Student success requires a

strong partnership between

teachers and parents. Both

play a critical role in the

development of a child, and

both are committed to seeing

that child grow, learn, and

achieve.

As parents were once

students themselves, many

think they understand

assessments and what the

results may mean. They rely

on the information provided

by the state, the district, the

school, and even the media.

As a result, parent-teacher

discussions on assessment

often only occur when there is

a perceived problem.

Points to Raise with

Parents

Talking about assessment with

parents is an opportunity to

educate on a range of topics,

including:

• The purposes of

assessment

• What tests are being

used in their child’s classroom

and how they differ from each

other

•Their child’s learning

progress, as indicated by both

assessment and classroom

observation

• Academic strengths and

weaknesses of the child, and

what both teacher and parent

can do to address those

weaknesses

• The testing process and

how it impacts the teaching

process

Educators and parents should

be partners in the learning

process. By talking about

assessment, that partnership

can be strengthened and have

a positive impact on a child’s

learning.

Talking to Parents about Assessment

PARCC provides many

resources to better assist

parents to understand the

purpose of the test, as well as

what are the expectations.

Resources include:

• Practice Tests

• Sample Score Reports

• Parent Guides for

Reports

• PARCC Parent Checklist

• Translated Reports

Click HERE for this

information

Additional links:

UnderstandtheScore.org

GreatKids Test Guide for

Parents

October 2017 Volume 6 Issue II

Capture the Core

Inside this issue:

ELA 2

Math 3

Science 4

Social Studies 5

Learning Support 6

A Publication of the

Illinois State Board

of

Education Statewide

System of Support

Content Specialists

Six

th th

rou

gh

Eig

hth

Gra

de

This second edition of

Capture the Core for the

2017-2018 school year is

focused on Supporting and

Engaging Families.

Within these pages are

ideas to help you to

support your interaction

with families through ideas

and resources.

Feel free to contact us to

let us know what other

topics you would like to

see as a focus throughout

the school year.

Family Issue

Explaining PARCC to Parents

This article is from

Assessment Literacy: https://

assessmentliteracy.org/

apply/talking-parents/

Great Schools.org offers a

plethora of resources for

parents. Click the link below

and scroll the entire page to

see recommended articles for

parents. Near the bottom of

the page is a Milestones

section. Click on Middle

School to see the most

important skills for middle

schoolers to master.

https://www.greatschools.org/

gk/

Scholastic also provides a

plethora of resources and

tools for parents. Some of

those include:

• Guides to Reading

• Guides to School

• Guides to Life & Learning

• Guides to Seasons

• Guides to Printables

Included within the guides are

videos, tips, activities,

resources, websites and

more. Click the following

link to access these tools.

http://www.scholastic.com/

parents/parent-guides/ages-11

-13

snapshots highlighting how

selected standards progress

from year to year so that

students will be college and

career ready upon their

graduation from high school.

Parents receive the following

information:

1. What their child will be

learning in middle school

The Council of the Great City

Schools' Parent Roadmaps in

English Language Arts and

Literacy provide guidance to

parents about what their

student will be learning and

how they can support that

learning in grades Sixth

through Eighth.

Each grade level also

showcases three-year

English Language Arts

and Literacy

2. How parents can help

their child learn outside

of school .

Pdf and digital versions of the

roadmaps are available at the

following link: https://

www.cgcs.org/site/

Default.aspx?PageID=328

Support for Parents of Middle Schoolers

Council of the Great City Schools Parent Roadmaps

"Whether teaching high school or middle school, I find that contacting parents early in the year with either positive comments or requests for help increases their buy-in to what I'm doing. “ Education World Teacher team

Page 2 ELA

Grades 6-8

Scroll down for 6th, 7th and 8th grade roadmaps.

Educators around the world

are experiencing the benefits

of nurturing growth mindsets

in their classrooms. By

teaching students some basic

principles of psychology (for

example, that mistakes cause

synapses to fire in the brain)

and busting some harmful

myths that persist regarding

math education (namely the

myth that math ability is

inherited), extraordinary

learning can occur. Getting

parents on board is essential

for students to successfully

accomplish this shift in

thinking. Many parents have

no idea that their personal

beliefs about mathematics

could be harmful to their

child’s learning. Educating our

students’ parents and

caregivers in how to

encourage a growth mindset

and specific ways to support

their children as they learn

math will help reinforce what

you are doing in the

classroom.

