Letter #2: Parents

Dear Parents,

Writing is a pivotal part of any student’s academic career. It is absolutely essential that

the student’s take part in culturally sustaining writing. Culturally sustaining writing is the way

students are able to describe their culture, experiences and lifestyle in a safe and welcoming

environment. As an educator, to me culturally sustaining writing is having students be able to get

in touch with their own identity and history, in order to become more of their true self. Students

greatest source of output is through their writing for it is important that they are accepted and

uplifted in their own personal experiences. This type of practice will be used throughout the

entire school year. I will be doing various types of assignments to get them in touch with their

identity like this. This will be through writing, family trees, geography lessons, etc. Personally, I

believe in teaching your children the importance of loving and accepting one another’s thoughts

and ideas. Through culturally sustaining writing, I can accomplish this by showing your children

different ways of life. We will be doing culturally sustaining writing through use of personal

experiences, information learned in class and of primary sources. I can assure you that student’s

will not be pressured into saying any personal information not wish to be shared. However, if the

student is comfortable enough, we hope to be able to have open and engaging discussions to

foster learning throughout the school year.

As required by New York State, there are specific Common Core standards I must

follow. Including culturally sustaining writing throughout my lessons during the school year, will

help the class achieve these Common Core required standards. The most important one I will

integrate into my classroom is how the students and I will examine primary and secondary

historical sources and analyze and interpret them. I will be providing students with these sources
and have them relate it back to historical events and even personal, family history events if they

wish. After analyzing and interpreting these sources we will then make educated arguments to

understand what was going on during this period of history. After making our arguments we will

discuss how these historical events affected our history and present-day life. We will accomplish

this Common Core standard through the use of writing, analysis, and communication. Therefore,

it is important that students are confident and comfortable in their writing. By being able to draw

conclusions on past experiences, students can effectively interpret parts of history. I will

incorporate culturally sustaining writing through this by effectively relating parts of history to

present-day instances so that students will have deeper and clearer understanding of the material.

The most important goal I have for each and every one of my students is they succeed in

every possible way they can. I want them to be able to go out into the world educated and

knowledgeable of current and past events. This goal can be accomplished through culturally

sustaining writing. Once they are able to be self-assured about what they are writing, they will

able to anything. This is a direct result of culturally sustaining writing allowing students to be

open in their writing. I can also assure you that if you have any questions of concerns regarding

your child’s progress, my door is always open. I am easily accessible through email or phone

call. Just like all of you, I want the best for your children and will do everything possible to

ensure that they have the best possible education.

Sincerely,

Dianna Gentile