Teachers everywhere embrace the importance of
a solid connection between home and school and
a solid connection between home and school and
strive to build positive and respectful parent partnerships.
All teachers understand the value of volunteers
and the need for parent involvement and support,
but not all parents can spend time in our classrooms.
All teachers understand the value of volunteers
and the need for parent involvement and support,
but not all parents can spend time in our classrooms.
Connect Parents to Your Classroom
Every parent wants to know what their child is learning
and how they are doing in school. One fun and informative
way to keep your parents connected to your classroom
is through Friday letters. Every Friday my students
Every parent wants to know what their child is learning
and how they are doing in school. One fun and informative
way to keep your parents connected to your classroom
is through Friday letters. Every Friday my students
write a letter home telling their parents and families all
about their week at school.
about their week at school.
Parents respond by writing a letter back to their child on
the reverse-side of the page.
Students return the letters to school where we file
and save them. At the end of the year, I bind all
of their letters into keepsake books for students to
take home.
and save them. At the end of the year, I bind all
of their letters into keepsake books for students to
take home.
A Simple, Yet Powerful Tool
Friday Letters. Writing a letter every Friday to
Friday Letters. Writing a letter every Friday to
Mom and Dad. It's such a simple little thing,
but a powerful one. Besides cultivating a
consistent connection between my students' homes
and my classroom, I learn a lot from these letters.
They give me weekly insight into my students' thoughts and feelings, excitements and anxieties,
but a powerful one. Besides cultivating a
consistent connection between my students' homes
and my classroom, I learn a lot from these letters.
They give me weekly insight into my students' thoughts and feelings, excitements and anxieties,
about school, their friends, what happens at home,
and even how they feel about the food in the cafeteria.
and even how they feel about the food in the cafeteria.
students may not tell me, but tell their parents.
They afford me opportunities to see where I can
quietly intervene or partner with parents to help
a child socially, support them more emotionally,
or even to celebrate accomplishments outside
of school that I may not otherwise know about.
Skills At A Glance
Academically speaking, I can see at a glance who
is mastering and applying a variety of skills:
is mastering and applying a variety of skills:
- writing conventions
- grammar
- capitalization
- correct use of punctuation
- complete sentences
- writing the date
- use of transition words
- compound sentences
- vocabulary knowledge
At the beginning of the year, we review the format of,
and how to write, a friendly letter. This is something our
first graders learn, but I always spend time reteaching
the purpose, the parts and the punctuation of a friendly
letter. My goal is to get them started towards writing
these letters independently.
and how to write, a friendly letter. This is something our
first graders learn, but I always spend time reteaching
the purpose, the parts and the punctuation of a friendly
letter. My goal is to get them started towards writing
these letters independently.
What Can I Write About?
At the beginning of the year when I introduce our writing
journal routines, one of the first mini-lessons we do is
"What Can I Write About?" We make a list on the first page
of the journals of all the things they can write about.
These come in handy on Fridays, too.
These come in handy on Fridays, too.
For the first few weeks, we brainstorm whole group
and list on the board all of the things we learned and
did during the week they could write about in their
letters. Sometimes we make a big bubble
and list on the board all of the things we learned and
did during the week they could write about in their
letters. Sometimes we make a big bubble
map and sometimes we make a list. Sometimes
we even make a tree map with the days of the week
as the categories. These are quick teachable moments
to talk about the purpose of different graphic organizers
and how they can help us plan our writing.
we even make a tree map with the days of the week
as the categories. These are quick teachable moments
to talk about the purpose of different graphic organizers
and how they can help us plan our writing.
Later, they will do this on their own in their writing journals.
The one thing we always do the same
every.single.week is to end our letters with a question.
This gives the recipient a start to writing back.
every.single.week is to end our letters with a question.
This gives the recipient a start to writing back.
Make It Manage Itself
This routine will manage itself after a few weeks
of practicing the procedure. I train my class to file
their letters all going the same way, behind their
previous letter. They can do this when they first
arrive or at the end of the day. I found this filing cart
at a garage sale years ago and it's been perfect for storing
and saving students' writing portfolios. A crate would
work well also.
Each hanging file has a student number and a file folder
(their writing portfolio) inside. The Friday letters go
behind the file folder. At the end of the year I even have
my students go through their own letters to make sure
they're set and organized before binding.
If you don't have access to a comb binder a heavy duty
stapler works great too.
stapler works great too.