Jo Boaler published “6

ways to Support Your

Child’s Mathematical

Development” under the

“Parents” tab on the

YouCubed website. This is

a great resource to include

in beginning-of-the-year

packets for parents or to

hand out during parent/

teacher conferences. Find

this and other parent

supporting resources here:

https://www.youcubed.org/

resource/parent-resources/.

There are many apps

available to facilitate this

communication and help

educators keep records, set

reminders, and maintain

anonymity as needed.

Content Specialist, Lisa

Ward, has reviewed 6

popular apps and

summarized their features

to make the decision easier.

Domain 4 of the Danielson

Framework specifies that

part of an educator’s

professional responsibilities

is to communicate with

families about instructional

programs and individual

students as well as engage

them in the instructional

program. Marzano also

emphasizes the importance

of frequent communication

between home and school.

• Bloomz

• Classtag

• Sign Up Tree

• Remind

• Appear.in

• Classtree

ilclassroomtech.weebly.com/

classroomteacher-

resources.html

Preparing Parents’ Mindsets

Connecting with Families

Helping Parents Understand the Standards

students as they

The IL Math Teachers in

Action site has a “Tools for

Parents” page. Currently

this page features 5

resources to support

parents by deepening their

understanding of the math

standards, content, or

teaching practices (the

California Department of

Education resource is under

review and may be

temporarily unavailable).

Check out the page, http://

www.mathteachersinaction.

org/tools-for-parents.html.

Help us grow our list of

helpful, aligned supports!

Send your suggestions to

jsheppa@ilstu.edu.

Helping parents understand

the math concepts that they

are practicing with their

students is an important

step in overcoming the

apprehension and anxiety

that often accompanies

math homework. The Math

Content Specialists are

compiling resources to help

you empower the parents

and caretakers of your

Teachers and

parents need to

replace sympathetic

messages such as

“Don’t worry, math

isn’t your thing”

with positive

messages such as

“You can do this, I

believe in you, math

is an open, beautiful

subject that is all

about effort and

hard work.”

~Parents’ Beliefs about Math Change Their Children’s Achievement - YouCubed. (2017). YouCubed. Retrieved 20 September 2017, from https://www.youcubed.org/evidence/parents-beliefs-math-change-childrens-achievement/

Mathematics Page 3 Volume 6 Issue II

Grades 6-8

Students love challenges, and

this activity form WGBH is

sure to get them engaged. As

they build magnetic detectors

and learn the science behind

magnetometers, students will

also explore forces, pushes

and pulls. Available at

mpbn.pbslearningmedia.org/

resource/

mss13.sci.engin.design.detect

/inspector-detector-

challenge/

Science Treasure Hunt: the Inspector Detector Challenge

Parent Guides for the Next Generation Science Standards

night or as an easy to email

reference for stakeholders.

www.nextgenscience.org/

parentguides

As classroom practices and

instruction changes to meet

the goals of the new science

standards, inevitably parent

questions arise. To help ease

the transition and explain why

the standards are so im-

portant, Achieve has put out

grade-banded parent guides.

Use these during parent

teacher conferences, as

handouts on open house

“A compelling

case can be made

that

understanding

science and

engineering is

essential for every

American citizen”

A Framework for K-

12 Science Education

Page 4 Science

Grades 6-8

The new Illinois Learning Standards for Social Science may lead

to questions from parents and community members about

changes in the classroom. As educators begin to understand

the Inquiry Skills and Disciplinary Concepts components of the

standards and how they work in tandem, the curriculum will

begin to take on a more inquiry-based approach. With these

changes, educators may begin to get questions from parents

such as:

1. What's inquiry based learning?

2. That's not how I was taught. Why do we

need this change if (a) our school is already

doing well, or (b) what we really need is a

better literacy/math program to raise test

scores?

3. How is this going to affect my child (and

me)?

These areas of possible concern are essentially

addressing the what, why, and how of social

science education under the new standards.

When addressing these concerns, keep in

mind that it’s sometimes most beneficial to start with the

“why”.

Ken Kay, CEO of EdLeader21, makes a good point about

introducing new practices, he noted that non-educator

audiences will not respond to an appeal for a new pedagogy --

but they will respond to the needs of students. Help parents

see that, in addition to traditional subject-area knowledge and

skills, students joining the modern workforce need to be good

critical thinkers, problem solvers and creative innovators. They

have to know how to work well in teams. They must be able to

communicate in a variety of media and to various audiences,

often across cultures and borders. Discuss how competency in

these areas will help students in college, too, and in their lives

as citizens.

