Using Classroom Newsletters as a Vehicle for Examining Home‐School Connections

Abstract

Graduate students seeking certification as literacy specialists were asked to send monthly newsletters home with their students as a requirement for one of their courses. They were also asked to critically examine their newsletters, to discuss the impact, if any, it made on their relationships with parents, and to reflect on the experience. This article describes the newsletters, graduate student reflections, and how the activity gave both the graduate students and the teacher of the class insights into applications of current home–school connection practices.