I'm considering using my colleagues method of sending home math homework packets on Monday and having them due back on Friday for free time during our read-aloud block this year; its only 20 minutes, but 20 minutes is AWESOME to these little friends. Have you tried this, does it work for you?
In grade 2 I made a homework packet for each week. It had a cover page listing what each nights HW was...typically HW was spelling, ath age ( in packet) and reading ( separate reading log). I checked each morning that the HW from day before was done. I didn't want kids doing it all intone night or waiting until Thursday night as I see HW as a reinforcement of each days teaching and as a way to develop good time mgt and responsibility.
Thanks for sharing! The more I'm reading about homework packets, the more giddier I'm becoming with the concept.
When I send home math homework, it is extra practice on the skills we have learned that day. Because of this, sending home a packet on Monday wouldn't really work for me.
I send a weekly packet home as well. I have a spelling tic-tac-toe that the students complete weekly for homework, plus sight word & vocabulary flash cards (printed on regular paper & kids have to cut them out at home for practice) usually a grammar page, and math fact drill pages (like cza, mine are to be done over the course of the week). In the past, this packet has also contained a copy of my weekly newsletter, which told parents exactly what skills we will be working on, when tests will be, and information about upcoming events, reminders, and "how to help my student" articles. I have (when teaching 1st) send home printed copies of our stories for the week. I'm debating that part, now that I am teaching third. I still cannot send textbooks home, though, so it's still up in the air for me. Anyway, my packets go home on Friday (I do NOT expect the work to begin on the weekend. However, I have had a number of parents/grandparents who LIKED this, because they had no other time to work with the kiddos. Also, the kids can begin reading the stories ahead of time with little difficulty. My lower kids benefited from the "extra practice" with the word cards.)
Thank you so much for sharing how you do your packets, it's very helpful. I wish I was able to send them home on Fridays, we normally send materials home as a grade level on Monday because of having spelling tests on Fridays--we do pretests on Mondays.
I send a homework sheet home at the beginning of the week so they can see their homework for the week. So generally, they could do all the homework Monday if they really wanted to- except their nightly reading log. But sometimes I have to make changes to it throughout the week anyway. I don't really give worksheets so I wouldn't have much to put together in a packet. They have a homework notebook.
That's exactly how it is for me. I love the concept because it's easy on the teacher but I have to think of what is going to be best for the students. Though this year I'm teaching ELA and I found a reading comprehension practice book where there's one story per week that is broken down into sections per day. I may give this as Reading HWK for the week but will still have to supplement it with whatever concepts/strategies we are learning in reading for the day.
I used to do weekly packets. I actually kind of miss the packet approach because it was so easy for me. I always had parents complain that their child couldn't do the work because it was too much. Some even said they wanted more homework. It was a balancing act to find the right amount of homework.
iteach....our math curriculum has homework we are required to send with each lesson; having the freedom to send as a packet or each night is nice. I wish we didn't have to kill trees to do it though. The notebook/binder idea would be nice! teachling....we just require students to read 80 mins. a week; I can only wish to be able to send more for comprehension though. Pencil Monkey...I hear ya, but I hear the same with having daily math homework AND reading 80 mins., and the confessions from the students that they don't study spelling words. My thoughts about the packet is if I explain they have 4 evenings to complete the packet of 6 items (4 math, 1 spelling, and 80 mins. of reading a week), then life should be good. I had the kids fill out a monthly reading chart for their reading homework. They take it home, fill it out, bring it back on a set day (signed and totaled by a parent), and then we repeat this process every week. I can count on 5 students that had the SAME reading chart for the month--no matter how much bribery or rewards I'd offer! (Okay, that's a whole other issue I have....LOL) Thankful for all your replies!
How do you go over the homework with them when you send 4 days' worth at a time? I like sending home daily homework to reinforce / practice skills, but we go over them briefly the next day, to be sure it was understood. If I received a week's worth of homework from 40 students, I would go bonkers!
Same here...As my students are independently reading in the morning, I spend about 5 minutes quickly correcting homework. I then call students over for immediate feedback and to make corrections. I would be concerned about correcting and feedback time with a weekly packet.
I'll let you know after I have a conversation with my coworker. I have a TON of questions to ask her...and probably need to buy her a large cup of coffee before hand. :lol:
I recently wrote a lengthy blog post on the subject. I am an advocate for using packets as it is easier to manage and saves class time...as well as the time it often takes to field parent phone calls with nightly homework questions.
I remember having homework packets in elementary school. We would get the packet on Monday and it would be due on Friday. We used to have an agenda due on Tuesday where we had to write down which parts of the packet we would do each day and the estimated time it would take to teach time management. If there was a part of the packet that we wouldn't be able to do until a certain day it would be noted on the cover page.
Orangetea---I'm glad you remember that! I never had packets, so it's a foreign thing to me. I'm starting to really like this whole concept! I just have to say...COUNTLESS times your website came up on our conversation today! :lol: I kept asking her if she got her idea from your blog, but she's been doing this for YEARS--like over 12...and I swear she was "Pinterest" before there was even a Martha Stewart! Thank you for your wonderful talents, and sharing those talents with us! It looks like the verdict is in... We're both going to do a packet with a cover sheet. We'll do a "spot check" when the packets are turned in, and since we never really know any ways who is actually doing the student's homework--but we can always tell on test scores---we're not going to worry about grading. The packet will include their spelling words, math homework pages, a reading log, and on occasion a writing piece that needs to be completed in order to complete one piece of the CCSS--research, or whatever they need help with gathering information from home. Now to start prepping the first packet!
I did this and loved it. I used it when I taught seventh graders. They loved it too, especially the most academic ones.
