literacy homework ideas

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

Creative Ways to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom! 🎥

The Big List of K–2 Literacy Centers

Forty ideas to inspire you!

Having a cache of go-to literacy activities that are meaningful, flexible, and able to be completed by students independently is a teacher necessity. The best literacy centers build autonomy, help students practice key skills, and free you up to teach small groups or give support elsewhere. We’ve pulled together this long list so you can have plenty of simple options at your fingertips. 

1. “Feed” the mini trash cans.

Whether you ask students to sight words, letters, pictures or words by phonetic pattern, there’s just something about a trash can with a swinging lid that makes the task much more exciting!

Source: @msbendersclassroom

2. Spell words with magnetic letters.

Yes, this is an old standby, but wait … a muffin tin?! So smart. 

Source: @playdough2plato

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3. Write before-and-after reading sticky notes.

We love this idea for recording prior and new background knowledge on a topic, but it’s easily adaptable to other comprehension strategies, too.

Source: @missps_style

4. Roll. Say. Cover. Repeat.

Make it a race to see which column “wins” or make it a fill-the-board challenge. Here’s another flexible upgrade to traditional bingo games. 

Source: @theprintableprincess

5. Roll & read words.

For another low-prep center using dice, try this idea for word reading—nonsense or real! Just copy different lists on different paper colors to differentiate.

Source: @tastefullyteaching

6. Read it and keep it.

Yet another take on a dice-rolling center, this one is so easy to prep and customize for different kiddos’ needs. 

Source: @teachingwithmissle

7. Unlock learning with locks and keys.

What student wouldn’t want the chance to open a bunch of padlocks?! 

Source: @differkinder

8. Find letters or words in a sensory bin.

Sensory bins  are awesome for play, science, and more, but if you’re struggling to fit them into your day, turning one into a search-and-find literacy center is a win-win option!

Source: @kinderwithmrsbrooks

9. Race the fidget spinner.

Make fidget spinners work for you with this fun idea that’s adaptable for any words.

Source: @atlantareading  

10. Practice writing on magnetic drawing boards.

Whether your students need practice writing individual letters or words, adding guidelines with Sharpies is an amazing teacher hack!

Source: @teaching_in_canada

11. Level up tic-tac-toe.

This spin on a classic partner game is adorable, effective, and so easy to prep!

Source: @kinderkish

12. Spoon up some phoneme manipulation.

Turns out a plastic spoon is perfectly sized and shaped to help little hands swap beginning letters!

Source: @topteacher

13. Stack cups with a plan.

This would be perfect for synonyms or matching vocabulary words to pictures, too.

Source: @ erikadeane315

14. Take your word work to the wall.

This setup makes it super easy to update words as needed.

Source: @lucyjaneloveslearning

15. Solve a hands-on word scramble.

Magnetic letters are perfect for moving around while trying to solve a scrambled word. Having each word in its own box keeps it organized.

Source: @teachinginthe401

16. Play Snakes & Ladders.

You can’t go wrong with this literacy-themed version of the classic board game.

17. Use a punctuation “surgery kit” to edit sentences.

Because healing erroneous sentences may help heal the world. (P.S. Including Band-Aids is the perfect touch!)

Source: @sweettoothteaching

18. Read in different voices.

We love this idea for fluency practice with a familiar poem!

Source: @atlantareading

19. Follow a color code using dot paints.

Mess-free painting with a literacy twist? Sign us up.

20. Play Bear Cave.

You can’t get much simpler than the setup of this crowd-pleasing partner game. 

Source: @creativekindergartenblogonptp

21. Respond to a book using loose parts.

Kids this age still need to play! Set out loose parts and mats for them to answer a reading response question creatively, like this one for “What do you love about fall?” 

22. Use props to practice retelling a familiar story.

Support reading comprehension with a simple storytelling center tied to a classroom read aloud.

Source: @playexplorelearn

23. Read it and draw it.

Practice reading phonics-based or vocabulary words and emphasize meaning.

24. Find it and hole-punch it!

Find letters or words on a list and mark them with a tool that children love. (All that squeezing is great for building hand strength, too.)

25. Spell with nuts and bolts.

For another way to mix word work and strength building for little fingers, just hit the hardware store.

Source: @senteacherireland

26. Mark answers with clothespins.

Clipping a clothespin to an answer on a card engages students, avoids a paper worksheet, and acts as yet another fine motor booster all at once! 

Source: @youclevermonkey

27. Make word study magical with white crayons.

The simple thrill of writing words or word parts in white crayon and coloring to reveal the “magic” writing never gets old. 

Source: @bklandadventures

28. Label it.

Have students label the components of a picture while they work on invented spelling or, as above, using descriptive language.

29. Build words with pool noodle segments.

The laundry basket makes this a self-contained and portable activity. 

Source: @gardenstateteaching

30. Use sound knowledge to crack the code.

Secret codes make anything more fun. Leave messages in pictures for children to solve using their knowledge of letters and sounds.

31. Practice segmenting and blending with slinky sounds.

Use the analogy of the classic toy that grows and shrinks to help children practice stretching words to spell them or blending sounds to make words. 

32. Build sentences at a pocket chart.

Including environmental print and picture cards allows even emergent readers to make interesting sentences!

Source: @thekeystokinder

33. Mix and fix sentences.

Work in your content area vocabulary for an extra boost of learning!

Source: @teachingwithoutfrills

34. Build compound words with blocks.

Ask students to build real compound words and then challenge them to spell and draw the silliest made-up ones they can think of, too.

35. Or, use blocks to build contractions.

Clear up confusion on this tricky topic once and for all with a hands-on approach.

Source: @firstgradefinds1

36. Play Vocabulary Pictionary.

This classic game works so well as a partner center.

Source: @elizabethannespires

37. Hunt for words in an authentic text.

Set out books, a piece of titled chart paper, and a stack of sticky notes, and you’re good to go for an engaging and authentic center activity. To differentiate, offer a few different book choices. 

Source: @saturdays_off

What are your favorite literacy centers for K–2 students? Share them over at our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Also, don’t miss: 40 Creative and Simple Sight Word Activities for the Classroom

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• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

20+ creative alternative homework ideas for teachers

When giving homework, it must always be based on learning goals your students have to reach, just like in your lessons. But it’s sad to see that lots of teachers are using homework as extra lesson time. Of course, as a teacher, you’re on a clock. But that doesn’t mean your students have to suffer from it and keep working on those boring textbooks and worksheets at home.

Consider goals like attitudes, real-life experiences, and practice, physical exercise, social encounters, creative solutions, and philanthropy as crucial as your lesson goals. These are things students don’t just pick up in your classroom. These are things they pick up in life.

In this blog post, I’ll give you some innovative homework ideas that will engage your students more. These alternatives to traditional homework will thereby also teach your students new things that can’t be taught in the classroom. You will find a variety of homework ideas: online and offline.

I will mention homework alternatives for primary school and high school. Some of these ideas can be changed a little bit, so they are the perfect fit for the right audience.

