Have you tried Reflection Journals?
One of the ways I check in with my students at the end of the day AND communicate with parents is through Reflection Journals. These are regular bound notebooks where the students write down their learning and behavior for the day. The formats of their writing can change such as letters, poems, descriptions of foldables or classwork added to pages, etc.
The students are quite honest since it is like a personal diary to them. Behaviors often do get mentioned and once the student acknowledges their actions or problems created, they know that we can work together with their parents to create solutions.
I do not count these as grades, but I do read them over briefly and use it as a quick reminder for capitals, paragraph structure, punctuation, etc. Then on Fridays the kids take them home and share them with their parents. I encourage parents to at least look at them but also to write back if they have stories to share from their school days, suggestions for learning, or just positive comments for their child to read the next week.
By the end of the year the students have a collection or portfolio of their learning and they can look back at how much they've progressed with their writing, behavior, and learning--all in one neat notebook!
Below is a FREEBIE of the instructions I print and put into the front cover of the notebooks. I made the download editable so feel free to adjust it for your needs. Thanks for stopping by!
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