Homework

Nightly Reading & Accelerated Reader (AR)

20+ minutes every night

I use Accelerated Reader (AR) to track nightly reading instead of a reading log. Students read at home and take their AR tests at school. All students have a goal of 2 points per week, which is equivalent to 4 picture books per week (chapter book points vary by length/difficulty). This is an attainable goal for all students because they are reading at their own individual reading level, also known as their Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD. Each trimester, I will send home a STAR Family Report (click here to learn more). This report will show your child's ZPD. By earning 2 points per week, students will have their points for a bronze medal in the AR contest. Go to AR Book Find to look up AR book levels.   

*If your child completed their AR points after 10:30 AM on Friday, the gradebook will not reflect this until the following week because I have already updated the gradebook for the day. 

Homework 

(Monday-Thursday)

I recommend providing your child with a homework folder to help them stay organized.

This trimester, we will be doing a spiral review to prepare for testing. It is shorter than the homework I have given in the past and contains both ELA & math. We do the front side in class, and the students do the back side for homework. 

 * I strongly recommend doing the homework to help prepare for the first year of state testing. This can be a stressful time for all, but it takes a lot of pressure off if the students know that they are prepared!

Math Homework Grading & Policies

Homework is graded through the Aeries Gradebook, which you can view through your Aeries account (contact the office if you need help logging in). 

• 0 points: didn't turn in or no name 

• 1 point: returned but didn't put much effort into it

• 2 points: good effort; most problems are done correctly; used the check answer

As I'm sure you can imagine, our classroom is a busy place with distractions, so I do occasionally make mistakes. I double-check with the kids, but sometimes they make mistakes as well. If you feel like there is a mistake, let me know within two weeks of the assignment due date, and I will recheck to see if they turned it in. Late work is accepted until the end of the trimester, but please know that the main purposes of homework are to practice what we are learning and to build responsibility. 

If your child lost their homework, please have them make a list of their missing assignments (you can view this on Aeries) so they can go through the homework box to get what they need. Homework is about building responsibility, so I believe students need to be the ones to make it up. It should not make more work for the adults in their lives. 😀

*If a child has earned a homework pass, it will be stapled to their assignment. They will bring it home to show you, but it must be returned the following day to be entered. I almost always text and/or send a note to parents when there is no homework. In 20 years, I've only not done this once due to an emergency.