Difficulty: Beginner | Prerequisites: None
Source: Losoff, R. (2017). Increasing Homework Completion: Supplemental Documents and Resources. Schoolhouse Educational Services, LLC.
Homework completion rises sharply when students use simple, repeatable organisational systems: writing assignments down in a notebook, reviewing the week ahead every Sunday night, and breaking long-term projects into small dated tasks. The forms and checklists in this resource give students a concrete routine rather than relying on memory or good intentions.
Assignment notebook
A dedicated planner or diary where students record every homework task, its due date, and any materials needed. Teachers write assignments on the board; the student copies them into the notebook and checks each off once completed and turned in.
In simple terms, it is the single place you never have to wonder "what was I supposed to do tonight?"
Write It, Review It, Do It (Cohen, 2010)
A three-step homework routine. Write It: record all assignments and long-term due dates in daily and monthly calendars. Review It: scan all tasks before starting, and do a full weekly review on Sunday night. Do It: begin working.
Think of it as a pre-flight checklist for your homework session.
Sunday Night Review
A weekly planning ritual in which the student checks for upcoming tests, projects, daily homework, extracurriculars, and family commitments, then identifies which days have more or less free time and when the best homework windows fall.
In simple terms, it is ten minutes on Sunday that prevent a week of surprises.
Long-term project planning
The practice of breaking a large assignment (a research paper, a science fair project) into small, dated sub-tasks. Each sub-task has its own realistic deadline that avoids weekends and holidays.
Think of it as turning one scary deadline into several easy ones.
Organising materials
A decision-tree approach to every piece of paper in a student's binder or bag. For each paper, ask: "Will this be on a future test or assignment?" If yes, file it by class. If no, recycle it. If unsure, ask the teacher. After each unit, repeat the sort and decide whether to archive papers at home for mid-terms or finals.
In simple terms, this is the rule that keeps your folder from becoming a paper avalanche.
For every piece of paper in your binder or bag, ask one question: "Will this be covered on a future test or assignment?"
Yes: file it in the folder for that specific class.
No: recycle it.
Unsure: ask a teacher before discarding.
After finishing a test, unit, or long-term project, go through all folders and remove what you no longer need.
Before throwing anything away, ask a second question: "Will there be a mid-term or final? Do I want this for future learning?"
Yes: save papers in a labelled file at home, one per class.
No: get rid of everything.
Unsure: ask a teacher.
Complete one tracking sheet per class per week.
Each day, tick two boxes: "Wrote down assignment" and "Homework completed and turned in."
At the end of the week, calculate percentages for both behaviours across all classes.
The summary sheet rolls weekly completion rates into a running average so students (and parents) can see trends.
Research finding: when 61 middle-school teachers introduced assignment notebooks and monthly calendars across all classes for two years, homework completion jumped and classes gained roughly four minutes of instructional time per session (Archer and Gleason, 2003).
Write It: record every homework assignment in a daily calendar. Write all long-term project due dates in a monthly calendar.
Review It: before starting homework each evening, do a quick review of all tasks for the day. Every Sunday night, do a full weekly review.
Do It: once the review is done, begin working.
Seven questions to answer every Sunday evening:
Do I have any upcoming tests this week?
Do I have any projects due this week?
What other daily homework assignments might I have this week?
What sports or activities do I have this week?
What appointments or family events do I have this week? (Check with parents or guardians.)
What days do I have more time for homework, and what days do I have less?
What are the best time periods for me to do homework this week?
The point is to match your workload to your available time before the week starts, rather than discovering conflicts on Wednesday night.
Before starting homework, write down everything you will do that evening in order of priority.
Work through the list from top to bottom.
Cross off each assignment as you complete it.
This small step externalises the plan so your brain can focus on the work rather than on remembering what comes next.
Step 1: brainstorm all the tasks needed to complete the project.
Step 2: assign a realistic due date to each small task.
The smaller the task, the more likely you are to complete it.
Avoid scheduling sub-task deadlines on Saturdays, holidays, or other days you are unlikely to do homework.
Record the project name and final due date at the top, then list each sub-task with its own deadline below.
Students often assume they will remember assignments without writing them down. Memory is unreliable, especially across five or six classes. The assignment notebook exists because recall fails, not because writing is fun.
Many students think organisation means buying more supplies. The Organising Materials form makes clear that the real skill is a decision process (keep, recycle, or ask), not a fancier binder.
