I used to hate homework, but now I love it. Read as I share the do's and don'ts for giving homework, and the homework strategies that worked best in my classroom.

I used to hate homework, but now I love it. Read as I share the do's and don'ts for giving homework, and the homework strategies that worked best in my classroom.

A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.

These practice sheets contain many different activities your students can do to help them become better at learning the -lf consonant ending. Included are fill in the blanks, mini book, cut and paste, coloring, classroom cards, and blending. Great to use for differentiation! These sheets are perfect for extra practice in the classroom or you can assign them for homework. No prep required! Easy directions on every page will allow your students to practice the -lf consonant ending. Please check out my other consonant ending products: lf Consonant Ending - No Prep! Word Work! All About Consonant -rt ending Words - No Prep! Real Pictures! Consonant Ending -st - Word Work! No Prep! Consonant Ending -rm - No Prep! Word Work! pt Consonant Ending Word Work! - No Prep! Consonant Ending -ld - No Prep! Word Work! Real Photos! nk Consonant Ending - No Prep! -nk Word Work Consonant Ending -ng - Word Work! No Prep! Consonant Ending -rn - No Prep! Word Work! ft Consonant Ending Word Work! - No Prep! Consonant Ending -tch - Word Work! No Prep! Includes Real Pictures! -dge Consonant Word Ending! - Word Work! No Prep! All About the Consonant Ending -mp - Word Work! No Prep! All about -rk Consonant Ending -rk - No Prep! Word Work! Consonant Ending -nd - Word Work! No Prep! Consonant Ending -ck - ack, eck, ick, ock, and uck - No Prep! Consonant Ending -sk - No Prep! Word Work!

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Take Home Folders/Homework Folders... Let's talk about how to set up, label, organize, and manage Take Home Folders. Getting my folders set up is always a huge priority during summer break. I NEVER wait for students to bring their supplies to school on Meet the Teacher night because I want to have my folders set up and ready to go for the first week of school. I also want all students to have THE SAME FOLDER. I always choose green for my Take Home Folders because green means go. These are the only folders that go home. All the other folders stay at school. If you start shopping the Back to School sales in July, you can get a class set of folders for a couple bucks. In fact, do yourself a favor, and buy about 10-15 extra folders because undoubtedly you will get a few new students during the year or some folders will be lost or damaged. Some years I've bought the cheap folders (without the prongs) and laminated them. I used an X-Acto knife to slice open the pocket openings. This worked fine, but I would usually replace the entire class set around Christmas. Other years, I've found awesome deals on the poly/plastic/vinyl thick, sturdy folders. Those really hold up a lot better in my opinion. Maybe your principal will even splurge and buy a class set of nice folders for you?!?! ::Fingers crossed:: Once you've found a class set of awesome folders, it's time to get them labeled. I put the kiddos name (and number) on the front of the folder. If you don't have your class list yet, just skip this step. On the inside of the folder, I put two sticker labels. The left side says “Keep at Home” and the right pocket says “Return to School.” Print these on 2x4 inch standard shipping labels. On the back of the folder, I have a label with my name and room number on it incase another teacher or student finds it in the hallway or on the bus. I also put my e-mail or phone number. This part is totally optional, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to have it on there. As I mentioned before, some years I've bought the folders with the prongs so I could use a sheet protector to hold the students' reading log and behavior chart. Other years, I didn't buy the pronged folders and just slid these papers inside. :) Insert behavior chart and reading log inside the sheet protector so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Here is an example of the reading log and behavior log to communicate with parents. Even if you don't use a color chart in your classroom, this behavior log could still work for you. Simply jot down a quick note about the child's day: "Great effort today!" "Don't forget to raise your hand before talking out." "Had some trouble in the cafeteria but otherwise AWESOME day." "Thanks for being a leader today!" Realistically, a teacher doesn't have time to write a personalized note to 25 students every day. That's when STICKERS come to the rescue. I can pass out a sticker to every student who earned one in less than 60 seconds. I don't want anything super time consuming, but I do like a way to keep in touch with parents. I think it also holds kiddos accountable for their day. #oldschool With that being said, if there has been a bigger issue at school, I would definitely call or e-mail the parents to touch base. To learn more about the 5-Step System I use for Take Home Folders, check out Part 2 of this series. Please also check out my Take Home Folder VIDEO to get more ideas and details on setting up, organizing, and managing folders in the primary classroom. Download the labels and forms in my TpT store.