But the Year Has Already Started
with your class. You don't have to start at
the beginning of the year, you can start
anytime. Just send home this parent letter
explaining how it works and start writing!
Download this Free Friday Letters Starter Kit
to save you time and get you going. This editable
file includes the parent letter and book cover
that I use plus some back-to-school stationery
to get you started. Download it now or pin this for later.
to save you time and get you going. This editable
file includes the parent letter and book cover
that I use plus some back-to-school stationery
to get you started. Download it now or pin this for later.
For the rest of the year, I use lined stationery from
a combination of these Scholastic books.
You can use my affiliate links to purchase the
same books from Amazon. These come in really
handy and my class loves all the different themes!
a combination of these Scholastic books.
You can use my affiliate links to purchase the
same books from Amazon. These come in really
handy and my class loves all the different themes!
I hope this post has been helpful as you consider ways
you can continue to foster your home-school connections
and parent partnerships!
For more ideas and resources on this topic follow my
Home/School Connection board on Pinterest!
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Happy teaching!
We wrote to our families last year. Our kiddos are a split K/1 - their writing grew so much. I love how you end each letter with a question.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie and Venee!
DeleteI agree! Writing letters each Friday is really a great way to support their writing development and see their growth!
My kids and families love family journals! That's what we have always called them just because we don't always have time on the same day. We also have parents write back and return the journals each Monday. Before handing out the family journals I ask each student if they would like me to read their family's response and of course, they always do. It's so cute! I love how you have it all organized. This is really going to help me this year! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteHope
I love your idea Hope! Writing letters to their families has always been such a fun and rewarding experience for my class. I'm so glad to hear your families love it too! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope the kit saves you some time.
DeleteHappy writing!
Linda
This is adorable! I downloaded the Starter Kit but am having trouble putting my information on the cover page. It only lets me type one line of text. I can't press enter or use the arrow down key to add additional lines. Do you know what I am doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteHi Nell,
DeleteI'm not sure what was going on with the document, but I have uploaded a new file link to this post.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and I hope your class enjoys writing Friday letters as much as mine does!
Have a great year!
Linda
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
ReplyDeleteDo you ever get pushback from parents on this? I teach at a school that is fairly urban with parents who do not speak English or have other socioeconomic factors that may impact their ability to do this. Is the parent response optional?
Thanks!
Nora
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi Nora,
DeleteThat's a great question! The answer is, absolutely! You can set up your system however you wish. I've been using Friday letters for about 9 years now and have never gotten push back from parents, but what I do is allow students to do whatever works for them and their families. I've had students every year who either have limited English proficiency or their parents do not speak English at all. In those cases students have done a number of different things. Some have written to older siblings, or grandparents, or even to friends or classmates. I've also had students who wrote to their parents each week and then we just filed them and bound the book to take home at the end of the year.
Two years ago I had a Vietnamese student who wrote to her grandmother each week. Her grandmother responded in Vietnamese after my student read and translated the letter to her. Her mother told me at conference time how much it meant to her grandmother to be able to do that and to be involved in her granddaughter's life at school.
So the answer is, yes! Make it work for your students.
I hope this helps!
Linda
I've been doing Friday Family Writing Journals for several years. A few years ago a student had several responses from her grandmother in her journal; the grandmother was very ill and passed away towards the end of the school year. The mother later told me what a precious keepsake that writing journal was for her daughter. We never know how what we do will touch a family. And for this reason I will always do Friday Family Writing Journals.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure for that child! I had a similar experience with one of my students. Her parents were so grateful to have the letters her grandmother wrote. It really is such a special project that means so much to students and their families.
DeleteSuch a wonderful idea to foster the home-school connection. Can't wait to start this with my kiddos!
ReplyDeleteHi! I love these journals and my teaching partner and I just started this year using them in our first grade classroom. We sent home our first letters, and noticed parents wrote really sweet, long, notes on the back... we were wondering how you manage reading the letters back to each student so they know what their parents responded each week. We are trying to figure out a good way to do this without taking too much time, but making sure those students who can't quite manage reading the responses themselves get to here what their parents wrote. Any ideas would be great! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Jenka,
DeleteI have students write on individual pieces of "stationary", rather than in a journal, and then take the letters home. The parents respond at home on the back side and read their responses to their child at that time. The students then bring the letters back to school where we file them until the end of the year. At the end of the year I bind each child's letters into a book. I hope this helps!
Linda