Have you Considered Wondering Homework?

My fifth graders love homework passes.  They are their "get out of jail" ticket.  If they forget their HW, they can use their HW pass and not get a "date." A date is when I write down their late HW and that is how I keep track of late assignments. The HW pass allows them an extra day to get their HW completed and not get a "date."   

Up until this year, I used to give HW passes for holiday (Halloween, Christmas, Valentines) but not this year.  I shifted my thinking and now my students earn their HW pass during the holidays.  I allow my students the opportunity to choose a wonder at Wonderopolis that must be connected to something that we are learning about in school.  They must leave a STRONG comment and on our first day back from a break or for example our 4 day weekend this week, we begin our day with students sharing their comment on the Smartboard. It is a great way to build community after a long break and most importantly students are learning over break and making connections with what we have been discussing in class. I am excited that they are learning to earn their HW pass and not just being given their HW pass.  I think that is another blog post in the future....