· Host family nights where parents can see what you are learning in the classroom.
· Write weekly newsletters in the parents' natvie language about the activities in the classroom and community.
· Give a parent interest survey. Let the parent tell you what ther child's strenghts and weaknesses are and how you can help thier child be successful in school.
· Write clear objectives on the board and verbally state them at the beging and end of each lesson. Try to tye in what the students learned from the previous lesson.
Use rubrics so that your expectations are clear to your students and paretns.
· Have group work and independent work.
Let the students do investigative learning with hands on science experiments.
· Attend performances of the students such as choir, marimbas, Stomp camp performance, piano recitals,etc.
· Vary the options for completing assignments. This allows the student to have some choice and take owner ship in the project. They can pick the project that suits their interest, is at an appropriate academic level, and is culturally responsive. Examples: Book projects, RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, and Topic), Telephone Story, Think Tac Toes, etc.
· Do role playing
· Let the students select their own reading material based on their ability and interest.
· Do scaffolding where students re-teach the material to small groups.
· Have literature circles or discussion groups.
· Talk about the missing voices in social studies and how different groups of people may have different viewpoints depending on their experiences.
· Allow the students to engage in higher order thinking by using specific questioning.
· Have students share home (real-life) connections they have when you go over new vocabulary each week. Students LOVE sharing how they have a connection to each word.
· Have students write holiday essays where they share their traditions that are part of their culture.
· Invite members of the community to come share their knowledge with the studetns. Examples: Hug a Tree, Arbor Day Presentation, Junior Achievement (Bankers come in for 5 sessions and talk to the students about the business field.), Field Trips such as to the Waste Water Treatment Plant, Eagle Cruise, and Hercules Play, and Martin Luther King Jr. Monolgouse at the community college.
· Make a class quilt that helps build a sense of community within your classroom.
