What do you send for nightly homework in first grade? We currently have students read a story, practice 12 spelling words and 10 sight words for tests on Friday. The spelling words are based on a pattern and from our reading series and the sight words are just random ones. I am really wanting to do something different this year but not sure what to do. Any suggestions?
We encourage parents to spend 15-20 minutes reading with their child each night.(this is a combination of reading to the child and the child reading to them) I do not have any type of signed log because when I did some parents lied and signed and that bothered me. I can usually tell if a child is reading at home or not by their progress. I will talk with the child at his/her goal setting conference about the effect their effort or lack there of is having on their reading. I also communicate with parents this same info. If I have a child without parent support at home, we set up a plan how they will get their reading in (reading to younger sibling, reading on the bus, reading to a volunteer before the bell in the morning, etc).
We do word study rather than spelling. If a child is struggling with sight words, I will give the list to parents and a list of ways to practice these words at home. So I guess that is homework.
I will often give homework assignments like: play outside in the snow and make at least two snow angels, play a board game with someone at home, sit outside for 10 minutes as quiet as you can and see how many birds you can count, etc.. They share at morning meeting if they completed the assignment.most kids want to share so they make sure to do the assignment. My school has a high poverty rate. We try not to punish students for lack of parent involvement, which required nightly homework seems to do.
1. Read guided reading book out loud to homework helper
(or share read poem with homework helper - poems brought back and added to poetry collection)
(Or read main selection in Treasures anthology - yes, we send the books home)
2. Spelling-a written or oral activity(10 words, some have a challenge list based on pretest)
3. Math- usually written practice (Envisions)
Eventually, there's a written response to reading selection too, but then the spelling homework is oral.
We are fortunate to have really good parental support. All the homework can be modified for individual kids as needed.
Reading - They are supposed to read for 15 minutes each night and have their parents sign a reading log. Yes, they sometimes lie, but not all of them do. Some are motivated by the reading log.
Spelling - Practice spelling words each night.
Math - We have MyMath, and it has nightly homework pages.
-20 minutes spent with books (reading alone, with someone or listening to a parent read aloud)
-Very quick math worksheet (usually about 2-3 problems) that takes 10 min or less for most kids.
- We also do word study which doesn't have homework but we do ask that kids practice spelling their "trick words" as needed (6 sight words every 2 weeks).
It's funny. I teach in a very affluent area and when I survey kids about their reading habits, almost half of my class stated that they read at home "sometimes" and yet 100% of them turn in their math worksheet every day. I would MUCH rather them do the reading than the math and try to communicate this to parents!
Every night: read 20 minutes with a parent or other adult
Mon: Language Arts- Writing to a prompt.
(example, "On Friday we had a field trip to the apple orchard. Write and draw to tell about it.")
Tues: Double sided math sheet to give further practice on something that we have learned in class
Wed: Language Arts- skill-based assignment to give further practice on something we have done in class
(example, Rhyme Time" Write or draw all the words you can that rhyme with cat.")
Thurs: Same as Tues.
Monday - Find the missing spelling word in each sentence.
Tuesday - Put the spelling words in alphabetic order.
Wednesday - Use the spelling words in a sentence.
Thursday - Find the missing spelling words in each sentence.
Friday - Find the missing spelling word in each sentence OR Word Search for the spelling word.
Friday - Read a book and complete a book report form.
Monday's sentences are simple sentences.
Thursday and Friday I use the students' names in each sentence.
We review these assignments in the morning before I send them home.
Math - worksheet based on what we are learning in class.
I make up all of the worksheets for literacy and math.
Example:
Monday
Is this ___the____ book you are looking to read?
Thursday:
Jenna, would you like to go to ___the____ park with me after school?
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06-29-2017, 08:19 PM
