how much did you do homework last night

Do our kids have too much homework?

by: Marian Wilde | Updated: January 31, 2024

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Many students and their parents are frazzled by the amount of homework being piled on in the schools. Yet many researchers say that American students have just the right amount of homework.

“Kids today are overwhelmed!” a parent recently wrote in an email to GreatSchools.org “My first-grade son was required to research a significant person from history and write a paper of at least two pages about the person, with a bibliography. How can he be expected to do that by himself? He just started to learn to read and write a couple of months ago. Schools are pushing too hard and expecting too much from kids.”

Diane Garfield, a fifth grade teacher in San Francisco, concurs. “I believe that we’re stressing children out,” she says.

But hold on, it’s not just the kids who are stressed out . “Teachers nowadays assign these almost college-level projects with requirements that make my mouth fall open with disbelief,” says another frustrated parent. “It’s not just the kids who suffer!”

“How many people take home an average of two hours or more of work that must be completed for the next day?” asks Tonya Noonan Herring, a New Mexico mother of three, an attorney and a former high school English teacher. “Most of us, even attorneys, do not do this. Bottom line: students have too much homework and most of it is not productive or necessary.”

Research about homework

How do educational researchers weigh in on the issue? According to Brian Gill, a senior social scientist at the Rand Corporation, there is no evidence that kids are doing more homework than they did before.

“If you look at high school kids in the late ’90s, they’re not doing substantially more homework than kids did in the ’80s, ’70s, ’60s or the ’40s,” he says. “In fact, the trends through most of this time period are pretty flat. And most high school students in this country don’t do a lot of homework. The median appears to be about four hours a week.”

Education researchers like Gill base their conclusions, in part, on data gathered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests.

“It doesn’t suggest that most kids are doing a tremendous amount,” says Gill. “That’s not to say there aren’t any kids with too much homework. There surely are some. There’s enormous variation across communities. But it’s not a crisis in that it’s a very small proportion of kids who are spending an enormous amount of time on homework.”

Etta Kralovec, author of The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning , disagrees, saying NAEP data is not a reliable source of information. “Students take the NAEP test and one of the questions they have to fill out is, ‘How much homework did you do last night’ Anybody who knows schools knows that teachers by and large do not give homework the night before a national assessment. It just doesn’t happen. Teachers are very clear with kids that they need to get a good night’s sleep and they need to eat well to prepare for a test.

“So asking a kid how much homework they did the night before a national test and claiming that that data tells us anything about the general run of the mill experience of kids and homework over the school year is, I think, really dishonest.”

Further muddying the waters is an AP/AOL poll that suggests that most Americans feel that their children are getting the right amount of homework. It found that 57% of parents felt that their child was assigned about the right amount of homework, 23% thought there was too little and 19% thought there was too much.

One indisputable fact

One homework fact that educators do agree upon is that the young child today is doing more homework than ever before.

“Parents are correct in saying that they didn’t get homework in the early grades and that their kids do,” says Harris Cooper, professor of psychology and director of the education program at Duke University.

Gill quantifies the change this way: “There has been some increase in homework for the kids in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. But it’s been an increase from zero to 20 minutes a day. So that is something that’s fairly new in the last quarter century.”

The history of homework

In his research, Gill found that homework has always been controversial. “Around the turn of the 20th century, the Ladies’ Home Journal carried on a crusade against homework. They thought that kids were better off spending their time outside playing and looking at clouds. The most spectacular success this movement had was in the state of California, where in 1901 the legislature passed a law abolishing homework in grades K-8. That lasted about 15 years and then was quietly repealed. Then there was a lot of activism against homework again in the 1930s.”

The proponents of homework have remained consistent in their reasons for why homework is a beneficial practice, says Gill. “One, it extends the work in the classroom with additional time on task. Second, it develops habits of independent study. Third, it’s a form of communication between the school and the parents. It gives parents an idea of what their kids are doing in school.”

The anti-homework crowd has also been consistent in their reasons for wanting to abolish or reduce homework.

“The first one is children’s health,” says Gill. “A hundred years ago, you had medical doctors testifying that heavy loads of books were causing children’s spines to be bent.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems. There were also concerns about excessive amounts of stress .

“Although they didn’t use the term ‘stress,'” says Gill. “They worried about ‘nervous breakdowns.'”

“In the 1930s, there were lots of graduate students in education schools around the country who were doing experiments that claimed to show that homework had no academic value — that kids who got homework didn’t learn any more than kids who didn’t,” Gill continues. Also, a lot of the opposition to homework, in the first half of the 20th century, was motivated by a notion that it was a leftover from a 19th-century model of schooling, which was based on recitation, memorization and drill. Progressive educators were trying to replace that with something more creative, something more interesting to kids.”

The more-is-better movement

Garfield, the San Francisco fifth-grade teacher, says that when she started teaching 30 years ago, she didn’t give any homework. “Then parents started asking for it,” she says. “I got In junior high and high school there’s so much homework, they need to get prepared.” So I bought that one. I said, ‘OK, they need to be prepared.’ But they don’t need two hours.”

Cooper sees the trend toward more homework as symptomatic of high-achieving parents who want the best for their children. “Part of it, I think, is pressure from the parents with regard to their desire to have their kids be competitive for the best universities in the country. The communities in which homework is being piled on are generally affluent communities.”

The less-is-better campaign

Alfie Kohn, a widely-admired progressive writer on education and parenting, published a sharp rebuttal to the more-homework-is-better argument in his 2006 book The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing . Kohn criticized the pro-homework studies that Cooper referenced as “inconclusive… they only show an association, not a causal relationship” and he titled his first chapter “Missing Out on Their Childhoods.”

Vera Goodman’s 2020 book, Simply Too Much Homework: What Can We Do? , repeats Kohn’s scrutiny and urges parents to appeal to school and government leaders to revise homework policies. Goodman believes today’s homework load stresses out teachers, parents, and students, deprives children of unstructured time for play, hobbies, and individual pursuits, and inhibits the joy of learning.

Homework guidelines

What’s a parent to do, you ask? Fortunately, there are some sanity-saving homework guidelines.

Cooper points to “The 10-Minute Rule” formulated by the National PTA and the National Education Association, which suggests that kids should be doing about 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. In other words, 10 minutes for first-graders, 20 for second-graders and so on.

Too much homework vs. the optimal amount

Cooper has found that the correlation between homework and achievement is generally supportive of these guidelines. “We found that for kids in elementary school there was hardly any relationship between how much homework young children did and how well they were doing in school, but in middle school the relationship is positive and increases until the kids were doing between an hour to two hours a night, which is right where the 10-minute rule says it’s going to be optimal.

“After that it didn’t go up anymore. Kids that reported doing more than two hours of homework a night in middle school weren’t doing any better in school than kids who were doing between an hour to two hours.”

Garfield has a very clear homework policy that she distributes to her parents at the beginning of each school year. “I give one subject a night. It’s what we were studying in class or preparation for the next day. It should be done within half an hour at most. I believe that children have many outside activities now and they also need to live fully as children. To have them work for six hours a day at school and then go home and work for hours at night does not seem right. It doesn’t allow them to have a childhood.”

International comparisons

How do American kids fare when compared to students in other countries? Professors Gerald LeTendre and David Baker of Pennsylvania State University conclude in their 2005 book, National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling, that American middle schoolers do more homework than their peers in Japan, Korea, or Taiwan, but less than their peers in Singapore and Hong Kong.

One of the surprising findings of their research was that more homework does not correlate with higher test scores. LeTendre notes: “That really flummoxes people because they say, ‘Doesn’t doing more homework mean getting better scores?’ The answer quite simply is no.”

Homework is a complicated thing

To be effective, homework must be used in a certain way, he says. “Let me give you an example. Most homework in the fourth grade in the U.S. is worksheets. Fill them out, turn them in, maybe the teacher will check them, maybe not. That is a very ineffective use of homework. An effective use of homework would be the teacher sitting down and thinking ‘Elizabeth has trouble with number placement, so I’m going to give her seven problems on number placement.’ Then the next day the teacher sits down with Elizabeth and she says, ‘Was this hard for you? Where did you have difficulty?’ Then she gives Elizabeth either more or less material. As you can imagine, that kind of homework rarely happens.”

Shotgun homework

“What typically happens is people give what we call ‘shotgun homework’: blanket drills, questions and problems from the book. On a national level that’s associated with less well-functioning school systems,” he says. “In a sense, you could sort of think of it as a sign of weaker teachers or less well-prepared teachers. Over time, we see that in elementary and middle schools more and more homework is being given, and that countries around the world are doing this in an attempt to increase their test scores, and that is basically a failing strategy.”

Quality not quantity?

“ The Case for (Quality) Homework: Why It Improves Learning, and How Parents Can Help ,” a 2019 paper written by Boston University psychologist Janine Bempechat, asks for homework that specifically helps children “confront ever-more-complex tasks” that enable them to gain resilience and embrace challenges.

Similar research from University of Ovideo in Spain titled “ Homework: Facts and Fiction 2021 ” says evidence shows that how homework is applied is more important than how much is required, and it asserts that a moderate amount of homework yields the most academic achievement. The most important aspect of quality homework assignment? The effort required and the emotions prompted by the task.

Robyn Jackson, author of How to Plan Rigorous Instruction and other media about rigor says the key to quality homework is not the time spent, but the rigor — or mental challenge — involved. ( Read more about how to evaluate your child’s homework for rigor here .)

Nightly reading as a homework replacement

Across the country, many elementary schools have replaced homework with a nightly reading requirement. There are many benefits to children reading every night , either out loud with a parent or independently: it increases their vocabulary, imagination, concentration, memory, empathy, academic ability, knowledge of different cultures and perspectives. Plus, it reduces stress, helps kids sleep, and bonds children to their cuddling parents or guardians. Twenty to 30 minutes of reading each day is generally recommended.

