Assigning Purposeful
Homework & Practice
Suzanne Whisler
Esu 4
Johnson Brock Public Schools
January 25, 2012
esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com
Session objective . . .
• What will I do to help students practice
and deepen their understanding of new
knowledge?
• Best practices in assigning homework
& designing practice assignments
Almost All Teachers at One Time
or Another Give Homework
Assignments.
If you were King or Queen, what
would homework look like in
your school?
Ave. Effect
Size
Percentile
gain
Identifying Similarities and differences
1.61
45
Summarizing and note taking
1.00
34
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
.80
29
.77
28
Nonlinguistic representations
.75
27
Cooperative learning
.73
27
Setting objectives/providing feedback
.61
23
Generating and testing hypotheses
.61
23
Questions, cues, and advance organizers
.59
22
Category
Homework and Practice
What is effective homework?
5 Characteristics of Quality
Homework
1. Clear academic purpose
2. Efficiency
3. Ownership
4. Competence
5. Aesthetic appeal
Aha’s & Questions
• Form a group of 4
• In your group letter off A-D
• Each partner will silently read a segment of the
article “5 Hallmarks of Good Homework”.
•
•
•
•
A – Hallmark 1 Purpose
B – Hallmark 2 & 3 Efficiency and Ownership
C – Hallmark 4 Competence
D – Hallmark 5 Aesthetic Appeal
• As you read, record any Aha’s or questions you have
regarding your segment.
• Share you Aha’s and questions with your group.
Let’s explore the 5 qualities of
homework in depth.
1. Clear Academic Purpose
The ultimate goal of the assignment
should be clearly communicated to the
student.
(Marzano, Pickering and Pollock, 2001)
Students shouldn’t have trouble connecting
the purpose of homework to classroom
learning.
Four Purposes of Homework
•Pre-learning
•Checking for understanding
•Practice
•Processing
Busy
Work
Pre-learning ~ Cues
• Provide an introduction to a topic
• Provide background information
• Find out what student already know
• Stimulate interest in a topic
• Read a chapter and complete an advance
organizer
• Write down questions you have about the topic
• Watch a video
• KWL Chart
Check for Understanding
• Homework should provide feedback to the
teacher and student about the student’s
understanding
• Adjust instruction
• Reteach concepts
• Example assignments
• Do 5 math problems, explain the steps
• Have students complete a journal assignment
about a class science experiment to check
students’ understanding of what happened and
why
If homework is assigned, it
should be commented on.
• Homework is assigned, but not commented
on has an effect size of .28.
• Homework is assigned and graded has an
effect size of .78.
• Homework is assigned and teacher provides
written comments has an effect size of .83.
(Marzano, 2007)
Practice
• Practice should be assigned only after the
teacher is confident that students fully
understand the concept.
• Don’t skip Check for Understanding
• Students may practice skill incorrectly
• Distributed practice is better than mass
practice.
Two–tiered Homework
• Part 1
• Assign 3 problems to check for
understanding of a new concept
• Part 2
• Assign 10 problems to practice and reinforce
a concept previously taught.
Practice is more effective when
distributed over several days.
(Marzano, 2010)
Processing
• Used when the teacher wants students to
reflect on concepts
• Think of new questions to ask
• Apply skills or knowledge learned
• Often a long-term project
• Summarizing major concepts in a unit
• Writing an original poem
Write an editorial defending or criticizing the
actions of the participants of the
Boston Tea Party.
Homework Does Not Teach Responsibility . . .
• Parents do! (says Debra Pickering one of cowriters with Robert Marzano).
• Students need to be taught organization, time
management, stress management, goal
setting, etc.
Aha’s and Questions
•What Aha’s and questions do
you have regarding clear
academic purpose?
2. Efficiency
Some tasks are well-intentioned
attempts to create fun or interesting
tasks, while losing sight of the
academic focus.
(Vatterott, 2010)
Efficiency
• Do students clearly understand the
assignment?
• Does the assignment help students learn?
• Color the map
• Writing the definitions of the words
• Read Chapter 4
• Solve the word puzzle
Efficient homework examples . . .
• List the 3 most important ideas in Chapter 4.
• Write a reaction to what you read.
• During your reading place post-it notes on
the parts of the reading you had questions
about.
• During your reading place post-it notes on
the parts that you found most interesting to
discuss in class.
10-Minute Rule
The maximum amount of nightly homework
should not exceed 10 minutes per grade level per
night, all subjects combined.
• 1st -3rd grades = Assign homework to teach
good habits
• 4th – 6th grades = 30-45 mins.
• 7th – 9th grades = 50-120 mins.
• 10th – 12th grades = 60-120 mins.
3. Ownership
• Personally relevant
• Give students choices
• Self-assess and reflect about their learning
• Circle the part of the spelling word that is
the trickiest.
• Determine the best way for you to study
your multiplication facts.
• Assign corrections as homework after a test
• Students state why they missed questions and
find the correct answer in their notes or book
Ownership
• Promote ownership by . . .
• Offer students an opportunity to personalize their
work
• Allow students to share information about
themselves or their lives
• Tap emotions, feelings, or opinions about a subject
• Allow students to create products or presentations
Aha’s and Questions
•What Aha’s and questions do
you have regarding efficiency
and ownership?
4. Competence – Tasks are doable!
Homework that cannot be done without
help is not good homework and is
demotivating to students.
(Vatterott, 2007)
4. Competence
• Homework should instill a sense of
competence in the mind of the learner.
• Students feel positive about learning
5. Aesthetic Appeal
• The way homework looks is important!
• It’s important to younger students and
academically challenged students.
• Overwhelming
• Small spaces for writing
• Worksheets with too much information on
a page
• Five page worksheets
• Endless lists of definitions
Aha’s and Questions
•What Aha’s and questions do
you have regarding competence
and appeal?
What about parent involvement?
Parent Involvement from Dr. Marzano
• Parent involvement in homework should
be kept to a minimum.
• Parents should know what homework
their children are responsible for
completing.
• Parents’ role should be to facilitate
homework not to do the homework for
students.
• Parents’ role should be defined and
communicated in a homework policy
from the teacher and school.
Does Johnson Brock have a
homework policy?
Every School and Teacher Should Have a
Homework Policy (Guideline) and It Should Be
Consistently Observed!
• What is the purpose of homework?
• How much homework will be assigned?
• What are the consequences for not
completing homework?
• What types of parental involvement are
acceptable?
• How will I communicate my homework
policy?
Let’s Move!
• Please stand up.
• Move around the room and form a group
of three-ish.
• Discuss what important information you
learned about using homework effectively.
Teachers should not abandon
homework. Instead, they should
improve its instructional quality.
(Marzano and Pickering, 2007)