20 Creative homework ideas

You can divide homework tasks into the following themes or categories:

• Crafts & arts
• Outdoor activities & outings
• Games and activities
• Physical activities
• Digital or computer activities
• Philanthropy & social work

💡 Good to know : all the ready-to-use homework activities are created with BookWidgets . You can easily create activities like these yourself or duplicate an activity below for free, edit it if needed, and share it with your students. You can do so in the examples separately, or you can find all the homework examples in the BookWidgets Blog group folder .

Crafts and arts homework

1. prepare a dish from a recipe book.

2. Make a board game

3. Create a birdhouse

4. Transform a fictional book character into a hand puppet

Outdoor homework activities and outings

5. coupon game.

Students can also go grocery shopping with their parents. Here, they have to read the ingredients of the products and help their parents choose the healthiest products for the best prices, figure out the best deal between the sizes of items, …

6. Visit the zoo

7. Visit the local dumping ground or container park

8. Build a tree house

Games and activities as homework

9. bookwidgets games.

10. Minecraft

11. Play Cards

12. Play Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon

Physical homework activities

13. rope skipping.

Many rope-skipping songs let your students do different tricks while rope-skipping. This is an excellent opportunity for homework as well. Ask your students to transform a rope skipping song into a song with lesson content. Let them count or spell or even sum up the different states or capitals. To engage their lifestyles even harder, you can additionally give them the assignment to create a TikTok in which they are jumping and singing.

Click here to see how you can get Tiktok more involved in the classroom.

14. Walking quest

If there aren’t any walking quests in the neighborhood, you could ask your students to create a walking quest like this for their fellow students. What a fun day it will be!

15. Obstacle Quiz

In order for students to answer the questions, they have to run and pass a challenging parkour. This is a fun homework exercise, and in the end, it’s a great lesson starter or lesson end.

16. Swimming games

After the activity, they can fill out an Exit Slip:

Digital or computer homework activities

17. create a picture album.

This teaches them to handle the online software, add pictures and write without spelling mistakes. And of course, creating memories is so much fun!

18. Video job application

19. Your life in 10 minutes - video

20. Email pen-pals

Is it still too complicated? Read the messages from your students, before they send them, and provide them with some feedback.

Philanthropy and social homework

21. grow a community garden.

22. Help in a retirement home

23. Help at a homeless shelter

24. Collect litter

Here’s another homework tip: Don’t call homework “homework”. Call it a challenge. Homework has become a negative word for students, and I bet they start rolling their eyes as you even mention the word.

Still looking for more inspiration? Check out the blog on short films and lesson activities that spice up your Google Classroom . Tip: even if you don’t use Google Classroom, there is a lot of inspiration back here.

Above you have read single assignments. But, you also have the option to involve your homework in a project. Find out more here .

So, as I mentioned earlier, there are many fun alternatives to traditional homework. Now it’s up to you to apply this in the classroom as well. In this folder , you will find all the examples you have come across.

Which idea do you or perhaps your students like the most? Let us know on Twitter . Of course, there are many more alternatives. If you have other ideas, you are always welcome to share it with other teachers in our Facebook group .

One more thing: don’t forget to say hi👋 on LikedIn .

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You are here, 14 activities for building literacy at home.

Literacy is more than just reading.

Developing literacy, especially in young children, also means helping a child learn to engage with the world: How to ask questions, form knowledge, imagine the (im)possible, and reflect on their experiences.

With many young children spending more time at home due to COVID-19, Penn GSE Reading/Writing/Literacy doctoral student Daris McInnis offers these 14 activities that will help parents build these literacy skills with their children and have fun in the process.

These activities are all meant to be personalized to work with what you have at home or around your neighborhood.

Two ideas are at the heart of every activity.

The first is inquiry. One of the best ways to teach children is to ask a child questions, McInnis says, and to encourage a child to ask questions when they are curious or want to explore more.

The second is respect. It’s important we treat kids as the cosmopolitan intellectuals that they are, as Penn GSE’s Gerald Campano and Columbia professor Maria Paula Ghiso remind us. When we treat their ideas and questions with respect and engage them in meaningful dialogue, children will want to explore more.

Create a schedule

 One of the first things kids see when they walk into a classroom is a schedule with pictures of what they will do for the day. Whether you are providing care for your child every day or only occasionally, a schedule can help orient both you and your child.

You can ask your child to draw pictures for each activity, which gives them some ownership over the schedule. 

Remember, you can be flexible after you write in those times. Some activities will be shorter, some will take longer. That’s fine.

Looking for more advice for families?  Subscribe to the Educator’s Playbook for Parents .

Chart the weather

 Start the day by stepping outside and asking: what does it feel like and what does it look like?

Creating a meteorology chart to track the temperature and the forecast allows children to use their knowledge, senses, and curiosity to explore the weather and its effects.

Invite your child to draw the day’s forecast or weather. Or if this is an everyday activity, they could create a series of drawings representing different forecasts to swap in and out of your chart.

For slightly older children, around age 5 and 6, you can ask ‘why’ questions, like: why do you think it’s hot today? You can start to explain bigger concepts like the relationship between the sun and the earth and how seasons work, depending on your geography. 

Tune up fine motor skills

 Young kids love sorting things. With your child’s help, you can create a sorting activity that will help them notice similarities and differences and also develop their fine motor skills.

Collect objects from around your home of different size or shape, like a grain of rice, a bead, or a remote control. Ask your child to sort the objects into different piles. You are introducing the math concept of categorization and opening the door for powerful inquiry.

Ask the child why they put the grain of rice into this pile instead of that pile. Are they organizing by size, shape, color, or something else? 

While they are thinking, you’ll be helping your child build their dexterity while they practice gripping with their thumb, index, and middle finger – this is important for pencil grip and writing activities in the future. 

If a child is physically unable to sort the items without assistance, you can move the objects for them and still ask the rationale behind their choices.

Scavenger hunt!

 You don't have to buy any new stuff to use your home as a play space.

When you create your scavenger hunt, you can show your child what a list is and why we would use one. You can ask them to find something that is a circle or a triangle. Find a letter S. Find a clock. Find something with the color green. The possibilities are limitless.

For slightly older kids, you can let your child do the hunt themselves and give them a time limit. Be sure to use a timer they can see, to keep them on task.

This is a way to encourage your child to notice details in their everyday environment and also build their vocabulary. For example, your child might identify an iron as a triangle. This is a chance to explain what an iron is and why someone would use it. 

Bonus idea: Create some cutouts of letters and hide them around your home. 

Have more ideas? Let us know. Tag us on Instagram or Twitter @PennGSE on your neighborhood walks, experiments, weather reports, home cooking, and art! 

Plant a seed

You can create a really nice gardening activity with materials you have around the home, like reusing an egg carton, paper cups, or an old two-liter bottle.

