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13 Entertaining ESL Homework Ideas to Keep Your Students Engaged

Homework may not be many students’ favorite thing, but research says it’s truly an effective learning tool that teachers should use .

The trick is assigning great homework.

To help you do this with ease, we’ve compiled an awesome list of 13 homework assignments that will have your ESL students begging for more.

1. Read a Short Story

2. share a passion, 3. start a chat group, 4. listen to a podcast, 5. write a letter, 6. write an amazon review, 7. do a wikipedia edit, 8. write a short story or poem, 9. share their culture, 10. catch a movie, 11. meet new people, 12. analyze a song, 13. go on a photo scavenger hunt, what makes homework effective.

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Have students read a short story for homework and then ask them to tell the class about the story in the next session.

I would recommend giving students some suggestions on what short stories to read, depending on the level of your students.

Here are some suggestions of short story collections for each level of ESL learner:

• “The Very First Americans” by Cara Ashrose: This collection of short stories features Native American culture and history, written in simple language.
• “Oxford Bookworms Library: Starter Level” This series offers simplified versions of classic stories, such as fairy tales, adventure stories and more.
• “Classic Tales for ESL Students” by L.A. Hill: This collection of classic stories from literature is retold with easier vocabulary and sentence structure.

Intermediate

• “The Best American Short Stories” This series features contemporary short stories from a wide range of American writers, so there’s something for everyone here.
• “Short Stories in English for Intermediate Learners” by Olly Richards: This collection of engaging stories is designed specifically for intermediate ESL students.
• “Roald Dahl: The Collected Short Stories” This delightful collection of quirky and imaginative tales has become a favorite of many of my students.
• “Interpreter of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri: This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of short stories explores the immigrant experience, something which many ESL students can relate to.
• “Dubliners” by James Joyce: This classic collection of interconnected stories captures the essence of Dublin in 1914. But it still feels modern to many students.
• “Nine Stories” by J.D. Salinger: This classic collection of short stories is a class favorite when I’ve used it.

What do your students really care about? Give them a chance to talk about it in front of the class. 

Have each person choose something they’re passionate about, something they might consider themselves an expert on.

Challenge students to think of a creative way to present five must-know facts about that subject. They might make a movie, create a poster or brochure, write a song or even put on a skit.

Have each person present their creative project to the class, and then give the class five minutes to ask questions of the presenter.

Set certain parameters like students must speak in complete sentences or require that every student ask at least two questions at some point during the presentations.

Students will love sharing about their passions, and they’ll get some great speaking, listening and discourse information in the process, as well as teach the rest of the class some interesting vocabulary.

Ask for class for a volunteer to start a class WhatsApp chat group. They can also decide to use another messaging app like Telegram, Viber, Voxer or any other app that has a group chat function. 

Encourage them to send at least one message and to respond to a couple others for their homework. 

This text group has the added advantage of students being able to make friends with one another, and a place to ask about missed homework assignments on days when they can’t make it to class.

Note that if a student doesn’t want to be included in the chat group, you should have a back up assignment prepared for them.

Listening is one of the ESL student’s most difficult skills to acquire, so listening to a short podcast episode is ideal homework.

You can ask students to write a little about the podcast to turn in to you, or you can ask them to briefly summarize what they heard for the class in the next session.

Here are some suggestions for well done podcasts:

The English We Speak : Produced by the BBC, this podcast focuses on teaching commonly used phrases and idioms in conversational English.

The Moth : A storytelling podcast where real people share their personal experiences and anecdotes in English.

Stuff You Should Know : Though not specifically designed for ESL students, this podcast covers a vast array of interesting topics, providing exposure to diverse vocabulary and subject matters.

Ask your students to write a letter . The letter can be written to a friend or family member (which they could then actually mail or email), or it could be a fan letter to a favorite musician or actor. They could even write a letter to Santa Claus or a historical figure. 

For example, a student might choose to write a letter to Marie Antoinette, asking her what it was like to be the queen of France at such a young age. 

You can also choose to have students write letters to one another. Then the next homework can be writing that letter writer back.

Ask you students to review a product on Amazon (or any other shopping website that has reviews). Ask them to select a product they have really used, so they have a genuine opinion on the quality of the product and whether it lived up to their expectations.

Then, in the next session, show the reviews on the overhead projector to the class and ask a student to read the review.

You can then go over any errors in vocabulary, grammar or sentence structure and revise the review together as a class.

Since anyone can edit a Wikipedia article, it’s a great place for ESL students to hone their writing and editing skills, and they’ll have a built-in readership, too!

Ask students to select a person that they know a lot about—a well-known figure from history, pop culture, music or film would all work. Then ask them to read the Wikipedia entry to see if they can add anything else to the article.

Perhaps the article on Ryan Gosling is missing a key detail about his recent Ken performance. If so, the student will revise and edit the article. They should take notes on what they changed, so they can explain it to you or the class the next day.

Ask your students to get creative. Have them write a short story or a poem . This can get them to use descriptive language that they don’t always have a chance to use.

One good activity to do before you assign this homework is an adjective bubble chart. For this, you start with one adjective. For example, write “moist” on the board, circle it and then draw 4-5 lines coming off of the”moist” bubble.

Ask your students to come up with other adjectives that are related to “moist” and so on. They may come up with “wet,” “watery,” “soaked” or “damp.” Then draw lines from each of those. This can lead to words that you never expected to come up.

Have your students select 3-4 adjectives from this introduction activity that they’ll use in their story or poem.

Ask your students to prepare a short presentation on an aspect of their home culture to tell the class about in the next session. 

For example, a student from China may explain the Lunar New Year, a student from Vietnam may explain Tet or a student from El Salvador may tell the class about their quinceañera .

They can use photos, art, a PowerPoint presentation or they can just explain in their own words.

Then open the class up for questions.

Can you legitimately send students to the movies for homework? You can when you’re teaching ESL.

Your students don’t have to commit to a full-length movie. Instead, you can use the videos on FluentU to screen mini-lessons using clips from TV shows and movies, movie trailers, news segments, vlogs or music videos.

Use these videos in the classroom or assign homework to watch a few and complete the subsequent quizzes. You can also ask students to complete flashcard quizzes based on vocabulary words you want them to pay special attention to. These quizzes are adaptable so every student will have a unique experience catered to his learning level.

There are plenty of ways to use a movie for language development. And whether students watch a new release or catch an old Elvis flick on TV, they can do any of the following activities as homework:

• Summarize the plot.
• Describe a main character.
• Note new or interesting vocabulary (particularly slang) they hear while watching.
• Write an interview with one of the characters in the movie.

I’m sure you also have your favorite movie-related language activities and many work as homework assignments. So get creative with how you have students share about what they watched.

For the most part, people are willing to help someone in need, and that is doubly true for someone who needs to complete an assignment for school.

That’s why sending students out to interview native speakers on campus is such a fun homework assignment.

Start by helping your students write a list of questions they’ll use for their interviews. Students can choose a topic or you can assign one, like leisure activities or celebrity news.

Tell students to list five to ten questions they might ask on that topic that will elicit specific answers. 

As a class, discuss how students might introduce themselves to a potential interviewee. 

Then send students out to their interviews after class. They can share the answers they got in the next session.

Music is great for English learners since it stresses many aspects of language that can otherwise be hard to isolate, like the emotion of language, intonation and stress.

Have students choose their favorite English language song to listen to for homework and then ask them to do the following:

• Practice the lyrics to learn intonation and rhythm.
• Note slang and cultural references in the songs.
• Summarize the theme of the song, or just what it’s about.
• Have students share their favorite lyrics and what a particular song means to them.

Give individual students or groups of up to three students a list of items to find on their homework scavenger hunt. But instead of being specific in your list (for example, including items such as cat), be descriptive in your list.

You might include items such as something frightening, something beautiful, something quiet, something cool.

Students find items they think fit the description. For example, someone who is claustrophobic might choose an elevator for something frightening. They then take a picture of it.

The next day, have each person get with a partner and show them the pictures they took for each item on the list.

If the connection is not obvious, students should ask their partner to explain why they chose a particular item, such as the elevator.

Assigning homework that works isn’t as hard as you might think, especially if you focus on the following points.

• Put your homework in writing. It can be tempting to just announce homework assignments to students at the end of class, but language learners benefit when you reinforce what you say with what they can see. So take a minute to write any homework assignment on the board so students can read it as well as listen to it.
• Let students know what goals you have for a particular assignment. Is it practicing a certain grammar point ? Improving their listening skills ? Pronunciation practice ? When students know why they’re doing something, they’ll be able to tell on their own when they’ve successfully completed their homework assignment.
• Keep your homework practical . Your students may not find themselves planning out a menu for Thanksgiving when they leave your ESL classroom, but odds are they’ll have to order food at a restaurant at some point. Think about realistic ways students will have to use English in the real world and try to make your homework practical.
• Let your students be creative . Give your students choices on how they express themselves or present information. It’s okay for students to make a home movie, put on a one-man play or paint a picture to present to the class. Just because you prefer a particular type of creative expression doesn’t mean your students do, so give them choices and let them express themselves.
• Make homework fun! Every class has its own personality, so what’s fun for one might not be fun for another. Tailor your assignments to the personality of your class. Think about what they would think is fun, and go with that.

