Reading: I would hope that families and students can find the time each night for reading together at home. Even just ten minutes a night can make a world of difference in the reading ability of your child. For some students that are struggling in reading I will send home some appropriate level books to be read aloud and returned the following day. These books will have a bookmark explaining the extra reading homework and asking for your signature.
Spelling: Each month a new spelling list will be sent home. These words have been placed on our classroom wall, and students have been given a copy of this list for use at their desks. We will do many different types of activities throughout the month with these words in order to help students begin to automatically spell them correctly. At the beginning of each month, new words will be added and a new list will be sent home. (By the end of the year there will be approximately 100 words total on our Word Wall list.)
The overall goal in Spelling this year will be mastery of Word Wall, or lifetime, words for long-term retention (rather than memorizing a list of words for a weekly Spelling test and then promptly forgetting them once the test is over)! Therefore, there will be no weekly Spelling lists or weekly formal tests given. Instead, students’ Spelling grades will be based on accuracy of spelling Word Wall words in their everyday writing along with periodic unscheduled sentence dictation exercises and “spell the words without looking” quizzes.
You can help your child do better in Spelling this year (and for life) by regularly reviewing the Word Wall list with them and requiring the correct spelling of these words when your child writes at home. With your assistance, your child should be able to automatically read and spell 100 lifetime words by the end of second grade.
Math: Math homework will be sent home throughout the week, most often just Monday through Thursday giving the students the weekend off. Please look for graded math papers and homework in your student’s Home folder. Lastly, if you’ve worked on the homework for twenty minutes, it’s fine to stop there even if you are not
finished. Just sign that you did twenty minutes worth and have the
student bring it in for full credit.
Too busy for homework: I’m a parent too and I know that every once in awhile a night can get
overloaded with events. Please just sign a quick note so I can know that
it was one of those nights for your family and the homework will then
be accepted the next day