Considering we have a variety of needs and strengths in our class, sending home a lot of drill homework might meet the needs of a few, be too easy/not needed for others, and be too hard for some.  With this in mind, I try to keep homework fairly light while encouraging families to personalize real-life learning opportunities at home. This could include helping in the kitchen to reinforce or introduce fractions or looking at a chapter book to understand how paragraphs are used. This is the most meaningful and rewarding way to learn.  Homework that I send home will serve as a reinforcement of skills taught in class and should be a review.   


You will always find the homework assignments written on an assignment log that is kept in the daily Take-Home Folder.  The folder will go home every day, and will also contain correspondence from the school.  Students should be able to do most assignments independently, but do help if it is completely necessary.  If you notice that your child is not able to do an assignment on his or her own, please send a note or jot a note to me on the assignment.  I will contact you if your child is falling behind or turning in poor work. Students will highlight missing assignments on their homework log so that they can be completed at a later date.


My main homework focus is on reading nightly. This will help develop a healthy routine and is the number-one way to increase vocabulary knowledge, fluency, and reading performance. Here are the numbers that support reading and its impact on achievement and vocabulary acquisition:


 Achievement Percentile    Minutes of Reading/Day                 Words per Year

90th                                          40.4                                          2,357,000

50th                                          12.9                                          601,000

10th                                          1.6                                            51,000


Source: Adapted from Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988 (Allington, Richard)


As part of their daily homework, your child should read for at least 30 minutes at home every day, (weekends too!)  Your child may select his/her preferred reading materials: classroom books, books from home or the public library, poetry, magazines, etc.  Every time a student completes a book, he/she should record that book on his/her reading log.  The log will help students keep track of their reading throughout the school year.  A copy of the reading log is included for download below in case you need to print one out.