But, is this always possible, or even ideal?

No, it’s not.

Alfie Kohn criticizes this added assignment in his blog post, “ How To Create Nonreaders .” He cites an example from a parent (Julie King) who reports, “Our children are now expected to read 20 minutes a night, and record such on their homework sheet. What parents are discovering (surprise) is that those kids who used to sit down and read for pleasure — the kids who would get lost in a book and have to be told to put it down to eat/play/whatever — are now setting the timer… and stopping when the timer dings. … Reading has become a chore, like brushing your teeth.”

The take-away from Kohn? Don’t undermine reading for pleasure by turning it into another task burdening your child’s tired brain.

Additional resources

Books Simply Too Much Homework: What Can We do? by Vera Goodman, Trafford Publishing, 2020

The Case Against Homework: How Homework is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, Crown Publishers, 2007

The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn, Hatchett Books, 2006 The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by Etta Kralovec and John Buell, Beacon Press, 2001.

The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents by Harris M. Cooper, Corwin Press, 2001.

Seven Steps to Homework Success: A Family Guide to Solving Common Homework Problems by Sydney Zentall and Sam Goldstein, Specialty Press, 1998.

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Three Penny Press

Students spend three times longer on homework than average, survey reveals

Sonya Kulkarni and Pallavi Gorantla | Jan 9, 2022

Graphic by Sonya Kulkarni

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association have suggested that a healthy number of hours that students should be spending can be determined by the “10-minute rule.” This means that each grade level should have a maximum homework time incrementing by 10 minutes depending on their grade level (for instance, ninth-graders would have 90 minutes of homework, 10th-graders should have 100 minutes, and so on).

As ‘finals week’ rapidly approaches, students not only devote effort to attaining their desired exam scores but make a last attempt to keep or change the grade they have for semester one by making up homework assignments.

High schoolers reported doing an average of 2.7 hours of homework per weeknight, according to a study by the Washington Post from 2018 to 2020 of over 50,000 individuals. A survey of approximately 200 Bellaire High School students revealed that some students spend over three times this number.

The demographics of this survey included 34 freshmen, 43 sophomores, 54 juniors and 54 seniors on average.

When asked how many hours students spent on homework in a day on average, answers ranged from zero to more than nine with an average of about four hours. In contrast, polled students said that about one hour of homework would constitute a healthy number of hours.

Junior Claire Zhang said she feels academically pressured in her AP schedule, but not necessarily by the classes.

“The class environment in AP classes can feel pressuring because everyone is always working hard and it makes it difficult to keep up sometimes.” Zhang said.

A total of 93 students reported that the minimum grade they would be satisfied with receiving in a class would be an A. This was followed by 81 students, who responded that a B would be the minimum acceptable grade. 19 students responded with a C and four responded with a D.

“I am happy with the classes I take, but sometimes it can be very stressful to try to keep up,” freshman Allyson Nguyen said. “I feel academically pressured to keep an A in my classes.”

Up to 152 students said that grades are extremely important to them, while 32 said they generally are more apathetic about their academic performance.

Last year, nine valedictorians graduated from Bellaire. They each achieved a grade point average of 5.0. HISD has never seen this amount of valedictorians in one school, and as of now there are 14 valedictorians.

“I feel that it does degrade the title of valedictorian because as long as a student knows how to plan their schedule accordingly and make good grades in the classes, then anyone can be valedictorian,” Zhang said.

Bellaire offers classes like physical education and health in the summer. These summer classes allow students to skip the 4.0 class and not put it on their transcript. Some electives also have a 5.0 grade point average like debate.

Close to 200 students were polled about Bellaire having multiple valedictorians. They primarily answered that they were in favor of Bellaire having multiple valedictorians, which has recently attracted significant acclaim .

Senior Katherine Chen is one of the 14 valedictorians graduating this year and said that she views the class of 2022 as having an extraordinary amount of extremely hardworking individuals.

“I think it was expected since freshman year since most of us knew about the others and were just focused on doing our personal best,” Chen said.

Chen said that each valedictorian achieved the honor on their own and deserves it.

“I’m honestly very happy for the other valedictorians and happy that Bellaire is such a good school,” Chen said. “I don’t feel any less special with 13 other valedictorians.”

Nguyen said that having multiple valedictorians shows just how competitive the school is.

“It’s impressive, yet scary to think about competing against my classmates,” Nguyen said.

Offering 30 AP classes and boasting a significant number of merit-based scholars Bellaire can be considered a competitive school.

“I feel academically challenged but not pressured,” Chen said. “Every class I take helps push me beyond my comfort zone but is not too much to handle.”

Students have the opportunity to have off-periods if they’ve met all their credits and are able to maintain a high level of academic performance. But for freshmen like Nguyen, off periods are considered a privilege. Nguyen said she usually has an hour to five hours worth of work everyday.

“Depending on the day, there can be a lot of work, especially with extra curriculars,” Nguyen said. “Although, I am a freshman, so I feel like it’s not as bad in comparison to higher grades.”

According to the survey of Bellaire students, when asked to evaluate their agreement with the statement “students who get better grades tend to be smarter overall than students who get worse grades,” responders largely disagreed.

Zhang said that for students on the cusp of applying to college, it can sometimes be hard to ignore the mental pressure to attain good grades.

“As a junior, it’s really easy to get extremely anxious about your GPA,” Zhang said. “It’s also a very common but toxic practice to determine your self-worth through your grades but I think that we just need to remember that our mental health should also come first. Sometimes, it’s just not the right day for everyone and one test doesn’t determine our smartness.”

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Anonymous • Nov 21, 2023 at 10:32 am

It’s not really helping me understand how much.

josh • May 9, 2023 at 9:58 am

Kassie • May 6, 2022 at 12:29 pm

Im using this for an English report. This is great because on of my sources needed to be from another student. Homework drives me insane. Im glad this is very updated too!!

Kaylee Swaim • Jan 25, 2023 at 9:21 pm

I am also using this for an English report. I have to do an argumentative essay about banning homework in schools and this helps sooo much!

Izzy McAvaney • Mar 15, 2023 at 6:43 pm

I am ALSO using this for an English report on cutting down school days, homework drives me insane!!

E. Elliott • Apr 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm

I’m from Louisiana and am actually using this for an English Essay thanks for the information it was very informative.

Nabila Wilson • Jan 10, 2022 at 6:56 pm

Interesting with the polls! I didn’t realize about 14 valedictorians, that’s crazy.

11 Surprising Homework Statistics, Facts & Data

The age-old question of whether homework is good or bad for students is unanswerable because there are so many “ it depends ” factors.

For example, it depends on the age of the child, the type of homework being assigned, and even the child’s needs.

There are also many conflicting reports on whether homework is good or bad. This is a topic that largely relies on data interpretation for the researcher to come to their conclusions.

To cut through some of the fog, below I’ve outlined some great homework statistics that can help us understand the effects of homework on children.

Homework Statistics List

1. 45% of parents think homework is too easy for their children.

A study by the Center for American Progress found that parents are almost twice as likely to believe their children’s homework is too easy than to disagree with that statement.

Here are the figures for math homework:

• 46% of parents think their child’s math homework is too easy.
• 25% of parents think their child’s math homework is not too easy.
• 29% of parents offered no opinion.

Here are the figures for language arts homework:

• 44% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is too easy.
• 28% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is not too easy.
• 28% of parents offered no opinion.

These findings are based on online surveys of 372 parents of school-aged children conducted in 2018.

2. 93% of Fourth Grade Children Worldwide are Assigned Homework

The prestigious worldwide math assessment Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) took a survey of worldwide homework trends in 2007. Their study concluded that 93% of fourth-grade children are regularly assigned homework, while just 7% never or rarely have homework assigned.

3. 17% of Teens Regularly Miss Homework due to Lack of High-Speed Internet Access

A 2018 Pew Research poll of 743 US teens found that 17%, or almost 2 in every 5 students, regularly struggled to complete homework because they didn’t have reliable access to the internet.

This figure rose to 25% of Black American teens and 24% of teens whose families have an income of less than $30,000 per year.

4. Parents Spend 6.7 Hours Per Week on their Children’s Homework

A 2018 study of 27,500 parents around the world found that the average amount of time parents spend on homework with their child is 6.7 hours per week. Furthermore, 25% of parents spend more than 7 hours per week on their child’s homework.

American parents spend slightly below average at 6.2 hours per week, while Indian parents spend 12 hours per week and Japanese parents spend 2.6 hours per week.

5. Students in High-Performing High Schools Spend on Average 3.1 Hours per night Doing Homework

A study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) conducted a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California. 

Across these high-performing schools, students self-reported that they did 3.1 hours per night of homework.

Graduates from those schools also ended up going on to college 93% of the time.

6. One to Two Hours is the Optimal Duration for Homework

A 2012 peer-reviewed study in the High School Journal found that students who conducted between one and two hours achieved higher results in tests than any other group.

However, the authors were quick to highlight that this “t is an oversimplification of a much more complex problem.” I’m inclined to agree. The greater variable is likely the quality of the homework than time spent on it.

Nevertheless, one result was unequivocal: that some homework is better than none at all : “students who complete any amount of homework earn higher test scores than their peers who do not complete homework.”

7. 74% of Teens cite Homework as a Source of Stress

A study by the Better Sleep Council found that homework is a source of stress for 74% of students. Only school grades, at 75%, rated higher in the study.

That figure rises for girls, with 80% of girls citing homework as a source of stress.

Similarly, the study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) found that 56% of students cite homework as a “primary stressor” in their lives.

