Homework Stumper: "Long O Sound"

This was one of last night's homework sheets. The idea is to write the words that have the long "O" sound. (The checkmark just means the teacher checked that the page was done.)



Take a closer look at number 7:



Yes, of course it's a kite.

But the smart kids are looking for how it might fit the pattern, right? So DB thought of both "kite" and "bolt."

I encouraged him to write "bolt," since it fit the pattern, but not surprisingly, he chose the option that required less writing. And in fact on the scan I can see the outline of the word "kite" that I can't see on the sheet. (At our school they block out the partial words so the kids have to think of and write out each word, not just fill in and trace. Causes some brief confusion for DB when we read the directions that say "Then trace...,"but it's not a big deal.)

Certainly I know this isn't the fault of the school, but rather, the publishing company. We see that they reuse artwork regularly. (There's another drawing of a coat that looks a lot like a robe. It fools DB every time.)

It would've been interesting to see what they did if he wrote "bolt." Since it is, after all, only first-grade homework, probably either answer would have been okay. I just hope the tests have less ambiguity as the grades advance.