No matter what you believed in your student days, homework doesn’t have to be boring. With a little creativity when assigning homework, you might find that the activities you assign for outside of class become the highlights of your students’ days.

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Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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10 entertaining homework ideas for online English Language Learners

Did hearing the words, “do your homework,” when you were a child excite you? 

For most of us, the word homework doesn’t conjure up exciting or fun memories. 

Homework was likely one of the last things you wanted to do as a student!

However, what if you could make homework fun for students? What if homework was entertaining? 

In this article, we share some entertaining homework ideas for English language learners to help them improve their English while having fun!

You might be familiar with lots of ESL games and activities for your students , but assigning the right homework can feel overwhelming. 

This is particularly true if you don’t want to burden your students with a tremendous amount of information. 

Have you ever thought about combining games with homework? 

There are many alternative ways to create memorable lessons, such as incorporating karaoke songs to learn English. 

Here are 10 fun and entertaining homework ideas for your ESL students:

• Cafe hopper
• Tiktok star
• Let’s go to the movies
• Hello Mr. Teacher
• Interview a stranger
• Shine like a Karaoke star
• Expert on the loose
• 24 hour challenge
• It’s a wrap!
• Masterchef in the making

1. Cafe hopper

Most people love checking out cafes and this is an easy homework task to assign to your students.  

Have your students visit a variety of cafes as part of their homework. 

Then, consider what they could do for homework in a cafe of their choice.

Here are some fun ideas for turning cafe-hopping into homework:

• Practice ordering in English off of the menu.
• Take a photo of the cafe’s and share the differences and similarities with you in class.
• Speak to a stranger in each cafe in English and ask them some interesting questions about their life.
• Interview the barista about their favorite kind of coffee or beverage.

This is a stress-free homework idea that your students will love, especially if they are coffee or tea lovers!

2. TikTok star

Tiktok is a fun social media application where you can watch videos and songs from creators. You can also watch creators lip-synching to catchy tunes.

Show some fun examples in your class of some famous TikTok songs being lip-synched to by others and practice doing one together.

• For homework, have them choose their favorite song on TikTok.
• They can lip-synch to the song and download the song to their camera album without having to actually post it to TikTok.
• Have them share their creation with you in the next class!

Depending on the age and location of your student, TikTok might not be an option for them. If you are teaching older students or adults , then it might be easier for them to use social media for this homework assignment rather than young children.

If they are too young to use the app, have them find an online video of their favorite song and ask a parent to record them singing!

3. Let’s go to the movies

Going to the movies doesn’t sound like homework, does it? Well, as you might already be discovering, homework doesn’t have to be conventional!

Find some interesting movies that are playing in your students’ area or ask them to watch a movie of their choice in English. 

Tell them that their homework is going to be based on the movie they watch.

Here are some ideas for making going to the movies part of their homework:

• Have them write a summary of the movie or their favorite part.
• Tell them that they have to give you a movie review in your next class.
• Have them act out their favorite part of the movie with a sibling or family member and record it (in English of course!).
• Ask them to make a poster advertising the movie with captions, titles and text to accompany any drawings.

If you are struggling to find movies they can go and watch in the cinema, you can always use these ESL movies and TV shows as a resource. 

Students can also watch movies from the comforts of their homes. 

4. Hello Mr. Teacher!

Students love playing the role of the teacher! 

This can work for in-person or online ESL classes.  

Tell them that as part of the next classroom activity, the first 5 – 10 minutes will be their time to shine as the teacher!

For homework, ask them to:

• Think of one topic that they know a lot about (This could be a sport, musical instrument, game, topic, etc…).
• Have them prepare 5 important things that someone needs to know about their topic.
• Tell them that in their next class they will be the teacher and share their knowledge! (They can even give you homework!).

Have fun with this homework idea and role-play the student where you ask them questions after they finish. 

Your students will love this one!

5. Interview a stranger

This one might need some parent support and guidance if you are teaching children, but having them interview someone is an entertaining homework idea for English language learners.

• It encourages their own voice as they come up with ideas.
• It helps with writing skills as they write out their questions.
• Interviewing encourages conversation and role playing which is a fun way to learn English.

You could have your younger students interview a family member and ask questions related to that family member’s childhood. 

Here are some sample questions you could help your students form:

• What kind of things did you like to do when you were my age?
• What was your favorite thing about school?
• What types of sports did you play when you were young?
• Tell me about what life was like when you were a child.

Have them choose and write out 5-10 questions and come back to class to report on their findings!

6. Shine like a Karaoke star

Who doesn’t like a bit of karaoke? Imagine….singing your heart out to “I love rock n roll” in the privacy of your own home!

You don’t need to go to a karaoke place to actually sing karaoke songs. There are lots of great karaoke songs available online to learn English with your students.

YouTube is a great place to start, just by searching for your favorite song + “karaoke lyrics” in the search bar.

In class, help your student(s) choose a song and task them with finding the online karaoke lyrics to sing along.

Have them sing this for homework! You could even ask a parent to help them record it if they are comfortable with that.

Here are some fun and popular karaoke songs online to learn English:

• “I Will Survive” with Gloria Gaynor
• “Livin’ on a Prayer” with Bon Jovi
• “Summer Nights” with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
• “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Journey

7. Expert on the loose

There is an expert in all of us, including your students!

In this fun and entertaining homework idea, have your student share their expertise on something!

To add a different dimension to the homework idea, “Hello Mr. Teacher,” task your students to dress up as the expert and make a short speech on their topic of choice.

Here are some examples:

• Harry Potter
• Michael Jordan (to talk about basketball)
• Favorite sports athlete
• Insect scientist
• Astronaut (if your student knows a lot about space)
• Presidential candidate
• Pilot (for students who know a lot about countries)

Even if they are not an expert on the topic, part of the homework assignment could be to do some research and learn more about their chosen field.

You could even ask them to dress up and come to class in the role, ready to share their knowledge with you! 

8. 24 hour English challenge

This one is self-explanatory and incredibly fun!

Set a challenge for your student to only speak in English for 24 hours. 

This means that you might need to get parents involved with the homework assignment, so that they can help out.

The idea is that they have to speak only in English (as much as is possible given their situation) when interacting with family, friends and at school.

Your students might already be immersed in English environments, but, oftentimes, they are speaking their native language at home with family and friends.

Having your students force themselves to only speak in English is challenging and a great way to encourage English outside the classroom.

9. It’s a wrap!

Lots of students love to rap! Rap music is poetic and encourages a lot of ESL language skills that we want to build in our students.

This is an activity that you can model with your students in class and assign it for homework for them to create their own rap.

Again, they can come back to class and rap their new song to you! It might, however, work better with older students who have a good base level of English, to begin with.

Here are some fun homework assignments incorporating rap:

• Create their own rap if they are the creative type
• Find a well known rap online and practice it to present in class
• Assign your students to find a rap online that they sing and record with their friends

10. Masterchef extraordinaire

For the food lovers, creating a homework assignment that includes cooking can be really fun.

Most kids love the idea of cooking, especially if it centers around cooking their favorite food!

When considering this as a homework idea, consider these possible assignments:

• Create and write out a recipe for a unique culinary dish.
• Make a video about the cooking experience.
• Record a tutorial of how to cook something.
• Turn it into a competition if you have multiple students.

Plus, this works with physical and online classrooms. 

Of course, if you have a physical classroom with multiple students, this could be a really fun in-class experience with some homework assignments to accompany it.

Who doesn’t love a food-related assignment? 

If you choose Masterchef extraordinaire, allow your students to share the food they make with the class and encourage lots of conversations in English.

Homework doesn’t have to be boring!

As you can see, homework doesn’t have to be boring! 

Most of your ESL students have a lot to do even outside class, and that’s why assigning homework that doesn’t feel like homework is ideal!

This is an opportunity to get creative, creating excitement for your students to learn English.

If you use some of the homework ideas mentioned here, make sure you document the experience and continue to discover new activities that bring laughter and joy to the classroom. 

And when you are applying to online teaching jobs , be sure to share how you plan to creatively incorporate class assignments and homework for your students!

Enjoy the process and make learning an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

Enjoyed this article? Don't forget to share.

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Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, he or she still has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Great homework ideas for ESL students

Discover great homework ideas for ESL students in your classes

While most people don't want to do extra outside of class, there is no denying that having some English input between lessons is a great way for our students to take ownership of their learning and see faster English improvement. 

So here are five great homework ideas for ESL students:

1. Truth or lie?

Students prepare three short stories about themselves for homework. One is true, the others are false. In the next lesson they tell their partner their stories while their partner asks questions to decide which story is true. Then reverse roles.

