Create one activity (to work for a group of families) that will encourage the positive relationship between an educator and a students' family. The academic activity/strategy should focus on the commu

Week 2 Discussion 1 Group Focus

Create one activity (to work for a group of families) that will encourage the positive relationship between an educator and a students' family. The academic activity/strategy should focus on the community as a whole and increasing the involvement of parents school wide. The goal is to encourage each student's individual family to become a significant participant in their child's learning. Name the academic activity/strategy and give an explanation of how the academic activity/strategy can change the climate of family-school relations in a school. The activity/strategy should be engaging to both students and parents and will demonstrate the understanding of how parents involvement improves students learning. You must include at least one reference, in addition to the text, to support your response.  Consider using the U.S Department of Education (Links to an external site.)
or the National Education Association (Links to an external site.).

Instructor Guidance

Week 2

Welcome to the second week of our class. In this week, we build on the paradigm of collaboration that we saw in week 1. This week, you are asked create some specific strategies to develop collaboration, summarize research about the effectiveness of family and school collaboration, and create a literacy project that promotes family involvement. This is a hefty set of learning outcomes for the week, but I’m certain that if you read the text and the additional resources, you will have no trouble in being successful. There are resources from the US Department of Education, the National Education Association, and a group that has been around for a long time, Reading Is Fundamental.
As part of this class, we are examining the connection between family and school. When we think about the families of the students we have in school today, we have to consider their cultural background. An individual’s culture has a strong influence on attitudes, values, and behavior. Developing a classroom that is culturally responsive is necessary. According to the author, creating a culturally responsive school is a collaborative task requiring the school and the families to work together (Amatea, 2013). This fits completely within the collaborative paradigm described in week 1.
In the first discussion for this week, you will create an activity that will engage multiple families at school. The goal here is to work on projects that have a group focus and that are engaging to multiple people. Following on chapter 1 of the text, we want to ensure that families become a participant in children’s learning. As you are describing your activity, be sure to use the required resources. You are asked to cite at least one source in addition to the textbook. There are some sample sources provided.
In the second discussion for this week, you are asked to go to the Ashford Library and find an article or report that describes the importance of the family-school relationship. Summarize the article and identify how you would implement the information in your own classroom. Please be sure to cite the source in full APA.

This week’s written assignment asks you to use a storybook to involve families in your classroom or school. First, take some time to review sources provided in the assignment. Using these resources, you are asked to create a lesson that will engage children and their families. You will summarize the text that you chose, describe the rationale of the book you chose, write a letter to families inviting them to participate, create discussion questions and activities, and create an evaluation that will ask for feedback from parents and students. This is a big assignment, but if you use the resources well, you can create a wonderful activity that students enjoy and that involves their families. Please be sure to follow the guidelines in the posted assignment. You should have somewhere between four and six pages, not including the title page and reference page. Be sure that you cite all sources of information, according to APA guidelines. 

References

Amatea, E. S. (2013). Building culturally responsive family-school relationships (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Readings

1. Read from your text, Building culturally responsive family-school relationships: 

   • Chapter 3: Building Culturally Responsive Family-School Partnerships: Essential Beliefs, Strategies, and Skills
        

2. Reveiw the following material: 

• Ashford University Library (Links to an external site.). (http://library.ashford.edu/index.aspx)

  • This website will assist you in your Week 2 Discussion 2. To access the full library website, you need to enter the Library either via the Library link within your student portal or through the Library link within your online classroom.

• Burton, E. (2013, January 8). Parent involvement in early literacy (Links to an external site.) [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/parent-involvement-in-early-literacy-erika-burton 

• Children’s Book Council. (n.d.). Choosing a child’s book. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/choosing-childs-book.

• Scholastic. (n.d.) The literary benefits of listening. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/developing-reading-skills/literacy-benefits-listening
     

Recommended Resources

1. 1. U.S. Department of Education. (2009, October 26). Tools for student success (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/tools-for-success/index.html (Links to an external site.)

   2. National Education Association. (2017). Achievement gaps (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/AchievementGaps.html