I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Responsibility

Essential Question:

What is your reaction to the saying, “practice makes perfect”?

Bridge:

What Practice Looks Like

Content:

Study Skills: Rationale for Homework

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: The student will experience a situation in which practice makes a difference.

Activity: Classroom Olympics. Working in three groups, students participate in a three part competition against two other groups. The three events are: 1) throwing paper wads into a trash can 12 feet away (3 tosses each). 2) dropping 10 pennies in a coffee cup over the shoulder (best of 2 tries each). 3) flipping and calling the toss of a coin (total of 5 tries). Do not explain the competition to the students. Instead, tell them that they will be doing three different things during this class session. They are to read and follow the directions to any other. Hand out the following directions and work on student compliance. Group 1: You are to visit the library to select an independent reading book. You must be back in class in 15 minutes. Allow these group members to leave. Group 2: You are to write in your journals for seven minutes. At the end of this time, you will receive new directions. Group 3: You are to meet me in the hall as soon as you finish reading these directions. Get group 2 started and meet group 3 in the hall. Once there, quickly brief them on the activity and get them started practicing for the three events. Rotate them quickly through the activities. After seven minutes, meet group 2 in the classroom. Explain to them the three part competition which will take place shortly and allow them to practice for the three events for about five minutes. When the first group returns to class, direct everyone to be seated. Introduce the three part competition and explain that the three groups will compromise the competing teams. Hold the competition. Average the scores of the teams in each of the events. Rank order the teams according to the results.

Assessment: Student understanding of the experience is indicated by statements made during the following discussion.

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: The student will evaluate the results, determining the relationship between group performance and the amount of practice time afforded the group.

Activity: Discussion. Discuss the results of the Classroom Olympics. Was there any relationship between the scores and the practice times? If so, what was it? Why do you think this happened? What do you think might happen if some groups were given even more time to practice? What did the groups which practiced have to give up that the other groups got? Can you think of any other time you might have to give something up in order to get time to practice something? How does practice time relate to final scores? In what other areas in your life can this be seen?

Assessment: Measures of student understanding can be determined both from their answers during the discussion and their written answers to the following question: WHY practice?

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: The student will be able to relate homework to academic achievement.

Activity: Homework as Practice. Students, working in small groups, are given multiple examples of homework assigned at different levels and in different classes. Each group is to carefully consider the assignments and decide what is being practiced. They are then to create a 'Practice Poster' for each. For example: Wanted: Accuracy in Recognizing Nouns: Description: A noun is a part of speech naming a person, place, or thing. Last Seen: Nouns are regularly seen in sentences. They appear in the sentences of the assignment below. Reward: A successful learner; a pat on the back; a feeling of accomplishment; a good grade.

Assessment: Quality of student posters.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: The student will be able to name the benefits of work completion.

Activity: Talk to the Experts. Present the students with typical questions about homework asked by students their age. Discuss possible answers and then reveal the answers of the experts. 1. Does practice really always make perfect? No. To improve your skills, you need to practice in a certain way. For one thing, you need to practice a short, meaningful chunk of material at a time. As you practice, you need to check to be sure that you're right. If you don't, you might practice--and therefore learn--the wrong thing. So as you work on your homework, you need to be concentrating on it, and checking yourself at short intervals. 2. How long should I spend each evening on homework? It depends. Classes and teachers differ. Usually at the middle school level, you can count on about one to one and a half hours of homework a night. You might be advised to try to mix the types of work you have. That is, the more meaningful the work is and the better you concentrate on it, the more you learn. It's hard to concentrate on the same type of thing over a long time. Therefore, if you change the kinds of work you do, like work on a written assignment, switch to math problems, and then go back to another written assignment, you may get more out of your work. 3. Does doing the same thing over and over really help me to learn? It does to a point. Research shows that when learning a new skill, you need to practice over and over again in different ways in the beginning. This is called 'massed' practice. You learn a great deal in a short period of time, but you tend to forget it after awhile. In order to remember the skill for a long time, you need to practice it again, but space the times you practice further and further apart. This is called 'distributed practice' and allows for long-term memory. 4. When should I check my work? As often as possible. As you do your work, stop periodically and check to be sure you are doing the task correctly. Be sure that you listen to the teacher and check your work in class the next day. To practice without knowing whether or not you're doing the right thing, often does no good.

Assessment: Student answers to questions during the presentation provides a measure of their understanding of the material.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: The student will be able to explain the fundamentals of meaningful practice covered.

Activity: Why Should We Do Homework? Students complete the activity sheet giving answers to the importance of doing homework.

Name_________________________________

Why Do Homework?

Answer the question, “Why do homeowrk?” to each student below:
1. John seems to know what’s going on in class each day. He listens to the teacher explain how to do things and watches her do sample problems on the board. Why should he do problems at home for homework?
2. Kim worked really hard on last night’s homework. However, she missed all of the problems. Her teacher explained her mistake to her in class today. Why should she do more problems for homework?
3. Reggie loves to talk. He tried to listen during class, but he can’t seem to pay close attention. There are just too many friends to talk to. Why does Reggie need to do his homework after class?
4. David has trouble finishing his homework on time. During math class, he’s usually working on his language homework which is due the next period. And during language class, he often works on his science which is due next. Why does David need to do his homework at home?
5.Teddy and Max are good friends. They do most things together. They belong to the same baseball team. They hang out together. They eat lunch together and go most places together. They even do homework together. Teddy does the math homework and Max does language. Then they trade papers and copy. How are Teddy and Max both being cheated out of learning as much as they can? Why do they both need to do their own homework?

Assessment: Student responses to the activity sheet provide a measure of his/her mastery.

Assessment:

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: The student will create a visual presentation of conflicts which can occur to anyone completing homework.

Activity:Choices Dilemma. In small groups, students design a sculpture using themselves and labels made from paper, markers, pictures-whatever items are at hand-depicting the many things which tempt students away from homework. Together brainstorm a list of these things and write on the board. After allowing time for groups to work, have each present its sculpture to the class. Discuss the specific dilemmas shown in each.

Assessment: The conflicts presented by group sculptures provide the basis for measurement of the above objects.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: The student will create strategies to ease the problems which may occur to keep one from doing homework.

Activity: First Aid for Homework. Working in small groups, students create plans to cure homework problems. In so doing, they address the problems shown in the sculptures, creating a pamphlet which suggests ways to alleviate them. Possible solutions might include using comfortable furniture, bright lighting, asking for help from parents, or just having the family dog nearby.

Assessment: The pamphlet created provides a measure of student learning.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: The student will create strategies to ease the problems which may occur to keep one from doing homework.

Activity: First Aid for Homework. Working in small groups, students create plans to cure homework problems. In so doing, they address the problems shown in the sculptures, creating a pamphlet which suggests ways to alleviate them. Possible solutions might include using comfortable furniture, bright lighting, asking for help from parents, or just having the family dog nearby.

Assessment: The pamphlet created provides a measure of student learning.

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: