English Homework

Hamilton Homework Activities draw upon the following:

Key objectives and pivotal skills
Homework activities should focus on practising and developing skills in English that are crucial learning for the year group concerned.

Use the home!
The best homework activities use the home-context in real-life scenarios. This helps children to deepen their understanding and take ownership of the skills.

Play the game
Game play, a key contributor to learning, is ideally situated in the home – there are never enough adults to go round in class – home is the perfect one-on-one context!

Shared activities
Rather than children doing their homework in isolation, homework should be shared! Evidence strongly suggests that children sharing an activity with a parent or carer is of far more use than their doing more individual exercises or skills. LOTS of gain comes from children explaining something they have learned to a parent and sharing an activity in a relaxed and enjoyable way.

Homework is the main contact for parents with their child’s work at school. This partly explains why parents tend to set so much store by homework. Two key tips about sending homework home can prevent many problems:

It is crucial that the children understand what they have to do!

Both children and parents become frustrated if it isn't clear what is required of them or how to do it. Clear homework sheets help ensure that everyone feels confident when they start the task.

Follow-up the homework in class, for example:

• Use what the children have done at home to kick-start whole-class teaching, for example, if children have generated synonyms for 'said' at home, use these to start the discussion on how we can use more elaborated language.
• Do the activity children shared at home in class as one of the activities. Those children who know how to do it will help those who are not so sure.
• Create a display of children’s work at home. This shows the parents that work done at home is valued and important – and hopefully encourages more parents to participate!

There are twelve homework activities a term for each year group. Choose the activity to fit work you are doing. We have arranged many of the activities so that if you have a mixed-year class there are matching activities for each year-group, for example, there is a 'Bingo for Learning' activity for both Year 1 and Year 2. Look out for these pairs – they make the introduction to the homework you do with mixed-year classes much easier.

• Download a PDF of homework guidance for teachers
• Download an adaptable letter about homework to send home to parents
• Download a homework leaflet for parents
• Find English homework activities for:

Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6