Looking for advice on dealing with homework. In the past I have sent it home on Monday and have it due on Friday so families have flexibility on completion. I was considering sending it home on Friday and due the following Wednesday to give me more time to correct it. What has been successful for you? Thanks for the input!
IMO homework is to practice and reinforce skills that we've worked on that day. So, I send homework nightly. It's usually a simple math or reading worksheet and sometimes spelling. Theyre also expected to read nightly. Parents need to sign their homework logs. Homework should take no more than 30 minutes (10 minutes/grade). If it takes longer or kids have a really hard time with it I ask parents to write me a note and stop. I don't want it to be a major production (if they don't, that's on them).
I don't collect it, we go over it together so kids can find and correct mistakes. I do check it in in the morning to see who did it and who didn't.
I agree.. No weekly packets in third grade.. Just work to reinforce skills, facts, fluency. Not graded either, just checked for completion every morning with a stamp in the planner which takes less than 5 minutes. At the end of the month, 80 percent completion gets extra recess. They always think it's graded but I never tell.
I don't give a packet either. They have 2 reading summaries due every Friday, but since they have to read every night that's easy - that paper does go home on Monday. Other than that, it's the HW page from our math book and/or a grammar page or something like that.
I also don't grade it - it's checked that it is done and turned in completed.
I also don't send home much homework, and I really dislike packets. I just send home a little math and require reading and practicing math facts nightly. We do almost all spelling "homework" and some math practice for morning work.
I tried the HW packets last year to compare with nightly HW. I am definitely going back to the nightly HW. One, the students aren't held accountable until the end of the week if they didn't complete it, and two, it is important that we review the Math homework daily before I move onto the next lesson. Lastly, when I assign Spelling HW, I can make sure they are prepared for the weekly assessment. In addition, I like to confirm they are reading 30 minutes each night by assigning a reading summary.
It may seem like a lot, but I only assign enough to last an hour a night (includes reading 30 minutes).
I do a packet. I send it home on Friday and it is due the following Friday. I also include a note which tells what to do each night. We also have a planner and I use it to make any changes to the homework schedule. I usually include the math pages from our book, spelling, and reading comprehension. Students also are to read 15 minutes each night. As a parent I loved having a packet.
I assign homework nightly. I usually send home a math worksheet and students have a spelling activity. I ask that they read nightly, but do not send home a reading log. I may try to do the reading summary this year. I find that any writing assignment is usually completed only by my high achievers. I have a better success rate with writing assignments if I give special Dojo points if the assignment is completed.
I send home a packet. I send it Monday and it is due the following Monday. I know that families get busy with after school activities so I try to be accommodating to that. I also allow them to work on homework during breakfast in the classroom and while waiting for dismissal because I have many English language learners and their parents can't always help them, so I try to give them time in my room so I can help with the homework if they need it. I send math review pages, usually from math we completed the week before or basic fact pages, and I send some reading. I don't grade it, but I check for completion. I have a classroom economy and my students get paid $5 per page of homework. I don't stress over homework. I try to encourage it, but it is really the student's choice to do it or not. I keep track of homework though so if a parent asks I can tell them how many times their child did homework and which part of the packet they completed. It seems that everyone is different in their opinion of homework, so I say do what works best for you. Hope you have a great school year!
I prefer nightly homework also. I tried the packets for the flexibility reason, but was finding some kids would do it all in a hurry one night. That wouldn't work with our math anyhow. They really need to practice what we've learned each day. I do check homework each day and correct some of it, usually math. I try to do that in class so they have some feedback. Honestly, our schedule is so impacted, there's not always time to correct.
> 
08-05-2015, 05:12 PM