8. US Teens Spend more than 15 Hours per Week on Homework

The same study by the Better Sleep Council also found that US teens spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, and overall this added up to over 15 hours per week.

Surprisingly, 4% of US teens say they do more than 6 hours of homework per night. That’s almost as much homework as there are hours in the school day.

The only activity that teens self-reported as doing more than homework was engaging in electronics, which included using phones, playing video games, and watching TV.

9. The 10-Minute Rule

The National Education Association (USA) endorses the concept of doing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade.

For example, if you are in 3rd grade, you should do 30 minutes of homework per night. If you are in 4th grade, you should do 40 minutes of homework per night.

However, this ‘rule’ appears not to be based in sound research. Nevertheless, it is true that homework benefits (no matter the quality of the homework) will likely wane after 2 hours (120 minutes) per night, which would be the NEA guidelines’ peak in grade 12.

10. 21.9% of Parents are Too Busy for their Children’s Homework

An online poll of nearly 300 parents found that 21.9% are too busy to review their children’s homework. On top of this, 31.6% of parents do not look at their children’s homework because their children do not want their help. For these parents, their children’s unwillingness to accept their support is a key source of frustration.

11. 46.5% of Parents find Homework too Hard

The same online poll of parents of children from grades 1 to 12 also found that many parents struggle to help their children with homework because parents find it confusing themselves. Unfortunately, the study did not ask the age of the students so more data is required here to get a full picture of the issue.

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Interpreting the Data

Unfortunately, homework is one of those topics that can be interpreted by different people pursuing differing agendas. All studies of homework have a wide range of variables, such as:

• What age were the children in the study?
• What was the homework they were assigned?
• What tools were available to them?
• What were the cultural attitudes to homework and how did they impact the study?
• Is the study replicable?

The more questions we ask about the data, the more we realize that it’s hard to come to firm conclusions about the pros and cons of homework .

Furthermore, questions about the opportunity cost of homework remain. Even if homework is good for children’s test scores, is it worthwhile if the children consequently do less exercise or experience more stress?

Thus, this ends up becoming a largely qualitative exercise. If parents and teachers zoom in on an individual child’s needs, they’ll be able to more effectively understand how much homework a child needs as well as the type of homework they should be assigned.

Related: Funny Homework Excuses

The debate over whether homework should be banned will not be resolved with these homework statistics. But, these facts and figures can help you to pursue a position in a school debate on the topic – and with that, I hope your debate goes well and you develop some great debating skills!

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Animism Examples
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• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ What is Educational Psychology?

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• Writing Tips

Grammar: When to Use Do, Does, and Did

3-minute read

• 12th August 2022

Verbs are essential to creating complete sentences, as they help us express physical actions ( She jumped in the puddle) , mental actions ( He thought about puppies) , and states of being ( I am hungry) .

There are several types of verbs that can each be written in different tenses, so they can be tricky to work with, especially if English isn’t your first language . We’ve put together a guide to help you use one of the most common verbs, do , in your writing . Read on below to learn more!

Action Verbs

As the name suggests, action verbs are used to express actions completed by the subject of a sentence. The base verb do is conjugated according to the tense:

1. Present Tense

In the present tense, do takes the form do or does, depending on the subject:

Consider the following examples:

We do our homework every night.

   She does her homework every night.

2. Past Tense

In the simple past tense , the base verb do takes the form did with all subjects:

   We did our homework last night.

   She did her homework last night.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary , or helping verbs, are used with another base verb to create negative sentences, questions, or add emphasis. Here’s how do should be used as an auxiliary verb:

1. Negative Sentences

Following the same subject–verb pairings introduced above, we combine the auxiliaries do , does , and did with the adverb not to create negative sentences:

   We do not do our homework every night.

   She did not do her homework last night.

Note that we can combine the auxiliary and the adverb to create the contractions don’t , doesn’t , and didn’t . You simply remove the space between the two words and replace the letter o in not with an apostrophe (’).

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Contractions are more common in conversations and informal writing and typically shouldn’t be used in formal writing (e.g., academic or business).

2. Questions

To create questions, the auxiliary is combined with the infinitive of another verb in this way: auxiliary verb + subject + infinitive verb .

●  Simple present questions:

Do they sell children’s books?

Does he speak English?

Note that the third person verb speaks isn’t spelled with the s when paired with the auxiliary to form a question.

●  Simple past questions:

Did you buy anything at the bookstore?

Did he learn how to speak English?

Note that did indicates the past tense, so the main verbs don’t also take the past tense (i.e., bought and learned ).

3. Emphasis

In positive sentences, we can also combine the auxiliaries do , does , and did with the main verb to emphasize that something is true:

   We do sell children’s books.

   He did learn to speak English.

Try saying these sentences aloud and adding emphasis to the auxiliary terms with your tone. It adds a dramatic effect!

Proofreading and Editing Services

Hopefully, this guide will help you feel more confident when using different forms of the verb do in your writing. If you’re still learning or want to be sure your work is error-free, our editors are ready to help. You can upload a free trial document today to learn more!

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The Worsening Homework Problem

My son does an average of five or six hours of homework every night. Is this normal?

Editor’s Note: Every Tuesday, Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer take questions from readers about their kids’ education. Have one? Email them at [email protected].

Dear Abby and Brian,

My son, who is in ninth grade, is a really good student, but I’m worried he’s working far too much. He does an average of five or six hours of homework every weeknight, and that’s on top of spending most of the weekend writing essays or studying for tests. His school says that each of his five main classes (English, history, math, language, and science) can assign no more than 30 minutes a night and that electives can assign no more than one hour a week. That should look like something around three hours a night, which is a lot but at least more manageable.

On some nights, a math problem set can take him more than two hours, and then, after 8 p.m. and sometimes after 9, he turns to his English reading, science textbook, Spanish paragraph, or history outline. He’s working until after midnight and then up at 6 a.m. to get ready for school, beyond exhausted. Is this normal?

How much homework should students be assigned?

Margaret Denver

Dear Margaret,

Homework—when assigned in appropriate amounts and with the right goals in mind—is an indispensable tool for educators. But students should never be put in the position of having to choose between their academic success and their overall well-being.

To understand what constitutes the right amount of homework, we should be clear on what it’s meant to accomplish. We believe it should perform four basic functions. First, homework should be assigned in order to make the most of class time. In an English class, for example, teachers need to ask students to read at home in order to do the important work of leading in-class discussions. Second, at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts. Third, these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum. Finally, homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.

Unfortunately, many schools assign homework for its own sake, in amounts that are out of proportion to these basic functions—a problem that seems to have gotten worse over the past 20 years . This isn’t necessarily intentional. Some of your son’s teachers probably underestimate the time it takes their students to complete assignments. But your description makes clear that homework has taken over your son’s life. That’s why he should make sure to tell his teachers that he’s been working past the nightly limits prescribed by the school.

Additionally, he should use those limits for his own well-being: If he can’t get through a math worksheet in half an hour, he should stop, draw a line after the final problem he was able to complete, and talk with his teacher the following day. That way he will be able to spread his time more evenly among classes, and his teachers will get a better sense of how long their homework is taking. Sometimes teachers aren’t aware of how much other work our students have on their plate, not to mention their extracurricular responsibilities. Fill us in! Most teachers would prefer to recalibrate our students’ workload than find ourselves responsible for keeping them up so late.

But the goodwill of individual teachers may not be enough to solve the issue. Schools have any number of incentives to assign a lot of work, one of which is the pernicious assumption that “good” schools provide as much of it as their students can pack into a day. If your son’s workload doesn’t get lighter after he talks with his teachers, contact the administration and explain the situation. Hopefully this will prompt a larger conversation within the school about the reasons to assign homework in the first place—and the reasons not to.

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to do homework: 15 expert tips and tricks.

Coursework/GPA

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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The first one is more natural if you are referring to an action that was in progress at 8 o'clock. But it is not possible to omit the subject in English, pronoun " I " in this case.

If you are referring to an action that was concluded before 8 o'clock, you should use Past Perfect and a different preposition, " by 8 o'clock" in this case.

E.g.: I had finished my homework by 8 o'clock last night.

Both sentences are syntactically incorrect, i.e. the word order is not respected. 

You have two options: 1) to use a comma for emphasis: At 8 o'clock last night , I was doing my homework; 2) to put the whole adverbial phrase after the object: I was doing my homework at 8 o'clock last night .

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The learning network | do you have too much homework.

Do You Have Too Much Homework?

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

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Some schools and school districts are taking a hard look at how much homework is assigned and how valuable it is for student learning. How much homework do you have, on average, each night? Is it a burden for you? Does it mostly help you learn the material and skills you are being taught? Does some of it seem like “busy work”?

Winnie Hu reports on a “homework revolution,” in which some schools and districts are rethinking their policies on and approaches to homework:

Galloway is part of a wave of districts across the nation trying to remake homework amid concerns that high-stakes testing and competition for college have fueled a nightly grind that is stressing out children and depriving them of play and rest, yet doing little to raise achievement, particularly in elementary grades. “There is simply no proof that most homework as we know it improves school performance,” said Vicki Abeles, a mother of three from California, whose documentary “Race to Nowhere,” about burned-out students caught in a pressure-cooker educational system, has helped reignite the antihomework movement. “And by expecting kids to work a ‘second shift’ in what should be their downtime, the presence of schoolwork at home is negatively affecting the health of our young people and the quality of family time.” So teachers at Mango Elementary School in Fontana, Calif., are replacing homework with “goal work” that is specific to individual student’s needs and that can be completed in class or at home at his or her own pace. The Pleasanton School District, north of San Jose, Calif., is proposing this month to cut homework times by nearly half and prohibit weekend assignments in elementary grades because, as one administrator said, “parents want their kids back.” Ridgewood High School in New Jersey introduced a homework-free winter break in December. Schools in Tampa, Fla., and Bleckley County, Ga., have instituted “no homework nights” throughout the year. And the two-year-old Brooklyn School of Inquiry, a program for gifted and talented elementary students, has made homework optional: it is neither graded nor counted toward progress reports. “I think people confuse homework with rigor,” said Donna Taylor, the Brooklyn School’s principal, who views homework for children under 11 as primarily benefiting parents by helping them feel connected to the classroom.