The National Council for the Social Studies reiterates that

“The aim of social studies is the promotion of civic

competence—the knowledge, intellectual processes, and

democratic dispositions required of students to be active

and engaged participants in public life.” The Illinois Learning

Standards for Social Science focus on having K-12 students

work on cultivating the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and

behaviors necessary to be informed and

effective citizens. These include creativity,

critical thinking, working in diverse groups to

solve complex problems, global awareness, and

financial literacy.

Once parents have an understanding of the

“why” changes are being made in social science

education, they are more receptive to learning

about the details of the “what and how” of

their student’s education.

So, what can parents do at home to help?

Louise Robitaille and Pete Douglas, elementary

teachers versed in inquiry based learning, offer

these tips for parents:

Ask about what your child is learning in class.

Support and encourage interest and curiosity by following

up with activities at home.

Encourage and practice good communication skills such as

starting conversations and debates about current events.

Help your kids develop research skills online and from

text.

Enjoy building projects together in the home.

Looking for some social science resources to share with parents?

Check out some of these great resources:

Great Schools: Social Studies – Allows parents to select

their child’s specific grade level to discover activities they can

engage in at home with students http://bit.ly/2hdGvGD

Partnership for 21st Century Learning – www.p21.org

Though not exclusive to social science, this partnership

emphasizes key ideas that are in line with social science

education in Illinois. The P21 group puts out many resources to

support educators,

parents, and

community members

in shaping well-

informed citizens for

the future. Some

resources to support

parents include:

Resources for Parents about 21st Century Learning and

Citizenship– http://bit.ly/1aO0UcT

Flyer for parents explaining what 21st century learning

and citizenship is all about – http://bit.ly/2hf1vcq

Introducing Changes in Social Science Education to Parents

Resources for Parents

Social Science Page 5 Volume 6 Issue II

Grades 6-8

Portions adapted from: http://edut.to/2feRzT4, http://bit.ly/2hcD5A2,

http://bit.ly/2jFyPgS, http://bit.ly/2fwhKln

“The aim of social studies is the

promotion of civic competence—

the knowledge, intellectual

processes, and democratic

dispositions required of students

to be active and engaged

participants in public life.”

The growing acceptance of

Social Emotional Learning as

a key support to student

success has been responded

to by state and local

administrators in the

implementation of SEL

standards within the school

system. However, the

absence of networked

organizations from which

families receive SEL support

has further complicated

their access to tools and

materials for

home based

instruction and

modeling of these

formative skills.

This issue of Capture the

Core shares specific ways

teachers can support

families in their capacity

around Self-Awareness, Self-

Management, Social

Awareness and Relationship

building, and Responsible

Decision-Making.

Note that this not an

exhaustive list of resources,

however, these are a few

activities for families to

practice building

developmentally appropriate

skills.

Tips and Activities were

retrieved from:

www.parenttoolkit.com

Resource to share

SEL Standards 6-8

Teachers Supporting Families Supporting

Social Emotional Development

Comprehensive System of Learning Supports

Self-Awareness

Be careful to not label your child’s feelings for

them. Asking what emotions are attached to

observable behaviors helps them self identify.

Self-Management

Try and frame decisions through ‘choices’ - each

with it’s own pre-explained consequence.

Being part of the family means offering help with

the family needs. Assign small chores weekly.

Social Awareness

Providing transportation is a great time to allow

for continued conversations.

Nurture empathy in their social interactions.

Relationship Building

Consistently ask your child(ren) how they

would deal with different opportunities (positive

and negative peer pressure).

Share your views on responsible online behavior

as it relates to social media.

Responsible Decision-Making

Discuss safe and smart choices with your youth,

especially regarding issues around health and

wellness.

Begin allowing your middle-schooler to

participate and share regarding family issues.

Check us out on the web:

Illinois Classrooms in Action

Climate & Culture

Grades 6-8

Parents’ Guide to Social Emotional Checklist (sample items)

Model good behavior. Follow through on your promises.

Have meaningful conversations

with your child.

Take a moment to reflect and breathe when

you are stressed or overwhelmed.

Climate & Culture

Action Network

2017-2018

Educator

Community

of Practice

Details and

Registration

http://bit.ly/

CCAN_CofP_17_18