What should I be doing for home practice?
Homework has been a hot topic lately. I was a part of the District 28 Homework Committee, and we did extensive research into best practices relating to homework. Homework is important because it provides students with the opportunity to practice what they've learned in an environment outside of school. To emphasize the purpose of homework, the district has determined that it will now be referred to as "home practice." It's important to me that home practice benefits students without overwhelming them with assignments that take too much time or are too complex to be completed independently.
Based on the research, I have adjusted my home practice expectations somewhat for this school year. One thing that was very clear in the research is that second grade students should not work on homework more than 20 minutes per school night. (Think of it as 10 minutes for each grade level.) Also, I will not send home practice that must be completed by the next school day. After-school schedules are busy, and hurrying through home practice is counterproductive and creates unnecessary stress.
Homework will focus on reading and math, and assignments are intended to be accomplished independently. As the school year progresses, I'll monitor the homework expectations and the way your child reports back their homework to me. I'll make adjustments to the expectations if needed and communicate any changes to you.
Here are second grade homework expectations:
Every week you should:
- Read for 70-75 minutes (approximately 15 minutes five nights a week.)
- Practice Math 25-30 minutes (approximately 5 minutes five nights a week, and no more than 30 minutes a week.)
The Student Tools page is an important homework resource.
Choosing a Just-Right Book
The way to get better at anything is with practice. Students make greater gains in reading the more practice they get. The books that help them the most are ones which they can read independently-- “just right” books.
I would never stop a child from reading a high interest book that he/she is motivated to read. The kids will either stop reading a book because it is too much of a struggle and they are not enjoying it, or they will plow through and understand what they can of it. Either way, they should always be in charge of that decision.
That said, parents often ask me how to help their child find "just right" books. Here are some general guidelines I use to help your child choose books.
The reader should be able to:
Based on the research, I have adjusted my home practice expectations somewhat for this school year. One thing that was very clear in the research is that second grade students should not work on homework more than 20 minutes per school night. (Think of it as 10 minutes for each grade level.) Also, I will not send home practice that must be completed by the next school day. After-school schedules are busy, and hurrying through home practice is counterproductive and creates unnecessary stress.
Homework will focus on reading and math, and assignments are intended to be accomplished independently. As the school year progresses, I'll monitor the homework expectations and the way your child reports back their homework to me. I'll make adjustments to the expectations if needed and communicate any changes to you.
Here are second grade homework expectations:
Every week you should:
- Read for 70-75 minutes (approximately 15 minutes five nights a week.)
- Reading homework time can include independent reading, reading out loud to someone else, listening to someone read, reading a page and listening to a page read by someone else, listening to PlayAways and other audiobooks, reading books on Tumblebooks and other digital books, and discussing what was read.
- Students will report minutes read on a Home Practice Log which will come home on Mondays and will be turned in on the following Monday. If your school week is busy, you may read over the weekend to catch up.
- Practice Math 25-30 minutes (approximately 5 minutes five nights a week, and no more than 30 minutes a week.)
- Emphasis is on practicing addition/subtraction math facts with sums to 20, but will also include problems from our current math unit.
- Math homework expectations will come home on the Home Practice Log each Monday, and assignments are expected to be completed when the log is turned in by the following Monday.
The Student Tools page is an important homework resource.
Choosing a Just-Right Book
The way to get better at anything is with practice. Students make greater gains in reading the more practice they get. The books that help them the most are ones which they can read independently-- “just right” books.
I would never stop a child from reading a high interest book that he/she is motivated to read. The kids will either stop reading a book because it is too much of a struggle and they are not enjoying it, or they will plow through and understand what they can of it. Either way, they should always be in charge of that decision.
That said, parents often ask me how to help their child find "just right" books. Here are some general guidelines I use to help your child choose books.
The reader should be able to:
- discuss the text and what is happening in it. The purpose of reading is to make meaning. If this is not happening, it is not a good book choice, and not very interesting to read.
- read most of the words correctly. "Most" means having 5 or fewer errors for every 100 words read (95% accuracy). It is only considered an error if the reader does not make a correction after reading a word incorrectly. Missing too many words affects comprehension.
- read at a smooth pace and not constantly stop to sound out words. The pace of reading should not interfere with comprehension of the text.