Family Dialogue Journals

This honest, clearly written, and accessible book shows how to use Family Dialogue Journals to increase and deepen learning among students in grades K-12. Written by teachers who have been implementing and studying the use of weekly journals for several years, the book shares what they have learned and why they have found these journals to be an invaluable tool for forming effective partnerships with families. Learn from first-hand accounts how students write weekly about one big idea they have studied, and then invite a family member to participate in the discussion by asking him/her to write a response to the student’s question about the topic in the journal. Through these journal entries, students share their family knowledge with classmates while actively engaging with the curriculum. In turn, teachers extend the academic discussion by writing to each family and incorporating the family contributions into classroom lessons. Family participation in journal entries is remarkably high across ages, ethnicities, and diverse economic backgrounds.