How much homework should my child have every night?
As a third grader, your child should be working on homework for 30 minutes every night (Monday through Thursday). If your student takes less than 30 minutes to finish the worksheet and study the weekly word lists, he or she should spend the rest of the time reading an AR book. If your student works for 30-40 minutes and still does not finish the assignment, he or she may stop if you write a note on the paper letting me know.
How are the spelling words tested?
Every Friday, I read each spelling word aloud three times, using it in a sentence once. Students are expected to write the fourteen spelling words correctly. Each of the words is worth one point. Challenge words are optional for the students and are not scored.
Accelerated Reader (AR) is an incentive program that encourages students to read independently.
AR levels are determined by a computer assessment given individually to each student. The levels are given as a range, within which the student should be able to read without assistance. Levels show the grade and month at which a student is reading. For example, a 3.3 is the level at which a third grader should read in the third month of school. Each book has a level which is determined by the length of the story and the difficulty of the vocabulary used. Students should be reading books that fall within their range, and will not be allowed to quiz on books that are too easy for them.
How do students earn AR points?
AR points are earned by reading books and passing quizzes on them. In order for a book to be worth points, Fair Oaks must own the quiz that goes with the book. Different books have different point values. Longer books are worth more points, as are more difficult books. Students must score 100% on a quiz to earn the book's full point value. Students who score between 60% and 90% on a quiz will pass, but will only earn a fraction of the point value. For example, a score of 80% on a quiz worth 1 point will earn 0.8 points.
The green cards are our way of tracking in-class behavior as well as communicating with parents. When a student does not follow classroom or school procedures, he or she changes his or her card once for each infraction. The first change (to a yellow card) is a warning. The next change (to a blue card) results in a loss of five minutes from the next recess. Another change (to a red card) results in a phone call/letter home. Green cards are sent home every Monday. Students who did not change their cards at all during the previous week will have a sticker on their cards. Students who did change their card will bring home a card that has every problem from the week before written on their card. We ask parents to discuss the card with their students, then sign it and send it back to school.