Homework

[Mrs. M]

Hi,
I am just curious as to what other first grade teachers assign during the week for homework? I am looking for some new ideas. I typically make up my own homework sheets and it takes some work every week. I appreciate hearing your typical weekly homework schedule. Thank you!

 

[sj]

homework

When I taught first, I tried to make the homework happen the same way every night except Friday (which they had off). The students used a spiral for homework. I made a sheet by using the Microsoft Word tool for making labels, so that each "label" had the assignment for the night. The kids brought their spiral in each morning, opened it to last night's homework. I stamped it with a happy face and stuck the next homework assignment label on the next page. I liked the labels because it helped parents know what the assignment was. The assignments were often writing assignments because there was so little time for writing at school and because it often needed guidance that a parent could give with spelling help, etc. Assignments would be like: Make a list of 5 of your favorite foods. Write three sentences that tell about your house. Later in the year they would be: Write a paragraph that describes your kitchen. Write by 5's to 100. Make a T chart of kinds of weather and the type of clothing you would wear for each. Dictate a story for an adult to write about a your birthday. Write four question sentences. Write backwards from 100 to 0. Write the alphabet in upper and lower case in your best handwriting. These were not busy work, but practices that would have maybe taken a little more time than I wanted to spend in class but that they could do at home with minimul help and guidance.

I wanted them to always be something the kids had done in class already and would take about 15 minutes to complete.

 

[judyf]

homework

I give hw every night. Each night there is a math page reinforcing the concept we did in class that day. I usually have a second page of spelling which could be putting words in ABC order, rainbow writing of words, or writing 3 times each. Sometimes in place of spelling there will be a phonics sheet of the sound we are working on. On Thursday nights, parents must give a practice spelling test which needs to be turned in. I also ask kids to read about 15 minutes a night and practice flashcards.
Good luck!

 

[K/1 Teacher]

I teach K/1. For homework students bring two books home each night and they spend 20 minutes reading and fill out a reading log. I also send one or two other homework sheets occasionally for the week that is somehow related to what we're doing in class. For example, when we were studying patterns, I sent home a sheet with boxes for them to make their own color patterns. When we were studying all about me, I sent home sheets for them to write their address, phone number and birthday. I feel that they shouldn't spend very much time on homework because they have a long day in school that's very academic, and they need time at night to play and be kids. But I do require the reading every night.

 

[mhook]

Notebook Homework

I have noticed after teaching first for six years that the children need to be working on learning their word wall words (high frequency words). I have also noticed that I need to encourage parental involvement so that the parents get involved in what is going on at school.

I have each student bring in a spiral notebook. I staple an assignment sheet to the inside front cover of the notebook. On this sheet it states that on
Monday--write the words three times each
Tuesday--parents create a wordsearch and the student finds the words
Wednesday--use each word in a sentence
Thursday--rainbow the word

On the inside of the back cover I staple a sheet that has the lists of words for the next six weeks. I pass the notebooks out on Monday and the students only return them on Fridays. They take me about 1 minute per notebook to grade and I only have to do it one night a week. I also send home their reading books two nights a week and expect them to study spelling words. I have been doing this type of homework for about three years and I LOVE IT!!!
Melissa

 

[teach4fun]

what is rainbow a word mean

I have heard it several times on the message board.
thanks

 

[mhook]

rainbow a word

I have the students write the word with a pencil. Then they go over each letter with a crayon. Then they do it again with another color crayon until the word looks like a rainbow and becomes fat. I hope this description helps.

Melissa

 

[JennT]

Every Night for homework I give a short math review sheet, a handwriting sheet, and they have to pick one activity from the word wall activity list. There are ten activities on the sheet and they include things like:
write each word three times each
use each word in a sentence
rainbow the words
word art (write the word, trace it in glue, and stick ANYTHING to it)
clay art (form each word in clay and draw a pic of the words using the same color crayons
word wall collage (cut out WW words from magazines and make a collage out of them)
Use all of the word wall words in a story
put the WW words in ABC order
word wall tally (have mom or dad read you a story, use tally marks to keep track of how many times you hear this weeks WW words)
Funky Fonts (type out the WW words on your computer using funny font shapes and sizes..even type using different colors! Print it out and turn this in as HW)
The kids love having the option to choose which activity to do each night!
They also read from their "book bags" for 10 minutes a night

 

[Mindfull]

I was taught that rainbow writing is writing the words first in pencil. Next write the word using a marker or crayon. Next write the word for the 3rd time in a different color. Continue this for each work and your whole paper looks like a rainbow. Some kids like to change the color for each letter.

 

[TXTeach]

This is a great idea!

I've done the Rainbow Words for spelling centers! The kids love it!

I'd love to use this but I teach at a school with students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Over the last 2 weeks, I've had less than 50% of my students return homework, and when questioned about their homework, the response is "I didn't have pencil and paper and my mother said she didn't have any money". So, I've had to use my own money for pencils, paper and erasers. My first graders this year are very immature and very needy. So this wouldn't work in my class. I'd never get those notebooks back! They'd scribble and doodle on all the pages!

At the beginning of the year, I purchased over 20 vinyl folders w/ 2 pockets and prongs. I created labels for the folders using MSWord. The outside of the folder has their name. On the inside, the left side is labeled "Homework and Notes Home", which includes a weekly homework list for parents. The right side is listed "Graded Papers/Tests". On the prongs are 2 laminated pages of High Frequency Words to be studied every night and a Daily Behavior Chart, which has a calendar for the entire month; in each square I give smiles or frowns for the date and comments for the parents. Students place their materials in the appropriate pocket and they are to be checked every night by parents and returned the next day. This works with students with parents who actually check their kid's folder. But, of course, there are always those who lose their folder, forget it, or just don't complete their homework. For those students who don't turn in their homework, they make it up during recess/specials, and those with lost folders are sent home with a note requesting parents to replace the lost folder.