4th Graders and Homework

[Phoebe]

I'm interested in finding out how other 4th grade teachers communicate homework assignments to their students. Do you post your daily homework on a chalkboard/smartboard/whiteboard/easel and have kids copy it down? Do you write down the week's homework on a weekly sheet for them? Do you post homework on a website?

Additionally, how satisfied are you with the completion rate (completing assignments AND remembering to bring them back to school)? Thanks for your input.

 

[istoleahalo]

We usually write it down on a special place on the board for the students to copy into their planner. Parents are to sign the planners daily (althought they don't always) and students get special privledges/treats if parents have signed. I noticed that ones who have parents sign, are also the ones with the homework done!

 

[toria]

I send a test sheet home weekly on Monday or the Friday before telling the parents what day and when they will have a test. i found a weekly calandar online to print out and titled it fourth grade weekly events/ information. they have to get it signed or face a sort of punishment, such as lunch detention.

Daily i have a chalkboard that i write on daily their homework with the test dates written in a different color so they stand out more. they have to have their homework sign'd daily by the parents or i place a phone call home. i also have charts that i record who has it and once the chart is full they get a small treat *last month i gave out ice cream sandwiches*

good luck!!

 

[SC]

Assignments

I write the assignments on the board each morning, and students copy them in their assignment pads before going home. We also have to put our assignments on a web site, which seems pointless because no one ever looks at them. I don't check kids' assignment pads for signatures or anything. Every now and then I'll give a prize to students who have written them down each week, but it's not on a regular basis. I think next year I'll be stricter about it, but I feel like they're in 4th grade and know how this works. If parents don't know what the hw is, they can look on the web.

 

[Christine]

Homework

I do what the other members posted. I have students write down the homework, which I put on a dry erase board. Parents are supposed to sign the agendas (planners) daily, but very few do. I give students a sticker if their agenda is signed. I have trouble getting homework back from the same bunch of kids (about 3-5). I have talked to their parents, sent notes home, sent the kids to detention, taken away priviledges, but they don't seem to care. I started giving students "tickets" for homework. If they do the homework, they get a ticket. If not, they owe me a ticket. They can then exchange their tickets for prizes (such as candy, homework passes, pencils, a drink of water, computer time, etc). I was tired of giving punishments, so this works well because the ones who do their homework are the ones that receive the rewards. I am still stuck on how to motivate my small bunch who aren't doing their work!

 

[CO teach]

Homeworkopoly

We use a planner system. The kids and I stop at the end of the day and they tell me what to fill out on the planner. I have a transparency of the planner pages that they have in their books. They tell me what to write and I write it on the overhead for them to copy. Their parents are supposed to sign it every night, and I give stickers to the ones that get it signed....but it is very hit or miss. However, kids can't tell me that they didn't know about the homework because it is written right in their very own planner.

As for completion, I recently started a game that I heard about on this board called Homeworkopoly. The kids get to move around the board when they bring in all their homework. It is working wonders! I have a student who has not turned in homework all year turning in homework in order to play the game. I used to take away recess, but I got tired of having to check to make sure that the right people were sitting on the wall outside. I will find the link for Homeworkopoly and post it here.

Here is the link

http://www.teachnet.com/homeworkopoly/

 

[Lori2006]

I have had trouble with this in the past, so I had to come up with a system that worked for me and the kids. We use a planner, which I designed, so I had one day blown up poster size. In the morning we write the homework assignments on the poster and the kids copy it into their planner. Having the same exact page helped, because often the kids didn't know where to write down what I had on the board. This works for most of the students, but I still had a handful that didn't turn it faithfully. So, I requested their parent's email address and each day I send an email with the assignments written down. I has become part of my routine which I do during my prep period...but it has been worth it.

 

[Peggy]

Homework Assignments

I have a corner of the chalkboard where I always post the homework. This helps they kids to know what they always need to copy down when it is time to write in our agendas everyday. I sign them myself everyday for about the first month to make sure they are copied correctly. Then, I have the kids get the person beside them to sign, sign for themselves, sign them myself or have a friend sign for a couple of weeks. Depending on the group, I can continue with this 'fun way' for the year OR if they are not as responsible, I continue with the daily signing. A stamp or sticker is quick and the kids still like it in grade 4

What I have found works the best is to laminate strips in big font for each subject area and for the most common "need to record" information. So I have strips for Math, LA, Social, Science and Health. In addition I have "Return ____ Test" for each subject area, "No School", "Field Trip Form", "Hot Lunch Form", "Library Books" ect. In addition to having a strip for everything, I also have laminated numbers from 0-9. Beside each homework assignment (or note to remember) I post the dates. The kids then copy down in their agendas the homework along with the date it is due. This sounds a bit complicated as I read it over, but it isn't really! I put today's homework board below so you can see.

Home Reading (no date as it is expected nightly)
Homework Packet - 24
Math - 24
Field Trip Form - 01
No School - 03
Science Test - 28
Hot Lunch Form - 28

The parents really like this system--everything they need to know with dates included. I also don't ever have to hear "I didn't know about...." They try it once and I simply say "But you have written it down for the last week and I saw it when I signed it!"

On a side note, I always have them write in pen so they don't erase on the way home. Has happened in the past!

I use sticky tac to hang the laminated subject since I have a chalk board, however, if you had a white board you could use magnets.

Hope this gives you some ideas

 

[kattykitty44]

4th grade homework

Our school uses a planner that all students are encouraged to buy in the beginning of the school year. Each teacher has a poster-sized, laminated replica of a planner page that we sidplay in our rooms. We write homework assignments on it.

I also send home a weekly spelling contract that they have to return daily withthe completed assignments. Like most of you, I have a small group of students who I am always on about turning in assignments. But, thankfully, the majority of them do turn in homework assignments.

 

[cincy teacher]

homework

I do weekly packets. Homework packets go home on Fridays and are not due until the following Friday. I type up a cover sheet listing assingnments and any important news for the week. This sheet is really for the parents.
I think that teachers always struggle with students returning homework. There are always those students who do not do homework.

 

[SusanTeach]

homework

I have a spot on my white board where I write down homework. While I'm writing it on the board, they write it on their homework sheet (which is the back of their discipline sheet). I don't write it on a sheet for them - the students at our school have been writing down their own homework since 2nd grade.

I'm very satisfied with the completion rate - I rarely have students not turn in homework. When they do, they miss recess and complete it then.

 

[ALH]

this doesn't work with my own child

My son's teacher does this in his 4th grade class room. So, far it hasn't worked for him and we're in the 3rd semester. There's got to be a better way than this.

Concerned parent looking for ways to help my son.

 

[Suezie]

To ALH

Which strategy has the teacher used? There are many ideas listed.

 

[SusanTeach]

concerned parent

Your son's teacher does what? Does she write it on the board, and he's not writing it down himself? Or is he just not doing his homework? I had a very disorganized student last year. He was so busy trying to find everything, that he never wrote down his assignments, plus he lost his work before it made it to his bookbag. I started giving him a "buddy" that had to check his work every day. The buddy was very responsible, and loved to help. The boy was thrilled to have some one-on-one attention to help him. At the end of the day, after the buddy wrote down his own work, he would ask the boy if he wrote his down. Then the buddy would check the boy's folder to make sure his work was in there, while the boy was writing down the assignments. The buddy would check what the boy wrote down, and the boy would put his folder in his bookbag.

Now..... all that being said.......... the boy actually started doing it on his own eventually. The problem we had after that was that dad wasn't checking to make sure the homework actually got done at home. I can't follow him home, but we sure solved one part of the problem anyway.