What Should Homework Look Like?

Parents,
As the year gets rolling, it's important to make sure that homework habits are being formed, and that the work is being done correctly- to avoid frustration for you and your student! Here is a quick breakdown of what you can expect, and what it should look like at home:

The Planner
Planners should come home every day, with all assignments written down. I check planners every afternoon for accuracy, and to ensure that each student has the materials they will need (ie. books, green folder, etc.) Occasionally, someone will be missed, but you should look for my stamp to indicate that I checked it over. Please look over your child's homework each night and initial the  planner.

Reading
In the fall, 3rd graders should be reading 20 minutes per night. At least 10 minutes should be read aloud to someone. Even after readers become proficient enough to read silently, reading aloud is still extremely important. Keep this habit going as long as you can! ;)


Riggs
For the next few weeks, we are reviewing/learning phonograms in conjunction with our learning of cursive italics. For now, your student should have a page with phonograms down the side, to complete 1 row of each for handwriting practice. They should also be saying the phonogram OUT LOUD every time they write it. Next week we move into the multi-letter phonograms (and italics joins!)
Once we finish all the phonograms and move into spelling (most likely early October), homework will look more like this, with words written 5x each on the top and sentences written on the bottom of the page. Missed words from the previous night should be written on the back, 5x each.




















Rocket Math
We do a Rocket Math facts test every morning. Your child will come home with that day's test, with either a star if they passed, or a reminder to practice. Please celebrate successes and take 2-3 minutes each night to practice "around the box". These facts are done orally, and should be coming out fairly quickly. Our goal is automaticity! If a fact is said incorrectly, or if your child pauses for more than a second, say the corrected fact and remind them to repeat it 3x then move back 3 facts and continue. These pages do not need to return to school.

Saxon Math
Your child will have a math lesson almost every day. These should be done in their new Written Practice books. We will write the date,  lesson number and page numbers, at the top of our page each day. On Thursdays we often do 2 lessons, which are due on Monday. On test days there may be an investigation, and usually they will have their test back to be corrected, signed, and returned the next day. Students typically get 10-15 minutes in class to begin homework, ask questions, or participate in small group instruction.



History (reading)
Once or twice a week your child may have a reading assignment from the history text book. At this point in the year, this should be done either as a read to or read with for most students. This reading DOES count toward the nightly 20 minutes. 



Nightly homework should take between 30-45 min. per night in third grade. This breaks down roughly as 15 min. for Riggs, 15-30 minutes for math and facts practice, and the 20 minutes of reading. This is intended to be practice and review. If your student is spending over an hour, please let me know. There are some strategies that we can discuss to find out what's going on and how we can work together to make homework time less stressful for everyone.


Mrs. Gausman