Math Homework For Grade 2

[Melissa Russian]

Anyteacher will tell you that a missing assignment is a giant pain. No one enjoys seeing the blank space in the grade book, especially a middle school teacher with 125+ students. (Side note, my first year I had 157. Pretty much insane.)

During the warm up, I circulated and checked for homework completion. Students would receive a stamp or my initials on their Homework Agenda. Essentially, the Homework Agenda (freebie offered later in this post) is a one-pager that kept students homework organized. As a class, we quickly graded the homework assignment. Then, I briefly would answer or discuss a difficult question or two. To avoid cheating, any student who did not have their homework that day were required to clear their desk while we graded.

Later in the class or the following day as I circulated, I was able to see on the front of the Homework Agenda how students were doing and discuss personally with them whether or not they needed to see me in tutorials. I was able to give specific praise to students who were giving 110% effort or making improvements.

All Access is complete with Independent Practice (which can be used for homework) for every single lesson. If you want your time and energy back, then check out All Access for your math curriculum needs.

The reality is that not every student has a support system at home. I would love for us to be that voice of inspiration and encouragement. Sometimes that voice sounds like tough love and a hounding for assignments and just being consistent that you value their education and you are not willing to let them give up on it.

Hi Heather! Yes, I have students turn in their work with the agenda. If it was a handout/worksheet I provided, I just set the copier to staple it to the back. If it was something out of a text book, they would staple it to the agenda. Hope that helps!

Hi Tanya! In my example, there were eight problems but I only counted each as being worth ten points. That would be twenty points left over for trying/showing work/etc. As for marking it, each problem incorrect would be ten points off. Hope that helps. You could have either the student self grade or do a trade and grade method, whichever you felt more comfortable with.

I like the idea of trade and grade. Right not I just check hw for completion and they get 5 points for doing the assignment. I treat this like extra credit for them. Most of them will at least attempt the problems and show their work. We also talk about just writing random numbers and how that will get no points.

Yes, it depended on the school policy but I would typically drop the lowest homework grade at the end of the grading period. If a student is willing to come in and work on their assignment (redo, a new one, etc), then I was always thrilled and would replace the grade! We want kids to learn from their mistakes. ?

Regarding grading homework, my students have three homework assignments each week, with between 8 and 13 practice problems per assignment. I go through each problem and award 0-3 points per problem. 0 points if they did nothing. And then 1 point for attempting the problem, 1 point for showing necessary/appropriate work, and 1 point for a correct answer. This way, even if students get the problem wrong, they can still get 2 out of 3 points. If a student got each problem wrong, but were clearly trying, I would give them an overall grade of 70%.

Our district insists that we MUST allow students an opportunity to complete assignments, and we have to accept them late. They do not specify how late though. I was bogged down with tons of late work this last year, and hated it. Can you please share with me your secret of how you handle late work, how late can it be, how much credit does it receive, and how do you grade it? That would help me tremendously.

Thank You!

I love the idea of the homework agenda. I tried passing out papers and filing them but it was to time consuming. If students are allowed to take the packet back and forth every day what keeps them from sharing their answers to other students from another class period throughout the day? I love that you can put notes/reminders at the bottom of the agenda page.

I often give homework on Quizizz or EdPuzzle which scores for me. The kids who cannot do the assignment at home due to computer or internet issues can do it in tutoring. (I offer before school, after school, and lunch opportunities for tutoring.)

How and when in this process do you grade the homework for accuracy? At your quick glance at the start of class? On Friday after you collect the agenda and associated work? What mechanism do you use to provide constructive, timely feedback to the students?

Hi Amanda,

At the end of the quarter, I add up the homework points each student has earned and divide it by the total possible. This homework grade becomes a portion of their overall math grade.

-Brigid

I love how you grade! This will be amazing for me next year! Once you've graded it, how do you go over problems? Do you go over every single problem or just the ones they asked? Can you walk me through it? Thanks!

Thanks Helen!

