Writing Weekly Parent Newsletters With Your Students
Thursday November 13, 2008
Years ago, I remember that my principal walked into my classroom unannounced and sat down to watch me teach for awhile. Perfect timing, actually, because he got to observe me guiding my students through our weekly newsletters activity.
Each Friday, the students and I brainstorm our news of the week, compiling our accomplishments into a newsletter that goes home to parents. It saves me from having to put together a weekly newsletter to parents, and the parents love hearing our classroom goings-on in the students' own words. Plus, the activity serves a third purpose in that it offers practical language arts practice to my students.
I'll never forget how impressed my principal was with this simple activity. He couldn't stop raving about it, and he even told some of my colleagues about our great weekly newsletter routine. I think it would work well in any elementary school classroom.
How do you handle weekly school-to-home communication?
Comments
Allowing the students to write their own newsletters to their parents is a good way to incorporate writing and grammar. This also helps get the students involved in the planning process, so they do not feel left out. It allows the students to put their own views of the activities that they did in class in the newsletter. By letting the students write their own newsletters, it allows them to be creative and review what they have learned. Also, the communication from school to home is a major importance in any elementary school. This keeps the parents involved and up-to-date about what the students are doing in class. This allows the parents to incorporate the students learning’s in their home life as well.
This is a great idea. This assignment allows students to practice their writing and grammar. In addition, the students are able to reflect on the previous week. They can examine themselves and see where they need to improve. Also students can look back on past news letters to monitor their personal improvement. These letters also get parents involved. They know exactly what is going on in the classroom. It would give them reassurance that everything is running smoothly in the classroom. Great idea!