Newsletter
I started something new this year at the suggestion of another 1st grade teacher in my building - each child has a "Newsbook". It's just a wide ruled spiral bound notebook and I type a newsletter each week, my aide shrinks it on the copier and I staple it into each child's newsbook. I don't have anything fancy, just friendly letter format and upcoming dates on the calendar at the bottom.
Then, on Fridays we brainstorm all the things we worked on that week and I make a list. I also try to get them to think about the purpose behind those activities (yes, we played BINGO but it was sight word BINGO to help us practice sight words).
Finally, in friendly letter format, the students write to their parents significant things to them from the list. Theirs might say, Dear Mom and Dad, We worked on nickels and pennies in math. I had 37 cents. Love, Child's Name. And - here's the part they love the most - the parents have "homework" too! The parents have to write back to them and we read it together as they come in and get ready to work on Monday mornings.
It's really cool to see the writing improve just in this first quarter! I tell them the goal is two sentences and then they can choose to write more or illustrate what they've written about.
At the end of the school year, the parents have this compact little view of their child's impressions of First Grade.