A game element is really motivating and this works with many different language levels.

2. Prepare for a quiz

Do you want them to remember new verbs, tense structures or vocabulary? Are you doing a general revision lesson next? Ask your students to revise at home, telling them you’ll put them into teams next week to answer questions. Have each team make up a distinct buzzer sound if you like so they can ‘buzz in’ with the right answer. Winning team gets a prize.

Works best with teens and kids; a neat reason to revise at home and much more fun than an individual test.

3. Set up a FB group for the class

Ask a question a week, invite responses and encourage respectful conversation and debate. Be careful; not everyone likes social media and you may choose a more appropriate platform for sharing ideas outside of class.

Collaboration in English outside of class can be stimulating, build relationships and practice real-world English.

4. Riddles/puzzles/tongue twisters

A cowboy rode into town on Friday, stayed three days, and rode out again on Friday. How did he do that? (*answer at bottom of the page)

Lateral thinking questions like the above can be fun and all the while, students are reading English. Alternatively, have students practice tongue twisters at home and either translate one from their own language or make one up. Have them share with the class next time.

It is a lot of fun hearing tongue twisters translated from other languages.

5. Watch YouTube video stories and report back

There are plenty of great story videos ESL students can watch at home and which are graded for level.

In the example video at the bottom of this blog, you'll see a short past tense story, suitable for low level learners. After watching it for homework, here are two ways you can work on it in your next class: 1. Ask general comprehension questions on the video.   2. Re-create the story as a class, eliciting it from students piece by piece with the help of key words from the story as prompts on the board.

Alternatively divide the class into A and B.

For homework, A's watch one video and B's another. Pair an A and a B up in class afterwards to summarise the stories to each other.

Video is so engaging and it is much easier to get students to watch something than write something.

As teachers, we can help our students by giving homework tasks that are meaningful, relevant and engaging. Also students are more likely to do the work if it will be checked or used in some way in the following lesson. 

We hope we have inspired you to choose fun, task-based homework activities that have a solid focus and outcome. Notice, too, how there is always a meaningful follow-up to the homework task in class.

When planning homework tasks, you can also take your inspiration from the real-world and ask students to do things like text each other or listen to English music.

The possibilities for productive homework tasks are endless. 

*Answer to lateral thinking question: Friday is a horse .

The Global English  120 hour TESOL Premier course . contains great content on crafting lesson plans and a section on how to give homework effectively.

Check out our ready-to-print and use TEFL lessons   here.

Ask any questions about TESOL training and ESL classes directly  here  or join the chat in our friendly  Facebook group .

• Author: William
• Date: 06/11/2018

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Creative Homework Ideas

Learn Bright Lessons include many creative ideas for classroom instruction and student learning. Students are asked to work independently or with their peers, fostering their collaboration skills. Of course, the lessons also include many traditional learning exercises. Such as, multiple-choice questions, matching, fill in the blank responses, and others. Since every school and classroom is different, any lesson used with students can be adapted.

Whether you are assigning homework based on Learn Bright lessons or your own school’s curriculum, the homework you assign is essential for learning. Some schools across the country have banned assigning homework to students while others limit the amount each night. If you do assign homework, there are several creative ideas you can use that will motivate your students to complete the homework you assign.

Creative hands-on learning activities and other similar learning ideas in the classroom are quite effective. They can be just as effective at home as well for a wide variety of subjects and assignments. In every student’s home, there is “stuff” and other resources that can be accessed to help students review a concept taught at school. Here are a few samples for different subjects:

MATH – Multiplication Facts

 Students use the numbers that appear on product labels and multiply them together. Not only do they get multiplication practice, but they may also be introduced to a food label in a new way. It encourages the students to read food and other product labels. In this way, they can relate what they learn in class to the real world. Showing them when they will use these concepts in their everyday lives.

SCIENCE – Solids, Liquids, Gases

Students conduct a home or neighborhood search for items that are solids, liquids, or gases. For example, they can open the refrigerator and list milk, juice, and other beverages as liquids. The containers, butter, veggies, and more as solids. Carbonated drinks can be listed as containing gas. You can ask them later about eggs or Jell-O and other items that may be both solid and liquid. This reinforces their learning by allowing them to explore and use their creativity to complete the assignment.

SOCIAL STUDIES – Older Adult Interviews

 Students may be studying topics in history from the past 50 to 100 years. With this exercise, they interview an older adult who lived through the event that they are studying. They obtain opinions and feelings related to the event. They also confirm (or dispute) facts the students have been taught. Finally, they discuss how the person was affected by the event. This gives them a deeper understanding of that event and shows them the value of primary sources.

LANGUAGE ARTS – Parts of Speech Search

Students practice identifying the seven parts of speech while at home. They do this by listing examples that are used during family conversations or those words found on product labels.

Describing Things

Students use each of the five senses to write descriptive sentences related to things at home or in the neighborhood. The aroma of dinner, the sound of cars passing on the street, the sight of moving tree branches, the feel of a parent’s hug, or the taste of a spicy meal. This allows them to connect the lesson to the real world. It allows them to think about their surroundings in a new and interesting way.

READING – Read and React

Students are asked to read aloud a passage from their favorite story or novel. Next, they ask family members or close neighbors for their reactions and opinions about a character/event from the passage. Students record the information and discuss it with the listener. This illustrates that different people may notice different things while reading. It gives the student a chance to practice discussing literature from a young age.

MUSIC – Favorite Music  

Students will listen to a parent or other family member’s favorite genre of music. Then, list the instruments they hear, share their opinions of the sound, and discuss other artists from a particular era. This encourages them to engage with the music on a level they normally would not.

ART – Art Critic

Nearly all homes include some type of painting, picture, or sculpture on display. Students take a photo of an art piece in their home and share their opinion of the art piece with a family member. They can discuss the age of the work of art, how it adds to the room’s décor, why it’s significant to their family, and more. Students will gain valuable practice analyzing images and thinking about art with this homework assignment.

HEALTH – Food Search

The students conduct a food search, identifying healthy versus unhealthy foods. Next, they list reasons why they may be considered healthy or unhealthy, and reviewing food labels. This teaches students to think about what they eat. Hence giving them a fun and interactive activity to do for homework.

There are many, many more creative homework ideas you can use for at-home assignments for your students. Think outside the box when assigning homework. Practice incorporating interactive elements so that students aren’t just sitting at their desk. Try to create and develop assignments that kids will want to do. Avoid the assignments that kids simply have to do. Think of the real-world applications for your lesson material as inspiration and build your homework assignments around that. Creative homework assignments can be fun and, at the same time, teach and enhance subjects introduced in the classroom.

For more creative homework ideas, be sure to check out our lesson plans and YouTube videos!

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Homework for Beginning ESL Students: 8 Tips for Success

Homework can be a controversial subject . Some schools and teachers are strongly in favor of it, others are strongly against it, and many fall somewhere in the middle. But, when it comes to ESL students and other English learners , homework can offer ways to extend learning outside of the classroom and encourage independent English reading, speaking, writing, and listening at home. Here are our tips for making homework for beginning ESL students a positive and productive experience.

• 1. Keep it Brief

One of the keys to ESL homework success is to keep it as short and simple as possible. The goal should not be for students to spend hours on an assignment that may confuse and frustrate them. Instead, the main goal should simply be to practice and reinforce classroom learning.

There is also no rule stating that you have to assign homework for English language learners every day. Consider homework on an ad hoc basis , and only assign it on days when you have truly meaningful assignments, rather than as a given every single day. You can also send home a folder of fun English activities for students to complete for extra credit at any point in the year. This encourages learning at home while offering flexible options for families.

Whatever you choose to assign for homework, make sure that you are providing adequate scaffolding so that your ELLs will succeed. For newcomers, you may want to modify the assignment by giving them extra visuals , adapting the text to their language level, or writing directions in bullet points rather than paragraphs. Consider using writing prompts or sentence frames to support and guide your students in their writing.

2. Get to Know Your Students’ Families

The more you know about your students’ lives at home, the easier assigning reasonable and relevant homework for English language learners will be. Some students may have access to a computer and English-speaking relatives, while others may have neither.

As much as possible, have homework directions and explanations translated into the native language of the ESL student. Keep in mind that parents of ELLs likely speak another language, so it may be difficult for them to help their child with a homework assignment in English.

Once you get to know your students’ families, you can often offer better advice to help parents and their students succeed with homework. Reinforce that:

• Using their native language is important for their child’s second language development and should be encouraged.
• They can help their child, but shouldn’t do the homework for them. There is no benefit to homework being completed unless the child is learning by doing it themselves.
• Homework is an important part of learning and a responsibility of their child.
• They should feel comfortable coming to you at any time if they are struggling to help their child with homework or have any concerns relating to their child’s assignments.

