August 26, 2015
Dear fourth grade students
and parents,
This
year, we will continue to have reading homework Monday – Thursday. Students
will be expected to read for up to 20 minutes per night. We will start the year
by assigning pages of reading from a book group book for homework each night.
Because students are reading in groups, they may have a different book assigned
than a friend or neighbor. For this reason, it will be very important that
students have the routine of putting their book in their backpack before
leaving school each day and placing it back in the backpack each evening or
morning before school to be sure they have the book for discussion the
following day.
We are
going to start by assigning a structured log entry in students’ Signpost Notebook
each night. Students will also need to bring the Signpost Notebook to and from
school each day. The format of the log in the notebook is a bit different from
what we used in third grade. We will look for signposts in our books this year,
which is something fifth and sixth grade students also do.
There
will be an example log entry and directions on the first page of the notebook.
As we learn to look for other signposts in reading, the prompts in the log will
change, and examples will continue to be provided. We will check students’ logs
on a weekly basis and use logs as part of their effort grades in reading. Early
on, we will provide lots of feedback and guidance for students as they learn
this new process.
If a student is unable to do homework one night due to a
family circumstance, parents should write a note in the Signpost Notebook for
that night’s log. Please let us know if you have questions or concerns. (mmills@wcsu.net, jmumford@wcsu.net)
Best,
Jay Mumford and Maggie Mills
Jay Mumford and Maggie Mills
