Why this teacher won't give out homework

Pre discussion questions

What is your opinion about homework?

How important do you think homework is?

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Most people agree that students need to do homework to learn. Students need homework to make learning new ideas sink in. However, one teacher has gone against the grain.

An elementary school teacher's stance on homework has gone viral.  It went viral after the mother of one of her students shared a note she received. The note had the teacher's "New Homework Policy".

The policy tells parents that that her classroom will be trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that the student didn't finish in class that day. But it will not be any extra work.

"Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance," says the teacher, Mrs Young. "Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early."

The note was posted to Facebook by mother Samantha Gallagher. The note has been shared almost 70,000 times.

Mrs Gallagher said she has been keeping the teacher updated on the feedback.  The teacher is "blown away by the response. It will be interesting to see how this teacher’s new idea turns out.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=5, B=1, C=8, D=2,E=7, F=6, G=3, H=4

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      Creative people like to go against the grain by doing things differently.

2.      I spent two hours studying and finally it sank in.

3.      Most people agreed with him, but her stance about this issue/situation was different.

4.      Psy’s video has gone viral on the internet.

5.      Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

6.      How much time you study and your grade usually correlate

7.      It was beautiful, they were blown away by the beauty.

8.      It turned out that he did not steal it.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      Do you know any teachers (or other people) who have gone against the grain? Describe how they went against the grain.

2.      How do you make new English words sink in?

3.      What is your stance on homework?

4.      How do you think the teacher feels about her teaching going viral?

5.      What did your homework consist of when you were in school?

6.      Do you agree or disagree that there is no correlation between homework and learning?

7.      Why do you think the teacher is blown away by the response to her ‘no homework’ policy?

8.      Describe an event that blew you away?

9.      How do you think this will all turn out?