Why homework?
First of all, I'd like to address the question that often eventually comes up--why the homework? I want to reassure you that I would never give students homework just for the sake of "extra work." My philosophy on homework is that it serves a very important purpose--to support the learning that is going on in the classroom. Each of the assignments I give to my students aligns with a vital part of our curriculum. For my students, this will almost exclusively pertain to Math. (As long as a student's time in class is spent on task, he or she should be able to complete Social Studies assignments during class.) Math homework is given which strengthens students' fact skills and reinforces concepts taught in class that day. In terms of a typical time-frame, completing both math assignments together should take no longer than 30-40 minutes (often less!) each day.
Math Homework - given each day, collected the following morning
On each day that we have held math class, your child will be assigned fact homework in order to sharpen his or her fact fluency. On many days, in addition to yhis daily fact practice, if our math lesson warrants it, an additional Concept Page will be sent home in order to allow your child to refine his or skills with the concept taught that day in class and prepare them for moving forward and building on that skill in class the following day. most non-testing days, your child will typically be bringing home two math assignment pages each evening.
The Fact Practice can either be done on paper or on Xtramath.org. For the Concept Page, we will do the front of each page in class as part of our lesson, and the back side is to be done as homework for additional practice and reinforcement. The intention is for your child to take notes, participate in class, ask questions, and do the work with minimal to no parental support required at home. If you find that your child is unable to complete the work without assistance from you, it would be a good idea for us all to meet to discuss what can be done to change that. Please contact me in this case so that we can set this up.
The Fact Practice can either be done on paper or on Xtramath.org. For the Concept Page, we will do the front of each page in class as part of our lesson, and the back side is to be done as homework for additional practice and reinforcement. The intention is for your child to take notes, participate in class, ask questions, and do the work with minimal to no parental support required at home. If you find that your child is unable to complete the work without assistance from you, it would be a good idea for us all to meet to discuss what can be done to change that. Please contact me in this case so that we can set this up.
Fact Practice - estimated 5 min./eveningThe first page will be a page of facts. We'll start the year off with addition facts, and as each individual student demonstrates mastery (100%), I'll progress him or her into multiplication, then subtraction, and division. I can't stress enough how important fact proficiency is for your child's future in math and later algebra. Students who struggle with fact recall will really have trouble when learning a more complex concept like multi-digit operations and long division. (Below is a sample of what one side of that page may look like.)
Alternately, for students who have Internet capabilities at home, they may instead choose each evening to practice their facts on Xtramath.org (once, to completion--until it prompts the student to log out). I'm sent a report of the students who've chosen to complete their assignment in this manner so that I can assign credit accordingly. |
Skills Practice - estimated 15 min./eve.The second page will be a page dealing with whatever concept we may currently be working on. For example, in a unit on adding and subtracting fractions, in class that day, I may have taught a lesson on finding a common denominator, converting both fractions to fractions with that denominator, and then adding. On the front of your child's paper, he or she will have completed some or all of the problems in class (some copied down as I demonstrated, some with a partner or small group, and some independently). We will have checked these problems together, and the similar problems on the back will be assigned as homework. Students are encouraged to look back through the steps shown on the front for help if they have trouble at home. (Below is a sample of what the two sides of the page could look like.)
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