As we begin our 3rd week of school, the weather has cooperated and cooled down a bit. This week we will begin a full second grade schedule including homework. Homework will include any unfinished class work, daily practice of spelling words, daily practice of Reading flashcards, assigned reading of textbooks, and the daily 20 minutes of "at home reading". I always try to keep homework to a minimum and will not assign any additional weekend work. If your child has work for the weekend, it will be the 20 minutes of reading, any unfinished class work for that Friday and/or redo papers in the Friday Folder.
When the students enter 2nd Grade, many of them are emergent readers and need daily practice. Tonight, students will begin their nightly reading assignment. Students may read anything-chapter books, magazines and even the newspaper. Students that are confident in their skills may read by themselves (under supervision) or aloud. If your child needs to build their confidence and skills, I recommend the following activities especially at the beginning:
5 minutes: An adult reads to the child from a book that the child can follow along. It is important that he/she hears the sounds and inflections from an experienced reader.
5 minutes: The child reads back to the adult from the same book to imitate the sounds and inflections.
10 minutes: Child reads silently.
The adult (parent, grandparent, teenage sibling, sitter) who supervised and listened to the child will sign the Reading Log. The log will be found taped inside the cover of the assigned tablet. Any assigned reading of textbooks, such as rereading a story or pages from a social studies chapter may be used for this practice. I will check the Reading Log daily.