When a student is chosen, here are the general guidelines for our student of the week sharing/privileges:
Tuesday: Show & tell. Bring something from home that is special to you and you want to share with the class. We are excited to see what you bring! No pets please.
Wednesday: You or your guardian will email me (cdonovan@tlcs.tlc.org) up to 6 pictures of your friends/family/pets to share with the class.
Thursday: Family Letter! Your parent, grandparent, or sibling are asked to write a story about you! It can be a memory they have of you, story of a vacation, or qualities about you that they appreciate. They have freedom to be creative!
Friday: Encouragement book! As a class, we will come up with positive words that describe you! Each of your friends will write something special about you and we will put it in a book for you to take home!
Find a calm, quiet spot for your child to work. This does not have to be at a desk or table, your child may be more comfortable laying on the floor or standing up at a table.
Make sure they have all the tools they will need to be productive and successful! You could have a portable homework caddy filled with various drawing/writing tools, counters, dry erase board, glue, beads for counting, etc, so that everything your child needs is at their fingertips!
Be available and be involved. It can be beneficial to check in with them occasionally, especially when it comes to larger assignments, Your child may need your help reading and following directions, especially initially.
Come up with a plan together! Discuss the time of night your child will be doing their homework with your child. Right after school? After dinner? Pick a time and stick to it. Consistency is important for your child. If your child is easily frustrated, set a timer for 5 minutes and take a break to "jumping-jack spell" the spelling words, have them tell you the best part of their day, or sing a familiar song. Then get back to work!
Homework
Homework is due at the beginning of each day in the "turn-in" bins at the front of the classroom. Starting quarter 2, students will have points taken off of assignments/homework if it is late. If an assignment is less than one week late, 10% will be deducted. If it more than a week late, 25% will be deducted. However, if an assignment is more than two weeks late, it will no longer be collected and will receive an "incomplete".
Students will have time in class almost every single day to work on their homework. If you find that the homework is consistently taking much longer than 30 minutes a night (excluding reading), then please contact me. I want students to use their time wisely and feel equipped to complete their homework.
Homework will consist of work not completed in class. In addition to unfinished work, your student should be doing the following:
Reading – Students are expected to have a book at school and one at home. Students should be reading 30 minutes a day.
Math - Practicing math facts. Math pages every night unless otherwise stated.
Spelling – Studying their Spelling words and turning in their spelling homework at the end of each week. Spelling tests occur every Friday.
Bible – Memorizing the weekly Bible verse and studying the week's lesson. We will have a weekly test on Friday and the study guide is posted on Thursday after school.
Social Studies – Learning states and capitals in Q4.
Working on any additional projects and or reports. (Science Fair, State Project, Explorer Report, etc.)
Grades
Graded work/tests will be put into student folders and sent home on Fridays.
Report cards are handed to you after the end of each quarter.
Grades are updates on Gradelink about once a week.
Fix-its
Some tests/assignments are eligible for fix-its
Students are able to recieve a 1/2 point for each point originally missed on the assignment
Must be signed by guardian
Late Work
Absences - Per the school handbook, students are asked to turn in assignments upon arrival from vacation. However, if a student is out due to illness/family emergency they will receive one additional day for each day of school missed to complete their work.
Late turn in - Students are not penalized for late work until quarter 2. If an assignment is less than one week late, 10% will be deducted. If it is turned in over a week late, 25% will be deducted. After two weeks, the missing assignment will become a zero.
Absences
If you know your child will be absent for an extended time, please let me know via email at least a week prior so I can gather his/her work. This work will be due upon his/her return to class.
If your child is absent due to illness he/she has a day for every absence to complete work and turn it in. However, I can gather the work and have it in the office by the end of the day for pick-up if I have been notified BEFORE recess (10:05am).
Communication
Information will be posted on this blog weekly or sent in an e-mail
Email: cdonovan@tlcs.tlc.org
I will try my best to respond within 24 hours (Monday - Friday)