— [http://goo.gl/N3v4Pe] English Homework in primary school in Norway_______________________(5th grade).



:: RT: Doing English Homework ▶ http://goo.gl/N3v4Pe ◀ in primary school in Norway | #Education #Pedagogy #PrimarySchool #Norway


Compulsory schooling in Norway consists of ten years: grades 1-7 in primary school and grades 8-10 in lower secondary school. The children start (primary) school the year they turn 6 or are about to turn 6 (before December 31st), and graduate (from lower secondary) the year they turn 15 or are about to turn 16. Most students attend separate primary and lower secondary schools, but about one quarter of the students are enrolled in so-called combined schools that offer both primary and lower secondary education. Schools have catchment areas, and parental choice among schools for given residence is usually not allowed. Grade repetition is not common in Norway.



There is a debate going on in Norway today on whether primary and pre-secondary school children should do homework or not. Some parents argument that it is useless; their children don't learn that much. Some children even weep over homework. But, is having no homework really a smart thing? There seem to be a positive effect of homework (in mathematics) on average. However, not all students seem to benefit from homework.

The thing is that when teachers give children homework -in this case- on the English language, their students have to memorize isolated English words, vocabulary without a context. If topics which are supposed to be taught in class are given as homework, this may affect negatively the achievement of students because they, on average, learn relatively more while in school than at home. That is the case of my two school kids -3rd and 5th graders- who have to learn 6 or 7 English words by Friday, but no context. So, as a High School Spanish and English Trainer, I have given their homework some meaning; I call this method: Learning English in Context.


Although the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests that Norway’s education system is doing an excellent job producing a population with high literacy and numeracy, a different approach is needed in their homework experience. Children and teenagers should do their homework at school, yes, in the classroom. They should learn/investigate/search stuff at home and do their "homework" in the classroom where they can get constructive feedback immediatly.

It is a widespread belief among school leaders, teachers and parents that homework is a valuable educational tool (Cooper et al., 1998). Yet the empirical literature is ambiguous when it comes to evaluating the causal effect of homework on pupil achievement in primary school (Cooper, 1989; Cooper et al., 2006; Trautwein, 2007). One reason for that may be that a majority of the studies do not take into account that homework is correlated with other factors that also influence [student] achievement, such as family background and attributes of the teachers, whereas studies with an experimental design are small scale case studies and hence lack precision (see Cooper et al., 2006 and references therein).

It is well documented in the literature that better educated parents spend more time helping their children with homework than less educated parents (Guryan et al., 2008; Rønning, 2009). To the extent that the home environment is important for whether the homework is completed or not, and hence how much pupils learn from homework, children of better educated parents may benefit more from homework than children of less educated parents (Rønning, 2009).

Although it is a common belief among educationalists that time spent on homework has a positive influence on achieve ment (e.g Hattie and Clinton, 2001), this is not always confirmed by the empirical literature (see for instance Trautwein, 2007 and references therein). One reason for this is that many studies are correlational and estimated homework effects may be confounded by weaker [students] needing more time to complete their homework assignments, or the possibility that more time devoted on homework reflects motivation and/or concentration problems (Trautwein and Köller, 2003). —Marte Rønning, "Homework and pupil achievement in Norway," Statistics Norway, January 2010.


Original Homework: Isolated New English words - Vocabulary

to cover - å dekke

to invite - å invitere

a snake - en slange

to taste - å smake

clay pot - keramikkrukke

a well - en brønn

surrounded by - omringet av


Modified Homework: English Vocabulary with Norwegian and Spanish translation

to cover - å dekke - cubrir

to invite - å invitere - invitar

a snake - en slange - una serpiente / una culebra

to taste - å smake - probar / saborear

clay pot - keramikkrukke – vasija / jarro de cerámica

a well - en brønn - un pozo

sorrounded by - omringet av - rodeado / rodeada de



Original Instruction: You must write down all of the words above and learn six of them. Good luck!

My comments: Yeah, right, good luck.


Learning English - English in Use - English in Context:

1) I want to cover my birthday cake with pink icing.

2) She has invited her friends to the movies.

3) When she was a child, she had a big snake at home.

4) We just love the taste of ginger and chili.

5) How do you make a clay pot?

6) In Guatemala, some people get water from a well.

7) My city is surrounded by mountains.


Learning English deeply - English in Use - English in Context:


Backchaining is a drilling technique intended to help learners pronounce difficult sound groups, words or phrases. The teacher begins with the last sound, which the learners repeat, and then gradually builds up the word or phrase by going 'back' to the beginning. I combine this technique with a visual tool, a videoclip that tells a story.


1) I want to cover my birthday cake with pink icing.

... icing.

... pink icing.

... with pink icing.

... cake with pink icing.

... birthday cake with pink icing.

... my birthday cake with pink icing.

... cover my birthday cake with pink icing.

... to cover my birthday cake with pink icing.

I want to cover my birthday cake with pink icing.


2) She has invited her friends to the movies.

... movies.

... the movies.

... to the movies.

... friends to the movies.

... her friends to the movies.

... invited her friends to the movies.

She has invited her friends to the movies.


3) When she was a child, she had a big snake at home.

... home.

... at home.

... a big snake at home.

... had a big snake at home.

... she had a big snake at home.

... a child, she had a big snake at home.

... was a child, she had a big snake at home.

... she was a child, he had a big snake at home.

When she was a child, she had a big snake at home.


4) We just love the taste of ginger and chili.

... chili.

... ginger and chili.

... taste of ginger and chili.

... the taste of ginger and chili.

... love the taste of ginger and chili.

... just love the taste of ginger and chili.

We just love the taste of ginger and chili.

5) How do you make a clay pot?

... pot?

... clay pot?

... a clay pot?

... make a clay pot?

... you make a clay pot?

... do you make a clay pot?

How do you make a clay pot?

6) I travelled to Malawi in South East Africa to digg a well.

... well.

... a well.

... digg a well.

... to digg a well.

... Africa to digg a well.

... East Africa to digg a well.

... South East Africa to digg a well.

... in South East Africa to digg a well.

... Malawin South East Africa to digg a well.

... to Malawin South East Africa to digg a well.

... travelled to Malawin South East Africa to digg a well.

I travelled to Malawi in South East Africa to digg a well.

7) I am surrounded by so much nature.

... nature.

... much nature.

... so much nature.

... by so much nature.

... surrounded by so much nature.

I am surrounded by so much nature.

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"English Homework in 5th grade, primary school in Norway," by Benjamin Madeira. PDF ::

English Homework in 5th grade, primary school in Norway, PDF - Official Website - BenjaminMadeira

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Youtube Playlist: Learning the English Language by using it in a context ::



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WORKS CITED — REFERENCES :

• [1] Cooper, H. (1989). Homework. White Plains, NY: Longman.

• [2] Cooper, H., Lindsay, J. J., Nye, B. and Greathouse, S. (1998). Relationships among attitudes about homework, amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 70-83.

• [3] Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C. and Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76, 1-62.

• [4] Guryan J., Hurst E. and Kearney M. S. (2008). Parental education and parental time with children. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(3), 23-46.

• [5] Hattie, J. and Clinton, J. (2001). The assessment of teachers. Teaching Education, 12, 279-300.

• [6] Rønning, M. (2009). Who benefits from homework assignments? Working Paper No 566, Statistics Norway.

• [7] Trautwein, U. (2007). The homework-achievement relation reconsidered: Differentiating homework time, homework frequency, and homework effort. Learning and Instructions, 17, 372-388.



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