with the permission from Jordan and the support from the rest of the class, I submitted to the school board for request of permit to build the ramp.
The building of the ramp was successful with the help of several teachers and the whole class. The school principal is very happy and is considering to build several other ramps around the school so as to enable people in wheelchairs to be accessible.
There are many opportunities for Jordan to continue to work on this project especially with the help of him designing and providing information on ramps. Thus, with this, I extend my invitation to also have Mr Martin and you to come down and help build the ramps together with us. I am sure Jordan will be elated to have both of you coming down to help and support this project as well. This will also allow for both of you and Jordan to have some quality bonding time together. Amber is most welcome to join us in this project as well.
If you have any enquiries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 65650792 or drop me an email at misskam@cmail.com. Thank You.
Yours truly,
Miss Karryn Kam
Karryn Kam
Group B =)
Dear Mrs. Yolanda,
The Kindergarten 2 class and I started on a project to make our school “Wheelchair accessible” by building a ramp in school. We are still in the process of planning on how to build the ramp. For the past two months, we learned many things along the way to ensure fairness in the community to people who are physically impaired. Jordon has participated actively in this project and I would love to share with you his contribution and the current progress of this project.
During the first week, the class was deciding on which part of the building the ramp should be built and the canteen was chosen. As you have told me that Jordon love to play with Kid Pix on his computer, I installed the software on the class’s computer. He made a detailed layout of the canteen with Kid Pix. The canteen layout was really useful because we can decide what kind of ramp can be built and where it should be best situated. In addition, he taught some of his classmates how to use the software so they can do some designs too.
I assigned him the role of a researcher. He was very responsible with the tasks set for him. He did readings about ramps and wheelchairs from library books and internet. He chose his classmate, Sean, to be his research partner. They worked very well together, presenting their findings on charts and drawings. With the information presented, it helped the class to learn more about ramps and come up with solutions to problems we encountered, such as determining the right height and size of the ramp.
You were concerned with the “noisy” activities when children are practicing with the building tools. I have set aside for Jordon a personal space to work, away from the workbench area. I gave him a choice whether he wants to explore the building tools or to continue his research. I also allow him to bring the tools to his personal space to work on.
During the project, I took many photographs of the children’s journey. Jordon has been helping me with the captions of the photographs. Jordon, together with four other classmates, are working on the class’s photo album (a.k.a. “Ramp Book”). You are most welcome view the photo album displayed in our classroom.
The class just prepared a proposal to the school and church to seek permission to build the ramp. Jordon was elected to type and send the email. It would be great if you could assist him with the email.
I have prepared a parents’ feedback box placed near the entrance of the class. You can drop in your questions, suggestions and concerns regarding this project or about Jordon. There is a big brown box beside the door that says “Scrape materials”, if you have any art materials, newspapers, cardboards or any other materials you think will be useful for this project, please do leave them inside the box. If you have other useful sources regarding ramps or wheelchairs, I am sure the class will be delighted to have them.
I am sure you will enjoy this project as much as Jordon. You can contact me at 71234567 if you have any queries. Thank you for your support you have given for the past two months. I look forward to continue work with you and Jordon to make this project a success.
Yours Sincerely
Ms. Yvette Koh
_______
Koh Feng Yan Yvette
Group B
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am Teacher Evon, who is in charge of Jordan’s class. Recently the class is working on a project about building a ramp for the disabled. I am really glad to inform you that Jordan had been actively involved in this projects, and I can see positive results showing from him in his daily routines.
With Jordan’s interest in the computer, he had helped his classmates in doing researches about their ideal ramp on the Internet. Not only that, he was also able to draw a virtual ramp using the computer. We were very impressed with his capability.
However, we are also aware that Jordan needs to build on his social skills. As a result, I took the opportunity for him to interact with his friend in this project. As he enjoys working on the computer on his own, I managed to integrate an agreement with him. I allowed him to spend more time on the computer than his friends with regards to this project. Nevertheless, he have to be at the combined meeting with everyone to discuss about where were we progressing in this project, and he have to contribute his own progresses, and put in suggestions and comments to the things that his friends says. I was surprised that he actually agreed to my request, and is progressing on his verbal skills.
Lastly, I encourage you to also use computers or cats as a platform to invite Jordan in engaging socially. I believe that he will be attracted as those are activities of his interest.
Thank you for your time and do let me know if you have any more enquiries.
Teacher Evon.
Woo HuiJing, Evon (Group A)
Dear Jordan’s Mum,
As described in this semester’s newsletter, the theme of our curriculum is ‘Ramp’ and I would like to share with you a good news that Jordan had shown great interest and was greatly involved in the process of building a ramp in the school. With what we had discussed earlier on Jordan’s strengths and weaknesses, I had considered all the points and came up with activities that would help him in his learning.
Since he loved manipulating the computer and faced difficulty in expressing himself, he was allowed to use the computer to research and read about ramps which also enabled him an opportunity to use the computer software that he was familiar with to present his ideas to his friends in a creative manner. He had helped to make the lesson more interesting.
Furthermore, I realized that Jordan was unable to be involved in constructing of ramps models as this activity created noise level which was not within Jordan’s tolerance level. I discussed with him and came up with solutions that whenever he felt overwhelmed by the noise, he could just put on muffler to minimize the noise level or go over to a quiet corner to use his building tools or listen to his favourite music or read books. Although most of the time he chose to stay in the quiet corner to read books, he had read and contributed lots of ideas on how to build ramps. Hence, I allocated some time for small group discussion of two to three children (they are children who Jordan felt comfortable being with) on how they could make and improve their ramps and this allowed Jordan to feel more comfortable in speaking his ideas and also practise his social aspects of language. Many children had gained much knowledge from him.
Finally, Jordan needs your involvement too in his learning. We will be having our final project on a ramp gallery so we need your help in providing us the recycled materials (eg. newspapers, bottles, etc) that you have. I will inform you again on the date of the gallery whereby you will be invited to look at the children’s work and the process of this whole project. I also came up with a take-home kit and a list of activities that I did with Jordan which I hope that you can do it with him too which will make his learning more substantial. And most importantly, your thoughts, supports and feedbacks towards our activities are what we need to provide the best learning for Jordan. So please contact me at my email teacherrina@gmail.com or call the centre at 6475 2977 if you have any view or queries.
Thank You.
Yours Sincerely
Teacher Rina
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am really pleased to share with you the progress that Jordan has made during this term. Recently, Jordan and his classmates have been working on ramps for the disabled.
During this period of time, Jordan has been working on reading up on different types of ramps and he has found some excellent information from websites and books. He is very good with the computer and is a role model for his peers.
In addition, Jordan also participated in some quiet games that involved ramps at the learning corners as he is rather uncomfortable in places with loud noises. Because of his interest in cats, we try to include cats into our activities as best as we can. We also planned some group and individual activities that allows for Jordan to have some time to be alone, as well as time to socialize with his peers.
To support Jordan’s success in the classroom, we would like to invite you to be part of Jordan’s learning about ramps. I have included a take-home kit where you can create a scrap book with photos of ramps found in the neighbourhood with Jordan. If you have any enquires, feel free to contact me at cpl0250@hotmail.com or 91730489. Thank you for taking time to read this letter!
