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Give Meaningful Homework with Google Sites
My students were struggling with multiplication facts. Sure, I had a strategy that worked. But there just wasn’t enough time in the day. And some kids were lagging behind. I needed help – from parents. But how would I get it?
I decided to make a multiplication facts website. That way, kids could work on it at home – with their parents’ help.
Begin with the Fundamentals
Some of my kids simply needed a little work on fluency. A few, however, needed more. They still hadn’t conceptualized multiplication. So I needed to start with the basics.
First, these students would build models and work with arrays. In the homework website, I showed families how to use objects and then arrays to bolster concepts. Since I wanted them to have all the necessary materials, I linked graph paper at the bottom of the page.
This image shows the old Google Sites format (classic). To link worksheets with new Sites, simply link the URL to text or an image.
For some reason, working digitally continues to thrill students. Therefore, I added some tactile Google Slides activities too. Kids could simply move and resize rectangles to illustrate facts.
Build in Practice
Once my kids could conceptualize a fact group, I wanted them to work on patterning. For fact groups, that means skip counting. First, they write the pattern. Then they chant it. Over and over. (And for a great tactile touch that appeals to the senses, I asked them to toss something from one hand to the other.)
Before long, the pattern resides in the brain. (Maybe not permanently, but enough for the next step.) Now kids move to Quick Flash II. Yep, online flashcards. I absolutely love this free resource from Multiplication.com.
More Practice
After kids know their fact groups, it’s time for fluency. Multiplication.com offers another great tool for this: Fact Navigator. Seriously, I don’t know what I did without it. This handy game lets kids take 40-question fact tests – and automatically grades them. Anxiety is reduced. You messed up? Who cares! Just begin again.
Tracking Progress
For this set of homework activities, tracking progress is super important. Kids keep track of the facts they know and don’t know with three grids.
You Can Include Notes to Parents
Sometimes jumping into a website intimidates parents. Therefore, adding a note to them helps.
Get Results from Homework with Google Sites
This stuff really works! Here’s why:
- The teacher uses proven methods and gives clear directions.
- The website allows autonomy.
- Active learning and online games increase engagement.
- Parents get in the act. (And for once, they know what to do.)
Okay, not everyone will follow through. But just think of the progress your class will make when a big chunk of them use meaningful homework.
Other Ways to Present Homework
The multiplication facts website focused on only one skill. However, you can create one Google Site for all homework.
Google Sites in Your Classroom
How can you use Google Sites in your classroom? Let me count the ways!
- Direct learning
- Supplement learning
- Promote independent learning
- Design a webquest
- Make a PBL
- Organize a research project
- Create a collaborative website
- Make an ebook
- Flip your classroom
- Modernize a novel study
- Organize your teaching life
- Store unit plans
- Organize your Drive
- Plan curriculum
- Make lesson plans
- Manage long-range plans
- Make seating charts
- Create the ultimate teacher dashboard
The Google Sites possibilities are endless.
What are you waiting for? Try creating an instructional website today.