Middle+School+narrative+report+formats+and+explanations


 * __Middle School Narrative Reports __**

Once a quarter middle school teachers are asked to compose a narrative about their students that are then formatted electronically and posted to the web, serving as a mid-quarter progress report. Narratives are not meant to replace report cards or formal grading but instead are an opportunity for teachers to communicate to parents their child’s individual strengths and struggles and their teachers’ suggestions for improvement. Please remember that if there is a major concern or trend developing in student behavior or performance, the narrative should not be the first time a parent is made aware of it; issues such as this should be addressed proactively with a phone call or conference. Narratives should be cordial yet candid. There are two types of narratives used, and they alternate each quarter.

__Advisory Narratives__ Teachers are responsible for drafting advisory narratives midway through the 1st and 3rd quarters. Teachers are only responsible for writing reports for the students in their advisory groups, and they are meant to reflect the progress, struggles, and overall well-being of the child as a whole. A strong advisory narrative will begin by highlighting a student’s strengths and then go into areas that are in need of improvement. These areas can and should encompass both the social and academic realm, and whenever possible, narratives should include strategies and suggestions to help students and parents reach these goals. The substance of this narrative should come from your individual student meetings conducted during Monday advisory. Below are examples narratives for a struggling student and one that is excelling.

// Susie is a polite young lady who has an earnest desire to succeed and please. When focused on an assignment, she does very well and can exhibit strong independent problem solving skills. However, it is at times very difficult to get Susie to this stage as she is easily and often distracted by her peers. // // Though Susie only wants to please her friends, she often finds herself immersed in social crises or conflicts which she allows to distract her from the task at hand. Susie needs to continue to focus on building and using a greater sense of self – control and perspective. Though this continues to be a weakness, she has shown improvement in this area since the beginning of the academic year. // // Finally, Susie also needs to become more responsible for recording and managing her assignments. This is a goal she has identified for herself for the second quarter and plans on executing it by making better use of her daily planner and the websites. // // Johnny is an exemplary young man who displays strong study skills and a mature ownership of his academic career. When discussing 6th grade academic and social issues, Johnny is willing to offer suggestions and ideas to his fellow classmates. Johnny began the year with the goal of improving in math, and at the end of the first quarter, showed much more confidence in this area, boasting about his willingness to ask more questions in class and working with his father on homework. I have encouraged Johnny to use this same mindset in approaching his second quarter objective of improving his Language Arts grade. Though an apt writer, Johnny’s confidence in this area is very low, and he is therefore reluctant to ask questions. I am confident Johnny can rectify this problem by using the same skill sets he learned while improving in math. Overall, Johnny possesses the study skills and desires necessary to succeed and grow. //

__Subject – Specific Narratives__ Midway through the 2nd and 4th quarters, teachers are required to write subject-specific narratives for every student they teach. The purpose of these narratives is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of students in your individual subject area. While a final letter grade is a good indicator of a student’s overall performance in your class, subject-specific narratives offer teachers an opportunity to provide specific feedback about what skills and concepts students are mastering, comprehending, or completely missing and suggestions for improvement or enrichment. Below are two examples:

//Billy has an impressive understanding of language and written expression and is consistently performing at grade level in these areas and at times, exceeds grade level expectations. He is beginning to move beyond merely understanding how to form compound and complex sentences and is starting to consider when to use them and what effect they may have on the overall tone of his writing. To help further this development, I have suggested that Billy continue to experiment with his writing, trying tools like absolute modifiers and participial phrases. As he seems to have a strong grasp on content and organization, I would like to see him begin to focus more on style and specific elements of his writing and the effect they can have on his overall argument or purpose.//

//Billy is displaying continuous growth in his writing and reading skills. Fueled by the vast improvement in his classroom behavior, Billy is beginning to apply more of the writing skills and tools reviewed in class to his own writing. This is seen in the high frequency of compound and complex sentences in his most recent drafts. As he makes these leaps in style and usage, however, Billy needs to also be on the lookout for comma causers and run – on sentences. Though these types of grammatical errors are evidence of a maturing writing style, it is still an area Billy needs to keep in mind when editing his final drafts.//