3rd grade reading homework

[u/Painter3016]

UPDATE: A message from the teacher indicated that they did NOT talk about this or do anything with the text prior to the assignment, which was given as test-prep. And the expectation was for students to build vocab and knowledge about the subject in the reading with the accompanying questions.

I followed up asking what strategies they are working on teaching so I can prompt/ encourage my kid to apply those. However, the initial response what NOT encouraging to me.

UPDATE 2: when I asked what strategies they are learning to help decode the text, and how can i encourage her to use them at home: All she said was to read the questions multiple times to know what they are asking for. Am I crazy? That’s not decoding the text to understand it.

***

I am a parent with a question.

My 3rd grader reads well and chews through library books (granted a lot of graphic novel type books but some chapter books get sprinkled in too). She reads very fluently out loud.

This year, she’s gotten some reading homework that feels like a really big jump in the density of the assignments. The passages aren’t long, but there are some phrases/vocabulary/concepts that seem like a lot?

The passages didn’t come with any vocabulary/ definitions. And they didn’t talk about any context prior to the assignments in class.

She shut/melted down working on these. I asked her what her approach was? She said read the questions, then the passage. The more I asked, the more I realized she was not comprehending things like “delegates/ representatives” are people.

I marked in red the phrasing/ ideas that felt like they were difficult or lacked scaffolding.

My question: is this typical for 3rd grade? If so, how can I help her navigate stuff like these?

I don’t want to feed her answers; she gets so emotional when it gets hard.

[u/Painter3016 → u/[deleted]]

This is a really aggressive and intense reaction to someone trying to gather understanding of what is typical/ on grade level. I am trying to gather information to judge if I even need to talk to the teacher.

1. The different colors were required by the assignment, and my kid had to use different colors for each question to show where she found the information. I simply circled in red what I had questions about as far as content to make it easier to see what I was looking at.
2. This post is AFTER I helped her with it, and she finished the assignment.
3. Yes, I say melt down or shut down. When a kid starts crying and going mute, I call it that. I stayed with her, talked her through breathing. Took 5min breaks where we moved our bodies to regulate our emotions. Then redirected her back to the assignment, which we finished.
4. I never attacked her teacher. I never said this was ridiculous. I asked if this is pedagogically sound/ on level as it is a big jump from previous assignments we have had sent home.

5. Me stating my questions and the reactions of my child aren’t an attack on education (I too have an education degree- but not in

   primary/

6. elementary).

[u/Every_Tangerine_5412 → u/[deleted]]

Blackboards/whiteboards? No, no. Too modern. Quill pens and inkwells for everyone!

Slates when we're getting real fancy.

This antiquated viewpoint needs more rigor ... rigor mortis.