You can show a child how to plant a seed. You can tell them about watering and sunlight needs. Have them start a plant journal where they can draw what they notice about the plant bed every day. This can open a conversation about the life cycle of the plant.

There’s even a behavior element to this lesson. How do we use our bodies around the plant? For instance, it’s probably not a good idea to play with or throw an object near the plant, because we might knock it over and hurt it.

  Kids are innately brilliant, and books are a way to spark a child’s imagination and develop early literacy skills. As you are reading the book, make sure the child can see the pictures. Ask them what they notice, in both the narrative and the pictures, especially about details like characters’ facial expressions.

When you finish the story, encourage them to respond to the text. Maybe that’s drawing a picture of their favorite part. Or asking them to explain why they like or dislike a particular character in the story. You are providing opportunities for your child to explore their own ideas, extract information, form opinions, and infer.

Don’t forget, many libraries have created touchless pickup or have digital borrowing options to help families through COVID.

Readers’ theater

 Building on a read aloud, have your child act out a favorite story, or act it out with them. For slightly older children, encourage them to make a costume from items around your home. 

You are testing their comprehension, but it’s also super cute. If you’re able to, record their production on a mobile device, and let them see themselves as a writer, actor, and director.

Remember: Cardboard boxes make great set pieces, like vehicles or clubhouses. 

Make some goo

Find a recipe online to make your own version of Gak or Play-Doh. It might be a good idea to try this activity on your own first. When you do get to the lab together (probably the kitchen area), start by going over the safety rules, and orient them to the materials and the ingredients.

Once your Gak or Play-Doh is ready, create letters and numbers on a piece of cardboard or tin. Have your child shape the material into the letters. This helps kids recognize their name, which they will need to do at day care or pre-school.

Added bonus: Because it can take 30 minutes to an hour just to make the material, this can be good for a rainy day spent inside. 

Collage time

Collages are a great way to introduce kids to creating art. They can be figurative or abstract, and they can feature letters, shapes, colors, story characters, or any other theme you and your child might want to try. Found objects like bottle caps, pipe cleaners, and feathers make great additions — but think twice before opening glitter.

Don’t forget to ask your child to sign their piece, since they are, in fact, the artist. Then display it. Running out of gallery space? Try a memory board, which will let you slide pieces in and out. Save special pieces in a scrap book or an accordion file, which makes a meaningful gift when your child reaches a milestone like graduating high school. 

When we treat their ideas and questions with respect and engage them in meaningful dialogue, children will want to explore more.

Take a virtual tour

 Because of the pandemic, many museums and zoos around the world have expanded their virtual offerings.

Virtual tours are fun activities themselves, but they also offer another chance to invite your child to do some critical thinking. Say you tour the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum . You might learn that in our solar system, Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, but Venus is the hottest. Ask your child: why do they think this the case? You can explore comets or share dialogue about how gravity might work on other planets.

Inquiry is a great way to keep your child interested and engaged in learning, based on what they already know and things they care about, McInnis says. The discussion and exchange you have about what they learned, or what they liked, or what they want to know more about, can help you plan your next virtual tour.

Give them an apron

 You can do two things at once: Engage your kids AND keep them busy while you prepare a meal.

If your family has a particularly cherished recipe you can tell you child how it’s been passed down from generation to generation. Or you can describe the part of the world where this meal originated. You can also write out a recipe with your child, having them add words or drawings as they go. Eventually you could design and publish a family cookbook with your child as a significant contributor.

You can give children basic, age appropriate tasks, like rinsing food, or tearing up herbs or lettuce. It’s also a good opportunity to talk about the importance of following steps when preparing meals and teaching them about food safety. 

One more hack: The slow cooker is your friend. Take turns with your child measuring ingredients and filling the pot. You can start dinner early in the day, avoid using a stove, and still enjoy a nice hot meal.    

Take a stroll

Nature or community walks are a great way to get out your home and into your community space. It's also an opportunity for you to talk about nature, perhaps naming some trees you see, birds overhead, or flowers in your window box. 

If there isn't much green around your community, there is an opportunity to talk about environmental print. Stop signs are octagons and other street signs have different shapes; use the world around you to engage in discussions around shapes, colors, and letters we see every day.  

Introduce an experiment

  People often assume science lessons are for older children. But thanks to their natural curiosity, younger children are great scientists too.

Try a game of sink or float for your first experiment. Create a chart, help the child write or draw objects, and then have them predict if the objects will sink or float in a bowl of water.

Kids will often pause if you ask about an egg, because of the shape. Or you can ask about a piece of tinfoil folded like the hull of a boat versus a ball of aluminum foil. This can lead to a conversation about buoyancy and water displacement.

For the next experiment, the child can find objects to test. Note: Your smartphone will sink. Don’t test that. 

Freeze dance!

Dance parties are fun, and as your kids learn songs, they can help you write out the lyrics or names of songs in a playlist. Or open the recycle bin to find materials to make your own drums and maracas, and make the music yourselves.

Jam out to your favorite tunes or dance while playing your homemade instruments — and when you pause the music, it’s time to freeze your body!

And remember, if you and/or your child are working virtually for an extended period of time, dance parties are a fun, simple way to take a break.

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Morning Work

Teaching tips, 35 fun literacy activities to help kids with reading.

Did you know that children who are  read to  at least three times a week are almost  twice as likely  to score in the top 25% in reading compared to children who are read to less often?

Some of the best ways to help children are through some simple literacy ideas that you can do at home or in the classroom. It really doesn’t have to be hard! I promise! Make it easy!

Let’s check out 35 fun literacy activities for kids. There are so many that don’t even involve supplies!

What Exactly are Early Literacy Skills?

Early literacy skills in young children are the fundamental skills they need in order to start reading and writing.

Early literacy skills are all encompassing:

✩ phonological awareness

✩ print awareness

✩ letter recognition

✩ vocabulary skills

✩ comprehension

✩ listening skills

✩ fine motor skills

✩ narrative skills

✩ early writing skills

Let’s even throw in language skills! 

I know what you might be thinking…

… this list of basic literacy skills is LONG!

Parents, caregivers and teachers can all help early childhood ages with these skills by providing a print-rich environment, engaging in conversations, reading regularly and offering activities that promote phonological awareness.

But don’t worry! I’ve got some super simple and fun ideas below that will take no time and barely any supplies to start implementing TODAY!

Starting with the  Kindergarten Literacy Games Pack  for some of my very favorite early literacy activities!

Phonological Awareness Activities for Kindergarten

What is phonological awareness exactly?

Phonological awareness  means being able to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language. The sounds that make up a word are also called  phonemes . There are actually 44 phonemes in the english language! It involves skills such as understanding rhyming, blending, segmenting and understanding the different sounds in a word.

There are many different ways to work on phonological awareness skills in kindergarten. Let’s look at some fun activities below to use with children to help improve their literacy skills !

1. Syllable Scoops (FREE ACTIVITY!)

Syllable Scoops

This fun little game is for 2-4 players. Each player will need ten small objects such as mini erasers or pom-pom balls for their “ice cream.” Students will draw a card, count the syllables and cover up an ice cream cone with that number.

