connecting with families
As part of the CDP, DSC created a number of short conversational activities, Homeside Activities, to help bring parents into their children’s school learning. These activities, 18 at each grade level K through 6, are designed to connect with families, build classroom community, and address issues related to character development. In all four of the videos below, we see the introduction of the home activity, some part of the actual home conversations, and the follow-up class discussion.
Note: The Child Development Project (CDP) is now named the Caring School Community, a program of Collaborative Classroom.
After reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry in which a Danish family hides a Jewish girl from the Nazis, sixth grade students in High Point, North Carolina tell a family member about the courage shown by the Danish family and interview their parents about someone they know who has displayed courage “close to home.”
Students in a combination fifth/sixth grade class in Cupertino California watch a fellow student interview their teacher about her family history, discuss how to arrange a successful interview with their busy parents, interview their parents, and share with a partner and then the entire class some of the interesting things they learned.
In this video we see several students as they talk with a parent about how they chose the student’s name and then observe the students’ reports of their interviews and their feelings about talking with their parents. The students’ pride and pleasure in the activity are clearly displayed.