Classroom Policies

Homework Policy

Weekly Homework:

This year there will be no formal homework each week, but scholars will be expected to practice their spelling patterns and read each night.
Your child will have a UFLI spelling pattern page to study each week as well as be expected to read for a minimum of 30 minutes each night. ** More information on UFLI is located below**
Homework will be written into your child's assignment book every Monday (or first day of the school week) for the entire week.
Any classwork that was not completed in class (scholars will be given plenty of time to complete assignments) will be sent home as homework, BUT will be expected to return complete the NEXT DAY.

Other Items

Absences

- When a scholar is absent we will place all materials from that day in an Absent Work folder that will be given to them when they return. Some items we will do in class together, others may be sent home to be completed.
- The amount of days a scholar is absent is the amount of days they have to complete the assignments missed. Ex: absent 1 day = 1 day to complete the assignments

"See Me" Work:

- Some of your child's work may have "See Me" or "Redo" written on it. This is work I want to discuss with your child before I grade it. This usually happens when the child has made a small/simple mistake that would cost them several points on the assignment
- "See Me" or "Redo" work should be returned the next day after discussing it with me.
- If "See Me" or "Redo" work is not returned it will receive a failing grade.

Late Work:

- I will accept late work from scholars (not including absences). Only work turned in less than two weeks from the original due date will be guaranteed to receive an updated grade in PowerSchool. If it has been more than two weeks since the original due date, grades will be updated only if time allows.
- I will notify you when the last day to turn in missing work will be at the end of each nine weeks.

GRADING

90 - 100 = A

80 - 89 = B

70 - 79 = C

60 - 69 = D

0 - 59 = F

What is UFLI??

Cole implemented a new phonics program last year in grades K-2 called UFLI. It's phenomenal! There is research that shows that memorizing spelling words isn't effective for learning to spell or read. Our goal is to teach the students to decode (read) and encode (spell) words, and have a strong phonemic awareness. This will make them great spellers, readers, and writers!

THIS article delves into some research and reasoning if you're interested.
THIS is an example of a home practice sheet. Families can expect their children to learn two concepts a week.
THIS is a guide for how to use UFLI Home Practice Sheets

The New Concept and Sample Words section includes words that use the skills taught in that lesson. These words are an example of the kind of word the student may see on the assessment.

Review and New Irregular Words, also called heart words, once called sight words: Instead of expecting a student to read a word just by looking at it and memorizing it, they will be taught to decode the sounds they know and memorize pieces of it by heart. We will use the language "heart words" and a heart will be under the sounds that either don’t follow normal phonetic patterns or that the students haven’t yet been taught. Click here to print your own heart words for home use.

The goal for the Friday UFLI assessments is not that the student achieves mastery. It's to provide targeted instruction the following week. The lessons spiral to return to formerly learned words, so it is much more effective than a concept a week that's rarely revisited, and mastery will be achieved by the end of the program.

A UFLI assessment can range between 15-25 total points depending on grade level and lessons taught. What is included in a UFLI end of the week assessment?

You can expect the following:

Spelling up to 6 words that follow the two phonics patterns taught that week
Spelling approximately 2-3 irregular words
Dictating a sentence that includes a combination of decodable and irregular words

Enjoy this journey with me and help model a growth mindset for your child's young mind. It's going to be a great year! As always, reach out if I may help you with anything.

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