Other than that, just print, cut, and you’re ready to play and have fun! We typically used this game during math centers in kindergarten!

You can download the Syllable Scoops game for free! Just add your info below and it will be sent straight to your inbox.

2. Read Picture Books

As I stated above, reading books to kids sets up a strong foundation for making them both better readers and writers.

Set aside a read aloud time in your classroom; I always liked to do this right after lunch time. If you are a parent and looking for literacy ideas at home, read your child’s favorite story to them at bedtime or right when they wake up. Talk about simple words in the story to help them with vocabulary development. 

For example, if there is a tow truck in the story, point to it and label it for your child: “Ooh-I see a tow truck. I wonder where it’s going?”

3. Sing Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are another great way to easily sneak in a literacy activity in your day. Babies all the way up to kindergartners (and sometimes older) love nursery rhymes!

I bet you don’t even realize how many different literacy skills you can hit with singing nursery rhymes!

They help kids to understand rhyming skills, how to sequence a story because they usually have a beginning, middle and end, plus they also help with recall and memorization!

4. Street Signs & Environmental Print

Environmental print is all the words and signs that you see around you every day – like stop signs, store names and logos.

Think about the golden arches-kids know by a pretty young age that that is the sign for McDonalds. They may also recognize the environmental print for places like Wal-Mart, Target and Chick-fila. They are going to know the environmental print of the places they frequent the most often.

Make sure you are naming places as you drive by or even when in a building, simply point out the restroom or exit signs. These are all ways to practice reading and vocabulary words!

5. Magnetic Letters

Magnets are tons of fun! 

What’s even more fun?! Magnetic letters! Try the  Letter Magnet Cards  in your literacy centers and watch the engagement unfold!

You can also grab  tons  of magnetic letter activities to use in your kindergarten classroom first thing in the morning with  Morning Tubs ! There are a lot of awesome magnetic letter activities and early literacy activities for preschoolers and kindergartners to try!

6. Introduce New Sight Words/ High Frequency Words

In preschool and kindergarten, young children start to be exposed to sight words to strengthen their reading skills. These may also be referred to as high-frequency words . These are simply words that kind of “break the rules” in the english language and maybe don’t follow a specific spelling pattern but are seen frequently in text. Words like: “is, the, saw, little, not” (just to name a few).

It’s important for students to master these types of words at a young age since they are seen in text so often so it will help students be more fluent in their reading as they grow older.

You don’t have to make sight word practice boring:

You can practice in a playful way such as writing them in chalk, rainbow writing or building with magnetic letters.

You could also try to  create sight word mini books  or have students  read and sort their sight words.

Plus-when you read books aloud to students, always point out the high frequency sight words while you are reading!

There are also tons of new sight word activities to use each month in the  Kindergarten Literacy Centers Bundle.

Recognizing rhyming words is a  basic level of phonological awareness.

Start by simply saying two words and having children tell you if they rhyme or not. 

For more ideas check out  43 Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten  from  My Teaching Cupboard  to start or try one of the fun literacy games from the  Kindergarten Literacy Pack   based upon the Science of Reading.

8. Practice Alphabet Letters at Bath Time

If you are a parent reading this, you know how fun bath time can be. Kids are silly, they usually have a ton of things to talk about and they want to play.

Bath time can actually be the perfect time to help children work on early literacy skills.

Use foam alphabet letters to help them distinguish the difference between lowercase letters and uppercase letters. You could just practice naming the letters, naming the letter sounds or putting the letters in order on the bath tile! So many opportunities here!

9. Make Letter Shapes Out of Play Dough

Most all children love play dough!

Why not take something that they are interested in and use it to help their learning?! 

Making letter shapes out of play dough is such fun way to work on  fine motor skills  too!

10. Word Games

For this idea, you can really be creative with it and differentiate it to fit your classroom needs.

There are many types of word games you can play with kids to help their phonics skills:

• Sight Word Bingo
• Word Wall Relay: Students race to the word word wall and tap on the word the teacher calls out first.
• Sight Word Pictionary
• Sight Word Simon Says: Simon says touch the word “the” (have the sight word cards spread out around the room)

11. Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Going on a scavenger around the school is yet another neat idea for a literacy activity. Simply make the clues all having to do with phonics.

Check out some ideas for clues:

• Find an object that starts with the letter B.
• Find something that rhymes with bat.
• Locate a book that has the word  is  in the title.

12. Literacy File Folder Games

Having some simple file folder games to pull for independent work or small group time is another really simple way to help younger children with phonological and early literacy skills.

I used these  Literacy File Folder Games  because they aligned with Common Core standards and there are 24 different games to choose from.

They range from upper and lowercase matching to beginning sounds, ending sounds and CVC words. This makes them perfect for differentiating within groups in your class!

13.  Sound Sorting

This sorting literacy activity for kids is a great fine motor activity as well. Kids should cut the pictures out on each page and sort them under each letter, according to the sound they start with.

This activity keeps little hands busy and having fun as they color, cut and glue while learning! 

14. Everyday Activities

When you think about it, there are actually ways that we can practice literacy skills in everyday activities.

When a child is involved in pretend play, there are so many different ways that you can sneak in learning about phonological awareness:

Make him or her the chef of the kitchen and have them create a restaurant menu.

Write letters to friends and have your child deliver them as the mailman.

Play school and they can be the teacher.

When you take your child to places like the grocery store, look for letters and sight words within the store and on the products. Talk about the letters that the fruits and vegetables you are picking up begin with.

Take the child’s lead and go with their interests on this. It will make it more fun for them and they will want to continue playing longer and be more engaged.

15. Alphabet Songs

Singing alphabet songs are some of the main building blocks of literacy. The more your child is exposed to the alphabet, the better they will know it!

Try having the Alexa play the alphabet song while you are making dinner, sing it during bath time or sing it while you brush your teeth!

16. Labeling Everyday Objects

Labeling everyday objects is another great way to work on literacy development. This is especially important for really young kids like babies and toddlers. It’s important to constantly talk about what we are doing so that kids can help interpret what the meaning of a word is.

For example, if you are mopping the kitchen floor-say that out loud. I’m mopping the kitchen floor because it’s dirty. 

17. Alphabet Puzzles

Alphabet puzzles are another simple activity for kids during anytime of the day. Letter recognition skills become of utmost importance by the time kids enter kindergarten so they have the right tools for reading.

This set is one of my favorites!

18. Letters of the Alphabet Treasure Hunt

Print out some  alphabet letter cards  in advance. 

Hide the letters around the school or classroom in advance. (This is a great after lunch activity!) 

Explain to the class that they are going on an alphabet treasure hunt, and their mission is to find all the letters of the alphabet. They MUST work together to find all 26 letters!

Begin the hunt by providing the child with the first letter. You can hand it to them or give them a clue that leads to the location of the first letter. If you don’t want to give clues for this, you actually don’t have to. They know they are done when they have all 26 letters and that is the beauty of it so if you need a fun activity in a pinch-this could be it!

