homework (long) By teachfla

If they don't do any part of nightly homework, they spend their recess making it up. I also send home weekly progress reports where I show how many completed assignments I've received in reading, math and spelling. I also include grades on weekly reading, spelling, and math tests. When Johnny doesn't do his math homework and gets a 62% on the math test, it usually dawns on parents.

I also show the kids how I grade using a pie chart. We divide a circle into 3 parts. I show them how we do long division (they love that!) to divide 100 into 3 pieces. Since it can't be divided evenly, each piece is 33%. I label each piece HW, tests, classwork. We add 33 three times and get 99. We look at the grading scale on the wall and see that a 99 is an A. Then I cross out the homework piece and say to the kids: "If you don't do any homework, what's the BEST grade you can get?" They add 33 twice and see that a 66 equals a D -- not what they want to get.

After that, I just let them get what they get. We do a lot of talking about choices in my class. "You chose not to do homework, so you are choosing to spend your recess doing it." Sometimes, they never know when, I bring in treats for those who did their homework all week. Or I hand out "No reading tonight!" coupons for those who always read. It's not just about homework, it's about teaching life-long responsibility skills.