Although I'm planning on maintaining our "Homework-Free Classroom" to the best of my ability, we are beginning a social studies unit this week that focuses in on homework completion, note-taking, detailed written explanations, study skills and test-taking skills. Therefore, students will be getting a one-page homework assignment that will need to be completed most nights. It will go with our "We the People" unit that focuses on The Constitution and Government of the United States. They will also receive a study guide and test-taking strategies before each test. Students are encouraged to study for these five tests to see if they can develop their study skills. The tests are very challenging, but like everything else, our focus is on improvement and growth rather than perfection.

In addition, we began Literature Circles this week and students are asked to type a paragraph or two summary of their reading (alternating with their partner(s)) on a shared Google Doc. They might get to this in class, but some nights it will need to be completed at home.

Finally, students are always asked to finish anything from class as homework (blogs, Passion projects, etc.), but these have been few and students are encouraged to do as much in Homework Club as they are willing to do. I highly recommend setting aside 50-60 minutes each evening for your child to do something educational. Reading, writing, finishing up work from school, playing educational games, etc. are all good uses of this time. But I won't be enforcing this because I believe that things come up, family time is vital, and kids need time to be kids. I hope you understand!

Thanks for helping your child with any new adjustments to their evening schedules to accommodate these changes. Hope you and your child are enjoying the year so far!

Our new math program now allows students to sign in from home to access games, virtual manipulatives, and additional practice. Although I am still not assigning homework, this might be a good place to have your child visit occasionally to keep up on their math skills or to study for tests. Here's how they can sign in:

The students will visit this link (https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com) and login with their Google Username and Password. I would suggest selecting the "Remember my school" box so students do not need to select from the drop down menu each time they login:

Username: d25 NAME 4-digits @student.sd25.org           (Example: d25Paul1234@student.sd25.org)
Password: sd25 _ _ _ _             (Example: sd25abcd)

In addition, for those wanting extra skills practice at home, I recommend subscribing to IXL: www.ixl.com/ My niece uses it at home and it has helped her review skills very nicely over time.

In their videos, each student had to try to answer the following questions in relation to how the metaphor related to history:

1. Why was the blue team smaller and have fewer people?
2. Why was the red team bigger with more people?
3. Why did the white team come into the tug-of-war late?
4. Why was the blue team offered a prize if they won, but not the red team?
5. Why was one person pulled aside and told they wouldn't receive a prize?
6. Why was the white team told to cheer for the blue team?
7. Why did half of the red team have to start so far away?
8. Why did the red team have to pull the rope so far, while the blue team only had to prevent the red team from doing so?
9. In your opinion, was this a good way to learn about the BIG IDEAS in the Revolutionary War? Why or why not?