Once they work together to find all 26 letters, put the letters in order, practice the sounds of each and give them a prize! (a small sucker or special eraser will do! Keep it simple!)

19. Tell a Short Story

A new activity to try is having your child or student tell short simple stories.

Encourage them to tell the family stories at home or do this as a class at school. Try to guide them to have a beginning, middle and end.

They don’t need to write the story down-they can just verbally tell you. They could also draw a picture for their story and then tell you about it.

20. Name Activities 

One of the most important life skills is for young kids to know their name, be able to spell their name and identify which letters are in their name.

Have students rainbow trace their name, outline each letter with stickers or spell their name with magnets to mix it up a bit.

21. Letter Bingo

Grab FREE Letter Bingo Cards from This Reading Mama!

22. Letter Hopscotch

This one is just like it sounds-your classic hopscotch games with letters on the board. For students that need the challenge, try putting sight words on the hopscotch board instead.

23. Salt Tray Writing

Sensory activities are the best! This is located in our  Kindergarten Literacy Bundles Pack .

24. Letter Sorting

I love a simple and timeless literacy activity and letter sorting is IT!

There are so many different good choices for letter sorting! You could have students do this in cut and paste form, making alphabet soup (aka-sorting letters into bowls with a ladle) or just a good old magnetic board. Try the  alphabet sorting mats  if you want!

The other reason I love this activity is because you can easily differentiate it depending on student’s needs:

-sort capital and uppercase letters

-sort vowels and consonants

-sort p’s, b’s and d’s

You can easily change this activity to make it look however you need it to!

25. Dab-it Alphabet Pages

Kindergartners love daubers! Use this to your advantage! They are perfect for keeping little hands busy, engaged and working on fine motor skills.

Use the dab-it pages from the Alphabet Fine Motor Pack and watch the magic happen in your classroom!

26.  Letter-Sound Coloring Pages

If you are looking for a quick and east no-prep literacy activity, simply print these 26 letter-sound coloring pages and watch the magic happen! Students will color the pictures on that page that begin with that letter. Kids stay really engaged and focused during this since their hands and minds are busy.

They work really great for morning work or literacy centers also!

27. Story Sequencing Cards

Sequencing short stories and events is a skill all kids need help with. You can print out pictures yourself or buy some sequencing cards for your home or classroom.

28. Play “I Spy”

Playing I Spy is honestly just a great game to help with vocabulary and comprehension. You can play this as a class or in the car with your child! That is the best part of I Spy- you don’t need anything at all to play!

29. Fingerprint Letters

This fine motor activity idea is from  Happy Toddler Playtime.

You’ll need a washable ink pad, paper and a marker. Start by writing large letters spread out on the paper. Then instruct your child to dip their finger on the ink pad and make fingerprints along each letter. This is a great way for little ones to start recognizing letter shapes even if they can’t quite trace with a pencil.

30. Alphabet Directed Drawing

Alphabet directed drawing is a unique way to let kids practice drawing, listen to directions and work on fine skills all while drawing things that begin with that letter of the alphabet.

31.  Make a Paper Tearing Alphabet Book

Yes every preschooler and kindergarten will probably make al alphabet book at some point in their school career. But have you ever seen a paper-tearing alphabet book?

Paper tearing is a wonderful fine motor exercise and has multiple benefits! It strengthens muscles needed for the tripod grasp.

It can improve coordination skills by working both hands at the same time. For this sweet book, simply give students a piece of colored construction paper and they will tear the paper into small pieces and glue it onto the picture that stands for that letter!

For example: A is for apple, B is for balloon, C is for carrot.

32. Create a Word Chain

This is a fun idea when you have about a 20 minute minimum block of time.

• Start by writing a simple word on the whiteboard or paper (e.g., “cat”).
• Explain to the students that you’re going to create a chain of words, where each word starts with the last letter of the previous word.
• Ask the first student to come up and say a word that starts with the last letter of the word you wrote (e.g., “cat” ends with “t,” so the next word could be “turtle”).
• Write down the new word.
• Continue the chain, with each student adding a new word to the list.
• If a student can’t think of a word, you can provide a hint or allow the next student to take their turn.
• Keep the chain going until everyone has had a turn or until you reach a designated stopping point.

33. Word Family Books

This is a set of five word family books . Students will cut out CVC words and pictures and sort them onto the correct word family page. You can have students work on one word family at a time, or they can work on two or more.

34. CVC Word Games for Older Students

Check out some different options:

Short a CVC Word Games

Short o CVC Word Games

Short i CVC Word Games

Short e CVC Word Games

Short u CVC Word Games

35. Try a Kindergarten Literacy Night at Your School!

Have students invite a family member to come up to literacy night with them to create  8 Make & Take Literacy Activities .

Hands-On Literacy Activities

For an entire bundle of hands-on literacy activities to use in centers for the school year, 

GRAB THE ENTIRE KINDERGARTEN LITERACY CENTERS BUNDLE!

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By Mary Montero

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When I first started using novel studies , I felt like I had to have elaborate packets of text-specific comprehension questions for each book we read. I was concerned about comprehension, accountability, and assessment. However, time and experience has taught me that students really thrive on choice and that there are ways to still provide rigorous reading practice without novel-specific activities. Enter, literacy choice boards!

How Literacy Choice Boards Work

Each choice board has a variety of activities that appeal to different learning styles. As a teacher, I determine how many activities students need to complete from each board and if there are any requirements. For example, sometimes I might ask students to select one activity from each column or row. 

Then students complete the activities in their reading journals during independent reading time. These activities can also become great discussion points during reading groups or centers when students share their journals. The work provides me valuable information about students’ comprehension and can also be used as assessments if needed.

Ready-To-Use Literacy Choice Boards

If you’re just starting out, differentiated choice boards are a great choice. My students always have these in their reading journals. The boards include dozens of prompts for responding to text and can be used for independent responses or literature circles. They meet many different learning styles and cover Bloom’s Taxonomy too. 

I also have two free choice boards for incorporating writing and vocabulary into your novel study. Each one has 9 different and creative ways to respond to almost any novel. 

You can download all four literacy choice boards for FREE here!

When you want your students to practice specific reading skills with their novel, I recommend using skill-based novel study choice boards . There are 33 different options here to practice fiction and nonfiction skills, including 5 specific genre related boards.

More Ways To Respond To Text

If you need even more options, my students also love these reading response task cards . I use these to engage students in thoughtful discussions and written responses about their reading all year long. The goal of these cards is to move your students beyond basic, literal understanding of what they are reading and branch out into inferential, critical thinking. Plus just like choice boards, they work with almost any book!

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

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Early Learning. Happy Teaching.

10 Hands On Literacy Ideas for Kindergarten

June 15, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

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Kindergarten is an almost magical grade to teach.

The change between what students can do on the first day and what they can do on the last day is remarkable.