Yours Sincerely,
Chua Pei Lin
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Martin,
For the past couple of weeks, Jordan and his classmates have been working on a project revolving around the accessibility of wheelchairs, and even exploring the likelihood of building a ramp in the school. I am proud to inform you that Jordan has been making tremendous progress in his participation in the various class activities and project.
Jordan and his group were in charge of the architectural drawings of the ramp, and the letters that were to be sent to the Building Committee as well as the City Engineering Department. Thus, to help increase his participation in the project, I have made available a computer for him to work on, and also briefed his group members on how they could include Jordan in the process of the work – by allowing him to plan the drawings and typing of letters on the computer. On top of that, Jordan also had the opportunity to communicate with his group members through the group discussions, which I hope has helped in enhancing his social development. He was a little apprehensive in the beginning, but after a few days of working with the same group, he was able to contribute to the discussions a little here and there.
Apart from the group work, Jordan was also provided with some alone time and activities that allowed him to be away from the others and the noise when he needs to. While the rest of his classmates work at the workbench with hammers, saws and drills; Jordan goes to the side to either read books about construction and people using wheelchair, or engage in seriation and classification games that involve nuts and bolts, and ramp-shaped blocks.
I hope that this short note has helped in providing you with some information on Jordan’s progress in school, and in order to give you a better understanding of Jordan’s work, I have included his work into his portfolio which will be completed and shown to you during the parent-teacher conference. Please feel free to share your thoughts and any resources that you think would help Jordan in his learning with me, and I will do my best to support him. I would also seek your support in this project by reinforcing what he has learnt in school, at home.
Thank you for your understanding.
Best regards,
Ms. Evie
(Group A)
Dear Mrs Martin,
Jordan had been a great help in our recent project of building a ramp in the school.
From the information you provided, we knew that he loves computer thus we gave him the opportunity to use computer for researching information on ramp. And he did a very good job and contributed good and handy research information for the project. I can see that he is enjoying himself too. He also helped the class to type out a letter that the class drafted for the architect.
We also provided him with his favourite cat figurines to do measurement of ramps and he contributed to the class accurate measurement which we are very proud of him.
To further support his needs, we had provide him with ear muffle at the construction corner so that he will not be disturb by the loud noises. We also designed a reading corner with books about ramp which he can go to when he felt overwhelm so that he can calm himself by doing his favourite reading. At the same time, he may found interesting information about ramps and contribute to the project too. Lastly, Jordan had shown improvement in his speech. We had also provide him a recorder so that he can records down his words without feeling pressurized speaking infront of so many people. We hope this helps to raise his confidence in speaking and further improves his speech.
So we are really proud of Jordan contribution in this project, we hope that you can support his learning at home by perhaps bringing him to library, allow him to use the computer to do research and discuss with him his findings. Do feel free to share with me about Jordan so that we can work together to stretch his potential
Regards,
Teacher Yvonne
(grp A)
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am thrilled to share with you updates with regards Jordan’s tremendous progress this term. The class has shown great interest in ramps and therefore as a class, we decided to further investigate on ramps and explored about this topic.
To support the diverse learning needs, various activities were planned out to cater to each individuals. As Jordan is strong in his reading skills, he was assigned to be the ‘Information Counter’ where his classmates could get all the information regarding ramps from him. Thus, he was required to do reading and research from the books and internet websites provided as sources of information. As I am aware of Jordan’s discomfort in working with large group of people, I have paired him up with Kai, a partner that Jordan’s comfortable with, whom will be doing the sharing of information to their classmates instead. This not only promotes his interest in reading but also it helps to build on his social skills.
However, it took a while for Jordan to open up to his partner but with constant encouragement, he even shared information with the whole class! He is slowly learning how to verbalize his research to others with the aid of pictures. The arrangement worked well as he was given the freedom to have his own personal time and also a time to work with others.
Overall, I am pleased with what may seem small but actually a huge progress for Jordan. He has been actively involved in this project and contributed quite a lot for this semester. I believed that the progress he makes at school can be further enhanced at home as well. Thus I will be enclosing you a list of activities that can be done at home together.
For any further enquiries, suggestions or feedback, do feel free to contact me at s01y02a@teach.com
Yours Sincerely,
Tr.Sya
Syafiqah
Grp A
Dear Jordan’s Mummy,
For the pass few weeks, our class has been working on a project work on the topic of ramps. The students had been so excited about this topic after seeing a ramp outside the church while on the last field trip so we decided to explore this topic even further and decide how we may build one in school too. Jordan has been very helpful in contributing to the class efforts in understanding the process of building a ramp in the school. Even though he was still rather reluctant in sharing his idea to the entire class, he did make wonderful suggestions on the plans of building a ramp by drawing his ideas of how the ramps may be built and how we can beautify it with kitty paw prints. To tap on Jordan’s computer know-how, we have allocated special timings for him to work on the computer to help research more related information on ramps and have also encouraged him to share his ideas through many other different ways like typing and printing out his ideas, drawing them, recording them on a voice recorder or sharing it with his assigned buddy in class. This way we will be able maximize Jordan’s participation in this project without pulling him out of his comfort zone entirely. I am sure Jordan would have a lot to share about his findings on the ramps and would be more than happy to hear your opinion and ideas too. You might probably find it helpful to give Jordan alternatives in the way he express his thoughts to you. If you have any questions regarding the ramp project or how you may further enhance his learning at home, I will be more than willing to share with you in greater details.
Regards
Miss Audrey
Jordan’s Class Teacher
Audrey Chen
Group B
Done By: Koh Han Ni
Dear Mrs Martin,
I would like to tell you how Jordan was included as part of the class in the process of building a ramp in school.
In order to include Jordan in the class, I have provided choices of media for him to participate in the class. For instance, I have integrated assistive technology in the lesson. With assistive technology, Jordan was able to explore the internet for resources and information about the ramp. This has tremendously supported Jordan’s learning as he was able to communicate with his friends about the information he has found. On top of that, I have also provided opportunities to activate his background knowledge. For instance, I asked open-ended questions such as ‘where can you find ramps?’ and ‘how does a ramp looks like?’. This has helped Jordan to relate to his previous experiences about ramp as he could describe to me the shape of the ramp and the use of the ramp. Therefore, asking open-ended questions has successfully stimulated Jordan’s thinking and thus increased his participation in the class.
I hope that this message has given you a better idea of how Jordan was included in the class. I would be most grateful for your support in helping Jordan to achieve more in his learning. If you have any questions or feedback to share, please feel free to contact me by e-mail at hanni@hotmail.com.
Regards
Teacher Han Ni
Koh Han Ni
Group B
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am very pleased to inform you that Jordan is coping excellently in school. For the past three weeks, Jordan and his peers have been working on the topic of ramps. In the midst of this wonderfully engaging project, I have to inform you that Jordan has participated tremendously well and has contributed greatly.
Due to Jordan's familiarity with computers and his ability to read, he was assigned with the task of researching, along with a few others, where they are to look up for information about ramps through the Internet and through books. Jordan has shown great interest in carrying out his part, and is active in sharing what he has found. He has presented his ideas to the class with the usage of a computer programme. Indeed, the computer proved to be an excellent tool for Jordan to successfully communicate his ideas to his peers. His ideas and thoughts are very well-appreciated by his classmates, and this has boosted Jordan's confidence.
