First: Please read a story and take the comprehension quiz on raz-kids.com each night. It's also important that you understand what you are reading. Activities to help with comprehension include:

Retell the story orally and in writing

Discuss the main idea, what the story made you think of and what the author was trying to tell/teach you

Talk about your favorite part or something interesting you learned

Write sentences telling the who, what, when and where of the story

Identify the beginning, middle and end of the story

For an extra challenge: You may want to read two books that have something in common, then compare and contrast the two books. You can bring in your comparison and share it with your classmates.

Reading daily is an essential part of developing good readers and life long learners.

Ideas for Additional Homework Activities:

Write a story

Start a journal about the days events

Write a letter to your teacher, a family member or a friend

Go to the public library or look on the internet to find an answer to a question you have or just to learn more about something that interests you.

Tell others about something new you learned through a book by making a poster, comic strip, diarama, poem, constructing something, writing a play or making a movie.

Interview someone who knows about something you are interested in. (example: Think of questions and talk to a police officer, postman, fireman or engineer.) Record your findings and share with others.

Find ways to discover math in the world around you. Bake a cake and practice measuring. Count money together when you buy something at the store or practice saving for a new toy. Have your child keep track of the time on a clock and make a schedule to follow. Make riding in the car fun by playing counting and adding games by looking for specific objects such as red cars, stop signs or signs that have the letter R on them. Look for patterns in numbers (growing patterns-counting by twos, fives and tens, repeating patterns)

Give your child a direction on a sticky note, such as brushing his or her teeth or taking out the trash, rather than voicing your request. This helps build reading skills and following directions independently.

Work on the problem of the week together. Be sure to show your work (with a picture, number sentence, chart or graph) and discuss how you solved the problem.

Discuss the Idiom of the Week and think of appropriate ways to use the expression at home.

Remember there are opportunities for learning all around us. Learning is FUN!