• 3. Offer Flexibility

As you’re getting to know your students and their families, creating flexible homework assignments is essential. Here are some simple tips for making homework success more accessible:

• Provide several days (or the entire week) to complete an assignment.
• Allow students to choose between several readings or assignments to cater to their interests and help them build confidence.
• Send home bilingual books so children can read in English and parents can follow along or read in their native language.
• Send home supplies like markers or glue sticks that students may need for their assignments.
• Provide open-ended homework assignments, like listening to something on StorylineOnline.net .
• 4. Assess for Completion, Not Accuracy

The goal in assigning homework for beginning ESL students should not be total comprehension or mastery. That means that for many classes, assessing or monitoring for accuracy isn’t the best use of your time and can be discouraging to new students who are trying their best to grasp a whole new language.

Assessing for completion is the best option for most newcomer ESL students. It allows you to keep track of how students are doing and gauge their progress and parental involvement at home. And you can always have students turn in assignments and take your own private notes on their accuracy, even while assessing for completion publicly.

• 5. Make Homework Hard to Forget

Oftentimes, homework for English language learners may be incomplete because the student wasn’t clear on what exactly needed to be done. In addition to verbally assigning homework, write down any assignments and consider using a brightly colored stamp to denote homework assignments.

You can also opt to send home a “homework packet” full of ESL homework ideas every week that contains all of the assignments that need to be completed during the week. While it will take some additional preparation, this provides a flexible option that allows time for questions and may result in a higher completion rate when parents have time to help students with their assignments.

• 6. Create Meaningful Assignments

Colorin Colorado shares that “Recent meta-analyses have shown that educational programs that systematically incorporate use of ELLs’ home language result in levels of academic success , including achievement in literacy and other academic subjects, that are as high as and often better than that of ELLs in English-only programs (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, in press).” When assigning homework for beginning ESL students, make sure you support students in using their native language. Encourage parents to read aloud to their children in their home language— research shows that strong native language literacy supports second language development .

Another part of providing flexibility with homework for beginning ESL students is allowing them to discover the subjects and topics they enjoy. Especially in the early days of learning a new language, learning vocabulary and choosing reading and writing assignments related to your students’ personal interests can be a big motivator.

If you assign at-home reading for ESL students, allow students to choose from several high-interest books that are on their language level. Consider sharing audio books or other resources for students to listen to stories, if possible.

• 7. Use Homework as Preparation for Class

Because of the individuality of language learning and the differences in parental involvement , homework for beginning ESL students typically isn’t a valuable tool for developing mastery. The best homework for ESL practice is typically an assignment that prepares students for in-class activities and maximizes your effectiveness in the classroom.

Try some of these ESL homework ideas to make the most of your time in the classroom:

• Preview a text for the next day’s class.
• Review a vocabulary sheet for a text for the next day’s class.
• Practice pronunciation and reading aloud in preparation for oral reading fluency.
• Review a rough draft and make edits in preparation for finalizing a writing piece in class.
• Add unknown words identified in class to your vocabulary notebook .

• 8. Encourage a Homework Routine

Part of assigning homework for beginning ESL students is helping them build good homework habits as they progress and as homework may become more intensive or time-consuming.

Here are some tips to pass along to parents to help students find their focus at home :

• Create a schedule and do homework at the same time every day. Attaching it to an existing habit can help create consistency (e.g. having a snack and then doing homework).
• Provide a space for students to do their homework that has the supplies they’ll need. This can be anything from a desk in their room to a spot in the kitchen.
• Put screens and distractions away—consider them a reward for when homework is finished.
• Develop an order to create a routine. If the child needs motivation, start with their favorite subject. If they’re naturally driven to complete homework, start with the hardest assignment to get it over with.

Language-centered ESL activities for students with limited English ability help develop vocabulary and life skills necessary to communicate effectively with others.

Thank you to Melissa Miller, an ESOL teacher in Howard County, Maryland for consulting on this blog post. This blog was originally published on October 1, 2021. It was updated on February 3, 2023.

• 2. Get to Know Your Students' Families

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How to Write an English Assignment

Last Updated: December 6, 2021

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 20 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 48,544 times.

Writing an English assignment can be troublesome at times. The students lack the proper information which is required to write an assignment. Apart from this there are many more things which are necessary for an assignment writing and such things are highlighted in this article.

• Take second advice from a close friend. Some mistakes you may not see or be used to seeing, and a second opinion can help catch some of the mistakes that you won't see the first time through.

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• ↑ https://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/current-students/study-tips-and-techniques/assignments/step-by-step-guide-to-assignment-writing/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/understanding-assignments/
• ↑ https://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/learning/structuring-your-assignment
• ↑ https://www.uts.edu.au/current-students/support/helps/self-help-resources/academic-writing

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Free Printable English Worksheets For ESL Teachers

Browse our archive of completely free quality English worksheets and lessons (PDF and Word documents). Download, customize and print the resources, incorporate them in your lessons or assign them as homework to your students.

Our Massive Library of Free ESL Worksheets by Category

If you are looking for ESL worksheets for different learning areas, select the matching category. You’ll find assorted lists of worksheets and other materials there, for all levels from beginner to advanced, for all ages from kids to adults.

Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Writing Worksheets

Grammar Worksheets

Listening Comprehension Worksheets

Idioms Worksheets

Phrasal Verbs Worksheets

Noun Worksheets

Vocabulary & Conversation Worksheets

Lesson Plans (coming soon)

Below, you’ll find all our worksheets sorted by student level.

ESL Worksheets for Adults and Teens (Intermediate to Advanced Students)

These are our available worksheets on different topics for higher-level students, like adults and teens. You can download, edit and print them all for free. When you open the worksheets, there is an option to download PDF and Word files.

Intermediate Level (B1-B2)

Esl writing worksheet: opinion essay about video games (intermediate), esl lesson plan: nature & environment (intermediate), esl listening comprehension worksheet: in the kitchen (intermediate), esl listening comprehension worksheet: travel and transportation (intermediate), esl lesson plan: summer activities (intermediate), esl reading comprehension worksheet: studies (intermediate), esl reading comprehension worksheet: global warming (intermediate), esl reading comprehension worksheet: at the workplace (intermediate), esl reading comprehension worksheet: job interview (intermediate), esl reading comprehension worksheet: holiday (intermediate), esl listening comprehension worksheet: school lunch (intermediate), intermediate-advanced level (b2-c1), dialogue/debate worksheet: fast fashion – the true cost of clothes (intermediate-advanced), esl listening comprehension worksheet: technology and relationships (intermediate-advanced), esl vocabulary & conversation worksheet: job interview (intermediate-advanced), esl grammar worksheet, future tenses: traveling (intermediate-advanced), esl writing practice worksheet: newspaper articles (intermediate-advanced), esl writing practice worksheet: creating concise sentences (intermediate-advanced), esl writing exercise: creating complex sentences: las vegas (intermediate-advanced), esl everyday idioms vocabulary exercises (intermediate-advanced), esl vocabulary worksheet: food idioms (intermediate-advanced), esl vocabulary worksheet: idioms & slang (intermediate-advanced), esl reading comprehension worksheet: raising children (intermediate-advanced), esl reading comprehension worksheet: dreams (intermediate-advanced), esl reading comprehension worksheet: giving advice (intermediate-advanced), esl grammar worksheet: phrasal verbs: office & business (intermediate-advanced), esl grammar worksheet: phrasal verbs: dating (intermediate-advanced), esl grammar worksheet: phrasal verbs: sports (intermediate-advanced), illustrated esl lesson packages for kids.

Exclusively available from JIMMYESL: The following bundles include illustrated vocabulary worksheets for various exercises, flashcards, and a certificate of achievement. They’re great to help young learners memorize new vocabulary with fun!

School & Classroom Objects – ESL Vocabulary Worksheets & Flashcards

Shape Names – ESL Vocabulary Worksheets & Flashcards

Body Parts – ESL Vocabulary Worksheets & Flashcards

Esl worksheets for beginners and elementary.

These are the ESL worksheets for young students, and for beginner and elementary level students. Again, you can download all worksheets in PDF and Word format, edit and print them for your lessons. Have fun teaching!

Beginner and Elementary Level (A1-A2)

Esl reading comprehension worksheet: in the restaurant (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: france (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: zoo animals (beginner-elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: playing football (beginner-elementary), listening comprehension worksheet: the pet competition (elementary), esl vocabulary worksheet: sports activities, action words (elementary), esl reading comprehension worksheet: the world of dinosaurs (elementary), list: prepositions of place: at, in & on (elementary), elementary-intermediate level (a2-b1), esl vocabulary worksheet: weather report & forecast (elementary-intermediate), esl vocabulary worksheet: let’s go shopping (elementary-intermediate), esl grammar worksheet: using articles (elementary-intermediate), esl grammar worksheet: -ed & -ing adjectives: describing feelings & situations (elementary-intermediate), esl vocabulary worksheet: describing people (elementary-intermediate), ideas to create your own esl lesson plans.

