Thank you!

Thank you to all of the parents who attended Open House on Wednesday.  The children were very excited for you to come and see all of their hard work.  I enjoyed sharing the curriculum stories of your wonderful children with you.  Again, thank you!  I look forward to seeing you again in December at the conferences.

At Open House we discussed homework.  There is still some confusion about what the children need to do.  I hope that I am able to clarify it here.

Weekly Homework:
Reading, and Reading Log:  The children read 20-30 minutes each night, then record it on the reading log along with any vocabulary words they come across.  They do not need to define these words unless it is a vocabulary journal week.

Spelling List:  We have a weekly quiz on Thursday mornings.  The words on List #1 & List #2 are high-frequency words.  The 3rd graders are responsible for List #1, and are encouraged to try List #2 and the Bonus List.  The 4th graders are responsible for Lists #1 & #2, and are encouraged to try the Bonus List.  Each child should write his words at least once on a sheet of paper in his homework folder.  Each child should also write one meaningful sentence for each word, underlining the word.

Math:  Given daily, depending upon the progress made in class that day.

Rotating Homework: 
This homework is given on a four-week rotating schedule: vocabulary journal, vocabulary story, Scholastic News, and P.O.T.W.

Vocabulary Journal: The words for the vocabulary journal come from the reading log for the week that the vocabulary journal is assigned.  The student identifies a word, then defines it using a dictionary.  The student then copies the sentence from the book where the word was used.  He writes an original, meaningful sentence for the word.  Finally, he sketches his understanding of the word.

I want to reiterate that students only use words from the reading log for the vocabulary journal, and they are only responsible for the vocabulary journal when it is assigned.

Vocabulary Story:  This assignment is part two of the vocabulary cycle, the 2nd week.  The students use their reading logs and the vocabulary journal sheets from the previous week to complete this assignment.  Each child writes an original story, incorporating the 5 vocabulary words.  The vocabulary words should be underlined.

Scholastic News:  This is a news magazine for students.  The children read the magazine and complete the exercises inside and on the back cover.  I enjoy reading and discussing the articles with my children.

Problems of the Week (P.O.T.W.):  These are the 5 multi-step math problems. The students are to complete 2 of the 5 problems and give an explanation of their work.  These problems go from easy to difficult.  They may require you to spend some time with your child discussing strategies to solve the problems.  Ultimately, this is an exercise in thinking and logic.  The most important part is the child's explanation of his work.

This week I assigned Scholastic News.  Next week is P.O.T.W.  I will send home detailed instructions in the Friday homework folders.

I hope this helped to lessen some of the confusion.  If you still have questions, please feel free to contact me either by email, note, or a phone call.

Happiness is a good book!

Posted on September 8, 2008 12:55 PM | Permalink