Family Journals- Setting the Expectation

K in May

 Family Journals provide one of the the most authentic ways for our students to reflect on their learning and deepening understandings and from the past week. They can put to practice all of the purpose and audience, word choice, and organizational patterns they know about. In this very real venue, even our youngest writers can transfer their learning about conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) so that their message is clear to their reader.

While we must set our expectations high for our students, it's equally important to set expectations for our parents. How do we do this? Simply inform them. Send home an example letter and some guidance about how you want them to respond to their child. Let families know that these journals are a conversation on paper with their child and model of real world writing.

Looking to set the bar a little higher? Consider writing a new model letter for parents to use as their model this year. If you find yourself stumped in this area, simply search the /S/ drive under my folder and check out the model I would have written in Keaton's this week (had he brought it home.) It's not too long, not too short, but just right for responding to a child's week of learning and sharing.        Good Luck!!

5th - Notice Paragraphing

5th

Examples, Examples, Examples