Homework

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** Reading **
Record at least 20 minutes of reading in the ‘Reading Mileage Chart’ at the back of your homework book. This information should also go on the class reading log website. You can access this from the wiki by clicking on the ‘help’ tab. If you have the Internet at home you can do this straight away or wait until your computer time at school.

** Spelling **
Spelling words will be selected for you based on your learning needs. These are in your spelling notebook. Help and information is included in your spelling notebook with tips to learn these words for your test on Friday.

** Get Active **
This is some people’s favourite part of the homework. You can use any of the ideas below or come up with your own idea to get active, help or connect with someone else. Fill in the blank boxes with the activity you did on each day of the week. Always check with your parents that you are allowed to do these things before you start them. Asking your parents what would be most helpful to them is a good way to select a task. o Play with a ball, practice skills for a sport you play o Skip or use some other fitness equipment o Go for a walk or run, time yourself each day and measure your progress o Ride something with wheels o Help with some housework o Start your homework without being asked o Tidy something up without being asked o Help/spend time with a brother or sister o Make your lunch o Help with dinner or the dishes o Use something you haven’t used in ages o Write a letter or ring someone to thank them for something o Sketch or paint instead of watching TV or gaming o Do a science experiment o Help unpack the groceries o Make up a dance to some music o Talk to someone about our day o Go swimming or play in a sport team or activity group o Bake or cook something o Do something nice of someone o Tidy your room o Try/ learn something completely new o Help with the washing, folding, putting away o Read the newspaper o Talk about an issue you care about with someone at home o Care for a family pet

** Maths (Depends on your maths teacher) **
There are four options for mathematics revision learning. At least one of the activities must be done each day of the week and this should be recorded in the box below the day it was completed. You may choose which activity you do on which day. You do not have to do all of the activities over the week; you can repeat any of these activities especially basic facts if this is an area you know you need to work on.

** Reflective Writing **
You must o Make at least 4 relevant points to the topic and **give a reason or example** to explain each point. o Write at least half a page (you can write more) o Draft this reflection on a scrap piece of paper, edit this for spelling and punctuation errors and then publish it neatly into your homework book (or present this in a creative way). o You **may** illustrate your reflection with relevant pictures, charts or diagrams. Please add captions or labels if you include visuals in your work. My thinking changed about ___. I use to think… now I think… because Something that I really connected with was…because The most difficult thing/part for me was…because I didn’t realise that… until… I have learnt … about myself as a learner from… If I ever did… again I would… What we learnt … connects with ... (something else in your life, something you already knew) … and … are alike in these ways… and are different in these ways… (Compare and contrast)
 * // These sentence frames should help you… //**

** Ongoing Goals **
You have made some goals for the term/year. You must assign yourself a task to work towards these in this section of the homework. Your goals can be viewed on the class wiki and in the homework books. This section should be filled out in class on Monday.

** Ongoing ‘Element’ Project **
You are given time with teacher support to develop your own skills, learning, ideas and joy in an area of learning that you choose. Spend some homework time working on your project. The more time and commitment you put into your project the more you will get from the experience. You must meet all of your other work commitments for this time in class and you should use the same system for your homework. Make sure you have completed all of your other tasks before you spend hours on your ‘Element’ project.

** Extra for Experts **
The ‘Extra for Experts’ part of the homework is NOT compulsory. You do not have to do this part of the homework if you do not have enough time or have been challenged enough from the other work. This is for those of you or for families who would like an extra challenge in the homework. It will usually be research or a task related to something we have been doing in class. You can take the task as far as you want to, this is a chance to be creative. I hope that by leaving this as an open ended task it can be adapted to suit everyone. There will always be encouragement and time to share this work with the class. Please do not complete this in your homework book, I am happy to provide materials (within reason) to complete this work.

Letter to Families Regarding Homework
What a great start to the year! I am the classroom teacher in Room 6, Disa McLean. I know that for many households ‘homework’ can become a negative pressure in your home. Every family is different and homework does not always fit well with busy lives. There are three reasons that I set homework; o To maintain good study habits, o To give students an opportunity to take responsibility for organising, remembering and completing tasks independently, o To create some opportunities for students to revise and reflect on their learning. I have made every attempt to provide instruction at school so that students can complete this work without feeling frustrated and needing a lot of your time. There are varying levels of difficulty and lots of choice in the homework. I believe all of the tasks are relevant, engaging or at least quick. I have set the homework out in this way is so that all of the students can tailor the homework to met their needs and fit in with their other commitments. Children who are busy in the weekdays can have an extension over the weekend provided they ask me. Hopefully this will take the pressure off those children who have something on every day of the week. The homework expectations for each activity are fully explained at the front the homework book, spelling notebook and on our class wikispace (website) www.missmclass.wikispaces.com The homework will be on a weekday rotation. New homework will be given out on Monday and will be collected and marked on Friday. If the work is unmarked it may be that it has not been handed in. I keep a record of this in my planning. If homework is not handed in students will be questioned about this on Friday. If I do not receive homework from the students for two weeks in a row I will ring home just to see if I can help or adapt the homework in some way to ensure that it is completed in the future and that the unfinished homework is made up. I go to a lot of effort to assign work that meets individual student needs appropriate to the time available in class. From time to time, I may send unfinished work home for homework if I feel that students have not managed their classtime well. For the first few weeks students should be confident that any attempts at their homework are perfectly fine. I will mark the work and give tips and assistance until students understand this new system. By week four, I expect that students will complete their homework to a high quality and will ask them to redo tasks if they are not adequate. All of the exercise books in our class are to be treated with high regard. Felt pen is not to be used in the books and there should not be any drawing, writing or scribbling unrelated to the learning tasks on the book covers or through the rest of the book. When a task is set using the Internet an alternative will always be given for those families without Internet access. The students can always use the classroom computers in the morning before school to complete homework tasks and students without the Internet at home will be given priority. Thank you for supporting your child’s learning and the work they are doing at school, I know that this can take a lot of your time. Feel free to contact me regarding the homework, anything can be changed to suit your family and child, the homework needs to work for you. I hope homework can be a happy and rewarding time for you and your child. Kind regards Disa McLean (Room 6, Classroom Teacher)
 * Dear Families **