BoscoS Homework rationale

"Homework provides students with opportunities to practice, review, and apply knowledge"(Hill and Flynn, 2006, p. 77).
The purpose of homework is for students to have an extended time to practice what they learned in class. Homework should be done independently or with minimal support from parents. It should allow students to feel successful and not frustrated. The purpose of homework is to have students practice skills for an appropriate amount of time for their grade level. As the student gets older, they will receive more homework. For ELL students, homework can be scaffolded for understanding with visuals or graphic organizers. If students do need additional support at home with homework, the directions can be sent home in the native language so families know what is expected. Students should understand why they are receiving homework and what the objective of the lesson is.
Feedback should always be given to students after they receive homework. This helps students understand why the homework was given and the importance of doing it. Students can check their work with each other, the teacher can go over the work with the class and they can see examples of proficiency. It is important to show students exemplars of proficient work so they know what is expected of them.
Technology can be useful for students to use at home for homework. Other than reading at home, there are websites that help students with phonics, decoding words and reading online. I give my students a list of links for them to look at to help with these skills if a computer is available for them. Also, Lexia, a reading program implemented at my school, is all done online. It helps individual students with the skills they need for reading. This program can also be done at home with a log in and password.

#9 BoscoS_Fiction vs. Nonfiction

 It is important for students to exposed to both fiction and nonfiction texts and to be able to distinguish the differences and similarities between them. It is beneficial to look at two books about the same topic where one is fiction and one is nonfiction.  It helps students understand the reason for reading each type of text and how they are different. For this assignment I chose the books The Apple Pie Family and Apples and More Apples. These books were both at a first grade reading level.

Reading nonfiction texts, there are a few things that can be confusing or difficult for ELL students. Text elements can be confusing for students if they are not taught how to use them. Sometimes nonfiction texts can seem hard to read and can be overwhelming to look at, especially for students who are learning the language. Text elements need to be directly taught for students to know how to use them and what they mean. For example, students need to be taught what 'bold' words mean and what they are used for. Students need to be directly taught how to use a table of context. Another problem that might come up for ELL students is having background knowledge about the topic. If a student doesn't know anything about the topic, they could have a hard time making connections. Even with the help of pictures, students  may need help building background knowledge and vocabulary. Vocabulary should be directly taught before reading the text.

Reading nonfiction texts for ELLs can be beneficial because of the real pictures that they can look at to deepen their understanding. These visuals can help build background knowledge and makes it easier to relate to the text. Nonfiction is concrete so it is easier for students to understand and eliminates inferring and guessing about any elements in the text.

Reading fiction can also be difficult for ELL students to understand. If students lack background knowledge a fiction story would be very hard to follow. Fiction is difficult because it could be a real story or made up and the characters can be hard to follow. Because fiction stories are sequenced in a specific order, it could confusing for students to follow the order of the story. In fiction stories it is also harder to relate or make connections. For example, after learning about apples, students read the story The Apple Pie Family. It was confusing for students because the characters in the story had machines that helped them make apple pies. Because they have never seen these machines it was hard for them to relate to the story.

Reading fiction can be beneficial because it helps students learn how to organize and sequence events in a story. It helps students learn how to use reading strategies to comprehend the story. It can help students infer and make connections to the story.