Communicating With Families About the Common Core

Last Thursday I attended the Digging Deeper into the Common Core State Standards conference in Pendleton, Oregon.  As I reviewed my notes and reflected upon the information I was given last week it occurred to me that one of the biggest shifts for our schools will need to be in the way we communicate with families about the Common Core and the new expectations that have been placed upon our students.

One of the "Big Ideas" at the conference I attended was that students need to be able to articulate whether or not they have mastered the learning target(s) (standards) we are working on in the classroom.

Each week I send home information to parents that informs them about what we will be working on the following week.  The document looks like this:
WeeklyScheduleofconcepts_parents_4_8_2013


I have been thinking that I can continue to use this format but replace the "concepts" with the actual learning targets that my students will be working toward that week. It is a work in progress but here is how I see the form changing:
WeeklyScheduleofconcepts_parents_4_8_2013_CommonCoreVersion


This is just one way I can see of improving communication with parents regarding the Common Core Standards.  In what ways are you planning to share information and improve communication with your students families?