Now that the year is in full swing, I wanted to clear up any questions about homework and assignments. Referencing Mr. McCasland’s trailblazer email from 9/3/15 “As believers in the importance of nightly reading, quality family time, adequate rest, and creative outdoor play, we purposefully will not be giving a lot of traditional paper/pencil homework… Our staff believes consistent reading practice is essential to academic growth. This is why we make reading a nightly priority… Your child may be asked to drill on math facts or require additional repetitions on skills his classmates have already mastered. The child who doesn’t demonstrate sufficient effort during the school day may be asked to complete work at home or remain after school to get it done.” I believe your family time is important- if homework has become the focus of your home life, please contact me.” The following list will be consistent throughout the rest of the year: Red Take Home Folder: Your child will bring home their homework on Monday in Take Home Folder. Homework should stay in the folder throughout the week and return to school on Friday for a signature check. Homework includes:
Every Night: 20 minutes of reading and 5 minutes of math fact practice (or 4-5 differentiated problems) is required with parent signatures. (Signatures for both should be recorded on the TFK Response Log.) Word Study words are an option for your child to work on during Daily 5 rotations in Language Arts and during FIT- practicing these words are not mandatory homework. On Friday: When your child comes to school on Friday, everything should be completed on the TFK Response Log and ready to be turned in. If you have a busy week, I am OK if they complete the written work in advance, or on Thursday night. Students also have a choice of using some of their FIT time to get a head start on homework. The only thing I require is the daily signature for 20 minutes of reading and 5 minutes of math and that it is all completed by Friday. Thursdays: Behavior Folders and the Blue Thursday folder comes home with graded papers and information from our specific classroom and the school. Please look through it every Thursday! These should be returned on Monday to class. Assignment Notebook: Comes home every day for you to see the homework assigned (usually consistent throughout the week) and includes any upcoming due dates. No signature is necessary. The 3rd grade team is a big believer in purposeful homework. Our TFK Reading Log and Math Fact assignments have been specifically chosen to help your student build skills that further what they are learning in class. The TFK reading log helps students digest non-fiction texts and build inferencing and reading comprehension skills, while also developing fluency in reading. Math Fact practice keeps our skills sharp on strategic ways to solve math problems. Students are encouraged to work on both skills they are struggling with and those they have mastered. (Be sure to check out the Extra Practice page for ideas on math fact practice games, and resources for other subject areas) Please note that you may amend the assignments to fit your schedule. If you have after-school activities on one day, save the assignments for the next day, or get a head start the day before. In total your student should only be spending between 25 and 30 minutes completing their homework assignments each night. I hope this gives you some more insight into why certain assignments are coming home. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. - Ms. Robinson |
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