Holiday Homework: 4 Ways To Keep Your Students Engaged During Winter Vacation

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.

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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