I have gotten a bunch of questions lately about my homework system. I have also gotten some questions about what worksheets are in my independent language binders from my fluency station. I basically use the same system for selecting worksheets for home and binders.
Here is my system:
Any worksheets I find that I like – I print. Even if they don’t exactly fit the students I have at the moment, my classroom is always changing and you never know what level your new students will be at. I organize all of my worksheets into binders. I generally organize them by concept and level (ie. easy comprehension, hard comprehension, easy matching (pictures), matching with words).
I highly recommend investing in a heavy duty 3 hole punch (if you school is like mine and doesn’t have any fancy copier capabilities such a hole punching). For some reason – I dread putting worksheets away and I realized it took so long because the holes were uneven from different packets. The industrial 3-hole punch to the rescue! Ahhh… pretty much embarrassing how happy that made me …
When I make homework packets for kids, I make enough for about a month or 2. I look back through my lesson plans or a cheat sheet like this I made:
… and select which worksheets are appropriate. I want homework and independent work to be mastered and doable but not way to easy either. I make copies all the appropriate sheets for each kid and then make a big assembly line of worksheets and choose 2-4 worksheets for a packet and staple them!
Worksheets get stored in file dividers according to student:
Each student has a homework folder:
When they get to school in the morning, the first step in their AM Routine is homework.
They submit their homework to the finished bin and then put a new packet into their folder!
Pros and Cons to the system: It takes a LONG time to set up all the packets but once you are done – you’re done! For my higher students, this system runs itself.
I make a lot of worksheets but no need to reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to! I also print a lot of worksheets from online. Here are where I get some of these lovely worksheets:
I have found some easy writing/spelling worksheets here:
- Using TAH Curriculum for Homeschooling from a Homeschooling Parent - September 10, 2022
- Using The Autism Helper Curriculum for Homeschool - August 8, 2022
- Literacy Subject Overview in The Autism Helper Curriculum - August 2, 2022
I send home a homework packet every Monday and it is due on Friday. My parents then have the option to do one page every night or a few pages on a night that they don’t have any thing else. This has really helped me this year to keep up on homework. I copy everything Friday and have it ready to go on Mondays.
Sasha, you are an amazing teacher.
Hi Sasha!
Homework is one of the TOUGHEST things for me to get running in my class. How often are you sending these 2-4 page packets home? One a day? One a week? Do you send homework on the weekends too or just on weeknights? Any suggestions would be awesome!
I like that idea! I do that with one of my kids because his parents are really involved. When I tried this some of my other guys – they bring home the whole packet finished the next day.
Thank you, Joan!! That’s so sweet 🙂
For my higher guys, we send home homework every night (not usually on the weekends). For some students, I assign something different each night (related to what we worked on that day). But my other guys, switch out packets on their own as part of their morning routing. They submit their finished packet and get a new packet. This is a thousand times easy than other systems I have used. 🙂
You might find our Free Language Arts web site helpful for tons of free worksheets. All materials are aligned to the Common Core Curriculum.
What web site is Nancy referring to?
Hi!
I’m in my first year of teaching and I’m would like to get some worksheets like these ones in spanish because I teach in Puerto Rico. Could you give me some recommendations of where to get them?
Hi Ana! I have a few Spanish resources here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Autism-Helper/Search:en+espanol