Wording help with teacher email

[dogmom]

My guess would be since it is a lab essay and he got zero he must have completely misunderstood the lab experiment and/or not understood the rubric. If it would me since he seems to be completely at a loss where to start I would ask him for the assignment and the essay. After that you might be able to see something that would help you guide him in his next steps. I suspect there is a huge piece of missing information here that would help you understand the situation better.

[Green_Tea]

I think before you reach out you needs to see the assignment description, the rubric, and what your son wrote. Science teachers often have very specific requirements when it comes to how reports are formatted.

[hbridge]

I would send a very vague e-mail stating that your son does not understand why he received a ZERO (UGH) and that you and he would like feedback as to why. Followed by a request for extra credit to bring up the grade.

Actually, I would be tempted to get a copy of the report and take the whole thing to the principal. Even if a child did not complete the actual assignment, if it was assignment adjacent, it should receive some credit. However, I try not to question grades (although I might on this one), but to contact teachers to ask how we can better support our student at home to help them improve in class!

[cvanbrunt]

I wouldn't contact the teacher until you've seen what the assignment and what your son turned in. That should guide the questions for the teacher.

[niccig]

Ask to see the directions and essay before you contact the teacher. At that age DS occasionally misunderstood the instructions so his essay was wrong. I had him check with me first to make sure he understood what was being asked. I rarely do it now.


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[♥ms.pacman♥]

I wouldn't contact the teacher until you've seen what the assignment and what your son turned in. That should guide the questions for the teacher.

This! And once you see that, i would have your DS write the email to the teacher.

Highlighting the entire essay and just giving a zero with no explanation is awful, but i'd have to see it for myself before getting worked up at all about it.
I have a middle school son who is an excellent student and very mature for his age but i am still surprised by how often he gets things wrong or off on expectations on assignments. So many things get lost in translation. Kids often get one thing in their head and lose track of correct instructions.

[daisyd]

Thanks all for your input. PPs were right about understanding instructions. DS was able to speak with the teacher and learnt that he had misunderstood the directions (and so had 2/3 of the class I came to find later). It has been a good learning experience for DS in terms of self-advocacy and now he knows what do for future assignments.

[twowhat?]

Yay, glad you got it sorted out!! There have been a couple of times that the threat of me making my kids write their teacher an email (with me copied) is enough motivation for them to speak directly with the teacher first, or dig a little deeper to see if they can figure out the problem themselves

[daisyd]

Yay, glad you got it sorted out!! There have been a couple of times that the threat of me making my kids write their teacher an email (with me copied) is enough motivation for them to speak directly with the teacher first, or dig a little deeper to see if they can figure out the problem themselves

Thanks! This is exactly what happened.