Students: Tell us about your homework. How much time do you spend per night on assignments? Do your homework assignments tend to reinforce your learning in class, or does it generally feel like a useless requirement? Have any of your teachers changed their homework policies or limit the homework they assign? Do you ever have optional or individualized homework? If it were up to you, what would your school’s homework policy be, and why?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

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I’m a 9th grade student at BCA and the homework amount is awful. For the entire year of social studies, you know those long charts in the textbook, yeah, I had to copy each and every one for homework. Homework? More like a torture course. I didn’t have any time for myself because I had those charts, had to read chapters of a book for English, with Math, and I had no time for anything. I came home at 4pm and finished homework by 2am. We couldn’t go to dinners because I had too much homework. I couldn’t talk to my mom, dad or sister. Every time I asked them something the first thing they go is “did you finish your homework?” And I didn’t. Even my sister was acting like my mom after a while. So yes. I think I have too much homework. And no. It doesn’t really help (unless it’s learning how to use math formulas). I just copied everything i saw without any of the actual information being absorbed just to be done with the work. Homework ruined my life.

Alright, well it depends on what kind of homework you get. At my middle school, I get math homework everyday, but it’s not the kind of homework from which you don’tlearn anything. They are problems where we apply what we learned in class. I never get Texas History homework and when I do, it’s just reviews for our test. In Science our only homework is the occsional project. Of course, we have to work hard on those, so it takes some time, but we don’t get projects everyday. The only class where I think the homework is overdone is LA (language arts). Since I am in the gifted class, all we do is project after project after project. And they all require hard work (staying up till 12, creativity, etc.) Just because we are gifted, our teacher thinks we should be able to produce oustanding out-of -the-box work on every single project. I never actually learned anything in LA. During our persuasive unit, we did a mock presidential election, which I thought was great, but she never had us exclusively work on persuasion. Of course, it was there, in fact it was the most prevalent aspect, but we never did anything to build on our technique of persuasion. The whole year, our LA teacher has taught us how to get by on 6 hours of sleep, drai our brains dry of creative, outstanding, huge projects, and write reader’s responses.

So in MY middle school, homework really depends on how YOU decide to have it. We have a good amount of homework (I wouldn’t say it was THAT much) but it really depended on if you finished it in school… if if you wanted to keep it as HOMEwork…

I usually have homework at night. Studying spellings words is a given. Other homework is really stuff I didn’t finish in class. My teachers try to not assign homework when there is a school-wide event in the evening. Because of a learning disability, my teachers either modify my homework or let me turn things in that would be late for others, but not for me. I have awesome teachers and go to a great school! //www.hammonsmarketing.com/health

The homework quantities at my Catholic high school are, I believe, on the reasonable end of a lot. Most students spend between one and three hours each night, depending on the courses and teachers. However, a survey found that most of us get very little sleep and that half of the freshmen and two thirds of sophmores and juniors had suffered physically because of stress. The reason for this is the extra curricular activities. When my parents were younger, one could get into very good colleges without being the star of the sports team or school orchestera. Now, students are pressured to excel in as many activities as possible. More than 75% of the students in my school are on at least one sports team, many of which practice from the end of school until as late as 8pm. I play four instruments and participate in debate and the community service club. Other students have jobs, or have responsibilities at home. When someone is practicing music or sports, or working for five hours every night, one to three hours of homework becomes a much greater burden than it would otherwise be.

I agree with Brina, homework ruined my life as well. Our school gives out so much, and I am only in 7th Grade!!!!! I know I’m in honors, so I shouldn’t complain, but we should be getting harder work, not more work!!!!! Each teacher claims they only give about 20 minutes of homework a night, but in reality, its like an hour. I’m usually working from the time I get home 4:20 until at least midnight. It’s just too much! I should really be getting more sleep than I am already getting- it’s just not healthy to get 6-7 hours of sleep each night. There was not one night this school year (besides Fridays) that I was not studying or doing homework while in dinner or even out to eat! The teachers also never consider all the evening activities typical middle schoolers would have… It’s just such a pain to have to carry all that homework pressure around when you have to go somewhere or play a sport. As a matter of fact, my little brother longs greatly for us to play legos together (remember them? from the carefree days?), but I just dont have time! In addition, I don’t obtain any knowledge as well from doing homework. I’m a type of learner that once I see it and practice it a few times in class or review it a few times, it’s in my head. I don’t need some type of review to remember it. I feel homework should just be something that if someone feels they need to do it, they should to review. I can’t believe I actually have time to write this review- actually, I don’t- I have two projects due, from the same class, with only 2 1/2 days of school left! This is unfair- I have so much work due, and I’m literally scrambling around, making sure I did all of my work, until the last day of school It’s just insane. Please do something about it.

I’m happy people are finally seriously analyzing the excessive homework situation and determining whether it actually helps kids learn and retain or not. I work at a Montessori Middle School where the only homework assigned is work the students couldn’t finish during the week. Usually, as long as kids are on task at school, they get the rest of their time to do things they love by themselves or with their families.

Montessori schools are an interesting voice in this type of debate. //www.waterfrontmontessori.blogspot.com

At my old school, I got a lot more homework. At my new prep school, I get less. The difference: I spend much more time on my homework at my current school because it is harder. I feel as if I actually accomplish something with the harder homework, even if it means I don’t go to bed until 2 every night (it’s junior year it’s not that far from the norm).

I’m a student from Indiana. I go to a public school, and at my school I get about 1 to 2 hours of homework per night. When I have in-school projects, I usually have about 2 to 3 hours because I try to do them at home. But, on average, I get my homework done by 5. Compared to many of you, I have little homework. I also do extra work to help me understand the material better. Because of this, I am doing very well in my school, but other students in my school aren’t doing so well. I found out that, on average, they do about ½ to an hour of homework per day. I’ve also noticed that they rush through it and don’t try to understand it. Then, they found out that this little amount of work affects them a lot by lowering their grade, and also, they don’t understand the material. But they don’t do anything about it and continue these ways. I think that schools should keep the same amount of homework, or maybe increase the amount of homework. Of course, some might say, “If we give them more work, won’t they rush through that as well?” To prevent this, homework should be harder to do so that students can’t rush through it. For example, teachers can give questions that aren’t hard, but take a long time to do. I say that homework shouldn’t be greatly reduced or eliminated because if the schools do reduce or eliminate homework, students’ grades might slowly drop. I think that having more homework will help me get smarter and maintain my grades, rather than having no homework and starting to fail.

I’m a freshman in high-school and usually I have 1-2 hours of homework everyday. There is not a day where I don’t have homework. (I have all Pre-AP classes.) If I have a project(s), then I have 4-5 hours of homework.

I am in 8th grade, in advanced classes, and in 2 honors classes for high school credits. For Algebra 1 honors I get 1-2 hours of homework each night. It’s crazy, and I am good at math. My friends that are okay at math take 3-4 hours a night for that class. My mom e-mailed the teacher about the homework madness and he said,”I am just teaching and giving to the state standards(Florida).” If that is the standards then I have no life.

I am a junior at CNG in Bogota, Colombia. I have been in the school all my life, and homework had never been an issue. I used to spend about 1 hour each night doing homework and for me it was very relaxed. But this year I don’t know what happened to our school and I am getting excessive amounts of homework. Now i spend from 2-3 hours doing homework each night and when I’m done I’m exhausted and go straight to bed and have no time to do anything else. To make matters worse i feel most of the homework assignments that are given to me don’t help me reinforce my learning in class. It is just extra work that should be done at school. I don’t think that students should leave school to get to their houses and do more work. In my case the homework assignments I have force me to go to bed at very late hours of the night. This is not healthy for a student because the next day they won’t work as well as if they had slept for the recommended 7-8 hours. I’ve had to cancel some extracurricular activities many times this year because of the excessive amount of homework I have this year. “I think people confuse homework with rigor,” said Donna Taylor. The statement given by Donna Taylor in Winnie Hu’s article is very true. Some teachers do confuse homework with rigor and therefore give their students tons of homework. Finally I would like to say that I think my school should change their homework policy and give us less homework. Homework is supposed to help us not make us suffer and get stressed.

When I was a freshman, I hardly had any homework (besides algebra II which didn’t take too long anyways). I even had all honors classes. Now that I’m a sophomore, I’m taking AP U.S. history, pre-calc, band, american lit, spanish II, and honors chemistry. The only homework I regularly get is AP history. I get about an hour and a half per night for that class, but it is a college level course. The other classes are hit and miss for homework.

This answer is obvious, its YES! I am an eighth grader at a public school, and I seriously think the teachers there think we do not have any social lives. I have hours of homework. And it is only middle school. All this stuff we do not even need to know! I occasionally just cry because I really want to hang out with my friends so bad, but I have to do homework. I want to play with my pets, but too much homework. I want to do a lot of things, but always too much homework. There should be a rule, only 20 minutes of homework allowed per night!

Yes. It’s ridiculous. On average i get about 10-14 pieces of homework a week. This results in me having to spend around 2-3 hours monday to friday doing homework, and 1-2 hours on saturday and sunday. School isn’t just 9-4 monday to friday anymore, it’s 9-9 monday-sunday.

