Daily Spiraling Homework
Homework is a hot topic in the classroom because some teachers support it, while others may not. In my opinion, I think there is a strong benefit to homework if it’s given in a small dose and allows students to review skills throughout the year. So, what about you? Do you give homework? Is it weekly or daily? Do you use daily spiraling homework to focus on the skill you’re teaching that week? Let me know in the comments!
In this blog post, I’m going to discuss a daily homework option that spirals skills that are Common Core aligned throughout the year.
Spiraling Homework Tips
In this blog post, we’re going to chat about three main things.
when everything goes home and when it all comes back
where the kids’ homework goes
what is expected of the students
WHEN…
To begin my week, students go home with a homework folder on Monday. Then, they will bring it back to me on Friday. That way, I am able to grade it over the weekend and send it home in the student’s take-home folders by the following Monday. This also allows me to spend time on the weekend with fresh folders, ready for next week’s homework.
WHERE…
All students will get a homework folder. Homework folders should be the plastic material, which is a little more expensive, but if students are using them throughout the year, these hold up best.
(Affiliate Link: Amazon Folders)
I suggest going with the plastic covered ones. They tend to stick around and stay in one piece the longest. I also suggest the ones with three prongs on the inside, so that you can hole punch the homework and attach it to the middle. If you don’t have the three prongs, no worries. You can just slide the homework behind your assignment sheet.
In my homework folder, on the left side, students put their assignment list and their reading log on the left side. On the right side is the (small) packet of student work, one for each day of the week (Monday through Thursday).
WHAT…
Now, we can get started on the spiraling aspect of our homework. When a teacher talks about something being spiraling, this means they’re cycling through content and reviewing old content as the year progresses. This way, you will get to review your older content for kids to practice without direct and intentional instruction.
Like I said in the ‘where’ topic, on the right side is their homework sheets. Students will get one subject per day. Math is always on Monday.
“L&F” as we call it in my room… Language and Foundations on Tuesday. This covers the RF Reading Foundational Skills and Language skills from Common Core ELA domains. It’s basically all your grammar and language.
And finally, we have writing on Thursday nights. Students turn in their homework folders on Friday mornings. I usually grade them over the weekends, but if they turn them in on Friday with all four sheets completed, they get TWO CLIP UPS on our behavior chart!
Daily Spiraling Homework Resources
