New Homework Schedule

We were delighted that so many families came for Open House on Thursday! :) Thank you again for showing support. As a response to many questions regarding homework, we sent home the following letter on Friday. Hope this helps!

September 5, 2008
Dear Parents,

Due to the concern about homework at our Open House last night, we have decided to improve our weekly homework schedule. Our goal was not to overwhelm the students and the parents, but instead to provide ample practice and experience with the types of questions found on tests mandated by the district. We have decreased the amount of assignments and hope that you find this much easier. We want to emphasize that we are extremely flexible and willing to work with you and your child. Please know that you can come to us anytime and that we are happy to accommodate the needs of each student.

Listed below is the revised homework schedule. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support.

Math will continue to be a review sheet based on investigations. Students will only be required to complete 20 problems for the week. It is recommended that they only work on only 5 problems a night. (We will also go over Student Sheets in class and will not send them home.)

Spelling will continue to be 3 activities chosen by the student from the Spelling homework sheet. This is due every Thursday before we take our weekly Spelling test.

Vocabulary will always be stapled in their planner but they are not required to learn how to spell these words. Vocabulary words and definitions are included in the “open book” weekly reading test students take on Thursdays during Reader’s Workshop.

We encourage students to read for 10 minutes each night still and are only asking you to sign in their planners each day after they read. (For example, you can write “10 minutes” and initial) We will no longer be using a weekly log as an extra item for students to keep track of. We also will not be requiring students to write a response although they are always welcome to share the title of the book being read in the planner.)

Lastly, we will keep reading response journals and science homework to in-class activities only. Instead of requiring this work each week, students will be responsible for writing a response in their journals as they finish a chapter book. They can turn them in anytime and will have ample class time to work on these. We will type up a study guide for science when a test is coming and allow students to bring home the textbook to review. (Please remind them to bring these back to class the next day if they take it home).

Your Teachers,

Miss Fisher & Mrs. McCaffrey