And that’s because we teach so many concepts during kindergarten that form the foundation of what our students will learn for years afterward – from reading to counting to working well with others.

Early literacy, in particular, is one of my passions. When we help our students learn to read, we help them learn how to learn .

And, if we can make it fun, they’re even more likely to stick with it. Which is why I’m sharing this list of 10 hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten !

Turning literacy into an interactive lesson is the best way to make sure our early learners stay engaged.

After all, we want them to learn to love reading, right?

These resources are excellent for building literacy skills and having fun at the same time!

Read on to see the full list and how to get a free early literacy resource too.

Need ideas for teaching math in kindergarten? Take a look at this list of fun counting books to read with kids !

Apple CVC Word Building Activity

Help your kindergartners practice phonics and spelling with this fun apple-themed word building activity!

Use the word cards at centers and let students practice threading the CVC words for themselves. Check out this resource .

Use highlighters for phonics practice .

When you’re working with printed worksheets, add a little fun by letting students use highlighters!

They can write a new word and then highlight isolated letter sounds, such as the beginning sound, the vowel sound, the ending sound, and more.

Cupcake Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Matching

Working on recognizing uppercase and lowercase letters?

This hands-on cupcake letter matching activity is a perfect activity for early centers! Check out this resource .

Use magnetic or foam letters at centers.

Letting students move letters around is a fun way to show them how word sounds change, depending on the position of each letter.

Hand out individual magnet boards and let the kids spell out words for themselves. Here is a great magnetic letters kit for early readers. (affiliate link)

Use sidewalk chalk for outdoor literacy practice.

When the weather’s nice, take the class outside for the day’s reading lesson!

Draw a few vowels on the pavement and let the kids run to the vowel sound you say. You can also write a few CVC words on the concrete and let them find each one, based on how it sounds.

Sign Language Alphabet Learning Cards

Help your early readers practice recognizing written letters while learning sign language! And they make a fantastic addition to your collection of hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten.

These printable sign language alphabet learning cards are excellent for building hand-eye coordination and learning to spell in ASL! Check out this resource.

Vowel Houses Short Vowel Sound Activity

If you take a few minutes to prep a reusable activity, you can set up a center lesson that kids will use again and again.

This Vowel Houses CVC Word Activity is fantastic for centers! Students can practice placing the pictures in the correct houses by reading the words and listening for the vowel sound. Check out this resource.

Rhyming Word Puzzles

Kindergarten is the grade for learning about rhyming words. These printable rhyming word puzzles are awesome for centers and morning tubs!

Plus, they come with a non-labeled set, so students can practice listening for the rhyming sound and reading it. Check out this resource.

Use a whiteboard to introduce early ELA skills.

As your students build reading fluency, you’ll start introducing them to what sentences should look like – capitalizing first letters, ending with the right punctuation, and so on.

I like to use a whiteboard to write sentences incorrectly and then ask my students what I need to change. They love pointing out my mistakes!

Cookie and Cupcake Themed Alphabet Practice

If you need a quick take-home activity for students, this cookie and cupcake themed alphabet practice set is perfect!

These alphabet worksheets feature five literacy activities for early readers that help them practice recognizing and using letters – with a fun dessert theme.

To get your copy of these printable Sweet Treats! Literacy Worksheets, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox – free!

You’ll also get our newsletter this Sunday night!

>>> Cookie and Cupcake Alphabet Worksheets

Did you like this list of hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten? Try some of these other ideas for building early literacy skills!

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10 Helpful Homework Ideas and Tips for Primary School Teachers

Written by Holly (Teach Starter)

Homework ideas… Yep, I’m going there! It is always a hot topic of debate between everyone involved in the education field. Here at Teach Starter , we want to help you ensure that the homework you set meaningful and manageable  for your students, their parents and yourself! Deciding on how to set homework, or whether to set homework at all, can be hard when there are so many different opinions and factors pushing and pulling against it.

Parents, either love it or hate it! Principals and leadership teams, either love it or hate it! Teachers are usually the ones stuck in the middle, trying to balance these external pressures with their own beliefs about homework and what is best for the children in their class. We know that it can be a tricky position to be in…

It’s very easy for teachers and schools to say, the research states that homework is not beneficial so no work will be going home! However, there are definitely aspects of the ‘homework’ concept that are beneficial to children and their parents. This blog will outline some helpful homework ideas and concepts that are suitable for primary teachers.

Homework Ideas for Teachers

Here you’ll find practical ideas, homework activities and printable resources. This collection of homework ideas will help you to send your students home with tailored homework activities that will be beneficial to their learning, reinforcing and practising the skills and knowledge they are currently exploring in class. They are homework activities that will help to inform you about student understanding and ensure that students experience success and a degree of independence, which is so great for their confidence as young learners!

Reading is Essential

Reading for homework each night is a no-brainer! All children should be given the opportunity to take home something to read. This means weekly readers for lower years students to read with their parents and a library book or another appropriate book from home for middle and upper years students.

When I was teaching in the lower years, I provided the students in my class with a homework activity sheet, home readers and sight words at their level. I would always reinforce with parents that if only one thing gets done in the after school chaos that I now know (having school-aged children myself), it’s reading! Reading was always the highest priority.

I found that if students were held accountable for their reading by having to log each time they read with a parent, they were more inclined to do it. Middle and upper years students may also benefit from maintaining a home reading log. Check out our Home Reading Journal  to send home with your students.

Homework Apps

In this day and age, most children will have access to either a home computer or an iPad.

Why not encourage your children to practise their maths and reading skills at home, using apps that they are already exposed to in your classroom?

Mathletics for Homework

Mathletics is a web-based homework scheme that a lot of primary schools are utilising. This app empowers classroom teachers to set activities for homework which their students must complete before students can then go on to choose their own activities. This enables the teachers to set mathematics tasks that are suitable to each students level of ability which is so important when it comes to setting meaningful homework.

Reading Eggs

More and more Australian schools are adopting the use of the Reading Eggs scheme as a homework option. The multi-award winning online reading program for school students has been designed by Australian literacy experts and makes learning essential reading and phonics skills easy and fun. The online reading lessons, activities and books are sequenced to ensure students are working at their level!

Homework Activity Baskets

This idea came to me after writing about English rotations and Mathematics rotations for other blog posts. Why not create a similar concept, but for homework activities? Yes, it would take some time to collate the activities and set up them up, but what a fantastic way to engage your students in levelled homework activities!

• Firstly, divide your class into smaller ability groups, 3 or 4 groups would work. Each group can be given their own coloured homework basket.
• You then fill the coloured homework baskets with activities, games and task cards that the students can take home and play with parents, carers or older siblings throughout the week.
• Each Monday, students return the activity they had for the previous week and choose another one.

Check out our homework basket activities collection  for a range of great hands-on activities that would suit this style of homework set up.