I usually have at least 3 hours of homework a night, no including projects and studying. I feel that this is too much. I’m often up until 11 at night doing it and I have to get up a 5:30 for school. Last year, I had a huge project dumped on my and I don’t think I slept at all that night. Maybe 2 hours. Tops. I got pretty sick from it. I don’t know. My body just shut down. It wouldn’t move and I was soo cold as I remember. I went to the doctor’s and that was that, I guess. I feel that some work is busywork, but not all. I like doing labs and answering those questions. I find almost ALL math homework to be busywork. It’s REALLY easy, but SO TIME-CONSUMING. It’ll take me an hour to do 30 problems because I have to show all the work and the process, etc. History and English questions CAN reinforce the learning. I don’t think it always does, but in some cases, yes.

I am in the 10th grade and i get about 50 problems in geometry 3 pages of notes in chemistry (we have to write our own notes in chemistry for homework) 15 questions in world history and a 3 page essay in AP english all in one night i just think that is way to much homework for one night i get out of school at 3:05 and have to go to bed at about 10:00 thats just like six hours to do all that homework plus i still have to do chores and eat and stuff so realy we only get like four hours a day to do all this homework and my geometry teacher says and i quote “I DONT GIVE A DAMN IF YOU WHERE AT THE HOSPITAL, IF YOU WERE SICK, OR SOMEONE DIED YOU NEED TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK NO EXCEPTIONS” she also does not accept late work finish missed testsor anything and if she forgets to grade a test or something its ok for her grading papers is her homework but its ok for her! if i did not have to deall with all the stress of homework i think i would do better in school.

The main problem that occurs with homework is that teacher are oblivios to exactly how long it takes to accomplish. I spend a longer amount of time on homework because I am a prefectionist and so a question that would take an average person 10 min would take me 15- 20. Now, If I got say, 9-12 assignments a week (each assighnment taking aproximatly 1 hr to accomplish) it would be alright. However, I have been getting 3 hr. long projects and 14 other assignments due in a week. I start my homework at 4:00 and don’t stop untill 6:30 and I’m only in 7th grade. Many people I know in highschool don’t get as much as I do. I belive that before a teacher assignes homework they should make shore that it doesn’t take more than an hour and that all of their homework combined for a week doesn’t take more than 9hrs. Though ‘young’ and ‘immature’ children do have lives outside of school.

A little homework isn’t such a bad thing. Problem is, I haven’t been given “a little homework” since sixth grade. The main thing I see is teachers giving homework because they think it helps us learn. When they give us things to do that we’ve never done even in class that we are graded on, 20 minutes of homework can easily turn into 1 or 2 hours of research online. They give homework because they’re expected to, not because it actually does anything.

Also, the teachers seem to think that their class takes precedence over every other class. In honors, I expect reasonable homework, not busy work. We go to school for 8 hours right after we wake up. We go home and get homework that takes us 10 hours straight… sorry, not going to work out. Every teacher sees an hour of their homework as one hour of homework. Multiply that times 7, guys. even better, add a job, sports and clubs (which are all required to get into a decent college.) into the mix. and you mock us and give us detentions for being tired in the morning and hungry before lunch… what’s sleep? I’ve never tried it. Dinner? I think I had that once. All I know is work. I live weekend to weekend, summer to summer.

Ever wonder why kids hate school? because it destroys us. breaks us down. It’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, but it’s so hard to feel like it’s doing us good when it feels so bad. All we have to look forward to is getting out of there. But if we ever say we hate school, that makes us ungrateful slackers, melodramatic whiners and rotten teenagers that want to laze around doing nothing all day.

So hard to be a student these days.

Im a sophomore and there is a plethora amount of homework its crazy especially from Ap World History in which im always getting projects and english sometimes i stay up late till 12 am and then continue my homework at school during breakfast sometimes students in grade levels below mine have to stay after school and during school for something that was called “wallstreet” and now is called”college prep”so you can imagine how many times some students have to stay after school for homework especially those in more advanced classes than the others like I am.

I’ve been on the accelerated track at my high school, and homework has never been an issue for me up until my junior year. I feel as though lately my homework load has more than doubled and frankly I don’t see the full use of it. Being a teenager, school is obviously a huge priority, but I feel that it shouldn’t take away from high school experiences. I have a job, and I do participate in a competitive sport, and I would like to be able to handle it all. What always ends up throwing me off is that 12 page outline for biology, or those verb translations for italian. I feel like nowadays every teenager has to two of three things; good grades, an active social life, and a healthy amount of sleep. Farewell, sleep.

yes!i think some teachers give students to much home work.they should relize we have six other periods were we get work.i think some teachers should not give as much work as they do.

I think my school is good right now because the students don’t get alot of ho9mework because it’s all mostly classwork so the teachers can help us out and everything. There are some teachers that do give alot of homework sometimes but it’s only if your behind or need to catch up really fast.

In my opinion,Ithink I get too much homework sometimes.Sometimes it’s so difficult my mom can’t figure it out.Once,I had to spend 2hours on one math assignment!Since I’m a seventh grader,the required amount is a little over an hour.For L.A.,I usually need to read for 20 minutes.But with my brain processing tests,I’m advanced in reading.(but I already know that).Since I have ADD,it makes it harder.I have to spend 90 min. On hw.It should be illegal.

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Homework Time Calculator

Homework Time (hours/day):

Introduction

As students, educators, and parents, we often grapple with the challenge of managing homework effectively. The “Homework Time Calculator” is a helpful tool designed to streamline this process. It allows you to estimate the time required to complete a set of assignments, helping students plan their study sessions efficiently and strike a balance between academic work and other activities. By providing a realistic understanding of the time commitment, this calculator is a valuable resource for students and parents looking to optimize study routines.

The Homework Time Calculator uses a straightforward formula to estimate the total time needed for completing multiple assignments:

Total Time (in minutes) = ∑(Individual Assignment Times)

In this formula:

• “Total Time” represents the combined time needed for all assignments.
• “∑” denotes the summation symbol, meaning you add up the times for each individual assignment.
• “Individual Assignment Times” are the estimated durations for each homework task.

To use this calculator effectively, you simply input the estimated time for each assignment, and the calculator handles the summation for you.

How to Use?

Using the Homework Time Calculator is a simple process. Here’s how to make the most of it:

• Input Times : Begin by entering the estimated time required for each homework assignment in the provided fields. You can add as many assignments as needed.
• Calculate : After entering the times for all assignments, click the “Calculate” button.
• Results : The calculator will instantly display the total time required to complete all the assignments.
• Adjust as Necessary : If you find that the total time exceeds your available study time, you can make adjustments by reallocating time or prioritizing tasks accordingly.

Suppose a student has three homework assignments to complete:

• Math Worksheet – Estimated time: 30 minutes
• History Reading – Estimated time: 45 minutes
• Science Project – Estimated time: 90 minutes

To calculate the total time required to complete these assignments:

• Input Times : Enter 30 minutes for the Math Worksheet, 45 minutes for History Reading, and 90 minutes for the Science Project.
• Calculate : Click the “Calculate” button.

The calculator will display a total time of 165 minutes, which is equivalent to 2 hours and 45 minutes. This information can help the student plan their study session effectively, ensuring they allocate enough time to complete all assignments.

1. Can I use this calculator for long-term project planning?

The Homework Time Calculator is best suited for estimating the time required to complete individual homework assignments. For long-term project planning, it’s advisable to break down the project into smaller tasks and use the calculator to estimate the time for each subtask.

2. Is this calculator suitable for all grade levels?

Yes, the Homework Time Calculator is suitable for students of all grade levels, from elementary to college. It can be adjusted to accommodate different homework loads and time estimations.

3. What if I complete assignments faster or slower than the estimated time?

The estimated times are meant as a guide. You can adjust the times to reflect your personal study pace. If you consistently complete assignments faster or slower, consider updating your estimates for more accurate planning.

Conclusion:

The Homework Time Calculator is a valuable tool for students and parents who want to improve their homework management and time allocation. By providing a clear estimate of the time required for each assignment and the total time needed, this calculator enables students to plan their study sessions effectively, avoid last-minute rushes, and strike a balance between their academic responsibilities and other activities. It promotes better time management skills and, ultimately, better academic performance. Try it out to enhance your homework routines and make the most of your study time.

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• B.A., English, State University of New York
• understatement
• synechdoche
• onomatopoeia
• personification
• alliteration

The wind is being addressed as though it is capable of understanding, which makes this verse an example of apostrophe .

Using metonymy allows a writer to describe something indirectly by referring to other similar or associated elements.

Puns are also known as "Dad jokes."

In the opening of A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens uses antithesis to contrast opposing ideas with balanced phrases.

Writers use assonance, the repetition of similar vowel sounds, for emphasis and to show relatedness or cohesion.

Irony, the opposite of what is expected.

Good start! You can use these resources to learn more about common figures of speech:

• Learn About Metaphors
• Learn About Similes
• Learn About Puns
• Learn About Irony

Nice job! Here are some resources on less common figures of speech that you might find interesting:

• Learn About Euphemisms
• Learn About Hyperbole
• Learn About Oxymorons
• Learn About Understatement

Terrific work! You're a star of the figure of speech world. Interested in learning more? Check out these articles:

• Smashing Examples of Onomatopeoia
• All About Alliteration
• The Best Hyperbole Definition Ever
• The Other Kind of Apostrophe

Wow! You are beyond awesome and that is an understatement . Interested in learning even more about figures of speech? Check out these articles:

• You say Antimetabole , I say Chiasmus
• Going to bed is an example of Metonymy .
• Figure of Speech: Definition and Examples
• Brief Introductions to Common Figures of Speech
• The Top 20 Figures of Speech
• What Is the Figure of Speech Antiphrasis?
• 20 Figures of Speech That We Never Heard About in School
• Homer Simpson's Figures of Speech
• Figures of Speech: The Apostrophe as a Literary Device
• Figure of Thought in Rhetoric
• Definition and Examples of Irony (Figure of Speech)
• What Does Anaphora Mean as a Figure of Speech?
• Hysteron Proteron (Rhetoric)
• Chiasmus Figure of Speech
• How Figurative Language Is Used Every Day
• Figure of Sound in Prose and Poetry

Take the Quiz: Find the Best State for You »

What's the best state for you », homework loads haven't changed much in 30 years.

