Where's the Homework?

Some of you may be wondering how much homework there will be in fifth grade. This week, there won't be much, if any, homework. But starting next week, there will be regular homework assignments to be completed on a weekly or nightly basis. Parents - You'll be able to keep up with your child's homework in two ways - 1) Their homework will be filled out in their planners every day before they leave. 2) The homework will also be posted on the blog in the sidebar to the right. -------->>>>

Spelling:
Students will have a weekly spelling assignment to go along with their week's spelling words. This assignment is meant to help them practice their words during the week. However, if a student shows that they can learn their words on their own (by getting an "A" on the previous week's test), then they are exempt from the homework for the following week. This spelling assignment will be the same every week and will be detailed in a form which students will keep in their binders. Look for it later this week!

Math
Math homework will be given most days Monday-Thursday. The homework is to be kept in the math journal, unless students are told otherwise. This will be practice on a skill we worked on in class that day.

Social Studies Extra Credit
As the presidential election moves forward, we will be focusing a lot of our attention on the two most prominent candidates. Students are encouraged to bring in any news clippings that relate to the election from either the paper or the Internet to shre with the class. These can be editorials, news reports, photographs, or even editorial cartoons (my personal favorite!). We will be keeping a bulletin board dedicated to sharing any of these items that students bring in. Also, you can receive bonus money by writing a brief summary or explanation of what you have brought to share. Some of these items will even be posted to this blog!

Reading
Students are expected to read for a half an hour each night. I will not be monitoring this reading on any log. It will be a matter of trust. Students will, however, need to fill out a reading log, located in their planners, for their 25 Books. When a student finishes a book, they need to show me in their reading log and they will receive credit towards their 25 books. It's as simple as that! Additionally, students can earn BIG BONUS MONEY for passing Accelerated Reader Tests. For every point earned, they will make $50 in Beauclerc Bucks. When a student reaches 100 Points, they'll go onto the "Wall of Fame" and receive a whopping $1,000 prize! We also have class parties when the class cummulatively reaches certain benchmarks in AR points, starting at $100 Points!

Science, Social Studies, Writing
The homework for these subjects varies. They will not have much homework in any of these subjects except to review material learned. Before a unit test, there will likely be additional homework for science and social studies. For writing, they'll usually only have homework if they are unable to finish an assigned writing piece in class, or if they need help editing their piece.

At Home Projects
There will be at least two big projects this year. In November, students will be researching a famous leader from history and completing a biographical report on that person. This will include a written report, a visual display, and a costumed presentation of their report. Much of this will be done in class, but they will need to prepare their costume at home. There will be more specific guidelines for this project as we get closer.

In the spring, Beauclerc will again be hosting a school-wide science fair. Students got their first taste of a science fair last year and this year they should be better prepared to design an excellent project. The science fair project will be done mostly at home, though I will be working with students to help them formulate their project and make sure they are kept on track throughout. Students will have the option of working in pairs or by themselves for this. We won't really start talking about the fair until around February or March, so there's no need to panic!