Homework

February 2017

Just a reminder that students have nightly homework. Each night students have spelling words to write twice and then they should write one outstanding sentence. We expect students to use capital letters, correct spelling and punctuation when writing these sentences. In class we are practicing finding phrases in sentences that give additional detail such as where the action takes place, why it happens, or when it happens. Students should be trying to add some detail like this to their nightly spelling sentence. Also, it is important for students to write the title and author of the book they read. They should be doing that with capitals and correct spelling too. Twice a week students have math homework. They took home a sheet of addition strategies last week that can be used when they come across a double digit addition problem. We are learning a variety of new strategies in second grade to add double digit numbers. Students do not learn as we did in elementary school, and if they practice carrying the "1" on homework it is likely to confuse them. If they can not solve the addition or subtraction problems at the bottom of the sheet I have told them to skip it and come see me in the morning rather than use a traditional strategy that might confuse them. In time they will begin using that as a way to add numbers. I will be updating the math section of this site in the near future with examples and videos demonstrating these strategies. Please see below for further information about homework expectations.

Expanded Notation and Partial Sums Addition Strategies

October 3, 2016

• MATH HOMEWORK has been added. Last week we practiced what it would be like to have math sheet on Mondays and the other side of the sheet as homework on Tuesdays. This will repeat and we will have a math sheet on Wednesdays and the other side as homework on Thursdays.
• The homework pages are almost identical to what they had in class the day before, and you will notice that it has been corrected so they can refer back to it if they are stuck on homework. These math sheets have a variety of math problems, and are a great way to both review and keep skills fresh in students minds. The clock and coin problems give students the most trouble, so any extra help with those types of skills at home would be helpful.  
• In addition to this worksheet, I am assigning Reflex Math to all students. It should be completed two to three times a week at home, and this can include the weekend. Reflex Math is a game base math fact program that has been proven to increase success with math fluency which is also a large part of the 2nd grade curriculum. There is a link on this blog's home page, it is also on the W.L. Callahan Library/Destiny page, and finally students can access it through their Google Classroom account. As a parents I also found it helpful to make a parent account which allows you to monitor your child's success with the program and see their exact percentage. 

September 19, 2016

READING HOMEWORK

• Read the poem; 
• Read any free choice, just right book for 15 minutes. 
• Students should be recording the title and author of the book they read. It's important they do not forget capital letters.  

SPELLING HOMEWORK

• Follow these steps with each spelling word;
• read it out-loud,
• spell it out-loud,
• write it on the first line,
• proof read it
• This means you look at the teacher written first letter and scan across to students first written letter, look back to teacher's second letter, and scan across to student's second letter.
• Each time you get a letter right, you put a dot under that letter. If you get it wrong just fix it.
• Continue this process until you've checked each letter.
• now start again,
• read it,
• spelling it out-loud,
• write it on the second line,
• proof read it
• This has been practiced and modeled in school.

Students can earn a check mark or sticker for completing homework accurately. This means they spell the words correctly and it is written neatly, so teachers can read it. They should also be able to write a complete sentence with a capital an a period.

If students want to fill their charts they need to get all of this done, and done well! They can do it, we know they can!!

September 6, 2016

SPELLING HOMEWORK

Most spelling words are based on the “trick words” from our phonics program, the Common Core list of words, and occasionally phonetically decodable words we're learning in phonics. Most of the words are "trick words" that do not follow spelling rules, so their spelling must be memorized.

Your child will come home with a list of five words in the first column of their spelling homework.  They will need to read the word aloud, spell the word aloud, cover the word, and write it in the second column.  After they write, they proofread by going back and comparing the first word with the second word.  As they check each letter, they place a dot under the letter to show that it has been proofread.  They repeat the process with the final column.  They only have to write and proofread each word twice.  The directions are at the top of each homework paper. This routine will hopefully slow them down and train their eyes to proofread for mistakes.  After they have practiced each word twice, they should choose one spelling word to use in a sentence.  Remind your child to start with a capital, use punctuation at the end, and spell the spelling word correctly.   Choose a different spelling word to use in a sentence each night.  

We will continue to practice this in class for the week and a little next week too, but it is important that you help them get in this routine as they sit to do their homework each night. Many children just look at the word and copy it or do all of the first letters, then all the second letters. These procedures will not help the students to learn the words and will actually work against what we are teaching them in class.  If they try to take shortcuts, they will end up practicing the word incorrectly, their brain will begin to learn it that way, they'll waste time, and never learn how to spell it the right way.  

We do not have a “Friday spelling test”. We will use Unit Assessments in Fundations to monitor their ability to spell words we're learning in class, as well as evaluating their spelling when we work on writing responses, stories, and paragraphs. Once they are taught the words, students are then responsible for spelling them correctly on assignments.  If we notice a word from our Word Wall is misspelled on an assignment, we will write (WWW) above the word and return the assignment for corrections as often as possible.  We want students to become responsible for utilizing the tools they are given.  The Word Wall is a tool and we will be encouraging its use all year long.

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September 1, 2016

HOMEWORK INTRODUCTION

We have started our homework routine this week. Students will receive a weekly homework agenda every Monday that we will complete together. There is a box at the bottom for brief questions or comments and a place for you to initial. When everything is in place, we would expect that homework should take no more than 40 minutes.

This week we introduced two pieces of homework; the weekly poem to practice reading in phrases and fluency along with 15 minutes of free reading.   

For the 15 minutes of reading, they should read a book or story that they can read independently. Next week I will also expect students to complete the reading log. After reading each night they should write one of the books they read on the log on the back of the homework chart. Your child is responsible for writing the title and author for one of the homework books, and they should use correct capitalization and spelling.  It is fine if your youngster reads the same book more than once in a week.  Repetition of familiar text is an excellent way to build fluency.  This activity is assigned to encourage the nightly reading homework as well as reinforce skills and content that we are teaching in the classroom. For the poem homework, we are asking that students spend 3- 4 minutes rereading the poem each night. Some students will be independent with the poem on the first day and others will need to read with an adult. As the week progresses, each student should be reaching a level of independence with the poem. Sometimes students just  memorize the poem, so they should be pointing to the words so they are sure to learn the trickier words. A new poem will come home in your child’s homework folder each week.  Please encourage your child to leave it in the folder all week.  On Friday night you can have them put the poem we just finished in a folder at home so they have their own poetry collection to read.

If you have any questions, please write, call, or email anytime.