Check these ideas for engaging and fun ESL lesson activities which you can use to easily create customized worksheets. Or browse our full list of activity ideas to find tons of inspiration and materials.

15 Engaging Community Building Activities for the Classroom

ESL Icebreakers: 8 Games & Activities For Students of All Ages

Fun ESL Warm Up Activities & Games for Adults & Kids

12 Fun ESL Speaking Activities for Teens or Adults

17 Fun ESL Vocabulary Games for Adults and Kids

120 Would You Rather Questions to Start an ESL Conversation

How to Make a Lesson Plan for Teaching English (The Definitive Guide)

The Definitive Guide on Teaching English Pronunciation

12 great esl listening activities & games.

150 ESL Conversation Starters and Questions (The Essential List)

33 Sure-Fire Strategies & Activities for Teaching English Grammar

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• BookWidgets Teacher Blog

20+ creative alternative homework ideas for teachers

When giving homework, it must always be based on learning goals your students have to reach, just like in your lessons. But it’s sad to see that lots of teachers are using homework as extra lesson time. Of course, as a teacher, you’re on a clock. But that doesn’t mean your students have to suffer from it and keep working on those boring textbooks and worksheets at home.

Consider goals like attitudes, real-life experiences, and practice, physical exercise, social encounters, creative solutions, and philanthropy as crucial as your lesson goals. These are things students don’t just pick up in your classroom. These are things they pick up in life.

In this blog post, I’ll give you some innovative homework ideas that will engage your students more. These alternatives to traditional homework will thereby also teach your students new things that can’t be taught in the classroom. You will find a variety of homework ideas: online and offline.

I will mention homework alternatives for primary school and high school. Some of these ideas can be changed a little bit, so they are the perfect fit for the right audience.

20 Creative homework ideas

You can divide homework tasks into the following themes or categories:

• Crafts & arts
• Outdoor activities & outings
• Games and activities
• Physical activities
• Digital or computer activities
• Philanthropy & social work

💡 Good to know : all the ready-to-use homework activities are created with BookWidgets . You can easily create activities like these yourself or duplicate an activity below for free, edit it if needed, and share it with your students. You can do so in the examples separately, or you can find all the homework examples in the BookWidgets Blog group folder .

Crafts and arts homework

1. prepare a dish from a recipe book.

2. Make a board game

3. Create a birdhouse

4. Transform a fictional book character into a hand puppet

Outdoor homework activities and outings

5. coupon game.

Students can also go grocery shopping with their parents. Here, they have to read the ingredients of the products and help their parents choose the healthiest products for the best prices, figure out the best deal between the sizes of items, …

6. Visit the zoo

7. Visit the local dumping ground or container park

8. Build a tree house

Games and activities as homework

9. bookwidgets games.

10. Minecraft

11. Play Cards

12. Play Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon

Physical homework activities

13. rope skipping.

Many rope-skipping songs let your students do different tricks while rope-skipping. This is an excellent opportunity for homework as well. Ask your students to transform a rope skipping song into a song with lesson content. Let them count or spell or even sum up the different states or capitals. To engage their lifestyles even harder, you can additionally give them the assignment to create a TikTok in which they are jumping and singing.

Click here to see how you can get Tiktok more involved in the classroom.

14. Walking quest

If there aren’t any walking quests in the neighborhood, you could ask your students to create a walking quest like this for their fellow students. What a fun day it will be!

15. Obstacle Quiz

In order for students to answer the questions, they have to run and pass a challenging parkour. This is a fun homework exercise, and in the end, it’s a great lesson starter or lesson end.

16. Swimming games

After the activity, they can fill out an Exit Slip:

Digital or computer homework activities

17. create a picture album.

This teaches them to handle the online software, add pictures and write without spelling mistakes. And of course, creating memories is so much fun!

18. Video job application

19. Your life in 10 minutes - video

20. Email pen-pals

Is it still too complicated? Read the messages from your students, before they send them, and provide them with some feedback.

Philanthropy and social homework

21. grow a community garden.

22. Help in a retirement home

23. Help at a homeless shelter

24. Collect litter

Here’s another homework tip: Don’t call homework “homework”. Call it a challenge. Homework has become a negative word for students, and I bet they start rolling their eyes as you even mention the word.

Still looking for more inspiration? Check out the blog on short films and lesson activities that spice up your Google Classroom . Tip: even if you don’t use Google Classroom, there is a lot of inspiration back here.

Above you have read single assignments. But, you also have the option to involve your homework in a project. Find out more here .

So, as I mentioned earlier, there are many fun alternatives to traditional homework. Now it’s up to you to apply this in the classroom as well. In this folder , you will find all the examples you have come across.

Which idea do you or perhaps your students like the most? Let us know on Twitter . Of course, there are many more alternatives. If you have other ideas, you are always welcome to share it with other teachers in our Facebook group .

One more thing: don’t forget to say hi👋 on LikedIn .

Join hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and get the best content on technology in education.

BookWidgets enables teachers to create fun and interactive lessons for tablets, smartphones, and computers.

Create Online Homework on Quizizz

Create, share, and host online homework quizzes and assignments for free on Quizizz!

Why assign homework online?

If you would like to streamline your grading process and provide more personalised support for your students, online homework might be the way to go. When you assign homework online, you can easily allocate and track assessments , quickly provide feedback, and tailor content to meet the specific needs of your students.  As a teacher, making the shift from pen-and-paper homework to online homework can benefit both you and your students. Online homework platforms, such as Quizizz, offer a host of tools that can boost student engagement through interactive questions, audio-visual aids, and gamification .  Whether you’re brainstorming for online math homework or grading responses for online chemistry homework, a platform like Quizizz can support you every step of the way.

Online homework - a win for students

Quizizz enables you to create interactive homework online, so your students can fully immerse themselves in the joy of learning.

Assess anywhere, anytime

Assign quizzes and lessons as homework with a future start time and deadline. Quizizz empowers your students to do their online homework from anywhere, using any device.

Inclusive, accessible design

The fastest finger doesn’t always have to be first. On Quizizz, students can complete their online homework at their own pace. You can also enable ‘Read aloud’ for ELL and elementary students.

Double the engagement

Boost participation and captivate your learners through a range of audio-visual aids including images, gifs, videos, audio clips, and more. Engage a variety of skills through multiple question types.

Double the fun

The road to mastery can be fun and exciting . Students can enjoy attempting their online homework with the Quizizz Leaderboard, memes, music, redemption questions, and power-ups.

Online homework - a win for teachers

Quizizz provides the space for you to create effective and high-quality online homework assignments in just a few minutes.

Import from Library

Gain inspiration from over 30M free online homework activities created by teachers on Quizizz, and import the content you need with a single click.

Learn more about this >

Import from device or Google Drive

Import your presentations, PDFs, Google Slides, Google Forms, and spreadsheets from your Google Drive or device to bring all your resources under one roof.

Use adaptive question banks

Provide every learner with a unique experience by showing them a different set of questions that change with each attempt.

Craft homework using multiple question types

In this classic activity, learners can complete sentences by filling in the blanks with the right answers.

Ask your students to reorder a set of jumbled options in ascending, descending, or chronological order.

Present learners with the opportunity to select one or more correct answers from a list of options.

Gamify your assessment with shuffled text and images that your students can pair together.

Choose between a plain background or an image and watch as students give shape to their thoughts with colors, highlighters, and more.

Motivate learners to think critically by dragging and dropping the right options to complete a sentence.

Let students take center stage with video responses so you can assess their presentation skills.

Check the pulse of your classroom with a fun poll or vote.

Use Lessons to create an instructor-led experience where slides and multimedia are combined with quiz and poll questions.

Engage your students’ higher order thinking skills and encourage them to dig deep with open-ended questions.

Analyze speaking skills by allowing students to voice their answers using the audio response feature.

Prompt your students to choose between a set of drop-down options to fill out the blanks in a piece of text.

With online homework on Quizizz you can

Grade flexibly

Allow Quizizz to grade homework assignments automatically. Or, assess submissions manually by assigning a scaled grade for each question.

Get instant reports

With detailed reports on Quizizz, measure the growth and progress of your students, and share significant milestones with other stakeholders.

Sync with an LMS

Update online homework and grades in the blink of an eye by syncing Quizizz with an LMS like Canvas, Schoology, or Google Classroom.

The best way to ask questions, explore ideas, and let students show what they know.

Use Quizizz for online homework

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Faculty Resources

Assignments.

The assignments in this course are openly licensed, and are available as-is, or can be modified to suit your students’ needs.

If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), the assignments will automatically be loaded into the assignment tool. These assignments and quizzes come pre-loaded with specific assigned point values. We recommend changing the point values to match your course design .