Homework loads for most students have remained 'remarkably stable' for 30 years, a new report finds.

Homework Loads Similar to Decades Ago

iStockphoto

A new report claims students' homework loads haven't changed much in the last 30 years.

The idea that American students spend hours on end toiling away with burdensome amounts of homework is unfounded, argues a new report from the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy. In fact, homework loads haven't changed all that much in the past three decades.

The center's annual report on American education examined student-reported homework levels in the National Assessment of Educational Progress from 1984 to 2012 and found that for some students, such as those in middle school, homework loads actually have lightened slightly. For all three age groups examined – 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds – most students reported having less than an hour of homework each night, and just a small percentage said they had more than two hours. 

[ READ : 6 Homework Help Apps Students Will Love ]

"The bottom line: regardless of how the question is posed, NAEP data do not support the view that the homework burden is growing, nor do they support the belief that the proportion of students with a lot of homework has increased in recent years," writes study author Tom Loveless, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brown Center. 

According to the NAEP data, the proportion of students in 2012 that reported having between one and two hours of homework the night before dropped for all three age groups compared to 1984. At the higher end of the spectrum, the percentage of students who reported having more than two hours of homework also decreased for all three age groups during the same time.

Overall, 57 percent of 9-year-olds in 2012 reported having less than one hour of homework the previous night, compared with 41 percent in 1984. Although younger students have more homework now than in the 1980s, much of that change comes from the fact that fewer 9-year-olds are being assigned no homework, the report says. Likewise, most 13-year-olds – 44 percent – said they had less than an hour of homework. High school students were the most varied in terms of homework loads, with about a quarter of 17-year-olds reporting they either had no homework assigned the previous night, less than an hour or between one and two hours per night. 

[ OPINION : The Myth of Out of Control Homework ]

In a separate survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, college freshmen reflected on the amount of time they spent doing homework each week during their last year of high school. Less than 40 percent in 2012 said they spent six or more hours each week doing homework or studying, the survey found. That finding is surprising, Loveless writes, because the survey questioned "the nation's best students, those attending college." 

"When these students were high school seniors, it was not an activity central to their out of school lives," Loveless writes in the report. By comparison, nearly half of UCLA survey respondents in 1986 said they spent six or more hours per week studying and doing homework. 

Parents' views on homework loads also have remained relatively stable during the last few decades, Loveless argues. MetLife surveys of parents in 1987 and 2007 showed that most rated the amount of homework their children received as either good or excellent for both years, with very little variation. The majority of parents in both years also said the quality of their children's homework was either good or excellent. 

But a shift also is occurring in the quality and type of homework students receive, according to a recent survey of teachers conducted by the University of Phoenix College of Education. While some students do receive more homework – high school teachers reported assigning 3.5 hours each week, adding up to 17.5 hours for the average high school student – they focus more on critical thinking than busywork, said Ashley Norris, assistant dean of the college. 

[ MORE : Making Parental Peace With Kids' Homework ]

"That is part of the Common Core thinking and aligned with that, these Common Core concepts of the movement towards teaching critical thinking in the classroom," Norris told U.S. News in a previous interview. "It’s not just about rote memorization … because we know that doesn't stick, but the application of what you've learned or the critical thinking piece of how to work through a problem and how to get criticism or feedback and how to work through that further."

Tony Frontier, an assistant professor in the College of Education and Leadership at Cardinal Stritch University, says regardless of the amount of time students spend on homework, it's the quality and purpose that matters. During the last 30 years, Frontier says homework has shifted in such a way that assignments have "much more intentionality." 

"If a student is doing a dozen math problems, it needs to be clear to them why are they doing those dozen math problems," says Frontier, who also serves as a faculty member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. "If a student can’t explain what it is they’re working towards, then that student doesn’t understand where he or she should be investing his or her effort in that homework. That’s why too often kids feel the work they’re doing is busy work."

[ SEE ALSO : Students Spend More Time on Homework, But Teachers Say It's Worth It ]

But overall, the "homework horror stories" come from parents who are alienated from their child's school, Loveless writes. Those parents who don't believe homework is important (19 percent) are significantly more likely to say too much homework is assigned and that what is assigned is just busywork.

"The homework horror stories need to be read in a proper perspective. They seem to originate from the very personal discontents of a small group of parents," Loveless writes in the report. "They do not reflect the experience of the average family with a school-age child."

Join the Conversation

Tags: education , K-12 education , Brookings Institution

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What did you (do) ______ last night? – I (do) ______ my homework.

Select your answer:          

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It is visiting an amazing museum right now.

A. Past Simple

B. Verb to be

C. Present Simple

D. None of the options

(this, these)______ books belong to me. (that, those)__________ books belongs to Kate.

A. these ; those

B. these ; that

C. this ; those

D. this ; that

How to use : Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button.

GrammarQuiz.Net - Improve your knowledge of English grammar, the best way to kill your free time.

What Did You Do Last Weekend? IELTS Speaking (10 Example Answers)

In part one of your IELTS Speaking test, the examiner might ask you a past tense question like, “What did you do last weekend?”

Let’s look at the best way to answer this question, with 10 example answers ( go straight to the answers here ).

Use Past Tense Verbs

If the examiner asks you any past tense questions, they want to know if you can hear past tense questions, and use past tense verbs in your answer.

The best way to answer is simply to say what you did last weekend. Keep it simple, and describe what you did.

Because it’s part one, you don’t need to use advanced vocabulary or grammar. Just focus on fluency : answer as quickly as you can, without hesitation.

Very simple English is fine. Just make sure that your past tense is good.

Remember Your Weekend, and Picture It

In the exam, you might feel nervous and you might be thinking too much about grammar and vocabulary and not making mistakes.

Here’s a good way to relax and focus on communicating: picture what you did last weekend; see it in your mind’s eye.

Then simply describe what you’re remembering.

Try to do this for all your IELTS Speaking questions. Picturing a memory makes it easy to think of things to say.

Grammar Tip: How to Improve Your Past Tense

For students from some countries, the past tense can be difficult to remember. But for IELTS and all English communication, good past tense is 100 percent necessary.  

Here are two excellent ways to improve your past tense, and make it an easy habit for you.

1. Write a Super-Simple Journal

Get a notebook and pen. And every day, for just five minutes, write a few sentences about what you did yesterday.  

These can be quite simple sentences, such as:

Yesterday morning, I woke up at about seven am and had a shower. I ate cereal for breakfast and then caught the metro to work…

If you’re more advanced, you can make your sentences more interesting, with various past tenses, for example:

Last night, I was hanging out with my friends when someone called me. It was the client from work who I had met the previous week. He needed help with something…

It doesn’t matter if you make simple or complex sentences. The only important thing is that you use good past tense and you do it every day.

If you continue this habit for a month, you’ll see amazing improvements in your past tense.  

2. Ask Yourself Past Tense Questions Aloud

On a piece of paper, write about ten simple past tense questions, like:

•   What did you do this morning?
•   What did you do last night?
•   What did you do last weekend?
•   And more like this

Stick that piece of paper on your bedroom wall, or on your fridge, where it’s easy to see.

Every time you walk past that piece of paper, stop for a moment and ask one of the questions out loud to yourself. Then answer it out loud. Imagine you’re having a real conversation.

This is another way to build an excellent past tense habit.  

Example Answers

Let’s look at some good example answers for this question about what you did last weekend.

With Family

1. Last weekend, I spent a lot of time with my wife and child. It was sunny, so we went to the park and played a game of frisbee. And in the evening, I cooked a meal of noodles and beef.  

2. On Saturday, I went shopping with my sister. We bought some clothes and had lunch at a sushi restaurant in the mall. It was a lot of fun. On Sunday, I just stayed at home doing housework and watching TV.

3. I had to work last weekend because it’s the end of the year and we have to close up all our accounts. So I didn’t have any free time last weekend, only overtime for work.  

4. On Friday night, I went to the cinema with my boyfriend to watch a movie. It was a really inspiring, uplifting romantic comedy. I loved it. On Saturday and Sunday, we were mostly relaxing at home.

5. I had two days off work last weekend, so I played soccer with my friends on both mornings. And in the afternoon, I went to the gym to work out.  

Computer Games

6. A couple of my friends came over last weekend, and we spend al of Saturday playing computer games on my Xbox. After that, we ate pizza and watched anime movies online.

7. I had to do lots of homework last weekend. It was mostly math and science exercises. I didn’t have any free time to enjoy myself.

8. I did what I do every weekend. I had a few English classes, online and at the English center. And I had two yoga classes as well. It was a good weekend, and I had a nice time.

Weekend Away

9. I went on a quick weekend trip to Payar Island last weekend. I spent two days swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the beach. It was a wonderful mini-vacation, and it really helped me unwind.

10. I’m an entrepreneur, so I don’t really have any days off. I was busy working on my business last weekend. I had to meet three suppliers and complete a few purchase orders.  

Now, Your Turn To Try!

Give this question a go yourself.

Set up the voice recorder on your smartphone and ask aloud, “What did you do last weekend?”

Answer as quickly as you can. Remember to keep it simple. Just focus on good past tense.

When you’ve finished, listen to your answer and write it down. See if you made any mistakes.  

Then do it again!

Keep repeating this process to prepare yourself for part one of the IELTS Speaking test.  