Homework Grids

Homework grids have been around for a number of years now! This is a fantastic concept that can usually take a lot of time for teachers to plan and set up…

Editable Curriculum Aligned Homework Grids

Well, we have done the hard work for you! Check out our editable homework grids, each with matching activities that link with the Australian Curriculum for every year level.

[resource:570495][resource:570434][resource:569573][resource:569791][resource:569921][resource:569948][resource:22819][resource:51876]

Editable Spelling Activity Grids

Our editable  spelling activity grids are another fantastic way for students to engage with their spelling words without simply writing them out on a piece of paper or rote learning them.

Homework Folders

Creating homework folders for your students to keep their important homework information in is a fantastic way to encourage a sense of ownership and develop their independence.

Below is an example of what you might like to include in a lower years homework folder including a ring of sight words for students to practise at home.

Middle and upper years homework folders may include their homework grid, reading log and other relevant learning prompts such as editing guidelines, generic comprehension questions, times tables and grammar and punctuation reminders.

Homework Task Cards

Sending home a challenge or a task card with one activity for students to do that week is another way to engage kids in a meaningful task that they can complete with their family members.

We have a range of task cards that could suit this homework style and make great additions to the levelled homework baskets described above.

[resource:11970][resource:11855][resource:18490][resource:17462]

Create Homework Booklets Using Teach Starter Widgets

Tailored activities aside, if the above homework ideas don’t really suit what you need for your class and a traditional homework booklet/worksheet is something that you would prefer, we do have a few options that suit your needs! Our Maths Mentals widget can be used to create weekly maths questions for specific year levels. These are a great way for students to practise their all-important mental maths in a homework booklet style.

Communicate to Parents

Sending home a homework information sheet.

After deciding how your homework will look in your classroom, it is important that you communicate this to the parents of your students, especially in the early years. Sending home an information sheet at the beginning of the year will empower your students’ parents and carers, helping them to feel comfortable with how the year will look and what they can expect to be doing with their kids at home.

You may like to use our Editable Homework Information Sheet to give you an idea of what information to send home to parents.

Include Homework Information in Classroom Newsletters

Another way to communicate to parents is by sending home weekly classroom newsletters. Although this seems like a lot of work, once you have the template ready to go, it really doesn’t take long to fill in the bits of information for the week.

By including a simple homework task in your classroom newsletter, you can steer away from the traditional homework sheet, instead providing a relevant and engaging task for your students to complete that week.

You may even wish to set up a show and tell timetable for the students to present their findings or talk about their experiences from homework task each week. This also encourages them to talk in front of the peers and gives you more opportunities to sort out that speaking mark for report cards!

Use our editable classroom newsletter which is available in colour and black and white.

Do you prefer traditional homework styles or new concepts?

Let us know in the comments section of this blog..

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11 Comments

Yes Sarah. LOVE IT!!!

Would love there to be a button here where I can download all the resources at once rather than go into each activity and download it separately.

Hi Sarah, This is an awesome idea and we are discussing ways to implement this for our future blog posts. We really appreciate your feedback. If there is anything else I can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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November 18, 2023

8 top holiday literacy resources your students will love + freebies.

December is often a busy time not just in the classroom, but in our personal lives as well. That coupled with the holiday excitement that the students bring to school each day, it can feel overwhelming to manage everyone and everything. I found over the years that when I bring the holiday fun into the classroom with purposeful, engaging activities, things seem to feel a bit less chaotic. So I say let’s bring on the Polar Express, holidays around the world, and reindeer by including holiday literacy activities in lesson planning.

Today I want to share some of my favorite holiday literacy resources to add some holiday cheer to your literacy block. Additionally, many of these resources also make great displays for the hallway or your classroom.

Why I Love Integrating Literacy and Holidays

During a busy season like the holidays, you can make more time to do fun holiday activities and crafts when you get creative with how you fit them into your day. Through read alouds, shared reading, interactive notebook activities, writing crafts, and themed centers, we can easily integrate reading and writing through the season to bring holiday cheer in our classrooms while improving literacy skills.

I also love any opportunity to sneak in extra practice with writing conventions, reading comprehension, and word work. When we do activities that are truly engaging, my students don’t always realize that they are learning and practicing important skills at the same time.

Top Holiday Literacy Activities

These are some of my favorite holiday literacy activities for kinder, first, and second grades. I also sprinkled in some freebies , so be sure to check them out!

December Literacy Stations

One great way to bring holiday literacy activities to your classroom is through literacy centers. Holiday-themed literacy stations always bring cheer to your reading block time! The December Literacy Stations has seven centers for you to use this month:

• Book Making
• Sight Words
• Pocket Chart

With simple-to-prep stations, you and your students will all love these engaging activities!

Get December Literacy Stations HERE!

Gingerbread Writing Craftivity

The Gingerbread Writing Craftivity is perfect for your students to self-assess their own writing! For each writing convention, the students earn a part of their gingerbread kid. It’s a great way to integrate some meaningful writing and be purposeful with an adorable craft! Plus, the finished activity makes a great display for the holiday season.

Get the Gingerbread Writing Craftivity HERE!

Gingerbread Man Activities and Literacy Activities

With 18 different reading and writing activities for everything gingerbread, this Gingerbread Printables resource will bring a ton of fun to your literacy time! The gingerbread holiday literacy activities include retelling, sequencing, comparing different gingerbread books, a mini book, writing activities, and everything you need for a gingerbread man hunt!

Get the Gingerbread Printables HERE!

FREE Mouse and Movie Retelling Activity

After reading the book If You Take a Mouse to the Movies , use this FREE Mouse and Movies Retelling activity for students to practice sequencing. My students and I loved any chance we could to make a purposeful craft! For younger students, they can draw what happens in the book. First and second graders can write (and draw) the events.

Get the FREE Mouse and Movies Activity HERE!

Holiday Flip Books

These 19 Holiday Flip Books are perfect for your social studies or science interactive notebooks. They can be used after reading The Polar Express, after an elf visits your classroom, or as you learn about reindeer! They are also a great fit for teaching about Christmas Around the World and are a great way to integrate literacy!

Get the Holiday Flip Books HERE!

Christmas Around the World Flip Up Book Bundle

Do you teach Christmas around the world, but struggle to find a way for students to document their learning and keep up with each country’s traditions? The Christmas Around the World Flip Up Books are for you!

They are the perfect little activities for your students to be engaged as they learn about Christmas Around the World! Each flip book includes reading, sorting, and writing! It is easy to create with the printing instructions that are included.

Get the Christmas Around the World Flip Up Books HERE!

Winter Word Making Freebie

This little activity has three mystery word making activities for you to do whole group, in a small group, or even to drop in a word work center. You could also make it a competition during your holiday party. Students will use the letters provided and see how many words they can build. This activity is always a hit!

Get the Winter Work Making Freebie HERE!

Holidays Around the World Bundle

This Holidays Around the World unit helps students compare and contrast Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas. It makes it simple to learn about Kwanzaa , Hanukkah , and Christmas as you celebrate them all! You’ll easily integrate reading and writing with social studies with each of these resources.