Some students treat the Sunday Night Review as optional because "I already know what I have to do." The review's value is in spotting conflicts between homework time and activities before they collide, which memory alone rarely catches.
Breaking a project into sub-tasks can feel like extra work. In practice, smaller deadlines increase the chance of completion because each step is manageable on its own.
⚠️ Assignment notebooks paired with monthly calendars are one of the few homework-completion interventions with published research support (Archer and Gleason, 2003). Expect questions about evidence-based organisational strategies.
⚠️ The Write It, Review It, Do It framework (Cohen, 2010) is a commonly cited three-step executive-functioning routine. Know the three steps and what each one involves.
⚠️ The Sunday Night Review is a weekly planning tool, not a daily one. If asked to distinguish daily from weekly planning, the Review Checklist is the weekly example; the Planning Tasks Form is the daily example.
⚠️ Long-term project planning hinges on two principles: make tasks small, and avoid scheduling deadlines on days you are unlikely to work. Both are testable distinctions from simply "starting early."
True or false: The Organising Materials decision tree asks students to keep every piece of paper until the end of the semester. ___
The three steps of the Write It, Review It, Do It method are: Write It = ___; Review It = ___; Do It = ___.
True or false: The Sunday Night Review should be done every evening before homework. ___
When planning a long-term project, sub-task deadlines should avoid falling on ___ or ___.
True or false: An assignment notebook only works if the student also uses a monthly calendar for long-term due dates. ___
Answers: 1. False (recycle what will not appear on future tests). 2. Record assignments in calendars; scan tasks before starting and do a weekly review; begin working. 3. False (it is a weekly review, done on Sunday night). 4. Saturdays, holidays (or other non-work days). 5. True (the notebook handles daily tasks; the monthly calendar handles long-term deadlines).
Q: Name the three steps of the Write It, Review It, Do It method and explain what each step involves.
A: Write It means recording all homework assignments in a daily calendar and all long-term due dates in a monthly calendar. Review It means scanning all tasks before beginning homework each evening and conducting a full weekly review on Sunday night. Do It means starting the work once the review is complete.
Q: A student says, "I do not need an assignment notebook because I can remember my homework." Using evidence from Archer and Gleason (2003), explain why the notebook matters.
A: When 61 middle-school teachers introduced assignment notebooks and monthly calendars for two years, homework completion increased significantly and classes saved about four minutes of instructional time per session. The notebook works because it removes reliance on memory, which is unreliable across multiple classes.
Q: Describe the two-step process for long-term project planning and identify two rules for setting sub-task deadlines.
A: Step 1 is brainstorming every task needed to finish the project. Step 2 is assigning a realistic deadline to each task. Two rules: keep each task small (smaller tasks are more likely to be completed), and avoid scheduling deadlines on days the student is unlikely to do homework, such as Saturdays or holidays.
Q: What is the purpose of the Sunday Night Review, and how does it differ from the daily Planning Tasks Form?
A: The Sunday Night Review is a weekly planning session that maps the coming week's tests, projects, activities, and available homework time. The Planning Tasks Form is a daily tool that lists that evening's assignments in priority order. The review sets the week's strategy; the daily form sets the evening's execution.
Q: Explain the Organising Materials decision tree. What two questions does it ask, and what are the possible outcomes for each?
A: The first question is "Will this paper be on a future test or assignment?" Yes means file it by class; no means recycle it; unsure means ask a teacher. The second question, asked after a unit ends, is "Will there be a mid-term or final, and do I want this for future learning?" Yes means save it in a labelled file at home; no means discard everything; unsure means ask a teacher.
These organisation strategies connect directly to executive functioning skills, particularly planning, working memory, and task initiation. Students with ADHD or executive-function difficulties often benefit most from externalising plans onto paper (see the Homework Success Program by Power, Karustis, and Habboushe, and the HOPS manual by Langberg).
The Sunday Night Review also ties into time-management research: matching workload to available time is a core principle of scheduling theory, whether applied to homework or professional project management.
Related Terms / Search Tags
assignment notebook, homework planner, weekly review, Sunday night review checklist, long-term project planning, task prioritisation, Write It Review It Do It, organising school materials, binder organisation, homework completion strategies, executive functioning, planning skills, time management for students, homework tracking, study skills, Cohen 2010, Archer and Gleason 2003