Throughout this project, there has been a balance of individual and group time for Jordan. He is granted ample time to carry out the research individually. Despite his dislike towards working in large groups, Jordan has grown to show cooperation when working with his partner, and has also responded well during class discussions. Also, some activities are moulded to include cats, a topic which Jordan is highly interested in. This enabled Jordan to enjoy the activities more, thereby allowing him to be more engaged.
We are still in the process of completing this amazingly dynamic project. The class and I are truly proud of Jordan's contributions. We would like to extend an invitation to you! Please do join our class this week to contribute your ideas and support in this project. We are planning to create models of the different kinds of ramps that the class has come up with. It would be beneficial for the children if you could come by and give suggestions or reinforce their concepts of ramps. Do contact me at nasw@treehouse.com if there are any queries pertaining to this project.
Regards,
Nur Amira
Nur Amira Safari Wijaya
Group A
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am writing to you today with regards to Jordan’s progress and participation in the process of building a ramp with his classmates in school.
Jordan has been successful as a researcher, as he has been helping the class with the necessary information they required for the building of the ramp. This was made possible with the recently-installed computer in our classroom, which facilitated Jordan in his search for more information. Also, we have been documenting our project with photographs, and Jordan has been taking turns with other children to take pictures, and comes up with captions during small-group time by either expressing his ideas verbally or in written form on the board in front of the class. With his participation in these in-class activities and small-group discussions, Jordan is more involved and interested in the topic on the whole. I hope to gradually increase the group size as Jordan learns to become more comfortable with his peers.
Furthermore, as with every other project, we have embarked on field trips as well, to look at the different kinds of ramps and to study the building of ramps. When we returned, Jordan and his classmates took turns among their small groups to practice using construction tools such as hammers, saws and drills to prepare for the building of the ramp. Jordan enjoyed this hands-on experience with his classmates and was thoroughly engaged, I am glad to note that the provision of concrete materials has enabled Jordan to participate and be successful in these activities.
As such, to support the continuation of Jordan’s steady progress, I would like to propose that we have a regular sharing session fortnightly so that we can have a constant exchange of opinions, resources and ideas. Please let me know if you have any queries, suggestions or thoughts on Jordan’s progress in school thus far as well as on the proposed sharing session.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Abigail Tan
Teacher
Bright Kindergarten
Dear Mrs Jordan,
In the last two weeks, the class has embarked on a project about ‘ramps’ in which was sparked off by the children’s interests. I would like to inform you that Jordon has been successful and has been contributing actively to the project. Jordon is part of the ‘research team’, the group in charge of finding related information off the internet and sharing interesting facts about ramps with the class. A computer with internet accessibility has been set up in the classroom to aid in support of the children doing research. As Jordan is strong in his reading and has a wide vocabulary, at times with my aid, he will explain to his team mates in understanding certain technical terms that they come across in their research information. This has promoted social interaction, between Jordan and his classmates.
Also, as I have understood from you that Jordan is proficient in using Kid Pix, a designing program, I have installed this software on the computer. Jordan has been encouraged to transfer children’s plans of the ramp design from drawings on paper to computer images. The other children have been ecstatic at having their drawings translated into computer images.
Jordan’s interest level in this project has also kept him engaged in task activities and therefore, he as not been throwing temper tantrums lately in class. Throughout this project, I have encouraged Jordan to keep a journal in which he can record his feelings and thoughts through drawings or writing. The journal has aid Jordan in class discussions whereby I share with the other children Jordan’s thoughts with reference to his journal.
I am sure that you are delighted to hear of Jordan’s learning journey so far. I also, would like to have you to share of Jordan’s progress at home, so I might plan to help connect his learning at home and in school. Also, should you have any resources that you think might help in our current project, please feel free to share it us. Thank you!
Teacher Sara
The above comment is by Cai Xiena Sara
Dear Jordan’s mother,
It’s been 2 months since the class has started working on the project of building a ramp in school. Thus, the purpose of writing this note is to inform you on Jordan’s progress in the project and the support that the school has provided in ensuring the success of everyone involved in it.
Firstly, opportunities for Jordan to contribute were created by allowing him to work in pairs in the classroom. The purpose was to get him to be engaged in more interactions with his peers and to capitalize his reading abilities by getting him to share the information that he has read up on with his friends. With these, I am glad to inform you that Jordan has been working well with his partner and he has been selfless in sharing the knowledge that he has with his peers. Secondly, due to the adoption of the project approach, Jordan was also observed to be more willing to participate in the activities that were conducted. This could be due to the reason that the project approach allows him to experience more success as compared to the completing of worksheets. This is so as we hope to tapped into his strengths before working on his weaknesses.
At the end of the note, I would be glad to inform you that Jordan has made marked improvement these 2 months by being more participative in the classroom. Before I end, I would like to find out if there is any improvement between Jordan and her sister’s relationship at home?
Yours sincerely,
Pearlyn Tan
Kindergarten 2 Teacher –in-charge
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am pleased to inform you that Jordon and his friends have been very participative in our theme on "Ramps".
During this past week,Jordon has shown his abilities by using resources like the internet and books to find more about ramps.
He has been very helpful in sharing his knowledge on the theme to his friends.In class, we also made a special box where children can write down questions about ramps to Jordon. Jordon have been praised by his friends for sharing a lot of great ideas about ramps in his reply letters.
Jordon is also working with a buddy. Jeremiah has been working cooperatively with Jordon in a special project. They are working on a story about Ramps.
Although the project is still underway, I can see that Jordon seems to be very interested and have made progress in his social skills.
Lastly, I would like to invite you for a sharing session nest week so that you can see what Jordon has done in class.
More information about the sharing session is provided on the second page of this letter.
Furthermore, I have included some take-home activities on the theme "Ramps" so that Jordon and you can gain more knowledge as well as have fun bonding time together.
I hope to see you soon. Please give me a call at 98767898 or email at teacher_86@gmail.com for any enquiries. Thank you.
Regards,
Teacher Surya Tewi
Dear Mrs. Yuen,
It is my pleasure to have Jordan in my K1 class this year. Jordan has displayed many fascinations in the use of technology such as the computer and in reading of books, especially on the topic of cats. These are his strengths that have been noted during class activities. Hence, I made use of his abilities and interest to include him as part of the class in the process of building a ramp in the school.
Firstly, the children were taken on a fieldtrip to explore the neighborhood around the school to observe different types of ramps. Before we headed out on the fieldtrip, Jordan was involved in researching about different types of ramps using the internet. After his research, he drew his findings on paper. He displayed his findings on the board during circle time to share with his classmates. Jordan did well by pointing out important facts about ramps in the sharing session with my help as a facilitator to elaborate further on his findings.
Secondly, Jordan was assigned a task to design the aesthetics of the ramp in the classroom. He had a buddy to work with him. As Jordan and his peer both had similar interest in cats, they decided to have cats as a theme to beautify the ramp. They both looked at different books on cats and drew pictures of their ideas on paper. Jordan needed much guidance from his teachers and peers to accomplish this task. However, he has displayed good progress through his drawings despite the lack in communication skill. Copies his draws of cats for the ramps are attached to this letter as an appendix.