Each resource has graphic organizers, vocabulary cards, sorting activities, and a craft. You’ll be set for social studies for the whole month with packing in lots of literacy at the same time! I bundled them together so you get all three units for the price of two!

Get the Holidays Around the World Bundle HERE!

I know the month of December can feel a little chaotic in the classroom. That’s why I like to harness the holiday excitement and integrate holiday fun into reading and writing as much as possible. All of these holiday literacy activities do just that! You can also shop my whole shop’s Christmas and holiday section of resources HERE .

Happy Teaching,

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EASILY PLAN YOUR K-2 READING SMALL GROUPS​

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This  FREE  guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

Hi, I'm Amanda

I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students  love  and that are  easy to implement  for teachers.  Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!

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Reading Homework: Making it Meaningful

By OneStopTeacherShop

As a teacher, I always made it my goal to make sure everything I did, or made my students do, was meaningful. Whether it be reading homework, math centers, or morning work, I didn’t like wasting time; my time, or my students’ time.  In addition, I always liked to know that real learning was taking place.  I never wanted to passively assign my students to complete some work, collect a worksheet, and give a grade.  I wanted to see my student’s thinking and feel confident that the work they did was rigorous and accomplished my goals as a teacher.  Reading homework was no exception.

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For reading homework, I always assigned my students nightly reading and gave them a reading log to complete. Although I never wanted to admit it, I knew that a completed reading log at the end of each week didn’t mean any REAL reading actually took place.  It was a problem I was aware of but was too exhausted to find a solution for.   It was more than that, though.  I had multiple issues.

My Problems…

• I had no way of knowing if students were actually reading each night.
• Even if students were reading, were they understanding their reading?
• Students weren’t practicing the reading skills I needed them to practice.
• Was this type of homework (reading logs) meaningful for ALL of my students?

While I do believe children should read purely for the enjoyment of reading, I knew as a teacher I wanted a bit more.  I wanted something that I could give my students that would NOT be overwhelming and would reinforce the reading skills I wanted them to practice.  This is exactly why I FINALLY created a reading homework system that would solve my problems.

My Solution! I created a reading homework system that…

• Exposes students to a new, rigorous, grade-level appropriate text each week.
• Focuses on a particular skill (currently learning) while also reinforcing skills that have already been taught.
• Requires students to answer text-dependent questions that demand real thinking about the text.
• Is short and meaningful…not overwhelming.

Sounds too good to be true, right? I thought the same thing, but I figured out a way to create such a resource. Here is how it works!

• Each week students get the weekly passage and a set of questions broken up into four days (Monday through Thursday).
• The text is on-grade level, rigorous, and provides practice with the current skill that is being taught.
• Each day, students work through four questions using the same text.  Questions are text-dependent and vary in complexity as the days go on and students are more familiar with the text.

To make it even better, I’ve turned it into a 100% digital resource! You can learn more HERE.

That’s it! Simple. This little nightly assignment provides students with meaningful reading practice without taking up too much time and becoming a burden.  Students reread the passage each night, improving comprehension and fluency naturally.  Also, I love the fact that this assignment can give the teacher a quick peek into what each student still needs help with. If a student is struggling with “Main Idea”, you are going to know it without having to formally assess.

Be sure to check out my other blog post on Getting Rid of Reading Logs!

Be sure to download all of my Reading FREEBIES !

If you love it and want to grab an entire year’s worth for your class, you can find this resource available in Printable and Digital versions.

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Creative Homework Ideas For Your Students

Setting appropriate homework tasks is a big part of your teaching role. Setting homework is an opportunity to ensure that your students have absorbed the lesson and can apply what they've learnt to individual study. Homework allows students to reflect on your teachings and broaden their understanding of a particular subject or topic.

However, motivating your class to view homework this way might be something of a challenge! Most young people find settling down to complete homework outside of school hours challenging. If the task feels overwhelming or difficult or seems monotonous, they might just go through the motions of getting it done rather than giving it their full energy and attention and completing it the best they can.

So how can you ensure students' love of learning continues outside the classroom and that they not only give their all to completing homework but actually enjoy it too?

By getting creative with the work you set and thinking about how you can engage and motivate students to complete their homework, you will undoubtedly see better results.

Here are some excellent homework ideas to help encourage creative, student-led learning.

Exciting, engaging homework ideas to keep your students paying attention

Write their own lesson plan.

If you want to give your students a chance to step into your shoes for the day, why don't you ask them to create their own lesson plan around a topic they've learnt about or are about to learn? This will give them a chance to showcase their knowledge, do research and think creatively. You'll also learn more about how your students like to work and what would make a good lesson from their perspective, which could help inform how you shape your lessons in the future.

Write a speech or story from a different perspective

If your students are learning about a famous historical figure or studying a classic text, why not get them to think about different perspectives? You could ask them to embody someone influential from a particular period or a character from a play or story and write a speech or story from that person's point of view.

Create a board game

Gamification is always a fun idea to try to inject energy into the classroom, and getting your students to create their very own board game is a fantastic way to keep things fun while also getting them engaged in their learning. Games could centre around a particular topic; they could be quiz-based, matching games, or number games - let them get as creative as they like. You can then have fun in class playing the best ones too.

Go on a treasure hunt

As a fun homework task that will get your students out and about, ask them to go on a treasure or scavenger hunt, finding certain things that are related to your topic. For younger children, this could be as simple as collecting leaves, flowers, or twigs they might find in their local park, or particular shapes or colours, but older children can benefit from this kind of task too by setting more complicated challenges.

Create a collage

Creating collages can be a fun and interesting way for students to demonstrate their learning, improve their research skills and use their creativity and imagination and can be based on a variety of different topics so they work well across lots of subjects. Encourage them to stick cutouts, fabrics, tickets, photographs, and any other relevant materials to make up their collages, and then they can take turns presenting these in class.

Film a video

If your students are older and have mobile phones, you could set a video-making task for them to do at home. This could involve interviewing friends and relatives about a topic or filming themselves talking about a specific subject, or answering a particular question. Students could share their videos in class and will love being able to use their phones in school for once!

Create a crossword

Get your students to think creatively about questions and answers by asking them to create their very own crossword puzzle, using the material you've taught them in class as a basis. You can ask them to bring all their crossword puzzles into class and then swap them with each other to see if other students can fit the answers in correctly.

Find fun facts

Almost every subject has weird and wonderful facts surrounding it. Did you know, for example, that the word 'hundred' derives from an old Norse term 'hundrath,' which actually means 120?! Or that water can both boil and freeze simultaneously? Encourage your students to find the most obscure or interesting facts about the subjects you are teaching them, and then you can all share your findings in class.

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Literacy based homework ideas

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

21 October 2013

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Really good ideas - just what I needed for year 5/6 homework grid. Thank you for saving my shattered brain at the end of this first week back!!!

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tasneem_hussain79

Some useful ideas thank you.

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