Wow! What a great start to the school year!!
First, a big shout out of “THANKS” to our parents for sending in all the great school supplies! You really make a difference! Thanks for the support.
Next, what a FANTASTIC bunch of fourth graders I have! Thank you for sending me such neat kids. Already I can tell these guys are great thinkers filled with great ideas! It is going to be a fun year of learning and growing together.
Homework and Math
This week, we begin full throttle into our fourth grade curriculum. Your student should be bringing home a nightly folder that has daily mail in it. This year we are going to try something new for homework. On Monday, a sheet will come home for the week that’s entitled “Weekly Homework Sheet“. On this sheet, you will see each day of the week on a grid. Under each day will be 3 math problems. These will be problems that relate to the current day’s math lesson. It will be important for your student to practice what we’ve learned at home. Please have a daily conversation with your student to see if they understand the math for the day and check over their problems with them. Sometimes, hearing a concept explained to them by more than one person, can help them learn the skill at a deeper level. Thanks in advance, for helping me out with this. If your child is struggling with a concept, jot a note on the grid and we will tackle it in the classroom again one on one. Another resource you can use to help your child understand a concept are some of the videos I have posted by math operation under “Classroom Tutoring” at the bottom of the blog. These may be helpful in explaining a concept that is hard to get. You can also email me if you have questions or need further explanations.
Homework and Reading
On the Weekly Homework Sheet mentioned above, there is also a square on the grid to have your student write the title of the book they are reading at home and the number of minutes that they have read per night. This will count as their Reading Log. Fourth graders are expected to read at least 20-30 minutes per night in a chapter book at their guided reading level. Research has proven that children become better readers when reading at least 90 minutes per day. We are working on increasing our reading minutes here at school, as well as, reading nightly at home.
Homework and MobyMax
Finally, there will be one last square on the grid to check off for fluency math practice on MobyMax. Your 4th grader will be expected to be fluent in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. One great way to practice this is online with MobyMax. Your student will have a log in and password and should be practicing at least 5 minutes nightly.
So altogether, your student should really only have 30-40 minutes of homework a night. He or she should be keeping track of it him/herself as we are promoting responsibility and independence strongly in 4th grade. I hope this explanation helps to know what’s expected and let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!
-Mrs. Q