Lastly, I would like to invite you to come to school to have a look at the finished product of the ramp during the children’s classroom open house on the 15 October 2008, 2-5pm. As the children are still in the process of preparation, if you have any extra resources, suggestions or concerns about the project please feel free to share them. The children and I are glad to have you on board this project.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Charlane Lee
Brightlane K1 Class parent
Dear Mrs. Martin,
Lately, our class has been involved in the project of examining the possibilities of building a ramp in our school; the purpose of this project is to explore ways in which we can increase the accessibility of wheelchairs in our school compound. Just a brief update about Jordan’s progress in school, we noticed through the many in-class discussions about how we can go about building a ramp, Jordan had shown enthusiasm in the topic and had participated actively in it. Therefore being aware that Jordan enjoys reading very much, we have assigned him to collect findings about ramps through resources like books and the internet. We have provided many informative magazines and resource books in the library corner for him to read up and also allow him to have access to the computer in the classroom. We trying to help Jordan to speak up more in class, however he is still very reluctant when he was asked to share about his findings and can become frustrated. Hence, we are providing him with other methods in which he can express his ideas to the class. Some examples of the methods we used are picture cards that aid him when he tries to speak and also simple building materials that enable him to construct his ideas. Furthermore, to encourage him and motivate him further, we reward him now and then with his favorite cat sticker to acknowledge his contribution and efforts. Overall, through this process, we noticed that Jordan is showing improvement in the area of socializing especially with the peers that he his working with. Therefore, we would like to seek your support in helping to reinforce his interest and concepts about ramps by creating conversations on the topic at home. You are also welcome to participate in this project together with Jordan and us! Please feel free to contact me at 6598 6789 or drop me an email at misslolala@hotmail.com. Thank You.
Teacher Victoria
Victoria Teo
(Group A)
Dear Mrs Tay,
The class is working on a project built on the theme of ramps during this semester. This topic is chosen based on children’s interests in ramps.
Having to understand Jordon’s keen interests for cats, I have used cats as a motivation to encourage Jordon to participate in this ramps topic. At first when the class was asked to draw a ramp which they liked to build, Jordon was uninterested. Hence, I encouraged him to design a ramp with a cat-like structure. This stirred his interests and he designed a ramp with a Hello Kitty cat at the top of the ramp through drawing.
As Jordon is intolerant towards noise level, I set up a workbench with mufflers to reduce the noise level. Initially, Jordon was reluctant to put on the mufflers and was hysteria when the noise level increased. Therefore, I provided a muffler to everyone the next day so that Jordon will put on his muffler as well. This proved effective as Jordon followed his friends and put the muffler on. He worked at ease in the construction of ramps and constructed a steep and gently sloping ramp.
I noticed that Jordon is able to work independently with computers. Hence, I decided to incorporate information and technology in class by allowing him to type his work and use some design programs like Microsoft Paint to draw his ramps. Jordon was excited to use the computer and volunteered to type a letter of proposal about the construction of ramps which was sent to the city’s engineering department.
To support Jordon and his classmates’ understanding about ramps, you can participate in your child’s learning by conducting a simple lesson about ramps or demonstrating the use of different ramps. Alternatively, Jordon’s understanding of ramps will be reinforced if you can build on his knowledge of ramps at home or even during outdoor trips. To encourage further participation, we will appreciate if you can bring some of Jordon’s favorite toy vehicles to school for the exploration of ramps.
I hope that the information provided has been useful in helping you understand Jordon’s learning and participation in school. I look forward to hearing your participation in Jordon’s learning and his understanding about ramps. For further enquiries, you can contact me at the centre’s no: 62918235 or via email: yvette.toh@gmail.com.
Thank you!
Yours Sincerely,
Teacher Yvette
Dear Mrs. Martin,
As you may already know, the children in the class are currently engaged in building a ramp in the compounds of the school. I am writing to let you know that Jordan has been doing very well with regards to this project. He has generously provided his help in searching for and reading up online resources on how we could go about building a ramp, and what materials we would need to build one. He has also provided for us information from books that he found in the library about building ramps. Jordan has also contributed in the process of exploring the designing of the ramp using the computer, sharing his computer knowledge with us through his designs. Due to this project, we have provided him a little extra time on the computer so that he can get his research done during free play times. We have also allowed him to use drawings on large pieces of paper to showcase his findings to the class. Also, instead of him presenting his ideas directly to the class, he has presented his ideas to me, so that I could present them to the class. If you have a chance to drop by the class, please feel free to take a look at the drawings that he has done. They have been pasted on the walls so that everyone can take a look at and refer to them. Also, if you could, please take him to the library a little more often so that he will be able to locate more resources for our class project. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you have any inquiries or would like to help in our project, please feel free to give me a call at 68269492. Thank you and have a nice day.
Teacher Tania
Class Teacher
(Group A)
Dear Ms Yolanda Martin,
I’m the new teacher whom will be teaching your son in the school. The class is currently in the process of building a ramp in the school. The big idea and features of the ramp was brainstormed and highlighted. A curriculum web with “wheelchair accessibility or ramp building in the center was sketched out.
In order to increase individual choice and autonomy for Jordan, I have encouraged him to find more information about the ramp from books and internet to work on his strength as an excellent reader. The project is progressing well as every child plays a part in building and working on the ramp. Jordan is also performing well as he has provided rich resources and information about building ramps. He prefers solitary activity such as Kid Pix on the computer than noise level activities. Therefore, I have asked Jordan to use the program to construct architectural plans in constructing of the ramp.
In this way, it allows choices of media for communication through interacting with different materials besides building materials and ramp-shaped blocks.
To allow you to better understand on what is happening in our class, we would love you to be part of us, by teaching your child on how the architectural works help people with wheelchair. We have taught Jordan the basics of using the computer to draw. You could guide him on his program and communicate ideas and suggestions to create an excellent ramp for the school.
Yours sincerely
Madeline Tan
(Group B)
Done By: Jasmine Chua (Group A)
Dear Mr/ Mrs Martin,
I am pleased to inform you about our newest learning journey for the term – Ramps. This topic was inspired by a discussion on how to improve wheelchair accessibilities in the school. After which, the children were really engaged and interested on the idea of creating ramps, that we decided to take this opportunity to build upon this interest to facilitate learning.
As we know, Jordan’s interests revolve around IT (Computers) as well as cats, hence, the teachers came up with roles and activities for him to play so that he could enjoy and demonstrate his expertise. Sessions that required internet research were held and Jordan was put in charge of using the computer to surf for information. Due to this, Jordan gave much contribution and his relationship with his classmates had improved much more as the other children acknowledged him as a team player. Jordan also used the computer to type out and present the information that the team had collated, giving him opportunity to practice spelling and speech.
To support Jordan on his mathematical concepts, we also made use of cat figurines to measure the heights and lengths of the different ramps. This way, Jordan was able to stay focused on the lessons and do simple counting.
All in all, Jordan has been a real help during the two weeks that we have embarked on this exploration on ramps and has greatly improved on this social and language and mathematical skills. We hope to further enhance his learning by reinforcing and supporting him in all ways that we can. Suggestions and queries regarding the theme and Jordan’s progress over the term would be welcome. Feel free to contact me at 6728 2739 or email me at ABC@gmail.com. I hope that we would be able to bring Jordan’s learning experience to an even higher level with our partnership. Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
Jasmine Chua
K1 Class Teacher
Dear Mr./Mrs. Martin,
I am Teacher Wei Wei, Jordan’s form teacher. I am glad to share with you Jordan’s current learning and progress in school. Lately, during a walk back from the library, the children were captivated by the user-friendly facilities for the under-privileged people, which in turn triggered their interest to construct a ramp at our school.