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• Tiếng Anh (mới)

Choose the best answer. What _____ you ______ last night? – I _____ my homework.

A. did/do/did 

B. did/did/did 

C. did/do/done 

D. did/do/do

Siêu phẩm 30 đề thi thử THPT quốc gia 2024 do thầy cô VietJack biên soạn, chỉ từ 100k trên Shopee Mall .

last night: tối hôm qua

Câu trên diễn tả hành động đã xảy ra trong quá khứ nên ta dùng thì quá khứ đơn

=> What  did  you  do  last night? – I  did  my homework

Tạm dịch: Bạn đã làm gì tối qua? - Tôi đã làm bài tập về nhà.

Đáp án cần chọn là:  A

CÂU HỎI HOT CÙNG CHỦ ĐỀ

Choose the best answer. _______ you attend yoga class when I _________at home?

A. Did/ stay 

B. Didn't/ didn't stayed 

C. Did/ didn’t stay 

D. Were/ stayed

Choose the best answer. I __________ an English course to improve all the skills.

A. not joined 

B. joined 

C. did joined 

Choose the best answer. We ________ and _________ lunch at the cafeteria with them.

A. talked/ have 

B. talked/ had 

C. talk/ had 

D. talked/ have

Choose the best answer. He _______ off his hat and ________ into the room.

A. take/ went 

B. take/ go 

C. taken/ go 

D. took/ went

Choose the best answer. There _____ not any eggs in the packet when I ______ to the kitchen.

A. was/come 

B. were/ come 

C. was/ came 

D. were/ came

Choose the best answer. The man _______ the door and _________ pieces of paper.

A. open/ thrown 

B. opened/ threw 

C. opened/ thrown 

D. open/ throw

Choose the best answer. I ________ his car to work while he was sleeping.

A. drive 

B. drove 

C. driving 

Hãy Đăng nhập hoặc Tạo tài khoản để gửi bình luận

ĐỀ THI LIÊN QUAN

Gọi 084 283 45 85

Hỗ trợ đăng ký khóa học tại Vietjack

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Hãy chọn chính xác nhé!

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• Bài viết mới
• Tìm kiếm trên diễn đàn

Ngoại ngữ   Complete using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

• Thread starter Cungbachduong
• Ngày gửi 20 Tháng tám 2017
• Views 10,893
• Bạn có 1 Tin nhắn và 1 Thông báo mới. [Xem hướng dẫn] để sử dụng diễn đàn tốt hơn trên điện thoại
• Thảo luận - Chia sẻ chung

Cungbachduong

Học sinh mới.

• 20 Tháng tám 2017

Thanh Trúc Đỗ

Học sinh tiến bộ.

Cungbachduong said: B)Complete using the correct form of the verbs in brackets. 1)If … (you / do) your homework last night, you‟d know the answer to this question! 2)We …… (not / stand) by the side of the road at the moment trying to get a lift if … (we / bring) a spare tyre with us. 3)If I … (not / stay up) so late last night, I …(not / feel 4)……… (I / be) in terrible trouble right now if you … (not / help) me. 5)If I had a video recorder, … (I/record) the match last night. 6)…… (I / ask) for Andy‟s phone number when I met him if I … (not / already / have) a boyfriend! 7)If Cody…(not / live) so far away, he… (not / be) so late to the barbecue yesterday. 8)Trace … (not / need) extra lessons last month if she … (be) as good at maths as you are. 9)…… (you / got) a job when you left school if the university … (not / offer) you a place? 10)If you … (have) as much money as she does, … (you / retire) by now? Bấm để xem đầy đủ nội dung ...

• Vui lòng cài đặt tỷ lệ % hiển thị từ 85-90% ở trình duyệt trên máy tính để sử dụng diễn đàn được tốt hơn.

Winning Mega Millions numbers for May 17, 2024. Anyone win last night's drawing jackpot?

The  Mega Millions  jackpot continued to climb after no one matched all six numbers from Tuesday night's drawing .

Grab your tickets  and let's see if you're the game's newest millionaire.

Here are the numbers  for the Friday, May 17, lottery drawing jackpot worth $393 million with a cash option of $182.9 million.

Mega Millions, Powerball: What to do if you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot

Mega Millions numbers 5/17/24

Friday night's  winning numbers  were 8, 17, 40, 60, 70, and the Mega Ball was 3. The Megaplier was 2X.

Did anyone win Mega Millions last night, Friday, May 17th, 2024?

Results are pending.

Powerball winning numbers: Anyone win Wednesday night's drawing jackpot?

How many Mega Millions winning numbers do you need to match to win a prize?

You only need to match one number in Mega Millions to win a prize . However, that number must be the Mega Ball, worth $2.

What is the Mega Millions payout on matching 2 lottery numbers?

Matching two numbers won't win anything in Mega Millions unless one of the numbers is the Mega Ball. A ticket matching one of the five numbers and the Mega Ball is worth $4. Visit www.megamillions.com for a complete list of payout information.

Mega Millions numbers you need to know: Most commonly drawn numbers

How much is the Mega Millions drawing jackpot?

The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday's drawing rose to an estimated $393 million with a cash option of $182.9 million, according to  megamillions.com .

When is the next Mega Millions drawing?

Drawings are held two times per week at approximately 10 p.m. CT every Tuesday and Friday. You can watch drawings via YouTube .

How much is a Mega Millions ticket?

A Mega Millions ticket costs $2 per play. For an additional $1, players can add the Megaplier to potentially increase their winnings outside of the jackpot.

How to play Mega Millions

Here's how to play Mega Millions :

Mega Millions, Powerball numbers: Want to win the lottery? Here are luckiest numbers, places to play

Powerball winning numbers: drawing jackpot lottery results

The Powerball  continued to rise after nobody matched all six numbers from Wednesday night's drawing . The  current Powerball jackpot  is worth an estimated $77 million with a cash option of $36.2 million.

Mega Millions 2024 lottery jackpot winners

Here is the list of 2024 Mega Millions jackpot wins, according to  megamillions.com :

• $1.13 billion — March 26; New Jersey .

Mega Millions numbers: Anyone win Tuesday night's drawing jackpot?

Top 10 Mega Millions lottery jackpots

Here are the all-time top 10 Mega Millions jackpots, according to  megamillions.com :

• $1.58 billion — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida.
• $1.537 billion — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina.
• $1.35 billion — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine.
• $1.337 billion — July 29, 2022; Illinois.
• $1.13 billion — March 26, 2024; New Jersey.
• $1.05 billion — Jan. 22, 2021; Michigan.
• $656 million — Mar. 30, 2012; Kansas, Illinois, Maryland.
• $648 million — Dec. 17, 2013; California, Georgia.
• $543 million — July 24, 2018; California.
• $536 million — July 8, 2016; Indiana.

Top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots

Here are the nation's all-time top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, according to  powerball.com :

• $2.04 billion,  Powerball  — Nov. 7, 2022; California.
• $1.765 billion, Powerball — Oct. 11, 2023; California.
• $1.586 billion,  Powerball  — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee.
• $1.58 billion, Mega Millions  — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida.
• $1.537 billion,  Mega Millions  — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina.
• $1.35 billion, Mega Millions — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine.
• $1.337 billion,  Mega Millions  — July 29, 2022; Illinois.
• $1.33 billion,  Powerball  — April 6, 2024; Oregon.
• $1.13 billion,  Mega Millions  — March 26, 2024; New Jersey.
• $1.08 billion,  Powerball  — July 19, 2023; California.

Chris Sims is a digital content producer for Midwest Connect Gannett. Follow him on Twitter:  @ChrisFSims .

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Winning Mega Millions numbers for May 17, 2024. Anyone win last night's drawing jackpot?

How did Caitlin Clark do in WNBA debut? Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun highlights

It was Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut , but really, the night belonged to Alyssa Thomas.

The 11th-year veteran for Connecticut reminded everyone why she was in MVP contention last season as she recorded her 12th career triple-double, scoring 13, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 13 assists, as the Connecticut Sun cruised to a 92-71 win over the Indiana Fever .

Clark finished with 20 points but it took the rookie some time to get going, and she shot just 5-of-15 from the field. The top pick in the 2024 draft also threw the ball away 10 times, a stat that’s sure to nag at her — and definitely not the type of double-double she wanted to record.

Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner tied Clark for the game’s high scorer, with 20, while DiJonai Carrington and Ty Harris scored 16 each for the Sun. Connecticut forced the Fever into 25 turnovers, which the Sun turned into 29 points.

The Fever, which had the top pick in the WNBA Draft the last two years (they selected Aliyah Boston in 2023) missed the playoffs last season and have won just 43 games the last five seasons. The hope is that Clark will lift them into the postseason, but Tuesday night was a reminder that this team has a long way to go.

Clark makes her home debut Thursday vs. the New York Liberty.

How Connecticut Sun stifled Caitlin Clark

DiJonai Carrington knew early on that she’d draw the assignment of guarding Caitlin Clark, the top pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft.

And while she did a tremendous job — Clark scored a game-high-tying 20 points, but it took her a long time to get going and she scored a lot when the game was out of hand — her teammates didn’t want her thinking too highly of herself.

“To take on that job, we’re proud of her,” Sun star Alyssa Thomas said after Connecticut’s win. Then she turned to Carrington with a warning. “But don’t get too big-headed.”

It was a fun, lighthearted moment in a celebratory press conference. Carrington, one of the most improved and best sixth players in the league last year, moved into a starting role this season for Connecticut. She was great at both ends Tuesday night, scoring 16 points, grabbing five rebounds and snagging two steals in the Sun’s win.

One of those steals came just before halftime, when she picked Clark’s pocket and raced to the other end for a score.

