Hi all,
The children should have taken home their first piece of homework and a new 'Learning Log' yesterday. I was in a standards meeting yesterday afternoon and have realised there are a few children who didn't take home a new Learning Log. I will make sure they are allocated tomorrow.
This weeks task is a comprehension exercise in which they have to read words that sound the same but have a different meaning. There are two sides of questions to complete. If you could encourage the children to try and complete the work independently but by all means check through what they have done before returning their work.
Can you also cover the books in a cover of your choice to try and enhance the life of the book as it moves to and from school during the year? Learning logs are to be returned on a Monday but children are welcome to return them before the weekend if they decide to complete their activity before the weekend.
Spellings: The children have had their spelling lists re-attached in the rear of their books for you to practise at home in readiness for their weekly check-ups. Some children didn't understand why they were starting their list again. I explained that they had done a baseline test this week that tested them on a range of words from their spelling list and if they are not secure on the majority of the words tested they need to redo that list from the beginning. As with areas of maths, like learning tables, reinforcement is good practice and will lead to them confidently knowing a wider range of vocabulary. I would be grateful if as well as learning their weekly lists of words, you would encourage the children to test themselves on a range of words from their whole list, particularly when we are a few weeks in, retest them on spelling done in previous weeks (especially if they had words they didn't grasp at the time).
As well as termly checkups I will monitor the children's progress and as well as their weekly checks and also the standard of their spelling in their everyday work. If I think they would benefit from learning a new list of words I will send home a new list with their homework.
Book bags: The children should also be returning their books bags this week. Whichever day they bring their bag home is their allocated day. I will send a reminder next week about their allocated day but I would be grateful if they could return the books weekly on their day. As last year, if you could write a brief comment about their progress with the book / whether they enjoyed the book I would be grateful.
Many thanks,
Mr Ball
