Providing Language Arts Resources and G.R.A.C.E.

In times of uncertainty, I encourage all of us to think of G.R.A.C.E. Let’s extend grace to ourselves right now. We don’t have all of the answers and we will likely look back at this challenging time and think of things that we might have done differently. Let’s also extend G.R.A.C.E to our students and families and assume the best of their intentions. While we continue to connect with them and provide resources to them, may we maintain the understanding that not all families will approach our recommendations and communication with the same level of enthusiasm and confidence.

While providing language arts resources to families, I advocate that you consider the acronym, G.R.A.C.E. 

G- Games 
R- Read 
A- Authentic writing 
C- Conversation
E- Emotional support

G is for Games 
Games provide instant feedback, competition and engaging opportunities for problem solving. They facilitate discipline, structure, and a way to make academics fun! While families appreciate links to online games, they also have expressed gratitude for paper/pencil, verbal game, and board game ideas that do not incorporate technology and likely involve face-to-face engagement such as Scrabble, Boggle, Apple to Apples, Scattegories, etc. There are ways to play those games without the actual board game and pieces. Do a little “Googling” and you’ll see what I mean!

R is for Read 
Of course the Language Arts Coordinator is going to advise teachers and families to ask students to read! My biggest worry with this request is that we might over complicate it. Let’s not turn reading into an “assignment.” Let kids choose what they are reading. It might be a graphic novel (AWESOME), historical fiction, a sports magazine, or a video game manual. It might be an audiobook (GASP)! At this point in time, do we really care if it is a child’s 3,840th time of reading the same book? Let them reread! Ask them to share their reading lives with you and encourage families to discuss their reading lives at home. We need to politely encourage the adults in the home to be reading too. It’s hard to convince a 10-year old to pick up a book if the parent is watching online videos, scrolling through social media, or doing chores. As families request title ideas, here are some of my go-to resources.

ReadBrightly.com (by using the Ages & Stages drop-down, families can see titles for various age levels)

ReadBrightly.com- list books with diverse main characters, for all ages 

Iowa Association of School Librarians- Book Award Lists, for all ages 

A is for Authentic Writing 
Some valuable resources have been shared in recent weeks that support students practicing their writing skills at home. For example, the Iowa Reading Research Center provided informational, narrative, and opinion writing prompts for grades K-8. They include guidelines for the families when working on them with their children. I also recommend that we help families think of authentic writing tasks that will require students to create and compose. Authentic writing means that students write for a real reason and for a specific audience other than their teachers. This might be an email to a grandparent, a grocery list, a positive poem to lift up someone’s spirits, song-lyrics for a social media post, a card to a neighbor, or a thank-you to someone in the health field. This moment in history also lends to journaling moments, either online or in a personal notebook.

C is for Conversation
This is an awesome time for families to…. wait for it…. TALK! Typically, families’ schedules are so overwhelming and everyone is heading off in opposite directions. Right now is a time for everyone to reconnect and talk. We should encourage families to enjoy the opportunities to ask their kids what they are interested in. This might spark the next book to read, something to research or write about, etc. It might lead to a family watching a YouTube video together or attempting a project. Additionally, we can use technology tools such as FlipGrid, Zoom, Google Meet, etc. to talk to our students and ask them to respond. We can let them know how much we miss them and want to hear about how they are doing.

E is for Emotional Support 
While we might first assume that many of our students are celebrating an extended spring break, we recognize that many of them are grieving. In a short amount of time, their worlds changed drastically and they lost time with teachers who provide a sense of security and stability for them. They lost personal time with friends. Their daily routines are unpredictable. The core components of language arts- reading, writing, speaking, and listening- could all be therapeutic activities for many of our students right now. We want our students to perceive language arts activities as tools for reflection and expression, not assignments or requirements.

Thank you so much for reaching out to our students and families. Your students are lucky to have you in their corners.