Hi Parents!
Sorry that I'm late posting. Being out of town this weekend messed up my technological Sundays. I was wondering how the homework is going since we just finished the first week. Is there anything I could change to better accommodate your needs as a group? Please let me know! If you have a specific concern about your child then please let me know and we can discuss some other options for them with regards to homework.
Also, keep in mind these few tips about homework:
- Homework should be a review. It is not a time to cover new material.
- Homework should be quick. It should not take the student hours to complete. (I'm a big believer in letting students have time to be kids after school. They really work hard all day and they need some time to play and be themselves.)
- Homework is meant for practice and to give the student an opportunity to build confidence (an attitude of "I can do this").
It looks like you all are really enjoying some good books for your reading time as I look at the reading logs. Thank you all so much for all that you do to help your little crocodile be successful!
Let me know how homework is going on the home side!
I really like the Homework Pacing Guide. It is very helpful as to what they are doing. Also, can you explain the writing assignment for the week of Aug. 2 - Aug. 6th, stretching your story across three fingers. I'm not familiar with this and have to rely on Austin to explain this to me. I'm not sure if he is doing this correctly. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs. Ritter,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting! I'm glad that the pacing guide is helpful in completing the homework. As far as stretching a story across three fingers goes, this is how it works:
1. Hold up three fingers as if you are showing someone the number 3.
2. The first finger stands for the beginning of the story. Students should have at least one sentence for the beginning but can have 2 if they would like. They tell the sentence outloud and then move on to finger number 2.
3. Finger number two stands for the middle of the story. So, a student may say what they did or what happened when they went somewhere. This should also be 1-2 sentences.
4. The third finger stands for the ending of the story. When students tell this part of the story, it should finish their story. Once again, this can be 1-2 sentences.
5. The student should first tell their story across three fingers and then write it down on paper. Also, it is helpful to remember that this assignment is not about the length of the story but rather the concept of writing a piece in a logical sequence that makes sense to the reader.
6. In class we have been writing each "finger sentence/idea" on a seperate page in our journals but for homework, the students may do it on one page.
I hope that helps clear up any questions you may have had. Thanks for posting and let me know if you have other questions! I'm always happy to help!
Thanks again for posting!
I agree that the pacing guide is very helpful. Thanks for putting that together.
ReplyDeleteHow critical are the numbers of pages read on the weekly reading log? My kids do a lot of reading on their own in bed at night, and it's hard for me to keep track of numbers of pages.
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteNumber of pages is not overly important- especially if they are reading a lot. That is simply to hold students accountable to read more rather than less. If you student is reading 10-15+ pages then just put 15+. I just want to make sure that students are not reading only 2 pages and stopping for the night. I hope that information is helpful!
Thank you so much for posting!
:)