I am aware that Jordan has a talent and interest in computer and thus, to arouse his interest for ramp, we have appointed Jordan as our research manager where he will be in-charge of researching information about ramps online. I am really impressed with Jordan, he has been providing the classmates and the teachers with a lot of vital information about the different ramps structure and its functions. Recently, he even drew up a layout plan using the computer to aid the class exploration and discussion.
To further engage and capture Jordan’s involvement in the class activities and discussions, we do provide positive reinforcements like rewarding Jordan with cat stickers or a cat stamp on his star chart whenever he completes his required task. Jordan was very happy about it and tries his best to complete the tasks and activities allocated to him. A great improvement that both Miss Chin (Chinese teacher) and I had noticed was that, Jordan has shown improvement in his ability to work with small group of people during class activities. Recently Jordan has also been sharing new information and books about ramps with some of his friends during our group discussion. We will continue to encourage Jordan to talk and interact more in school so as to enhance his social skills.
Furthermore, I will also like to take this opportunity to thank you for maximizing Jordan’s learning at home by bringing him to the library and extending his understanding towards the theme. It was not only beneficial for Jordan, he also feels good about what he can currently do. I hope that you will continue to be involved in Jordan’s learning both in school and at home. If you do have any questions or queries regarding the school or Jordan’s learning, do contact me at, 92323232 or tww2@kids-world.com I look forward to Jordan’s continuous growth and learning in school, as we continue to work hand-in-hand to enhance Jordan’s learning and development.
Yours Sincerely,
Teacher Wei Wei
- Tan Wei Wei Crystal -
Group A
Dear Parent,
As you have known, our class has just completed a project about ramps. The unit of study has been explained in detail in the parent letter that I sent out last week. Please refer to it.
I wish to inform you that Jordon has been very cooperative and participative in the process. As he is good with computers, he was given the responsibility to research about ramps online. He was also given an opportunity to share his ideas and learning to the class using a voice recorder. As for the letter that the children dictated to the City Engineering Department and the Building Committee, Jordon helped to type the written letter after the children have drafted it. Your maid also accompanied him on the field trip to calm him down and help him feel more secure. I must say that Jordon has been calm throughout the trip as we had prepared him before hand as to what he would be expecting. Using the pictorial schedule that I have designed, Jordon felt more secure and was able to know the activities that we were expecting during the trip. On top of that, he had been a great help in taking pictures of the field trip. I have also seen improvements in Jordon working with the other children. In the work bench, Jordon was able to work alongside his peers. Taking the noise level into consideration, I have provided him with a muffler to help him work comfortably by shutting out noises that he might felt uncomfortable with. When he required time to be quiet and alone, he would move on to the quiet library corner to read about ramps.
The entire project has been successful for Jordon and the other children. I see Jordon slowly adapting to school life with the simple adaptations that we have designed for him. He is now able to participate in class activities and learn together with his peers. Therefore, I wish to thank you for your willingness to work with me to help Jordon succeed. If you have anything that you wish for me to know, or how we can further help Jordon succeed in school, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss about it.
Thank you.
Regards,
Teacher Jacelyn
Low Shilin Jacelyn
Group A
Dear Mr./Mrs. Martin,
Jordan has been receiving positive feedback from his peers and teachers in regards to the building if ramp in school. Due to his profound knowledge in books and cats, we seek his help in providing books on ramps. With his added assistance in speech and language therapy, Jordan could participate in small group discussions with much prompting and help from his classmates. Before the process of building a ramp in school, the class used the computer and library for research. We try to support his interest by assigning a friend, Kenny, whom Jordan is able to communicate well. Through the buddy system, Jordan has less difficulty in his social skills as well as conversing with Kenny and the rest of the class. They are able to understand his frustrations better. When Jordan wishes to engage in solitary activity, I would also give him space to be alone, in particular, during discussion time, his group would be given a quieter place to work. At the same time, Jordan would be give time to do his measurements of the ramp to ensure and maintain his interest. I would also like to have you supporting in Jordan and school’s ramp building project. Suggestions and ideas on building his social aspects are encouraging. I hope to hear from you soon and wish to work together in supporting Jordan.
Teacher Dawn
Hu Huazhen Dawn
Group B
Dear Mrs Martin,
Two weeks ago, I had informed you of the new project the class children had decided to do on ramps. This note is to inform you of Jordan’s progress in class with this project.
In the beginning, Jordan always sat at his table while his classmates researched about ramps. I sat down with him whenever I could, explaining to him what and why everyone was researching. I then left books about ramps on his table. After some time, he started researching as well.
We encouraged his research through having a buddy system. Jordan did not like working with him at first. However, with close support from the speech and language therapist, he slowly accepted his buddy. While working with him, he would read the books or articles on-line, and point out important parts to him. She then wrote it down, and presented it to the class. When asked questions, Jordan would whisper his answer to his buddy, for him to share with us.
Jordan was also the photographer, taking pictures of the process. At the end of each day, I uploaded the pictures onto the class computer. Jordan then typed out captions for the photographs, with my guidance. However, he is now able to do it independently and types it out on his own.
Jordan is now better able to continue conversations and work with his buddy. I thus seek your cooperation at home, by having short conversations with your family and him. You may also talk to Jordan more about photography, since you are a photographer. You can feel free to join us in this project too! I hope that this note has helped you learn more about Jordan’s progress. You can contact me 65789224 if you need any other clarifications. Thank you!
Regards
Teacher Shron
Shron
Group A
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am delighted to share with you about Jordan’s progress in class. He has been making an excellent progress so far and has been participating in the activities in our class new project on “Ramps” as he has shown great interest on this topic.
Before the children embark on this new topic, I have planned a few activities like getting them to do research using the internet, reading informative books and magazines to get them prepared and started. As I am aware that Jordan loves the computer and that he has a strong interest in reading, I appoint him as the leader of the research group. He is able to demonstrate his ideas and share them with his friends, through the use of the software Kid Pix that he is familiar with. To my surprise, he had done a great job and sometimes he even helped his friends out. Besides this, Jordan did a fabulous job in constructing the ramp using the Kid Pix software.
I understand that Jordan is sensitive to loud noise and he may get agitated if he were to hear the loud noise that was not within his tolerance range. To help Jordan cope with the noise level, I have created a warm and cozy corner that is away from the block corner so that he can participate in the activity comfortably, with a few of his friends that he is comfortable in working with. Headphones and cushions were also provided to help him cope with the high level noise and to reduce his distractions while working on the activity.
To further enhance and enrich his progress and learning, attached behind is take home activity kits where u and Jordan can build ramp using recycled materials and that figurines of cats can be used as a model to test out the ramp since he adore cats. If you have any further queries on this project and on Jordan’s progress in class, please feel free to contact me at 64713814 or email at alinapoh@ jonas playhouse.com. Your support will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Yours Faithfully,
Teacher Alina
Alina Poh
Group B
Dear Mrs. Lee,
This week, our class has been working towards building a ramp in our school. I had personally allocated some task for Jordan to do to help contribute to the process of building the ramp. As I noticed that Jordan seemed familiar with computers and is able to use some computer software such as; Kid Pix, therefore I had encouraged him to look for some information on the internet about building ramps. In addition, I had also encouraged him to use Kid Pix to design the structure for the ramp.
