Parental Support for Common Core Language Arts

As I was searching, I discovered there are several resources to support student learning in language arts for teachers.  The resource that I was immediately drawn to was a support site for parents.  As teachers, we know if we have parental support on our side, it makes our job in the classroom much easier.  Students who have supportive parents who enrich their children's educational experience at home, tend to be more successful in the classroom.

For this reason, I chose to highlight the following resource, provided by Council of the Great City Schools:

http://www.commoncoreworks.org/domain/114

 This resource provides parents with a "ROADMAP" of what to expect from their child's common core education in all subjects and in all grade levels.  

Because I teach fifth grade language arts, I viewed the parental roadmap for this grade and subject.  The roadmap is quite helpful in indicating exactly what students will be expected to know how to do in both reading and writing in fifth grade.  It also provides parents with a scope of expectations in fourth grade and in sixth grade.  This is quite helpful for parents because much of the time, parents seem to be in the dark about what their children are learning about.  

In addition, the roadmap highlights six ways that parents can help their children at home:

1.  Provide a time and place for children to read at home free of distractions.

2.  Discuss what your child has learned in reading:  what has been most interesting or useful, how can this knowledge be helpful in life?

3.  Help children look up the definition of unknown words using the internet or a dictionary.

4.  Keep track of the time your child spends reading and the types of material your child enjoys reading.  Encourage your child to read more of what he/she enjoys.

5.  Ensure that your child has a library card and takes advantages of the services the library has to offer.

6.  Use technology to build your child's interest in reading.  

Although this resources is primarily for parents, I believe that, as teachers, if we encourage parents to follow the guidelines and information featured on the roadmaps, our students will benefit tremendously.