5th Grade Math!
How are things graded? Homework? Quizzes? Tests? Ughhh???? What do I do to help my child?
My guess is these are some of your questions. All three of our fifth grade teachers are pretty much on the same page here so we hope to be consistent for you.
Homework
Typically we have math homework every night.... that's Monday through Thursday. Although we are busy throughout the week, some of us like homework on the weekends as they have more time to work with our children while others cram tons of things into their weekend... I know I do. My personal opinion is for the weekends to be fun and family time. Maybe review some of the math strategies but for the most part, enjoy your weekends spending family time together... trust me, they go fast!
Graded Homework?
Not really. Students are assigned homework and I usually will reward them 5 points per page assigned. If they complete or attempt the page, they get all 5 points. If they show no attempt or very little attempt, I will score accordingly. If they attempted but just couldn't figure it out, I would like you to write me a short note on the assignment or via email and I will award the student full credit for at least trying. If you had a busy night and no time for homework - same.... just put a note on there and I'll give your child more time. I trust an adults comments on almost any work.
What's the process?
At the start of math, students open up their Homework & Remembering book or journal for me to view their work. I walk around the room and see if they've got their work completed or any notes. I score them at that time. Then, I post the answers on the board BUT.... first, I tell all students to pull out a colored pen and make notes on any problems they get wrong. That way before the test they can go back over these notes to practice the problems they don't understand.
Quizzes
I don't think our quizzes are like they were back in the day. Quizzes in our math now are mainly for us to check progress. The quizzes are referred to as "Quick Quiz". They are short so easy for us to grade and easy for us to see if they understand and typically worth . I also give my own made up quizzes. They're actually the exact problems out of the journals. When students don't ask questions after I go over problems, I like to see if they were really listening. Again, they're more for checking progress and usually only worth 10-15 points.
Tests
Our tests are over the whole unit. They can be tough but students MUST review their journal pages and Homework & Remembering book to understand their work. Tests are worth 100 points so they're the real important ones.
I don't get it???
Our math is set up for students to try different ways of solving problems. Whatever way they understand is great. Your methods may help more than my methods. I ask for students to try the ways I teach but if you have a better idea, go for it! If you don't know a method, youtube it! Really, give it a shot. There are lots of great resources out there on the internet. Khan Academy is a pretty cool program that can really help kids.
In the coming days I hope to be adding some videos of our math lessons for students to refer to but for now, keep checking things out with Khan or any other program out there.
My guess is these are some of your questions. All three of our fifth grade teachers are pretty much on the same page here so we hope to be consistent for you.
Homework
Typically we have math homework every night.... that's Monday through Thursday. Although we are busy throughout the week, some of us like homework on the weekends as they have more time to work with our children while others cram tons of things into their weekend... I know I do. My personal opinion is for the weekends to be fun and family time. Maybe review some of the math strategies but for the most part, enjoy your weekends spending family time together... trust me, they go fast!
Graded Homework?
Not really. Students are assigned homework and I usually will reward them 5 points per page assigned. If they complete or attempt the page, they get all 5 points. If they show no attempt or very little attempt, I will score accordingly. If they attempted but just couldn't figure it out, I would like you to write me a short note on the assignment or via email and I will award the student full credit for at least trying. If you had a busy night and no time for homework - same.... just put a note on there and I'll give your child more time. I trust an adults comments on almost any work.
What's the process?
At the start of math, students open up their Homework & Remembering book or journal for me to view their work. I walk around the room and see if they've got their work completed or any notes. I score them at that time. Then, I post the answers on the board BUT.... first, I tell all students to pull out a colored pen and make notes on any problems they get wrong. That way before the test they can go back over these notes to practice the problems they don't understand.
Quizzes
I don't think our quizzes are like they were back in the day. Quizzes in our math now are mainly for us to check progress. The quizzes are referred to as "Quick Quiz". They are short so easy for us to grade and easy for us to see if they understand and typically worth . I also give my own made up quizzes. They're actually the exact problems out of the journals. When students don't ask questions after I go over problems, I like to see if they were really listening. Again, they're more for checking progress and usually only worth 10-15 points.
Tests
Our tests are over the whole unit. They can be tough but students MUST review their journal pages and Homework & Remembering book to understand their work. Tests are worth 100 points so they're the real important ones.
I don't get it???
Our math is set up for students to try different ways of solving problems. Whatever way they understand is great. Your methods may help more than my methods. I ask for students to try the ways I teach but if you have a better idea, go for it! If you don't know a method, youtube it! Really, give it a shot. There are lots of great resources out there on the internet. Khan Academy is a pretty cool program that can really help kids.
In the coming days I hope to be adding some videos of our math lessons for students to refer to but for now, keep checking things out with Khan or any other program out there.