Grade 4 requires 40 minutes of homework to be completed each day. I recommend that students sit down for two 20 minute sessions. One for reading and one for math.
What if the Internet is down?
If the Internet is down, students will take a sheet of paper, fold it into quadrants, write four grade four level equations on the paper, and solve them.
How do I know if a student is completing his/her online math work?
For both IXL and Khan Academy, I have a "Dashboard" that shows me student progress. However, even without looking at the dashboard, with small class sizes, I know my students and I know if they are practicing at home and therefore becoming more independent mathematicians.
2. Reading: Students "must"read and log each day. Logs are kept in order for students to track their progress and set goals. Many students will "resent" logging and see it as a waste of time. It is crucial that parents support us and push their son/daughter to keep their logs going. Logs are valuable data for teacher planning and logs help students explore their own personal reading habits so that they can set personal goals.
What about other subjects, such as writing?
There will be times when students are publishing a writing piece or working on a project, but writing and projects are a student by student situation. Therefore, as individuals, some students will be asked to spend less time on math in order to work on something else.
What about studying for a test?
I do not believe in studying! I believe in review. Students will know that a test is coming 7 to 10 days before the test. They will know what is on the test as well because I will write a blog post about the test. Therefore, students should spend 10 minutes a night for 3 to 5 days reviewing and talking out/writing out the terminology and concepts that are on the test. There are slideshows of the content vocabulary for each science and social studies unit in English, Japanese, Korean, and French. If a student cannot use these words correctly, then they will not be able to explain new concepts without using words, such as "thingy".
WEEKENDS and VACATION HOMEWORK:
*School policy does not allow us to "assign" homework other than reading/logging over the weekend or over vacation time. Parents, of course, are in control of the additional work that is assigned and if that work fits with our curriculum, that is all the better...
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