I am pleased to inform you that Jordan has been very cooperative in the process of looking for the information for the building of ramps. He had found various ways of creating ramps using different materials. In addition, he had created a 3-dimensional structure of a ramp. After he collected the information, I had paired him up with a buddy so as to enable him to share his information with his buddy.
In conclusion, I would say that Jordan have shown some improvement in his social development, as he is now able to work together with a partner. Do feel free to contact me at 91234567 or email me at mszheng@gmail.com if you have any enquiries, suggestions or feedback in regards to Jordan’s development. Thank you for you time!
Yours Sincerely,
Ms Zheng
Zheng Huilin (Group B)
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am writing this letter to update you on Jordan’s progress in class. Recently our class has embarked on a project sparked by the children’s interests to come up with ideas and suggestions to improve the school’s accessibility by installing ramps. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Jordon has been actively participating in our class project. He has come up with excellent and creative ideas and suggestions as to how the ramps can be installed.
Building on Jordon’s interests on cats, I suggested to him to design a floor plan with ramps installed to enable easy accessibility for a scenario of an injured cat. The class also went on a field trip to the Pet Hotel at Pasir Ris to observe how ramps were installed in the building for easy accessibility for the disabled.
To cater to Jordon’s learning the modes of instructions and expression were tailored to meet his needs. For example, we adopted the usage of simple architectural software whereby Jordon could use it to create his design of a floor plan. Using the software, Jordon came up with excellent designs which were shared with his classmates, and received positive responses from his peers.
With such positive results, I do hope to be able to work with you to maximize Jordon’s learning through this project. Please feel free to share with me ideas and his other area of interests which would be good for me to work on to further engage Jordon in this project.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Teacher Lynnette
Lynnette Fang Yixuan
(Group A)
Dear Mrs. Martin
I am pleased to inform you of the progress that Jordan has made during this semester. As mentioned in the previous note, the class has decided to undertake a project on building a ramp in the school. The children have grouped themselves into various focus groups, where each group will work according to their interest.
Since your previous feedback to us was about his preference to working on the computer, we decided to provide opportunities for him to do so. In fact, I have observed that he has been successful in contributing to the project. Within his group, Jordan was in charge of designing the ramp. He was able to use the software – Kid Pix, to draw out a 3D image of a ramp. Moreover, he was able to construct the same model which he had drawn, using blocks and manipulatives. Hence, he showed his ability to work independently and efficiently.
However, I have decided to gradually involve Jordan in social interaction. I intend to provide opportunities for him to work with his peers. To do so, I will implement the use of the picture exchange cards to further enhance his social interaction skills. The use of the cards will help to express his wants.
Therefore, I hope that we can arrange a suitable timing to meet up and plan the objectives and exchange strategies for this implementation. Please feel free to contact me at 91234567. Thank you.
Regards
Teacher Sarah
Sarah Chiok
Group B
Dear Mrs Martin,
Greetings to you! I am Teacher Michelle, form teacher of Jordan’s class. I am writing this note to inform you about Jordan’s progress as observed this month. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, our class will be covering our curriculum based on the theme “Ramps” as part of the school’s effort to help children with physical disabilities to move around the school freely.
During this month, the children designed their ramp using the computer software in the computer room. As you are aware that Jordan’s likes to use the computer, he was observed to be very engaged and creative when designing the ramp.
In addition, the children learnt how to measure the ramps that they have built using non standard units like counters shaped in the form of a cat. Jordan seems to be very excited and engaged in the measuring activity as his favorite animal; cat, is part of the activity. Jordan was observed to be able to measure using non standards units independently and does not require much prompts from the teachers.
Lastly, the children came up with a story of “The cat’s adventure on the ramp” as a class and Jordan was chosen by his peers to read the story aloud. Jordan seems to be slightly more comfortable and open to working with his peers now.
To support his learning, I have attached a take home activity kit with instruction guide for you to experiment building a ramp using the materials in the bags with Jordan. I hope you have fun trying out the activity.
Should you have any queries or feedbacks regarding Jordan’s progress or the activity kit, please do not hesitate to call me at 62719199 or email me at teachermichelle@abcschool.com.
Yours sincerely
Teacher Michelle
Group A
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am very pleased to inform you that Jordon has been making good progress in class. The class has embarked on a project based on ramps in the first semester. Jordan has shown interest in the topic and made several significant contributions.
I noticed that Jordon is pretty keen in IT and have provided him with a computer to work with. Thus, Jordon has helped his classmates to research on the different types of ramps and how these ramps are built. In order to help Jordon slowly get use to interacting more with his classmates, I assigned a buddy whom he feels more comfortable sharing his ideas with. Jordon’s buddy would then aid Jordon in explaining his research to small groups of students in class.
As Jordon is good in reading, books about construction and people using wheelchairs were provided at the library corner to support his learning. In addition, children were broken down into smaller groups of three to four to experiment with planks, wheeled objects etc to find out about slope and ramp length. I believe with the help of his buddy, Jordon was better able to cooperate with his other classmates by showing a willingness to share.
In conclusion, I would like to seek your support in reinforcing whatever that Jordon is interested in at home. I also hope to work together with you to further enhance his communication skills. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help you with. My contact number is 9872556. Thank you in advance and I look forward to working with you.
Yours sincerely
Geraldine
Geraldine Liu
Group A
Dear Mrs Martin,
Recently, Jordan and his classmates have been very interested in ramps. As such, the children have embarked on a project to build a ramp. To promote Jordan’s involvement in enhancing his knowledge about ramps, I have made suitable modifications to the activities and classroom environment to cater to his interest and learning styles. Since Jordan is interested in reading and loves the computer, I have put him in charge of a small group to research on information about ramps using books and through the internet. While Jordan and his research group is being busy being little researchers, there is another group trying to construct the ramp. As it may get rather noisy while they construct the ramp, I have allocated the two groups to two different ends of the classroom. Thus, Jordan will feel comfortable and uninterrupted while conducting his own research.
To further build on his knowledge of ramps, I have included some child-friendly websites about ramps at the back of this letter, and I hope that you will be able to work together with Jordan at home to conduct even more research. Also, I would gladly appreciate it if you could donate some recycled materials, like newspaper, cardboard boxes, toilet rolls etc, for the construction of the ramp.
To sum it up, I am pleased to tell you that Jordan has been doing very well in school lately. He is able to interact well with the children who are in the same research group as him. I see potential leadership qualities in Jordan, as he delegated work to his friends in the research group.
I hope that the information I have provided would let you better understand Jordan’s growth and development in school. Please feel free to email me at stephanie@childcare.com.sg or call me at 9123456 if you have any enquiries or suggestions. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Teacher Stephanie
(Group A)
Dear Yolanda,
As you may have known, the class is currently working on Project Ramp in school. The class is very enthusiastic and engaged in the process of building a ramp in the school. Together, we have conducted our own investigations, research, observations and experiments on building ramps.
I am pleased to inform you that throughout this project, Jordan has successfully managed to be included in the on-going activities. Initially, Jordan remained silent and did not participate in any of the class discussions, occasionally throwing tantrums when the class discussions got too lively and noisy for Jordan to withstand.