This course includes a series of assignments associated with most modules, as well as essay assignments that can be included in the course as you see fit. Some instructors assign multiple rhetorical styles, while others scaffold just one or two large essays throughout the course. For this reason, the essay assignments are listed at the front of the course and can be easily moved into the appropriate places within the LMS. The different rhetorical style essays are each split into at least two parts, with one for prewriting and one for the final draft.  They could also be combined into one assignment or split into several smaller assignments; for example, you could divide each essay into a prewriting, drafting, and final draft stage (which is how the argument essay is currently organized).

The “Writing Process—Revising and Proofreading” module also includes a discussion assignment that has students peer review whichever essay is assigned during that module ( Discussion: CARES Peer Review).

• Narrative Essay
• Compare/Contrast
• Illustration Essay
• Cause and Effect Essay
• Argument Essay

The optional “Essay Reflection” Assignment can also be paired with any of the rhetorical style essays listed above.

The assignments can also be broken down into smaller steps or combined/simplified as desired. Remember, these can be deleted, modified, or replaced within your LMS to meet the needs of your students.

Contribute!

Improve this page Learn More

• Assignments. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Pencil Cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

• A1 House and Home

A1 House and Home Puzzles

A1 House and Home Vocabulary Activities

• A1 Articles
• A1 Can and Can’t
• A1 Dates, days and numbers
• A1 Indefinite article
• A1 It Sentences
• A1 Linking Words
• A1 Much and Many
• A1 Offers and suggestions
• A1 Possessive ‘s and s’
• A1 Prepositions of Place
• A1 Prepositions Word Search
• A1 Present Simple
• A1 Pronouns
• A1 Questions
• A1 Regular Adjectives
• A1 Regular Verbs Set 1 Word Search
• A1 Regular Verbs Set 2 Word Search
• A1 Regular Verbs Set 3 Word Search
• A1 Singular and Plural Nouns
• A1 There and Their
• A1 Wh questions
• A1 Harry’s World Listening
• A1 Justin in Singapore Listening
• A1 My Mate Holly Listening
• A1 Nyree Listening
• A1 Body and Face Extra Exercises
• A1 Clothes Extra Exercises
• A1 Describing Things
• A1 Family Extra Exercises
• A1 Film Star Vocabulary
• A1 Food and Drink Extra Exercises
• A1 Greetings and Introductions
• A1 Health Extra Exercises
• A1 Shopping Extra Exercises
• A1 Sports and Leisure Extra Exercises
• A1 Talking about People
• A1 Transport
• A1 Weather Extra Activities
• Christmas Easy Exercises
• Reading Part 1
• Reading Part 2
• Reading Part 3
• Reading Part 4
• Writing Part 5
• Writing Part 6

Animal Vocabulary Set 1 (A1 Movers Part 1) Animal Vocabulary Set 2 (A1 Movers Part 1) Body Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Clothes Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Containers Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Food Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Leisure Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Places Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) School Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Transport Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Weather Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1) Work Vocabulary (A1 Movers Part 1)

Favourite Teacher (A1 Movers Part 2) Looking for a Present (A1 Movers Part 2) New Film (A1 Movers Part 2) Talking about homework (A1 Movers Part 2) Talking about the weekend (A1 Movers Part 2) Writing a story (A1 Movers Part 2)

Chocolate Cake (A1 Movers Part 3) Maths Class (A1 Movers Part 3) Nice Soup (A1 Movers Part 3) Sports Centre (A1 Movers Part 3) Sports Day at Home (A1 Movers Part 3) The Supermarket (A1 Movers Part 3) Visiting Grandma (A1 Movers Part 3)

All about Bananas (A1 Movers Part 4) Animals in Cold Countries (A1 Movers Part 4) Bats in the Jungle (A1 Movers Part 4) Bears (A1 Movers Part 4) Fast Foods (A1 Movers Part 4) Fishing (A1 Movers Part 4) Football (A1 Movers Part 4) Living Longer (A1 Movers Part 4) Potatoes (A1 Movers Part 4) Sandwiches (A1 Movers Part 4) Tea or Coffee (A1 Movers Part 4) Weather Changes (A1 Movers Part 4)

Going Fishing (A1 Movers Part 5) Staying Home (A1 Movers Part 5) Taking Pictures (A1 Movers Part 5)

At the Park (A1 Movers Part 6) On the Balcony (A1 Movers Part 6) Playing at the Beach (A1 Movers Part 6) Playing in the Classroom (A1 Movers Part 6) Playing in the Garden (A1 Movers Part 6)

• Listening Part 1
• Listening Part 2
• Listening Part 3
• Listening Part 4
• Listening Part 5
• Speaking Videos
• Speaking Part 1

A1 Classroom A1 Playing Sport

A1 Birthday Party A1 Cinema A1 Library A1 Shopping A1 Sports Centre A1 Supermarket

A1 Movers Part 3 Test 1 A1 Movers Part 3 Test 2 A1 Movers Part 3 Test 3

A1 Movers Part 4 Test 1 A1 Movers Part 4 Test 2 A1 Movers Part 4 Test 3

A1 Movers Speaking Test 1 A1 Movers Speaking Test 2

A1 In the bedroom

• Flash Cards
• Memory Games
• Word Searches
• Word Puzzles
• A1 Animal Crossword
• A1 Body and Face Crossword
• A1 Clothes Crossword
• A1 Emotions Crossword
• A1 Family Crossword
• A1 Food and Drink Crossword
• A1 Instructions Crossword
• A1 Places Crossword
• A1 Weather Crossword
• A1 Animal Flash Cards
• A1 Body Flashcards
• A1 Classroom Actions Set 1 Flash Cards
• A1 Classroom Actions Set 2 Flash Cards
• A1 Classroom Actions Set 3 Flash Cards
• A1 Clothes Flash Cards
• A1 Health Flashcards
• A1 Places Flashcards
• A1 Animal Match-up Set 1
• A1 Animal Match-Up Set 2
• A1 Emotions Match-up
• A1 Food and Drink Match-up
• A1 Names Match-up
• A1 Numbers Match-up
• A1 Places Match-up
• A1 Weather Match-up
• A1 Animals Word Search
• A1 Body and Face Word Search
• A1 Clothes Word Search
• A1 Fast Food Word Search
• A1 Food and Drink Word Search
• A1 Food and Drinks Flashcards
• A1 Names Word Search
• A1 Numbers Word Search
• A1 Ordinal Numbers Word Search
• A1 Our World Word Search
• A1 Places Word Search
• A1 Shops Word Search
• A1 Toys Word Search
• A1 Animals Word Puzzle
• A1 Body Word Puzzle
• A1 Clothes Word Puzzle
• A1 Colours Word Puzzle
• A1 Family Word Puzzle
• A1 Food and Drink Word Puzzle
• A1 Home Word Puzzle
• A1 Names Word Puzzle
• A1 Numbers Word Puzzle
• A1 School Word Puzzle
• A1 Transport Word Puzzle
• A1 Weather Word Puzzle

Pre A1 Starters (Beginner) | A1 Movers (Elementary) | A2 Flyers (Pre-Intermediate)

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Holmes Chapel, English village of Harry Styles' youth, needs fans to be tour guides

Many tourists visit sites such as a bakery where Styles once worked and a Chinese restaurant where he once dined with Taylor Swift. Tourism has been great for local businesses.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Holmes Chapel, the English village of Harry Styles' youth, is looking for superfans to work as tour guides. The village gets a lot of tourists, Harries visiting sites like a bakery where Styles once worked and a Chinese restaurant where he once dined with Taylor Swift. The not-for-profit calling for tour guides says tourism has been great for local business, and now it wants to elevate its offerings.

(Singing) Why don't we leave it at that?

It's MORNING EDITION.

Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Holiday Homework Solutions

Holiday Homework Solutions for class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 (During Summer Vacations) facility for the academic session 2022–2023 is being maintained to help the students and parents to do the holiday homework comfortably in Summer 2024-25. You are requested to upload your holiday homework in PDF format based on Latest CBSE Curriculum 2024-25 and get the solutions with in a week. You can also ask your Maths or science problems through Discussion Forum. If the problems are related to NCERT or NCERT Exemplar Problems please refer to NCERT Solutions page to get this. The solutions of holiday homework should be uploaded along with the school name at the end of this page. Notification of completion of homework will not be given by the website, you have to check yourself after a week for the solutions.

Download NCERT Solutions for all classes. Students of the upper primary level (Class 6, 7 and 8) are already well informed and are keen to find and learn more. According to CBSE, while assigning and preparing homework for the students, it is important to note they are able to develop the skills like relating, thinking, concluding, inferring. Homework should be such that the student neither feel it burdensome nor they lose interest in the subject matter. Moreover it is useful in providing them a happy experience. Homework therefore needs to be thought about and worked upon differently. Emphasis should be given on Vedic mathematics, designing quality homework rather than its quantity. Download NCERT Books and apps based on latest CBSE Syllabus.

