Homework

May 31, 2010** ||= //Monday// //__Day 1__// ||= //Tuesday __Day 2__// ||= //Wednesday __Day 3__// ||= // Thursday __Day 4__ // ||= //Friday// //__Day 5__// || Homework is L.I.F.E.!
 * = **Week of
 * < //Lesson// ||< * Step 1, POTW (rewrite) on Wave
 * Procedural Writing review ||< * Step 2, POTW (plan)
 * Tic Tac Toe project ||< * Step 3, POTW (solve)
 * Tic Tac Toe project ||< * Step 4, POTW (expand)
 * Tic-Tac-Toe project ||< * no lesson ||
 * = //Independent// //Reading// ||= 20 minutes minimum ||= 20 minutes minimum ||= 20 minutes minimum ||= 20 minutes minimum ||= 20 minutes minimum ||
 * = //Foresee// ||= What will you need for school tomorrow? ||= What will you need for school tomorrow? ||= What will you need for school tomorrow? ||= What will you need for school tomorrow? ||=  ||
 * = //Explain// ||= Share the highs and lows of the day with someone at home! ||= Share the highs and lows of the day with someone at home! ||= Share the highs and lows of the day with someone at home! ||= Share the highs and lows of the day with someone at home! ||= Share the highs and lows of the day with someone at home! ||

What we mean is we want fifth graders to develop a positive, indepedent habit of completing homework every night. The hope is that this will prepare them for the demand of middle school. To that end, the process of how we get there is flexible, as far as I'm concerned. So if the homework schedule, as laid out, does not work for your family, let me know and adjustments can be made.

I.S.B.'s policy is that every evening, fifth graders are expected to spend around 60 dedicated minutes working on their homework. The rest of the time, we want your child to spend time with their families, get outside while the weather is good, and basically be a kid. Youth passes us by too quickly and we want your fifth grader to soak it up as much as possible. Homework will be given four nights a week - Monday through Thursday - with a brief Week-in-Review to be done by Monday morning.

L.I.F.E. stands for //Lesson// - //Independent// //Reading// - //Foresee// - //Explain//. This part of their homework should take about 40 minutes, the remaining 20 minutes will likely come from specialist teachers, like world languages, performing and visual arts, or technology. The //Lesson// will be directly connected to a theme we are working on at school. You will never be asked to teach something new to your child. Homework should be a review and build positive practice. The //Independent// //Reading// expectation is 20 minutes per night. //Foresee// asks students to look ahead to the next day of school and organize their school bags and backpacks with what they will need to be sucessful tomorrow. //Explain// is the verbal component of homework, where students are asked to talk to an adult at home about their day at school. The chance to debrief problems and express their interests to you is hugely important and often overlooked by busy families, like ours.

Need help with Problem of the Week? Read this: