Homework for Beginning ESL Students:
8 Tips for Success
Written in consultation with Melissa Miller
The goals of the eight recommendations in this blog are to make homework a positive experience that can help beginning ELLs continue to learn at home.
- Keep it Brief – Assignments should reinforce what students have been taught, and have sufficient scaffolding for successful completion.
- Get to Know Your Students’ Families – If possible, directions and explanations should be translated so parents can assist their children. Conversations with the parents can inform them about how to help their children and not do the work for them. They should know that use of the home language is beneficial.
- Offer Flexibility – This involves time for completion, choices of what to read, bilingual books, and open-ended tasks.
- Assess for Completion, Not Accuracy to avoid discouragement.
- Make Homework Hard to Forget – This involves organization and clarity of the assignments.
- Create Meaningful Assignments that focus on topics of students’ personal interests and offer home language support.
- Use Homework as Preparation for Class – The authors suggest vocabulary review or listing words they do not know.
- Encourage a Homework Routine – This also involves conversations with parents so that students can be motivated to complete their assignments.
The authors conclude that, “By taking time to dig a little deeper, you’ll be able to determine how to best support your ESL student.”