Language Arts Homework

August 2018

Dear Fourth Grade Parents,

We are excited to read and write with your children this year during Reading and Writing Workshop. In the first few weeks of school, we will be busy collecting information from your children which will help us to plan our instruction and ensure growth for every child. We will be busy setting up new routines and getting to know your children as readers and writers.

Because we are using a reading program which is still fairly new to us, it will take all of us a couple weeks to ease into a fourth grade reading/writing homework routine. We understand that our students have busy lives outside of the classroom, and we want to make sure students are not overwhelmed with too much homework. Please be patient with us as we get to know your children. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.

Your child will have one Language Arts green folder, which will include homework for Reading and Writing. At this point, our expectation is that students read for at least 100 minutes per week, (20 minutes, five times per week) outside of the school day. Since the best way for students to improve their reading is to read as much as possible, our hope is that when students have time, they will be able to read even more than this.

Enclosed in this folder is a monthly calendar. On this calendar we would like to see each student set a monthly at home reading minute goal. (Please see the sample calendar). Please help your child to fill out the goal at the bottom of the calendar. Students may record reading minutes on the daily spaces, or if you have a weekly routine of reading a certain amount of time, you may record that total at the end of each week. At the end of the month, please help your student to total the monthly minutes read. We ask for a parent signature to confirm how many reading minutes your child has been able to fit in.

On the back of the monthly calendar is a place for students to record books when they finish reading them.

Our hope is that each month, students are able to set higher goals and reach those goals. The best way to improve reading is to READ! READ! READ!

As we ease into our Reading Workshop program, Monday and Wednesday evenings we will have language arts assignments, which support lessons taught in class. Look for these to begin the week of August 27. We will not have homework on the weekends, unless there are classroom assignments your child could use some extra time with.

Other items we will include in the green folder are fictional and informational reading progression handouts and Genre Contest information. We will share more information with you at Curriculum Night about these items.

We appreciate your support and encouragement. Thank you for helping your child to experience success in fourth grade.

Sincerely,

Fourth Grade Teachers