Reading and Spelling Homework

This is the first week your child will bring home a homework packet. A homework packet will come home the first school day of every week — except for weeks with three or fewer days. Your child can complete their homework at their own pace throughout the week but this packet needs to be returned the following Monday.

Reading Homework
Each homework packet will have a colored half-sheet stapled to its front. Please use this sheet to initial when your child completes their daily reading. I require each of my students to read 20 minutes every school day at home. Reading is an accrued skill and requires daily practice. If your child misses a day, they can't make it up another day. It's much like a multivitamin. A little bit every day is best and taking a double dose if you miss a day doesn't help. My motto is, "You don't have to read every day; just on the days you eat."

You and your child have the flexibility of how you do this reading: your child can read silently to him/herself, to you or another sibling, or you can read aloud to him/her. I'll also leave what to read up to you. I'll count books, magazines, comics or even the sports section of the newspaper. With the exception of an audio book on tape or CD, all reading has to be printed material. So reading on the computer or television closed-captioning won't count.

Any reading beyond the 20 minutes can be recorded in the extra reading space on the colored sheet. We have a friendly competition between my AM and PM classes to see which class has the highest minutes-to-student reading ratio.

Spelling Words
Also, this week marks the first week you will see spelling words. We practice spelling words slightly differently than you may have seen in the past. Your child will need to know how to spell and sort their words correctly. My goal is to help them learn the common spelling patterns so they can apply these patterns to other words.

On the first day of each week, I will teach your child how to sort their words. They will write their words into their language journals and then cut out their words and place them in a zip baggie. I tell them that their spelling words need to live in their homework folders which should make their way home every day. Unfortunately spelling words do get misplaced, forgotten or lost so — with the generous help of a parent — I have also placed the spelling words online so you can print them off if spelling words are missing. My spelling web page can be found here.

Each student will practice sorting their words twice each week in class and twice at home as homework. On Friday they will be tested on their words. Please see my spelling web page to see how words can be sorted at home.

Please remember that every student that returns their homework, complete and on time, will receive a ticket for our weekly On-the-Ball Drawing. On the first day of each week we'll hold a drawing to see who will have the opportunity to sit on an exercise ball for the entire week instead of a school chair.

Have a great week and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.