Hi I am wanting to revamp my homework. I am so bored with it that I imagine my kiddos must be too. I usually give them a math page that reinforces the lesson of the day, new sight words they write 5 times then on the following days they write them in sentences or they have a work page. They also read each night and log, they also do a book report once a week. Any suggestions? any good sites I could get sight word homework for free? thanks to all in advance.
Does your school or district subscribe to Spelling City. If so you can put in your list or somebody else may already have them in and the sheets are ready to go. I do scrambles, alphabetic order, missing letter, and then there are great games to play with them on the whiteboard. I would also go to Teachers Pay Teachers a lot of the downloads are free and they have some great sight word activities.
I also send home a "Poem of the Week", usually pertaining to a topic of study (i.e., dental health, weather, holidays, days of the week, months of the year, seasons, etc.). I usually assign three or four directions which might include: circle punctuation, highlight word wall words, look for rhyming words, make new words from known words, make predictions, draw detailed illustrations, etc. After talking about the poem during the week, I add it to a notebook that stays in the reading corner in the classroom. The children enjoy reading and rereading the poems throughout the year.
If my memory serves me correctly don't the kids in the USA have 3 months of summer plus 3 weeks of winter break and a spring break and various other days off (holidays and inservice days) to be kids?
All I know is if I don't give challenging homework I have a mob of passive aggressive parents at my door.
I do some at home work, but not a lot. I do a poem of the week every other week that goes home with the kids (with a couple activities related to the poem) and am just starting my home reading program. I also do take-home bags, but those rotate through the students so only 2 students a night take one home (sometimes they are math or LA, other times it's just sharing a book we made in class). I also have high-frequency words that I send home with the kids. They get 5 words at a time to take home. They bring them back when they have mastered them and I give them 5 more. I have some kids that are up to 40 words and some that have never brought the words back. But I don't push it. It's great if families want to participate, but not required.
Personally, I think K is too young to be doing worksheets every night. Is K homework something that is required by your school/division?
I am going to step on my soap box for this post, I apologize, but it must be said. Why do we feel the need to push our students so hard at the age of five and six? They are kids and need to learn to get along with others, how can they do this if they spend their entire evening doing homework? It has been proven by many studies that homework in the elementary years can have a negative impact on students learning especially in Kindergarten. (Here is one example: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/ma...ln-lede-t.html)
I have very high expectations for my students and push them hard all day so they leave Kindergarten meeting the high standards that have been set for them. When they leave my classroom, they need time to breathe and PLAY, just like the rest of us. Thankfully we have administrative support and a strong Kindergarten team that stands up for what is developmentally appropriate for our students.
sending home games for my students to play with their families. Kids too often these days play video games and don't learn how to play other type games.
I send a calendar home for the month and the students and parents choose up to 25 of the 30/31 activities. It might be something like this (and the activity does not have to correspond with the date):
March:
Read a story aloud to your child each day and.......
1. Count out the correct number of plates, forks, spoons, etc. and set the table for the family.
2. Go to the grocery store with a parent/grandparent. Discuss which foods are healthy, which of two brands of the same product costs less, etc.
3. Attend a puppet show at the public library
4. Have your child help you sort the laundry
5. Cut pictures from magazines of things beginning with the letter B.
You get the idea!
The parent circles the number of each activity which was completed.
I love the idea of the monthly calendars with ideas for the parents to actually do something with the kids instead of sitting and doing homework. YUCK! Do you happen to have any of these (or all of them) that you would like to share BioAdoptMom3?
- Math games - I send home a zip-lock bag with a math game.
- Literature bags - Zip-lock bag with a book and paper for a written response. For example, Chrysanthemum and the written response is to tell how they got their name. I love this one because it get the child and parent reading and writing together.
- Reading books from their reading group
- Word pattern practice - use cards to make words with different word patterns and they write the words in a journal.
- Sight Word practice - I send home a list of ideas for practicing the sight words. I really emphasize fun ways to use the cards, rather than just flash cards.
One more thought on the amount of homework... My students really enjoy homework. It is fun, hands-on, and an opportunity to "show off" for their parents everything they are learning in class. I also tell my parents that homework should never take more than 20 minutes. So, if they don't get to everything that's fine. If a child wants to spend longer, that's fine too.
here. the assignment is 15-20 minutes of homework each day. The studies are in and students have a 28% increase in learning gains when they have homework. I am astonished by the impact it has had on my class this year. I firmly believe it is due to the increase in parent involvement. We have fun friday for the last 1/2 hour of the day free centers, raffles where students win prizes for centerwork and a special juice and snack. Students who get 3 frownies for their behavior or students who do not complete their homework by Friday do not participate. Parents are aware of it at the beginning of the year and sign a contract.
I have 100% participation, my learning gains have dramatically increased, the students love school and from where I am sitting they are still being kids.
I'm curious about the "studies." Alfie Kohn addressed some of Marzano's studies on homework in his book The Homework Myth. I haven't verified his facts, but I certainly agreed in theory with everything he wrote!
forgot to attach the template we use when designing our weekly homework. I thought you might like to look at it. We use this template and just change the pages by using printscreen function and worksheets we find on the web or on our curriculum websites
sorry apparently my upload failed pm me and I will email you the word doc.
I send home a packet with one activity or worksheet to do each night and read one baggie book then return the completed packet on Friday. I have had a good turn out with this approach. In the packet is one math, one letter or sight word page, one blank page for writing (like writer's workshop, where they can write a sentence and draw a picture) and one home-school link page (where they have to work with their parent).
This may not be the correct way of doing homework, but this is how we do it. It works for us.
Monday-Take home book.
Tuesday-Take home book & 1 math sheet (review of Mon & Tues lessons)
Wednesday-Write Sight Words-1 Sheet
Thursday-Take home book & 1 math sheet (review of Wed & Thurs lessons)
03-11-2012, 09:13 AM
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