I think you will love this system. It really depends on the day. If the answers are easy to project, I put them up and have kids quickly check, then we pick a few to go over (usually their choice, but sometimes I choose one or two also). I try not to let this go on too long, since some kids got everything right and are ready to move on. I've saved the rest for the end of the period sometimes. Then we can split up based on who needs to go over more after the new lesson (see my video here: =5RyqwKU_W74)

I wish I could use this system... but my district will not allow me to take off any points for being late (their grade should reflect their mastery of the material, not when it was turned in, blah blah blah). And I'm still not clear how to turn a 1-4 grade into a % grade. We work on a 100 point scale. But I do really like it!

Hi Dana,

That's so frustrating! I guess you will have to do a separate system to encourage students to turn in work on time. There are a few ways to convert it to a percent grade. I like to wait until the end of the quarter. Then, let's say there were 35 homework assignments (4 pts. each) and a student had perfect scores on most, but had 5 days that he earned a 3/4 for being incomplete. This student would have a total of 135 out of 140 possible points in the "homework" category of the grade. That is a 96.4% homework grade. You decide how heavily you want to give "weight" to homework in the quarter grade and go from there, adding in the quizzes, tests, etc.

I hope you can use parts of this strategy :)

Have a great school year!

-Brigid

In some grading systems you can count the assignments as points instead of percentages. So, each homework assignment would be out of 4 points. In the end, the homework category would total to the percentage of points each student earned divided by the total number of points possible. I believe this is how I will tackle this next year.

I saw earlier in the comments that you turn the points into a percentage grade at the end of the quarter, but how can students and parents check progress and missing assignments throughout the grading period?

Hi Sarah,

I've always had an online gradebook program that students and parents can log in to see grades updated. I like to update them weekly online but I also have still kept a paper gradebook for recording it each day. Then it just takes a few minutes to sit down on a Friday and enter any updates or changes.

- Brigid

Oh, how I wish I could grade homework! We're only allowed to assign grades to homework if we actually mark it, and who has time for that? Instead, I check for completion, and each completed unit earns a 0.5% bonus added to their final exam. A lot of my grade 12 students indicated to me this year that the possibility of bonus marks was a big motivation to complete homework on a regular basis.

Hi Shannon,

Wow that is tough that you cannot give points for it. Awesome way to make it work anyway. I love the idea of motivating them with final points as an incentive. That's perfect :) Thanks for commenting!

-Brigid

Hi Emily,

I have tried a few different ones but my favorite was a Catholic school one that had the gradebook and planner all in one. (Good News brand maybe?) I type and paste in the lesson plans anyway from my own formatted spreadsheet, so the biggest thing to me is the gradebook included, and lots of lines so I can skip spaces and have two rows per student whenever possible (more room for footnotes, adjusted scores, etc. Thanks so much!

-Brigid

Hi Dennis,

The students just self-check their own work and ask questions to clear up any confusion. You can do this aloud, or by displaying the answers with a projector, or by having students show their work at the board as you go over and check it. The grades are based on completion only since it's their first attempt with the new lesson's problems on their own. Thanks! Have a great year!

-Brigid

Hi there! Thanks for explaining your grading system! I'm wondering if you require students to check their work?

I generally require corrections on homework, but y students are making too many mistakes and growing tired and frustrated with corrections (and I'm tired of checking and rechecking).

Because Math builds, I do want them to learn from their mistakes, but I also don't want to kill them with corrections. What would you recommend?

Hi Emily,

Yes, I do. It looks different each day, varying from just a quick check where I display / project the answers to a more complete review at the board. Here are some ways that work well for checking and going over the work: -over-math-homework

I like to mix these strategies up to vary it depending on the lesson.

Thanks!

-Brigid

Hi Sandy,

Since homework is not graded for accuracy, those shouldn't affect it too much - they can use that as a tool, but the homework is for their own practice, so if they just copy from it, they will be accountable and will struggle on the test.. Don't allow phones during graded work, like quizzes and tests... I love this idea where theyhave to turn in their phone when they walk in -media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/7a/6e/d3/7a6ed3b53ebf224e23c2e631139ff4e9.jpg

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