book report letter to parents

• Highland Regional High School
• Timber Creek Regional High School
• Triton Regional High School

Let’s Advance Learning

Page Navigation

• English Department Research Project Requirements
• English Department Grading Plan and Policies
• Independent Reading Letter to Parents
• Courses of Study
• Literacy Lab with Kristen Moderski, Reading Interventionist

Dear Parent/Guardian:

A central goal of the English Language Arts department of Black Horse Pike Regional School District is to establish a reading habit in the busy lives of our high school students.  Through independent reading assignments, we want to develop reading fluency and stamina, which result in increased reading rates and thus, help students develop confidence, build vocabulary, and improve writing.  It is our hope that we can work together with parents to ignite and sustain the pleasure and passion of young readers as well as to instill comfortable confidence in students as they build stamina for reading in preparation for college and career. 

Independent reading will be based on student choice, either through a list provided by teachers, through a student’s own research, or through recommendations made by fellow students.  By choosing a book to read, students are more likely to read rather than search the internet for summaries.  Our hope is for students to see that a good book is more than an assignment.  It can open minds and provide experiences that they would otherwise never come to know: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…. The man who never reads lives only one” ( George R.R. Martin ).

The best books challenge our beliefs by helping us see through different eyes – to live different lives.  One of the benefits of reading is that it allows us to confront our worst fears and live through them. For example, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is about a teen suicide and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is about a school shooting.  We would all rather believe that such tragedies will not happen to us, and, if they have happened to us, we may not want to live through the details in a book.  Students will not be forced to read something they are not comfortable with in an independent reading assignment, but they may choose a book that contains intense subject matter and challenges how they view the world.  It is important to know that we will not place a tight filter on what is read in class.  What we want is to nurture each student’s willingness to read – for pleasure, for knowledge, for understanding – so that they choose to read beyond assigned reading, beyond the goal of one independent reading selection per marking period.  

Because we respect your role as parents and the traditions you hold sacred, we understand your right to monitor your child’s choices this year.  You should feel free to contact the teacher to discuss any boundaries you may have set for your child’s reading choices, but please know that the teacher will not be able to control what students choose to read. We hope you talk to your children about their reading selections, and we recommend you read with your child so that you can discuss any concerns about the content and foster a deeper understanding of an author’s purpose.  If you want to know more about a book that your child is reading, please consult the School Library Journal website ( http://www.slj.com ), the American Library Association website ( http://www.ala.org ), Barnes and Noble’s website ( http://www.barnesandnoble.com ), Common Sense Media ( https://www.commonsensemedia.org ), or contact your child’s teacher. 

Thank you for your support, 

• Questions or Feedback? |
• Web Community Manager Privacy Policy (Updated) |

• The first year

Sample letters to parents

by A Teacher's Guide · August 29, 2019

I always send parents an email on or before the first day of school so they know how to contact me and what to expect. As a new teacher you might be wondering what to say in such a communication so I thought it might be helpful if I provided you sample letters to parents.

You’ll find that contacting parents early will pay off in a multitude of ways. If you’re nervous about contacting parents, check out these posts:

A script for how to call a parent

Handling “helicopter” and “snowplow” parents

Keeping track of parent contact

How to communicate with a group home

Handling absentee parents

If you are ready to type your letter and hit send check out these sample letters to parents.

This is what i will be sending to the parents/guardians of my journalism students..

Dear Families,

Welcome! I am excited for the upcoming year and the opportunity to get to know those of you who I don’t already know.  I hope this is only the beginning of a year-long dialogue between us. Journalism is a demanding class, which requires a good amount of work in and out (interviewing, taking pictures, etc.) of class, but it is also a ton of fun. 

Students are responsible for every stage of their progress. The course provides practical experience in mass media history, media ethics, layout and design, writing, editing, and publishing. Students will also learn the industry standard software for publications (Photoshop and InDesign). Grades will be determined by the student’s on-time and quality completion of assignments. 

I anticipate students who signed up for this class will be motivated to do well, but I will not hesitate to contact you if we have any problems (or great triumphs!). I will do my best to get to know your sons and daughters, and differentiate my instruction to their interests, learning styles, and learning abilities, while at the same time keeping class fun and interesting.

A copy of the syllabus/expectations is attached. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns. 

Respectfully,

Kathleen Trace

Here is another example:

Good morning,

I am your child’s Dual Enrollment English instructor at Salem.  I hope this letter is the beginning of a year-long dialogue between us. My main goal is for students to develop into the most independent reader/writer/speaker/listeners possible.  Students should leave the class with the research and writing skills they need to be successful in college and careers. I will also be guiding students to take more responsibility for their own learning through regular goal setting and self evaluation. A major aspect of the course is a year-long service project which you will be hearing more about in the coming weeks (Passion Project).

This is a college level course and failure to meet deadlines has consequences (a letter grade for each day late), but I encourage students to advocate for themselves and let me know if they have an extenuating circumstance that will prevent them from finishing their assignment on time. I will give extensions in applicable cases. Though I encourage students to advocate for themselves, that doesn’t mean I don’t also encourage you to let me know if there are situations occurring at home that may negatively impact students’ academic or social/emotional health. I am here to support each student’s success and I can better do that if I am aware of major situations that might prevent them from doing their best. If there is something you think I should know about your child before the start of the school year in order to help them be successful please let me know.

I anticipate students enrolled in this class will be motivated to do well, but I will not hesitate to contact you if we have any problems (or great triumphs!). I will do my best to get to know each student and encourage them to explore their passions through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

I hope these examples get you going on a letter home to parents on or before the first day.

It is more than worth the effort to make contact early!

Here are some more posts you might find helpful or to explore on your own start here .

