GLAD Strategy of the Month: Home School Connection

Post date: Nov 19, 2018 10:37:30 PM

Below is the GLAD strategy of the month. Please see attachment for examples of this strategy. It is a great way to check the box on your TPEP evaluation for having parents get involved in their students academic life.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategy of the Month: Home School Connection

What makes this strategy powerful and culturally responsive?

• Validates personal life experiences of students and their families

• Connects parents/families to the content their students are studying at school

• This is an opportunity for meaningful homework (Marzano)

  • Positive approach

  • Cross-cultural respect/bonding

  • Teaches responsibility because the teacher always collects the assignment and provides opportunities to share

When should this strategy be used?

Aim for 5 to 8 times during a unit.

What are the basic steps to completing this strategy?

• Locate pre-made Home School Connection worksheets for your unit on the District Intranet (if available) OR write your own.

• If you write your own, the prompt should be open-ended and should involve the student asking an adult at home a question. For example:

  • ELA: If you were going to choose a book to read, how would you choose it?

  • Science: What physical traits run in our family (Like hair or eye color, height, etc)? Do you think we share these traits because our environment is similar or is it all hereditary?

  • SS: Have you ever been through an economic depression? How did that affect you and your family?

• Leave space at the bottom for both the student and the adult to sign their names to show they completed the assignment together.

• Translate these documents into student primary languages if possible. Give students the choice to bring them home in their primary language, English, or both.

• Assign 1-2 Home School Connections per week.

• Before the students return the worksheet, give them time to put their heads together with their teams to share who they talked to and what they discovered/learned by talking with them at home. (e.g. “I talked to my dad and he told me that he grew up in a poor family and they didn’t have much to each so he didn’t grow as tall as his father .”)

• After the teams have time to talk, ask students one-by-one to report who they talked to and what they learned to the whole class. Allow students to pass.

• Allow the HSC to be turned in late.

Want to know more?

Please see me, your GLAD Building Leader, if you would like more information about this culturally responsive GLAD strategy!