Problem
To create an agenda for a parent-teacher conference and to evaluate your agenda.
Scenario:
You teach pre-k at a local head start program wherein all students are from families of low socioeconomic status (SES). One student, Travis, an African American child, just turned five years old. He has a limited vocabulary and poor grammar skills. His communication challenges seem to have affected his social life. You have just completed the ASQ (60 month) for Travis and he scored in the black zone on communication. Travis tries to join in games with other boys, but typically winds up playing by himself. When you pull Travis' file, you note that his widowed mother works a second-shift job at a large factory in town. You call her to set up a conference appointment and notice that she uses African American English (AAE) in conversation. You know Travis does as well and, since that may affect his success in school, you want to create a plan to help him code switch to Standard English (SE) when appropriate as you are working on school readiness skills that will help him successfully transition to kindergarten the upcoming school year.
Create a three-item agenda to discuss how you can work with Travis and his mother to improve verbal ability.
1) The first two items should be talking points (one paragraph for each) on
a) Why improving verbal ability is important to academic and social success, and
b) How social interaction (such as conversation or joint book reading) at home and school can help.
2) For the third item, create a chart with at least five sample areas for teaching Travis how to code switch between home and school.