September 10, 2007

Dear Parents,

Next week we will be starting our Student of the Week project. I will go first this week and model the activities they must complete. Each student will be assigned a week throughout the school year. You will find the date in which your child will be Student of the Week on the back. This project will take some time to complete, so they should be preparing ahead of time for it.

Here is what your child needs to do when they are Student of the Week:

  1. TIMELINE

    Prepare a timeline with an important event in each year of your life. You should start with your birth, then age 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ect. The event should be described in complete sentences, neatly written on a 4"by 5" index card (I will provide these for you). If possible, include a photo of the event or a photo of yourself at that age for each year. You may draw and color the event if you do not have a photo, on a separate index card. Events could include: I took my first steps, lost my first tooth, went to the hospital, got a new sibling, rode a bike, etc. If it is too difficult to find an event for each year, you may just choose 10 important events from any time in the past 10 years.

    This should be brought in to hang up on the bulletin board on the Monday of their week.

  2. INTERVIEW

    You must find a member of your family that has known you since birth (mom, dad, grandma, aunt). You will then interview that person, asking questions about how you grew up and what you were like as an infant/toddler/child. I will provide the guideline questions (attached). You may put this interview in any format that you choose. Question-answer form, essay, or a story will be acceptable. You may also include your own comments on the stories you hear such as, "I didn’t know that I used to suck my big toe before I started walking. I can’t believe I did that!" This interview may be typed or neatly hand written and should be brought in on the TUESDAY of your week.

  3. FIND A TREASURE

On the Friday of your given week, you must bring in something that you treasured from childhood. This could include a book (you can read your favorite children’s story to the class), stuffed animal (tell us how got the animal and why it’s special), home video ( you can show us actual footage of one of your important events), your first tooth (tell us when you lost it and who pulled it out), a lock of hair from your first haircut (who cut your hair first and how did you react), or anything else you treasure. You must write at least one paragraph about the treasure.

As you can see this project will take some time to complete, so please make sure you plan ahead. It is a great opportunity for you to share some "quality time" sharing memories with your child about when they were younger. Have fun!

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
  1. How old was I when you first saw me?
  2. How did I act?
  3. What features stood out for you as far as looking like a family member? ( for example, did I have my dad’s eyes?)
  4. Do you remember a time when I was in trouble? What happened?
  5. Did I ever do anything to make you laugh out loud? What was it?
  6. Do you remember any milestones that I may have had around you? First steps, haircut, lost tooth, etc.?
  7. Do you have any pictures of me that are your favorite? What memory does this particular picture bring to mind?
  8. When I was learning how to talk, did I ever have any cute sayings or mispronunciations? (like, instead of saying spaghetti, I’d say "I want some skettey")

 

Try to have a lengthy conversation with your interviewee and get as much detail as possible. You can ask more questions than I have here. Don’t forget to include your comments on events or stories that you had forgotten about or didn’t know about. Enjoy this time with your family member!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. DeGennaro | Mrs. Morrow | Mrs. Potter |  Mrs. Taylor | Mr. Kilgallon

 

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