Word Study Homework Activities:
•Sort the words into categories. Your child should read each word aloud
during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you why the words are
sorted in a particular way- what does each sort reveal about spelling in
general? Ask your child to sort them a second time as fast as possible. You
may want to time them.
•Do a blind sort with your child. Lay down a word from each category as a
header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate
where the word goes without seeing it. Lay it down and let your child move
it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error.
•Assist your child in doing a word hunt, looking for words in a book they
have already read that have the same sound, pattern, or both. Try to find
two or three for each category.
•Do a writing sort. As you call out the words in a random order your child
should write them in categories. Call out any words your child misspells a
second or even a third time.
Dear Parents,
For reading homework please make sure your child is reading at least 15-20
minutes every day. We cannot overemphasize the importance of a daily reading
habit. Encouraging your child to have a daily reading habit is one of the
most important things you can do for your child’s education. Research shows
that reading 15-20 minutes every single night has a significant effect on
reading ability. In fact, Nancie Atwell, in her book The Reading Zone
writes: Every measure that looks at pleasure reading and its effects on
student performance on standardized tests of reading ability-and science and
math-tell us that the major predictor of academic success is the amount of
time that a student spends reading. In fact, the top 5 percent of U.S.
students read up to 144 times more than the kids in the bottom 5 percent.
Thank you for supporting your child’s reading habit.
