Academic language includes three skills: (1) use of inferential language (communicating about ideas across contexts); (2) use of narrative language (clearly describing a series of events); and (3) understanding a range of academic vocabulary and grammatical structures. These skills help students better comprehend academic texts both across subjects and within individual subjects. Unlike social language skills that develop naturally in communication with family and friends, academic language skills more often need to be taught. This document provides a summary of Recommendation 1 from the REL Southeast guide "A Kindergarten Teacher's Guide to Supporting Family Involvement in Foundational Reading Skills" (ED602032), a companion to the WWC practice guide "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade" (ED566956). The companion guide on which this summary document is based assists teachers in informing and supporting families to help children develop academic language.