However, the class managed to draw him into their discussions when they decided to tap into his area of interest; cats. One of his classmates asked him, “How would you feel if your pet was injured, had to be put in a wheelchair but you cannot bring your pet cat up the school because there weren’t any ramps for you to push the wheelchair up? Jordan considered the question momentarily and answered, “I’d be very angry.” Ever since then, Jordan had made his own small contributions to the class discussions and activities for the project.
This includes Jordan volunteering to do some online researches on building ramps using his knowledge of computers. During free time, Jordan would be drawing pictures of ramps built at various buildings, which would include a picture of himself and a cat in a wheelchair. The class was happy that Jordan was finally interacting with them and so, supported him by never criticizing or making negative remarks about Jordan’s cat in the wheelchair.
I also paired Jordan up with Linda as his project buddy. I could tell that Jordan is able to communicate quite well with Linda as she is extremely patient with Jordan. This way, in case that I am unavailable, Linda will be able to help Jordan if he requires any kind of assistance. I also ensure that Jordan is not overwhelmed and is able to keep up with the pace of the rest of the class by taking note of his body language and his reactions in class.
I feel that Jordan is making good progress by being involved in this project and I strongly encourage you to be involved as much as possible in this project together with Jordan if you can. If there are any suggestions or thoughts on how we could further engage Jordan in this project, please do drop by or contact me at 9876 5432 and we can have a discussion about it. Thank you for your time and co-operation.
Best Regards,
Teacher Ella
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am pleased that inform you that Jordan have been making progress in working with his peers on class activities. Jordan and his classmates have been working on a project that focuses on building of ramp in school. I am glad to observe that Jordan has been showing great interest, and participate well in this project.
Jordan had contributed by drawing various architectural designs of ramps together with his friends. We are pleased to say that Jordan is able to express his creativity through the drawings of different designs. Through small group discussions, I observed that Jordan is making improvements in terms of social interaction with his peers, as he contributes his ideas and suggestions.
In the making of ramps, I have provided headsets for children who feel uncomfortable with loud noise. Thus, it has been proved useful when I observed that Jordan has been able to work well with the use of the headset. Due to Jordan’s interest in reading, he was assigned a role to look for resources and information from books. In the process of looking for resources from books, we observe that he really enjoyed and benefit from it.
With regards to this project that Jordan is working on with his peers, we seek your support, suggestions and feedback in ensuring a successful completion of the project. Also, we will greatly appreciate if you have any resources to share with us.
If you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact me at jasminehyr@hotmail.com or 61234567. Thank You.
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Jasmine
(Hung Yirong Jasmine Group A)
Dear Mrs Martin,
I am glad to inform you that Jordan has participated actively in the process of planning to build ramps in the neighborhood.
Recognizing his interest in computers and reading, Jordan was made the reading leader for our very own research team! In this team, the children worked together to carry out research about ramps on the internet as well as build a 3D image of the ramps using a computer software. Jordan has been excellent in reading out substantial information from the research that has been done by the team. I believe that this group activity has gradually benefit Jordan in his social interaction skills as he does not seem to be as repulsive towards his friends as before.
On top of the group activity, Jordan may still need solitary activities as well. During Mathematics lessons, Jordan and his peers were given the opportunity to work individually at their own tables. There are pictorial instructions laid on Jordan’s table and from them, he was given the autonomy to choose the mathematics activity he wants to attempt first. Jordan’s interest area for cats was taken into consideration as one activity requires him to use cat figurines to measure the length and width of the ramps.
As we are embarking on the next stage of our project, I would appreciate if you could provide Jordan with books about ‘Ramps’ to read at home (i.e. via the community library) so as to further facilitate his interest on ‘Ramps’ at the moment.
Thank You.
Teacher Gladys
67654321
123@child.com
Dear Mr and Mrs Martin
I am extremely please to inform you that Jordan has been actively participating in the school curriculum lately. I have embarked on the project theme of “ramps” and in this third semester I had recently just gotten my students to build ramps in school. The primary purpose of building ramps is to support inclusion for children with disabilities. However , secondary purpose is to create an opportunity for children to be exposed hands- on learning on interesting architects such as ramps .
In the process of ramp building , Jordan was seen to have a significant increase of interest in ramps . Often during IT lessons , Jordan will read some online articles and play interactive soft ware about ramps. During reading time , he will actually point out interesting and creative designs for the ramps . In fact Jordan had contributed to the designs of ramps in the third level of the school . At times when Jordan seemed restless, he would take the initiative to retreat and stay in the library corner to rest. I thought that this was a great sign of improvement for Jordan.
Definitely there were times when he was feeling uncomfortable due to the noise produced by the construction of ramps. I had relocated him to stay in the quiet corner and also to prevent overwhelming responses from the students , I had conducted more small group discussion. I am aware that high noise volume would greatly affect Jordan’s temperament.
After going through several weeks of ramp building , I had witness the improvement that Jordan made. I believe that the intervention education and support provided were very relevant and it is helping Jordan to cope his personal temperament. He was able to communicate to the teachers his intention in the designs of ramps. With frequent encouragements, I believe that Jordan is more willing to try new discoveries. I believe that the intervention and teacher’s facilitation plays a strong support to his development.
Of course, parental support is crucial and essential at this point of time . I believe that you have been putting effort in getting Jordan to improve on his condition .I am grateful and I really appreciate the valuable feedbacks that you had provided about Jordan’s progress at home. I understand that you may have concerns about the theme on ramp building , please do feel free to approach me or contact me at 98353827, I will be more than glad to answer your doubts. You can join us and contribute your expertise in this area too. Once again I thank you for your patience and guidance. I will be looking forward to working with you.
Yours Sincerely,
Teacher Tiffany
Done By: Lee Ning Zi
Hi Yolanda,
I would like to share with you a piece of good news with regards to Jordan. He has been actively participating in our recent activity of building a ramp in our school. With the facilitation of the teacher, Jordan was put in charge to finding information and pictures of ramps, using the computer. He did a great job and was proud to share his findings with his classmates. We also provided various materials for the children to further explore and learn about ramps, like for instances, ramp-shaped blocks, building materials and books about construction. Jordan was observed visiting the reading corner several times a day to read up the related books on ramps. Additionally, there were opportunities for Jordan to practice using building tools and impressively, Jordan initiated to demonstrate the appropriate use of one of the tools, hammer, to his classmates. I am really proud of Jordan’s high involvement in this current activity and I hope to update you with more positive progress of Jordan in the classroom.
Do join us in building the second ramp at the backyard of our school on the 1st October 2008. It would be appreciated if you are able to bring along any architectural drawings, pictures and books that you may have, to share with the rest of our lovely children. I looked forward to your presence and I am sure that Jordan would feel happy and excited to have your support as well!
Teacher Ning
Lee Ning Zi
Group B
Dear Mrs. Martin,
First of all, I would like to thank you for the spontaneous help you have provided us in our very first project to build ramps for the school. Your help has been very much appreciated.
With regards to the completion of the ramp that we were building for the past month, I am writing to you with a very positive note on Jordon’s progress and participation in this whole project.
Letters were typed out by Jordon to the community and the city engineering department to express their concern about the lack of ramps in the neighbourhood for the people with special needs.