Encompassing the aforesaid ideas, the CBSE has brought forth a Manual, “Alternatives to Holiday Homework” for classes VI to VIII. It is collection of ideas transformed into suggestive activities that are creative, interesting, meaningful and interactive, enhancing various skills, directly or indirectly related to subject matter providing students to enhance their learning and gaining knowledge based on NCERT Books following the latest CBSE Syllabus.

Suggestive Holiday Homework for Class 6

• Holiday Homework for Class 6 Hindi
• Holiday Homework for Class 6 English
• Holiday Homework for Class 6 Mathemaitcs
• Holiday Homework for Class 6 Science
• Holiday Homework for Class 6 Social Science

Suggestive Holiday Homework for Class 7

• Holiday Homework for Class 7 Hindi
• Holiday Homework for Class 7 English
• Holiday Homework for Class 7 Mathematics
• Holiday Homework for Class 7 Science
• Holiday Homework for Class 7 Social Science

Suggestive Holiday Homework for Class 8

• Holiday Homework for Class 8 Hindi
• Holiday Homework for Class 8 English
• Holiday Homework for Class 8 Mathematics
• Holiday Homework for Class 8 Science
• Holiday Homework for Class 8 Social Science

A well rounded development of individual knowledge happens not only from textbooks and formal education but more from the learner’s personal experiences, individual inquisitive nature and social surroundings. Homework is an area of importance and to make it more relevant for the NCERT Books classes 6th, 7th and 8th, appropriate strategies and meaningful activities may be suggested to the schools that give more time to child to explore the environment to develop creative thinking.

These activities (like OTBA for class 9 & 11 ) would be so framed that they keep the child interested in subjects and therefore would also help in enhancing the learning power. Homework is one of the areas that need urgent attention. As the students of class VI, VII and VIII develop a certain learning style and want to know and find more and more. Efforts should be made to make homework more creative and interesting so that the students do not feel burdensome while doing the same and the ultimate purpose of providing homework is served.

A survey was conducted through questionnaire prepared by CBSE to collect feedback from parents, teachers, students and other educationists on “Alternatives to Homework at Upper Primary Level” for Class Sixth, Seventh and Eighth so that appropriate strategies and meaningful activities can be designed and suggested to schools. The questions were directed to know the ideal quantity and purpose of the homework, whether homework should be assigned in all the subjects, internet usage should be a part of the homework or not, how homework helps in teaching.

Keeping in view emerging issues, there is a need to think about giving quality homework emphasizing on acquiring applied learning skills. Few points can be kept in mind while designing a quality homework by teachers: 1, Provide students capacity building activities which are followed up and acknowledged like drawing, creative writing, making puzzles, stories, plays, online games, reading online books and craft.

2. Provide them assignment sheets which improve their reading & writing abilities. Homework must enable the student to practice a skill independently. 3. A possible discussion can be held with different children on what they would like to do at home to improve in which ever area they deem necessary. Homework must be designed in a way that maximizes the chances of its completion by the students.

4. Parents should be able to understand the child’s needs and schools suggestions on how to learn mathematics, logical reasoning, etc. by doing puzzles, writing letters, reading to elders from the newspapers, making household lists, recipe making and cooking. 5. Learners who have dyslexia or number difficulty should have practice assignments overcoming their problems.

The child in middle school have a keenness to discover more and prepare for the examination. Learning is about developing new faculties, which become useful as an adult. The years 12 to 15 are years when rules become important, and doing well, excelling are given importance both at home and in the class. As the child grows chronically his/her emotional maturity also grows and there are interests which are beyond just what lessons can give.

The homework assigned should: 1. enhance study habits and practice skills (which learners are able to perform independently) 2. reinforce necessary skills both scholastic and co-scholastic among the learners. 3. enable learners to become independent learners and thinkers and develop among them 21st century skills so that they can participate in Make in India in future. 4. lead to the improvement in the academic achievement of the learner.

5. expand on the existing knowledge of the learners and be a part of the already acquired competencies in the classroom. 6. not put unneeded pressure or stress by including new learning material or difficult material to be worked upon by learners themselves. 7. be CBSE Syllabus based and as per developmental needs of the learners. 8. not require specific resources or technology which is not accessible to all learners. 9. have clearly defined, purposeful, creative and engaging activities.

It is also advised that teachers can refer to Life Skills Manuals, Health Manuals and Environmental Education Manuals which contain age appropriate and interesting activities which can be taken up by the learners individually. These activities can be assigned to learners so as to enhance their life skills, values and make them health conscious.

Homework is needed, and necessary for a teacher to be able to follow up with each child. The correction and feedback on homework is an important input that helps both parents and children to follow up and improve in areas which are needed. The recourse extra classes, can be reduced if the homework is used for learning improvement and acquisition of diverse skills. We are providing a handful help to solve or helping in solving the holiday homework.

What are concepts of the Holiday Homework for Class 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?

The Holiday Homework 2024-25 for class 1 and Class 2 should be totally creative work only. We should prepare the homework in such a way that student enjoy the work like play. The holiday assignment for class 3, 4 and Class 5 should be totally creative work.

What are the Holiday Homework suggestions for Class 6, 7 and 8?

The ideas for Holiday Homework 2024-25 for class 6, 7 and 8 Maths, Science, English, Hindi and Social Science are given on Tiwari Academy. We should also include the interesting facts related to daily life with the topic of NCERT Books.

How to prepare the Holiday Homework 2024-25 for class 9 and 10?

The collection of Important Questions from NCERT Textbook, From board Papers, CBSE Sample papers and NCERT Exemplar Books may be the good holiday homework practice material for High School students.

What would be good the Holiday Homework for class 11 and 12?

The Holiday Homework for class 11 and 12 are generally selected as the NCERT Textbook topics. The NCERT Books back exercises and related questions which are asked in CBSE Board Examination may be a good assignment for intermediate students.

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Consultant for Evaluation of Zanzibar Gender Policy 2016 and its Plan of Action (2016-2020)

Advertised on behalf of.

Home based, TANZANIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-May-2024

Application Deadline :

21-Apr-24 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Time left :, languages required :.

English  

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar in collaboration with UN Women and with financial support from the European Union Delegation has partnered to evaluate the Gender Policy 2016 – 2020 and develop the next Gender Policy 2024 – 2029.

The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has dedicated itself to implement, monitor, and report its implementation of various international and regional conventions, treaties, and commitments for promoting gender equality and women empowerment. These include the Declaration of the Human Rights 1948; the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW 1979); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989; the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination in Employment and Occupation (1958); the Convention on Equal Remuneration for Work of Equal Value (1951); the Beijing Platform for Action 1995; ICPD Plan of Action 1994; the Convention on Workers with Family Responsibilities (1981); The protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the right of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol,2003) and the Convention on Maternity Protection (2000). The Millennium Declaration of 2000 emphasized the role of the UN on human rights by declaring the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment objective for UN member states and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have specific goal number 5 on Gender equality and women empowerment as well as mainstream gender in all its remaining goals. At the regional level, URT recognizes the regional commitments as set in the provisions of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (1981), Declaration on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic at the XI International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa (1999), Women’s Declaration and Agenda for a Culture of Peace in Africa adopted at the close of a Pan African Conference in Zanzibar, 1999 and Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACPHR) on the Rights of Women in Africa. Another important declaration is the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development (1997), which binds member countries to implement affirmative actions to promote female participation in politics. At the country level, the Zanzibar Constitution of 1984 declares equal rights of men and women, and equal access to social, economic, and development opportunities.

To ensure GEWE commitments are achieved, the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar established the national machinery mandated for overall GEWE coordination which is currently the Ministry of Community Development Gender Elderly and Children (MCDGEC). Amongst its key obligations is to monitor and report on progress on the implementation of the RGoZ commitments under various GEWE resolutions and instruments. 

With technical and financial support from UN Women and the European Union Delegation, the MCDGEC plans to evaluate the Gender Policy 2016 – 2020 and develop the next Gender Policy 2024 – 2029 as an overarching gender mainstreaming framework. The Zanzibar Gender Policy guides gender mainstreaming in all spheres of life in Zanzibar.

The Policy underscores and emphasizes the need to mainstream gender issues in all national, sub-national and sectoral policies, programs, plans, and budgets as well as promoting gender equity, equality, and women empowerment as essential accelerators for promoting social justice, peace, economic growth, and sound management of all sectors.

This partnership is part of the EU Framework in Tanzania that aims at embracing Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment as one of the main priorities, singing a unique initiative called “Gender Transformative Action: Breaking the Glass Ceiling” targeting both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

Furthermore, the evaluation of the Gender Policy is critical to be better aligned with national priorities as articulated in Vision 2050, emerging Global and Regional commitments, and agreements such as CSW agreed conclusions; At national levels, some changes have happened in terms of national Development frameworks such as the formulation of the new Vision 2050, medium development plan namely the Zanzibar Development Plan (ZADEP (2021/22-2026/27, and the National Gender Development Plan guiding the implementation of the United Republic of Tanzania Generation Equality Action Coalition Commitments especially on Women’s Economic Justice and Rights and other Action Coalitions to mention a few. Also, since 2016, some important emerging issues including COVID-19, and climate change have had disproportionate impacts and implications on gender equality and to Gender Policy. 