Hello There! Homework. HOMEWORK. Homework. How do you feel about homework? As a teacher I have the belief that it is important. I might have a different reason why than some teachers though... I want

I am not sure how you like homework, but I was starting to despise it more and more as the years went on. When I first began teaching, I assigned it dutifully every night, graded it all day and into the evening, only to have to do it all over again the next day. No Homework Days were more of a relief for me than for the kids, I think! After getting settled into third grade, I have found myself assigning homework less and less. I feel that if it isn't purposeful, then why burden the parents and my students with it? The majority of my kids have massive amounts of after-school activities and to be honest, I have way less on my plate and all I want to do after a busy day at school is come home and relax. Shouldn't my 8 and 9 year olds be afforded that opportunity as well? Ok, so that being my opinion, I still wanted a way to have kids and parents come together and work on "school stuff" in the evening. Parents are strong teachers and I wanted them to play an important and purposeful role in their child's learning. Of course, I referred back to my favorite Whole Brain Teaching and came across their solution to my exact problem {sigh, I love them!} and it is called The Universal Homework Model, or as I have named it in my class, Star Homework. I was inspired by Allison from A Whole Brain Teacher (and former WBT intern) and her version of UHM Homework: Source: awholebrainteacher.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest If you have about 45 minutes, this professional development video from Chris Biffle, the founder of WBT, goes into great depth about the entire Universal Homework Model: I have adjusted UHM to fit my needs and I am happy to say that both the kids and I are all much happier for it compared to our old system! What is Star Homework? Star Homework is a weekly bookmark that gets sent home with three activities for the kids to practice each night. Each activity earns them one star. Click to enlarge What does a student do to earn a star? Simple, meaningful things that will benefit them in the long run and not cause any undue stress in the short run. Read for 20+ minutes= 1 Star Practice Xtra Math for 1+ round= 1 Star Practice Spelling Words & Independent Words= 1 Star See? Simple and easy, and items that parents can help out with that won't make them or their kids want to tear their hair out :) What happens the next day? Do they turn anything in? At the very end of our Morning Meeting routine, I will have the students grab their bookmarks and tell me how many stars they earned, from 0-3. Any student who has 2 or 3 stars gets a short cheer from us :) I tally all of these stars up on our Weekly Star Homework Graph and then the kids put their bookmarks back in their backpacks to complete that night. Class rewards for a job well-done! On Friday, we count up all of the stars we have earned for the week and, if they all did 2 or more stars for most of the days, then there is a high likelihood that there will be extra Free Choice minutes tacked on to Friday Choice Time! We also will look to see if we met or beat the previous week's total. If we did, it's Sticker Time! My kids this year LOVE stickers, so this is a super fun, very easy, and inexpensive treat. Class motivation during the week? On Wednesday-ish, I will remind my class where we need to be by Friday to meet/exceed our goal and/or get extra choice time and I will ask if there are any volunteers who would be willing to be 3-Star Kids for the rest of the week to help us out. If they raise their hand, I will put their name on the board and we all cheer them and thank them for leading by example. It's a great motivator to get all of the kids willing to do more, which I'll take any day of the week! What about Thursday's Response to Text homework? Our spelling quizzes are on Thursday and kids don't get their new words until Friday, so on Thursday, I have included the option of writing a response to the book they have been reading all week. This can look like any of the following: a summary of what they have read questions, predictions, inferences, connections, etc. a letter to me about the book a letter to the author comparing themselves to the character and writing about what they would have done in the story writing a sequel/prequel or anything else that suits the child's fancy! This Response to Text should be no longer than a page, but a bit longer than a few sentences. As long as there is substance, I am not too strict on length.It must be neatly written and turned in on Friday to receive a star. If it is messy, not substantive, or clearly not worth a star, then the child does not get one- Chris Biffle explains it so well in the video above- I am not doing that child any favors by accepting and rewarding messy, sloppy work with no effort put into it. It may feel crummy to tell them no, but it will motivate them to do better next week :) So far this system is working out very well. Have any of you tried this type of homework plan? **UPDATE** I have a new post with Star Homework downloads and personalized options. Check it out HERE!