MONDAY JANUARY 16th, 2011

Spelling Test Friday

Word work due Friday morning at 8:40 a.m.  (Words in alphabetical order, page # of dictionary, a sentence using each word)

Pizza money due Thursday

Please use this site.  Having your child complete a few quizzes a week and play a few minutes of live racing every night is strongly recommended.

Lockers:

All of the students in our class have been assigned a locker.  The students need locks for their lockers.  If your child does not have a lock, please get them one as soon as possible. Combination locks are reccommended.  If your child loses his/her key for a key lock, it may need to be cut.

Agendas:

Sorry for the delay, but the school now has all of the agendas that we ordered.  Your child has an agenda now.  We will fill out necessary information at the end of the school day.  Students should be bringing home the agenda every night.  Please initial the agenda every night so that I know you have seen it.

Students have been asked to send in $5 for their agenda.  There are aslo forms in the front of the agenda that need to be completed and returnded to the school.  Please send in the money as soon you can.

First Few Weeks in Class:

So far diagnostic language and math activities have been the primary focus in my room.  I have been enjoying getting to know the students, and I am pleased with their progress in picking up my routines.

Weekly Spelling Tests:

Your child will take a weekly spelling pre-test on Mondays.  From this test they will be asked to choose 5 spelling mistakes to use for their personal spelling test that they will take on Fridays.  If your child does not have any spelling mistakes.  They must select 5 challenge words of their own.

Weekly Math Practice Tests:

I routinely have 3 minute drill "tests" to practice/reinforce arithmetic skils.  I am not allowed to use your child's speed as part of their mark.  However, this is a quick and easy way for me to incorporate some repetitive practice into their program.  The tests that we do are referred to as "Belt Tests".  Depending on how many questions they can do within the 3 minutes, they have the chance to earn a new "Belt" by achieving a new personal best score.  Prizes will be awarded at the end of the year for the progress that they have made.  

There will be an "Addition Belt Test" on Mondays, a "Subtraction Belt Test" on Tuesdays, a "Multiplication Belt Test" on Wednesdays, and a "Division Belt Test" on Thursdays.

I am hoping that practicing these skills year round in short doses will make students more successful with them in the long run.  I have believed in this method for a while, and recently I read this interesting article that supported the idea of spaced out repitition...  www.silobreaker.com/the-trouble-with-homework-5_2264841129692233778

Homework:

If your child is working hard in class, I will rarely assign homework. I find that taking up a lot of homework is time consuming, and that the children generally learn more by doing than from listening for long periods of time.  Also, I can not assess anything that has not been done in class.  You will be notified in advance of all large projects being due. 

Given that I will not assign much formal homework, I hope that you will have your child read every night for at least 10 minutes, and practice artihmetic for at least 5 minutes.  You can generate your own arithmetic questions, find questions and answers at www.superkids.ca, such as superkids.ca, or have your child practice by doing live racing on Mathletics.ca.  

Your child will be receivng a free Mathletics account shortly.  The site has quizzes realted to almost all of the concepts that are part of the Ontario Math Curriculum available for your child to try at any time.  My favourite part of this site is that I get instant input on how your child is doing. I get the results of anything that your child does on the site.

A site that is great for students who are looking to develop math skills at their own pace, especially those trying to work ahead, is www.khanacademy.org.  This site has video taped lessons to go with the activities that your child tries.  In order to register for this free and amazing website (sponsored by Bill Gates), your child will need to have a facebook account (I DO NOT RECCOMMEND THIS) OR a gmail account (SAFER).  

Contacting Me:

A better way to get a hold of me than by phone, is to put a note in your child's agenda.  You could also email me anytime at james.bennett@hwdsb.on.ca.