The Evaluation will provide information on the extent to which progress has been achieved, as well as identify challenges and emerging issues that need to be taken into consideration in the Review of the Zanzibar Gender Policy. 

The effective implementation of this assignment requires a competent consultant with an adequate understanding of the gender situation in Zanzibar and the context. He/she must have high Oversight and experience in carrying out policy, program, and project reviews, assessments, and evaluations. This assignment will be supervised under the Permanent Secretary of the MCDGEC with technical support from the Directorate of Community Development, Gender Elders, and Children with technical support from UN Women. A designated Oversight A Technical Committee will be established and composed of selected key stakeholders and gender Oversights from other MDAs, UN Agencies, DP, and CSOs to provide technical guidance and oversight to the consultant(s) throughout the process of conducting the assignment. The Oversight Technical Committee will also strengthen ownership of the process. The consultant(s) shall be ultimately accountable to the Principal Secretary (PS) of the MCDGEC for this assignment. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of this consultancy is to conduct an evaluation of the Zanzibar Gender Policy 2016 and its Plan of Action (2016-2020), including through a Literature review, Key Informants interviews, and multi-stakeholder consultations including MDAs, Academia, Media, Private Sector, DPs, CSOs, OPDs and FBOs to provide clear findings and recommendations for consideration in the Review of the Zanzibar Gender Policy to strengthen ongoing efforts towards achieving GEWE objectives in Zanzibar.

More specifically, the objectives of the review are:

• Assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, and sustainability of the Gender Policy of its performance against targets set out.
• Identify new global, regional, and national evidence and emerging issues that have influenced the implementation of the policy-related programs.
• Assess efficiency in the utilization of resources deployed in the implementation of policy.
• Identify achievements, best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from the implementation of Policy
• Identify achievements, best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from the implementation of Policy the Zanzibar Gender Policy and Implementation Plan.
• Draw recommendations and conclusions that will inform the development/ Review of the next Zanzibar Gender Policy.

4.  SPECIFIC TASKS

4.1 To achieve the above objectives of the assignment, the tasks of the consultant and deliverables will include to:

4.1.1 Inception Phase

• Conduct desk review/literature review of the available policies, programs, procedures/regulations, and reports, including global, regional, and national evidence and emerging issues that have influenced the implementation of the Policy related programs such as the Zanzibar Constitution, Parliamentary Reports, national budgetary allocations, policy guidelines, and legal frameworks pertinent to gender equality institutionalization, mainstreaming and implementation in the country.
• Develop an inception report that demonstrates an understanding of the assignment, methodology/tools/checklist, stakeholders, and work plan and present it to the Oversight Technical Committee and officials responsible for coordinating the review of the Gender Policy, including the Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group (GMTWG).
• Incorporate comments and present for the approval of the Final Inception Report, including revised tools, for the evaluation of the Gender Policy/ Methodology and Review tools/checklists to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Community Development Elderly and Children.

4.1.2 Data Collection, Analysis and Reporting

• Lead National Government Ministries, Regional and LGAs consultations in both Unguja and Pemba / key-informant interviews National, Regional and LGAs consultations in both Unguja and Pemba using the agreed methodology, checklists, and tools including to assess stakeholders’ institutional and technical capacity, coordination, partnership building, resource mobilization.
• Conduct selected stakeholders’ consultations including UN agencies, development partners, autonomous agencies, non-governmental organizations/ civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, the Judiciary, gender focal persons, private sector representatives, and media representatives.
• Identify gender issues, challenges, and emerging issues that have been addressed by Zanzibar Gender Policy (2016) and its Plan of Action (2016-2020) in alignment with regional and global normative frameworks and national development priorities articulated in Vision 2050 and ZADEP.
• Identify good practices, lessons learned/achievements, and gaps/challenges from the Zanzibar Gender Policy and its Plan of Action (2016-2020).
• Develop a Draft Zanzibar Evaluation report that Incorporates all issues raised from the evaluation process according to the Gender Policy theme detailing the main findings from the evaluation of the Zanzibar Gender Policy and its Plan of Action (2016-2020) and recommendations to be considered in the Reviewed/next Gender Policy.
• Share Draft Evaluation report /preliminary findings and recommendations with the Oversight Technical Committee; and the Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group (GMTWG) for feedback and inputs.
• Organize and facilitate National multistakeholder consultative meetings including the Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group (GMTWG) to present and Validate the Draft Evaluation Report of the Zanzibar Gender Policy Evaluation and its Plan of Action (2016-2020) Plan
• Incorporate inputs from national multistakeholder consultative meetings into the Draft Evaluation Report of the Zanzibar Gender Policy (2016) and its Plan of Action (2016-2020)
• Present a Revised draft Evaluation report to the Oversight Technical Committee and the selected stakeholders for feedback and input.
•  Submit the final Evaluation Report of the Zanzibar Gender Policy (2016) and its Plan of Action (2016-2020) to the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Elders, and Children in both soft and hard copies to inform the drafting of the Reviewed Gender Policy.
• Prepare minutes and activity reports from all consultative meetings and workshops at National, Regional, and LGA levels.
• Develop and submit a Zanzibar Gender Policy evaluation process report that describes the entire evaluation process, a list of stakeholders consulted, a matrix of all stakeholders’ comments obtained throughout the evaluation; challenges encountered, and lessons learned.

5.0 Deliverables

The deliverables of this assignment will include:

• Draft and Final Inception Report with detailed work plan, methodology, tools, roles, responsibilities, and time frame.
• Literature Review Report detailing the main findings of relevant international, regional, and national documents, reports, and instruments, including the Zanzibar Constitution, Parliamentary Reports, national budgetary allocations, policy guidelines, and legal frameworks pertinent to gender equality institutionalization, mainstreaming, and implementation in the country.
• Multi-Stakeholders’ Consultations Report to provide the main findings of in-depth consultations with key stakeholders (including, but not exclusive to, all relevant Government ministries and local government bodies, Members of the House of Representatives, the Gender Mainstreaming Technical Working Group, UN agencies, Development partners, autonomous agencies, professional organizations,  and non-governmental organizations/ civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, the Judiciary, gender focal persons, relevant, and private sector representatives).
• Draft Evaluation Report of the Zanzibar Gender Policy and its Plan of Action (2016-2020) on preliminary findings and recommendations.
• Final Evaluation report of the Zanzibar Gender Policy and its Plan of Action (2016-2020).
• Zanzibar Gender Policy evaluation process report that describes the entire evaluation process, a list of stakeholders consulted, a matrix of all stakeholders’ comments obtained throughout the evaluation; challenges encountered, and lessons learned.

The consultant will carry out the assignment for an overall period of workdays over three months i.e. from 01 May 2024 to August 2024.

The consultant will sign the contract which will provide the consultancy details including the responsibilities, consultancy remuneration, modality of payments, and logistical arrangements during the assignment.

Payments will be made upon submission and acceptance of specified deliverables and submission of an invoice as follows:

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

As part of this assignment, there will be several travels to Pemba Island.

The effective implementation of this assignment requires a competent consultant with an adequate understanding of the gender situation in Zanzibar. He/she must have high expertise and experience in carrying out policy, program, and project reviews, assessments, and evaluations. This assignment will be supervised under the Permanent Secretary of the MCDGEC with technical support from the Directorate of Community Development, Gender Elders, and Children with technical support from UN Women. A designated      Technical Committee will be established and composed of selected key stakeholders and gender experts from other MDAs, UN Agencies, DP, and CSOs to provide technical guidance and oversight to the consultant(s) throughout the process of conducting the assignment. The Technical Committee will also strengthen ownership of the process. The consultant(s) shall be ultimately accountable to the Principal Secretary (PS) of the MCDGEC for this assignment.  

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values  

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong technical knowledge and expertise in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at all levels.
• Outstanding technical knowledge and experience in the development of Capacity capacity-building government plans.
• Outstanding writing skills, with proven ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Communicates sensitively, effectively and creatively.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced degree in gender and development, social science, development studies, planning, monitoring and evaluation, or related fields.
• A project/program management certification would be an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience development of Gender-related policies.
• Proven experience in review, assessment, and evaluation work in a development context and proven success in leading reviews of policies and programs, preferably related to gender.
• Experience in the development of the Results Framework of the plan is required.
• At least 10 years’ experience in assessing gender equality, women’s empowerment, human rights, and related policies and programs will be an added advantage.
• Knowledge of the governance, policy development on gender equality, and women empowerment context within Zanzibar is an asset.
• Ability and experience in interacting with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Excellent analytical skills with a strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.

Fluency in English and Swahili is required.

Submission of application :

• Personal CV and  Form P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.

Kindly note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for  assessment.