Throughout this activity, due to the different areas that needs attention in order to build a ramp, we have assigned buddies to every student in the class. They are able to work together in order to come out with new ideas with their different research and ideas. Due to his above average reading ability, he provided many ideas that he had spotted through his readings and off the internet. Due to the improvement in his speech and language ability, he was able to present what he was thinking across to this buddy and they were able to be involved in an engaging discussion. But because he was not ready to present his ideas in front of the whole class, his buddy became his mouth and presented the ideas that they have generated.
He was also given the task of recording down the whole process of the ramp building. From the field trips, what the other groups were doing, and what was the everyday progress.
A special corner at the side of the class was created for Jordon to do some thinking and trying out. In his corner, we provided different books, cat figurines and different blocks for him to experiment out whenever he needs his quiet time or experiment out different innovations.
On the other hand, to ensure that he was able to participate meaningfully in this whole project, goals and objectives were set and appropriate challenges were posed to him. We also ensured that he had individual choice and autonomy over the things that he wanted to do.
With the success of this project, there will be a follow up on this to embark the children on other possible opportunities for different projects. Please feel free to inject any ideas or feedback.
With regards,
Teacher Lydia
Form Teacher of Class K2
(Group A)
Hello Mrs. Martin,
I am here again to update you about Jordan’s progress over the week in our current ongoing project: “Building of ramps in school”.
Thanks to your suggestions and ideas that you have shared with me during the previous meeting, I am pleased to tell you that our common goals that we come out with for your son have been working well so far! You suggested that Jordan should be given an important role so that it will increase his self-worth and self-esteem in class. Therefore, I gave Jordan the opportunity to be the “class-researcher” as you mentioned that Jordan is very good in using the internet and have great interest in reading. Here are some of the impressive information Jordan have shared with his classmates:
oDifferent kinds of ramps
oUses of ramps
oHow ramps can benefit cats and their lives (his interest)
oThings to consider when building ramps
oHow different material and height (slope) affect ramps
Can you believe that your son is actually communicating and interacting with his friends? He is so excited to share all the interesting information that he have gathered. You should have seen how Jordan sat down with his friends, doing sketches together, everyone working towards a common goal.
In conclusion, I am looking forward to build a stronger rapport with you and exchange more ideas with you for the benefit of Jordan, yourself and me. Feel free to drop in my class to see and participate in our lessons, and witness how your son is capable of being active and involved in our class activities with his peers. Please feel free to contact me at 6665443 or drop me a mail at ann.pelo@hotmail.com. Thank you for being so supportive and see you soon.
Mrs Ann Pelo
Nurul Izzah
Group B
Dear Mrs. Martin,
I am writing this note to you to share Jordan's progress for our current project.
Recently, we have just embarked on a new project about Ramps. This idea came about during a class walk around the neighbor and the children noticed the installment of wheelchair-friendly ramps.
I am pleased to inform you that Jordan has been making remarkable progress in class and has been participating quite actively in research and with his friends.
As mentioned by you in the previous Teacher-Parent meeting, Jordan's interests lie within the IT area. Hence, we decided to build on his strength and had him lead a gropu in the research for information on the computer. I noticed that his confidence level started to increase whenever he had something to contribute to the class and he is slowly venturing out of his shell and contributing in class.
We have also assigned him a buddy whom he does readings with. We hope that this will help facilitate his interest in reading and extend to it to beyond just cats. With the buddy, he often discusses information picked up in the books and then relate it back to the class.
However, I believe that this improvement could be enhanced further through home-school partnership. As mentioned earlier, this improvement came about because of the sharing of ideas during the Teacher-Parent meeting and thus, we could work on Jordan's interest. Therefore, I hope to understand more about Jordan and would also greatly appreciate any suggestions in which we might help Jordan together.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Laura Tan
Dear Jordan’s mummy,
I’m pleased to inform you that Jordan have been participating and contributing positively in the various classroom activities, in the process of building a ramp in the school. Despite the fact that he enjoys individual time better, he contributed positively in class discussions through the use of drawings, writings and engaged in pair researches through the use of books and the internet; both of which he is proficient in.
I understand your concerns regarding Jordan’s ability to adapt and learn in class. But please be reassured that several strategies have been put in place in order to better support Jordan’s learning and to facilitate his participation in class. Firstly, the use of computer and resource books have been made available and easily accessible to allow Jordan to read up and research on any information he wishes to find out for the theme, ramps. Next, knowing Jordan’s exceptionally liking towards cats, I will be integrating some aspects of it into the theme of ramps. Additionally, Jordan is provided with different ways of communicating his ideas such as, writing, drawing or the use of Kid Pix. Moreover, his classmates are also given opportunities to provide positive feedbacks towards Jordan’s contribution. Please be reassured that this non- verbal communication between Jordan and his classmates will lead to probable small group discussions in time to come.
If you do have other queries and would like to know more about Jordan’s participation in class, please feel free to email me or give me a call. I am also open to any suggestions or ideas which you think would be advantageous towards Jordan's learning in class. Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Serena Teo
Dear Mrs Martin,
This is Teacher Josephine here, the class teacher of Jordan. I am writing to you this letter as I would like to inform you of Jordan’s progress in school, and how he was actually involved in a school project of building a ramp.
To start off, I built on Jordan’s strengths of his interest in using the computer to source for information on the Internet. I assigned him a buddy who guided him along, as the both of them spent time looking and sourcing out for relevant information regarding the types of ramps available, which the school could probably adapt from. I was very pleased with the findings that Jordan and his buddy presented to me, as they were very relevant to the project.
After which, the class gathered together to draft out a letter of what information they have found, and also wanted to volunteer in the process of building the ramp in school. Knowing that Jordan is an excellent reader, I got him to read the letter that the class had drafted earlier on. To give him the fullest support, I got some of Jordan’s closer friends to accompany and go into the principal’s office with Jordan so that he would not feel so intimidated being alone. I want to assure you that he did an excellent job in reading the letter with much confidence, and did not even make a single mistake! I was so impressed with Jordan’s reading ability and decided to reward him with a sticker on the sticker chart.
This is just a short letter to inform you of Jordan’s wonderful progress in school. On the whole, he has been behaving well in class, and has not been giving me too much problems. I invite you to share with me some thoughts or strategies that you have been using at home with Jordan to maximize his abilities, so that I could reinforce it in school to maintain consistency. You can contact me at the school’s number, 68267392 or drop me an email at josephinewonghb@yahoo.com.sg , should you wish to find out more about Jordan’s progress in school, or arrange an meeting with myself. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Teacher Josephine
Dear Jordan's parent,
As a recent situation has triggered the children’s interest in ramps, we are currently undertaking a project about ramps and in the midst of constructing one in class.
I split the class into 3 groups and Jordan is in the group coming up with designs for the ramp. I am very happy to inform you about Jordan's progress and participation in class. He is actively engaged in the group discussions and contributed many excellent ideas in the discussions. He and his group members drew up designs on the type and kind of ramps and brainstorm on the materials to be used and how the ramp will look like. As he is competent with computer, he is assigned the important task of drawing the ramp into a design program which allows the students to view the ramps from different angles and degree. This greatly increased his interest and participation in class.
Jordan’s social-emotional skills are improving greatly with the help of the group work. I have come up with some take-home activities which you can work on with Jordan. Do provide any feedback or suggestions to help in Jordan’s development. If you have any enquiries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 64532648 or drop me an email at jasminet@jmail.com. Thank You.
Yours sincerely
Teacher Jasmine
-----------
Toh Jasmine
Group B
Post a Comment