5 Snacks teachers love

Creating consistency in classroom procedures

Planning for the first day of school

5 ways to handle first year teacher stress

Survival Mode

If you found this helpful, make sure to  pin ,  post , and  tweet  to share it with other new teachers who might also benefit from it, and don’t forget to scroll down and subscribe to get more great stuff like this. or purchase the wannabe teacher’s guide: getting hired, having fun, & staying sane ., don't forget to share.

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

Tags: education future teacher new teacher parent contact parents sample letter student teaching

A Teacher's Guide

I am a National Board Certified educator currently teaching in Virginia. I have taught the following: English 9, 10, 11, and 12 (on academic, collaborative, and honors levels); Dual Enrollment English; Mass Communications, Yearbook, Newspaper, and Communications Technology. I have experience in five different school systems, four in Virginia and one in Maryland. I served as my school’s 2019 Teacher of the Year and was a top five finalist for the Teacher of the Year for Virginia Beach City Public Schools. I am passionate about recruiting and retaining quality educators in our public schools. Let me help you find your path to changing lives through teaching!

You may also like...

June 21, 2019

13 Must do Tasks during Pre-service Week

July 29, 2019

PLANNING FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

August 5, 2019

2 Responses

• Pingbacks 0

These samples are excellent! They are really useful templates – thank you 🙂

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

• Next story  Last minute classroom decor ideas
• Previous story  Creating consistency in classroom procedures

Follow me on Twitter

How to Write a Book Report (+ a FREE Step-by-Step Printable for Your Kids)

Just so you know, this post contains affiliate links. That means if you use them to make a purchase, I may earn a commission. You can read my full affiliate disclosure  HERE .

We read a lot of books (homeschool moms, can you relate?). Right now, we are reading the Harry Potter series together as a family, and as my kids have grown, it’s been fun to see them become more interested in reading for fun. As part of our homeschooling this year, we have been learning how to write a book report, which has been a great way for me to evaluate how well my kids are understanding what they read.

My son is in 3rd grade this year and recently had a book report as one of his assignments in English. While there were a couple of steps given to him, he struggled with the process and actually putting the book report together. So I decided to create a step-by-step book report printable to help him learn how to write a book report.

I hope these printables will be a big help to your kids, too! They will walk your kids through the steps of organizing their book report, writing a draft, revising and proofreading, and writing a final copy. Plus, I’ve included a rubric for you that you can use to give helpful feedback if you’d like.

Not only will this template help your kids learn how to write a book report, but they will be fun to add to your homeschool portfolio and look back on in the future.

Why Should You Use Book Reports in Your Homeschool?

Writing a book report or using an organizer to respond to what they have read is a great way to help your kids with their reading comprehension . It’s also fun to see their unique writing styles come to light and learn what they think about the books they have read.

Plus, I have found that incorporating book reports into our homeschool is a fun way for my kids to practice their writing skills because they get to write about a book they have loved. My son doesn’t necessarily love to write, so making the writing topic interesting is really important in our current season.

They also will obviously get to practice their handwriting, and you can include an oral presentation component if you’d like to as well!

Teach Your Kids How to Write a Book Report

A book report is just what it sounds like – a detailed report your kids will write after reading a book. In the report, they will give a summary of the book and share some of the important plot points, as well as share their opinion of the book.

When my son first attempted to do his book report from his English assignment, he struggled with what to write, and how to pull it all together in one cohesive report. I wanted to really lay out the process for him, to break it down into manageable steps .

If your child is new to writing book reports, I would recommend doing the first one together . Choose a book you have been reading aloud as a family (or a new one to read together), so you can then walk through the template and process with them.

If you are reading the book together, model how to take notes of important characters and plot points as you read . These notes will be great to reference later when writing the report.

Once you are finished reading and taking notes, grab your book report template and work through the process of putting together the report ( this printable makes it so easy! ).

My Book Report Template for Kids

There are many options out there with ideas for creative and different styles of book reports (I love these ideas from We Are Teachers), but if you are looking for a simple way for your elementary-aged student to organize their thoughts into a basic book report, these are for you.

The pages include:

• 2 Book Report Planning Pages where your kids will organize their thoughts about the main characters, important plot events, and what they learned and liked about the book. They will also have space to draw out their favorite scene from the story.
• First Draft Pages where they will write a rough draft. These sheets also include checklists that will walk them through the revision and proofreading process.
• My Book Report Pages where your kids will write their final copy of their book report.
• Book Report Rubric which is a sheet you can use to offer comments and suggestions on their work, if desired.
• Reading Log page that your kids can use to keep track of what they are reading (great for your homeschool record keeping as well!)

Using a template like this will help your kids organize their thoughts in the planning pages, so it’s easier for them to put the final review together. They will see all of the important parts that need to go into their book reports, which will help them learn how to write effective reviews and recommendations.

Printable Book Report Template

I’d love for this book report template to be a blessing to you and your family as well! Grab it below when you join my subscriber list – I love to send out freebies, homeschool tips, inspiration and more as I go through my own homeschooling journey.

Grab your FREE Book Report Printables!

Subscribe to my list and join thousands of other homeschool mamas looking for homeschool help, inspiration, and fun.

Thank you for subscribing!

Please check your email for your Book Report Printables.

And if you love all of those, take a peek at my shop where I share some other helpful printables I’ve created for your home and homeschool.

Drop a comment below and let me know – what are some of your kid’s favorite books they have read, or what are they reading now?

Related Posts

• Free Printable Game to Help Teach Your Kids Contractions
• A Fun Way to Make Reading Exciting for Your Kids
• Why Visual Perceptual Skills are Important for Your Kids

Blessed Homeschool is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You can read my full affiliate disclosure HERE.

More homeschool inspiration...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *