Holiday Homework: 4 Ways To Keep Your Students Engaged During Winter Vacation
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lauren_Humphrey]Lauren Humphrey
Winter Break is a time for fun, family and friends. It's also a time when assigning homework can be difficult, as you don't want to burden students during their vacation, but you also need them to continue studying the lessons you're teaching in class. How can you assign homework that is both educational and won't detract from student's family time? Read on!
1) Family History: Some students only see their extended family during the holidays. Researching a family history is a great way for students to interact, and to learn more, about their family during this special time. Assign students to pick a family member and interview them. They can ask questions about the person's life, another family member, important historical events, or about an event that happened within the family. Have students present their findings as a mini-biography. They should write-up (and, for advanced students, analyze for historical context) the interview. Give them creative license to present their findings. Let them draw, animate, film or paint their biography, or allow them to write it as a song, poem, comic book, one-act play or short story. The more personal and creative it is, the more the family will treasure this historical snapshot.
2) Now and Then - Metacognitive Thinking: Winter vacation is a great time for students to reflect on the scholastic year. Ask students to complete an ungraded survey or to answer questions that engage in metacognitive thinking. Define "metacognitive" and ask them to tell you what they have learned this year, what things they still don't understand, and what they want to learn about in the coming new year. Ask students to anonymously tell you about anything in class that has confused, worried, or stressed them out; when you find out what these things are, you can adjust your teaching style and curriculum to help alleviate any problems. Ask them their favorite and least favorite parts of class, what they want to learn about, what they dislike learning about. You can add a fun twist to the assignment by having students write their favorite (school-appropriate) joke, and share one every week with the class in the new year.
3) Book Reports: A classic for a reason, assigning a book report is a great way to engage students over their lengthy Winter Break. Rather than assign one book to the entire class, provide a list of appropriate books and let each student select their own. Make sure to give them this project with enough time to check out the book from the library. As students read their books, they can complete a worksheet to help them retain and expand their ideas for an actual written report. And this isn't just an assignment for ELA classes-social studies teachers can assign works of historical fiction to really bring the curriculum to life.
4) Family Movie Night: One surefire way to get families involved with homework is to assign a movie to watch. Make a list of films that students can select from. You can create the list based on what you're learning about in class or what you will be learning about when students return from Winter Break. Have students watch the film with their family, and give them a worksheet to complete as they watch the movie. Tell students that sharing is okay for this assignment, and encourage them to work with their family members to come up with the best answers for the questions.
Giving homework that is entertaining, interacting and engaging will make sure students don't miss out on important family time over the holidays!
This article was written by Lauren Humphrey of [http://www.TeachWithMovies.com]http://www.TeachWithMovies.com, Inc. -- the premiere site on the Internet showing teachers how to create lesson plans using movies and film.
With the help of Teach With Movies, thousands of Teachers and Home School Parents use movies / film in their classes and home schooling programs to teach Social Studies, English, Science, Health, & the Arts.
Visit our site today: http://www.teachwithmovies.org
Inspiration is Priceless! Gain access to over 350 Learning Guides and Lesson Plans based on Movies and Feature Films.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Holiday-Homework:-4-Ways-To-Keep-Your-Students-Engaged-During-Winter-Vacation&id=6710359] Holiday Homework: 4 Ways To Keep Your Students Engaged During Winter Vacation
Monday, December 14, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Helping Parents to Keep Their Children Motivated to Learn During the Break
Helping Parents to Keep Their Children Motivated to Learn During the Break
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Saundra_Carter]Saundra Carter
It happens every school year. Students return to school in the fall or after the winter break eager to see their friends, to wear the latest fashions, and to learn - not necessarily in that order.
Unfortunately, after several weeks or months of playing video games, vegetating on the couch, babysitting younger siblings, or working outside of the home many students have unintentionally shifted the lessons from the previous semester or school year to another part of their brains.
It is not their fault. If information is not used on a regular basis, it is forgotten. If a student has not factored a quadratic equation in 3 months, chances are that skill will take several minutes and several examples to recall.
The impact of this lapse in memory is problematic for the teacher who must invest time in review instead of introducing new material. In a global economy that requires a global work force, there is simply no time to waste.
In Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the Netherlands, students spend at least 200 days in school. Students in Japan spend 243 days in class, while Americans are only in class for 180 days with the traditional school calendar. [1]
In order to make the most effective use of class room time to prepare our students to compete in a global work force, they must invest more time engaged in proactive learning outside of the classroom and beyond the school year.
What can be done to inspire learning, to minimize memory loss over the summer or winter break, and to reduce the time it takes to regenerate the brain for a successful academic school year? Daily injections of knowledge are the answer.
Here are a few ideas. Use the break to determine the student's areas of strength and improvement. Unfortunately, there are many students in high school that cannot successfully do arithmetic with decimals and fractions. Quite often this deficiency is hidden by use of a calculator. Parents can give the child an evaluation of math skills to determine the areas of strength and areas of improvement. One hour of study per day focused on correcting these deficiencies can substantially improve academic performance for the coming school year and potentially improve chances of receiving an academic scholarship.
Another idea is to empower the students to make decisions concerning their own academic future by assigning them the task of searching the Internet for enrichment courses and SAT Math Boot Camps in areas that the student knows help is needed. If the student is required to pick three classes, they will probably choose one that the parent will find worthy of attendance.
A very effective method to keep the mind challenged during the break is for the parent to assign realistic math problems. If the student has a job, the student should be required to prepare a budget and maintain it on a spreadsheet.
Younger children accompanying parents to the store can be challenged by manually calculating change returned when shopping or manually calculating percentage discount on an item that is on sale. This is a very effective method of gaining the child's interest if the item purchased is for the child.
The final idea is to assign the student one chapter to read per day over the winter break or per week over the summer break. To insure the reading was done, assign math problems to complete or questions to answer. Use the self-empowerment principle. Let the student choose three books for review by the parent. The parent approves one of the three books.
In summation, everyone needs a mental break. After several months of intensive study, students need time to relax, to rejuvenate, and to retool. The concept is to spend at least 5 hours per week engaged in learning. These 5 hours of proactive prevention are worth more than summer school or remedial classes required as a cure for failing. Our children can achieve if we challenge them, give them resources to excel, and raise their standards for excellence.
[1] "Back to School Already? Year-Round Programs in Full Swing" ABC Nightly News http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=8289808&page=1
Copyright 2011, Math 1 On 1, LLC, Saundra Carter "The Math Lady"
Saundra Carter, known to her clients as "The Math Lady" is the CEO of Math 1 On 1, LLC a mathematics tutoring company that offers tutoring services from Arithmetic to Calculus in a setting convenient to the client. Her company also presents Fun, Interactive Math Workshops and SAT Math Boot Camps that can be used as fund raisers for youth groups.
She is the author of "How to Help Parents and Kids Get Over the Fear of Math". This book contains a math evaluation and answer key that will empower parents to determine their children's areas of strength and improvement in under 30 minutes.
Math 1 On 1, LLC http://www.math1on1.net
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Helping-Parents-to-Keep-Their-Children-Motivated-to-Learn-During-the-Break&id=5661352] Helping Parents to Keep Their Children Motivated to Learn During the Break
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Saundra_Carter]Saundra Carter
It happens every school year. Students return to school in the fall or after the winter break eager to see their friends, to wear the latest fashions, and to learn - not necessarily in that order.
Unfortunately, after several weeks or months of playing video games, vegetating on the couch, babysitting younger siblings, or working outside of the home many students have unintentionally shifted the lessons from the previous semester or school year to another part of their brains.
It is not their fault. If information is not used on a regular basis, it is forgotten. If a student has not factored a quadratic equation in 3 months, chances are that skill will take several minutes and several examples to recall.
The impact of this lapse in memory is problematic for the teacher who must invest time in review instead of introducing new material. In a global economy that requires a global work force, there is simply no time to waste.
In Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the Netherlands, students spend at least 200 days in school. Students in Japan spend 243 days in class, while Americans are only in class for 180 days with the traditional school calendar. [1]
In order to make the most effective use of class room time to prepare our students to compete in a global work force, they must invest more time engaged in proactive learning outside of the classroom and beyond the school year.
What can be done to inspire learning, to minimize memory loss over the summer or winter break, and to reduce the time it takes to regenerate the brain for a successful academic school year? Daily injections of knowledge are the answer.
Here are a few ideas. Use the break to determine the student's areas of strength and improvement. Unfortunately, there are many students in high school that cannot successfully do arithmetic with decimals and fractions. Quite often this deficiency is hidden by use of a calculator. Parents can give the child an evaluation of math skills to determine the areas of strength and areas of improvement. One hour of study per day focused on correcting these deficiencies can substantially improve academic performance for the coming school year and potentially improve chances of receiving an academic scholarship.
Another idea is to empower the students to make decisions concerning their own academic future by assigning them the task of searching the Internet for enrichment courses and SAT Math Boot Camps in areas that the student knows help is needed. If the student is required to pick three classes, they will probably choose one that the parent will find worthy of attendance.
A very effective method to keep the mind challenged during the break is for the parent to assign realistic math problems. If the student has a job, the student should be required to prepare a budget and maintain it on a spreadsheet.
Younger children accompanying parents to the store can be challenged by manually calculating change returned when shopping or manually calculating percentage discount on an item that is on sale. This is a very effective method of gaining the child's interest if the item purchased is for the child.
The final idea is to assign the student one chapter to read per day over the winter break or per week over the summer break. To insure the reading was done, assign math problems to complete or questions to answer. Use the self-empowerment principle. Let the student choose three books for review by the parent. The parent approves one of the three books.
In summation, everyone needs a mental break. After several months of intensive study, students need time to relax, to rejuvenate, and to retool. The concept is to spend at least 5 hours per week engaged in learning. These 5 hours of proactive prevention are worth more than summer school or remedial classes required as a cure for failing. Our children can achieve if we challenge them, give them resources to excel, and raise their standards for excellence.
[1] "Back to School Already? Year-Round Programs in Full Swing" ABC Nightly News http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=8289808&page=1
Copyright 2011, Math 1 On 1, LLC, Saundra Carter "The Math Lady"
Saundra Carter, known to her clients as "The Math Lady" is the CEO of Math 1 On 1, LLC a mathematics tutoring company that offers tutoring services from Arithmetic to Calculus in a setting convenient to the client. Her company also presents Fun, Interactive Math Workshops and SAT Math Boot Camps that can be used as fund raisers for youth groups.
She is the author of "How to Help Parents and Kids Get Over the Fear of Math". This book contains a math evaluation and answer key that will empower parents to determine their children's areas of strength and improvement in under 30 minutes.
Math 1 On 1, LLC http://www.math1on1.net
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Helping-Parents-to-Keep-Their-Children-Motivated-to-Learn-During-the-Break&id=5661352] Helping Parents to Keep Their Children Motivated to Learn During the Break
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