It was nothing Connecticut coach Stephanie White hasn’t seen before.

“She does a lot of things in practice that show us she’s an elite defender,” White said. “But I tell her, you’ve gotta be an elite decision-making defender, and tonight she was … that’s part of growing into a starting role, and that’s gonna continue to be her challenge but she’s ready for a challenge.

“She knew (tonight) was an opportunity for her, and she’s taken ownership of it.”

Caitlin Clark highlights

Final: connecticut sun 92, indiana fever 71.

Sun star Alyssa Thomas recorded a triple-double (13-10-13) to help Connecticut cruise past Indiana 92-71 in Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut.

Caitlin Clark stats

Clark scored 20 points, tied for the game high, on 5-for-15 shooting (4-for-11 from 3). She had 10 turnovers, though, while recording just three assists. She had two steals and committed four fouls.

Sun's Alyssa Thomas records triple-double in season opener

A new WNBA season, another Alyssa Thomas triple-double.

In her first game of the 2024 season, Thomas recorded the impressive stat line with 3:30 to play, when she grabbed her 10th rebound of the night. She also has 13 points and 13 assists, and the Sun have an 81-67 lead.

It is Thomas’ 12th career triple-double, including playoffs. (All other WNBA players have combined for 21 total in the regular season.) In 2023, Thomas set a new league record for both double-doubles (28) and single-season assists (316). The 32-year-old is a four-time WNBA All-Star.

Caitlin Clark heating up

Caitlin Clark is starting to feel it.

After struggling for much of the game, turning over the ball a game-high eight times and shooting inefficiently, Clark found a rhythm as the Indiana Fever attempted to chip away at the Connecticut Sun's fourth-quarter lead.

Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter and got to the line for a pair of free throws on another possession. Inefficient or not, she was tied with the Sun's DeWanna Bonner with a game-high 20 points as the Fever trailed 81-67 with 3:29 left.

End of third quarter: DeWanna Bonner moves up WNBA's all-time scoring list

It’s been a great day for DeWanna Bonner, who midway through the third quarter moved up to fifth on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list with 6,897 points. Bonner has 16 so far tonight, and her team has a 65-57 lead on Indiana at the end of the third quarter.

Bonner, 36, is in her 14th WNBA season, and her fifth with Connecticut (she previously played for Phoenix, helping the Mercury to two WNBA championships). Based on her production — last season she averaged 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds — you’d never guess her age.  

Meanwhile, it’s been a rough night for Caitlin Clark, who has 12 points but also eight turnovers. Yikes. (She had nine, but one got taken away on the official stats.) She’s 3-of-10 from the field, struggling against Connecticut’s length defensively; it can’t be fun to be defended by Bonner, who has switched on to Clark a couple times. The Fever have 18 turnovers total, which Connecticut has turned into 18 points.

Final: New York Liberty 85, Washington Mystics 80

It feels fitting that in the most highly anticipated WNBA season in more than 20 years, the first game of 2024 went down to the wire.

The Washington Mystics had three chances to take the lead in the final 39 seconds after blowing an eight-point lead, but the New York Liberty made every look tough and Sabrina Ionescu hit all four free throw attempts at the end, holding on for an 85-80 win.

New York’s Jonquel Jones led all scorers with 25, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton chipped in 20 and Ionescu flirted with a triple-double with 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Four Mystics players scored in double figures, led by Ariel Atkins (20). Brittney Sykes had a great all-around game for Washington with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

New York next travels to Indiana to play the Fever in Caitlin Clark’s home debut on Thursday.

Caitlin Clark struggling in WNBA debut

The struggles for Caitlin Clark continue.

Clark (10 points) picked up her game-high seventh turnover of the game midway through the third quarter of the Indiana Fever's opening game against the Connecticut Sun. She was also tied for a game-high with three fouls. 

The Sun led, 59-47, with 4:32 left in the third quarter. Clark committed an eighth turnover with 3:32 to go in the quarter with the Fever down 62-51.

Halftime: Caitlin Clark held to seven points in first half of WNBA action

If this was supposed to be a matchup of Caitlin Clark vs. whoever guarded her, DiJonai Carrington is winning.

Right now, by a lot.

Carrington, in her fourth year after playing college ball at both Stanford and Baylor, has 14 points in the first half, including a bucket after she picked Clark’s pocket with just under two minutes to play in the second quarter. Behind Carrington’s play, Connecticut has a 49-39 lead over Indiana at halftime.

Clark had just four points, on a layup and two free throws, until 30 seconds to play, when she connected on a 3 on Indiana’s baseline out-of-bounds play. It was her first score on Carrington directly, who got caught in a screen.

Part of Indiana’s problem the first half was that the Fever throw the ball away too much — 13 times, to be exact (Clark had five of them, with just one assist). Connecticut has turned those into 16 points.

Ty Harris has 11 points and DeWanna Bonner has 10 for the Sun. NaLyssa Smith is the only Fever player in double figures, with 11 points.

Caitlin Clark hits first 3-pointer

Clark finally hit from long range off a designed play in the final minute of the first half.

Caitlin Clark gets first points in WNBA

It took a quarter and a half, but Caitlin Clark got her first WNBA points with a baseline layup in the second quarter of the Indiana Fever's opening game against the Connecticut Sun.

Clark started the game 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 from beyond the arc before making her first bucket. Clark spent much of the first quarter on the bench in foul trouble.

The host Sun led the Fever, 34-25, with 4:50 left in the first half.

Sun 19, Fever 13: Caitlin Clark still looking for first points after first quarter

We’ve been informed by our man on the ground that no, Mohegan Sun Arena is not selling Caitlin Clark jerseys.

But there’s no question why this game is a sellout.

Thousands have shown up to watch the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, and voiced their displeasure when Clark was whistled for her second foul early in the first quarter. At the time of that call, Clark was 0-for-3 from the field, with one assist and one turnover.

She was sent to the bench for most of the back half of the first, which helped Connecticut take a 19-13 lead at the end of the first period. Ty Harris has been an early bright spot for the Sun, scoring nine points, all on 3s.

Meanwhile NaLyssa Smith, who looked great in both of the Fever’s preseason games, has continued her tear, scoring seven quick points, grabbing three rebounds and blocking a shot.

Caitlin Clark checks back in

Caitlin Clark checked back in to her first WNBA regular-season game after racking up two early fouls against the Connecticut Sun.

Clark also missed her first three shots of the game before taking a seat on the bench.

After assisting on the first play of the game to give the Indiana Fever an early lead, Clark opted into a shoot-first mentality on Indiana's next few possessions and came up empty-handed.

Clark's second foul was loudly booed by the sellout crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena. Many fans in attendance arrived in Clark gear, be it of the Iowa or Indiana variety.

WNBA season kickoff: Mystics lead Liberty at half

Just a reminder that Caitlin Clark isn’t the only show in town tonight.

At halftime, the Washington Mystics lead the New York Liberty 43-40 after a 3 from Shakira Austin with 5.6 seconds to play before the break.

The halftime score might turn some heads considering the Liberty were one of the so-called “super teams” that came together during free agency in 2023, and played for the WNBA championship last year.

The first game of the 2024 season — New York-Washington tipped off about 30 minutes before Indiana-Connecticut — has been the Jonquel Jones show, as the 2021 WNBA MVP already has 14 points and four rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu, meanwhile, already has five assists (and only one turnover). Not bad for a guard known more for hitting 3s like Steph Curry.

Meanwhile, Stefanie Dolson has scored 11 points for Washington, and Ariel Atkins has already grabbed three steals.

One thing to remember: Because the WNBA season is so short compared to the NBA, and some of the league’s stars will miss games due to the Olympics, every single game matters when we talk league standings and playoff seeding.

Caitlin Clark gets into early foul trouble in season opener

This was not the start that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark had hoped for.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft picked up two early fouls midway through the first quarter. And she was still looking for her first points. After five minutes of play, Clark was 0-for-3 from the field and missed her only 3-point shot attempt, though she did dish an assist early in the contest.

The Connecticut Sun lead 10-7 at the first TV timeout.

Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun tips off at Mohegan Sun Arena

FEVER STARTING LINEUP

• PG Erica Wheeler
• SG Caitlin Clark
• SF Katie Lou Samuelson
• PF NaLyssa Smith
• C Aliyah Boston

SUN STARTING LINEUP

• PG Tyasha Harris
• SG DiJonai Carrington
• SF DeWanna Bonner
• PF Alyssa Thomas
• C Brionna Jones

Caitlin Clark builds on ’99 soccer team’s moment in lifting women’s sports 

A year and a half ago, a vast majority of Americans had no idea who she was, an athletic young woman tucked away in a Midwestern university town, known to women’s college basketball fans but otherwise hidden from the gaze of the national media.  

Now  Caitlin Clark  is the most popular athlete in the nation, the driving force behind the greatest days in the history of women’s sports, America’s girl next door all grown up and the personification of everything the country was hoping Title IX might give us.  

Read more from Christine Brennan here.  

2024 WNBA rookies to watch 

 The 2024 WNBA rookie class is one of the most anticipated in history, led by none other than  Caitlin Clark , the scoring phenom from Iowa who re-wrote the college record books.  

But she’s not the only newcomer expected to make a big impact, and do so immediately. There hasn’t been this sort of attention and excitement around  WNBA rookies  since 2013, when  Brittney Griner , Elena Della Donne and Skylar Diggins-Smith joined the league.  

To get you ready for the  2024 WNBA season that tips Tuesday , USA TODAY Sports' Lindsay Schnell gives a primer on the nine rookies she thinks will have the biggest impact this season. 

Read more from Lindsay Schnell here.  

How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun 

The Fever at Sun will be televised on ESPN2 with Ryan Ruocco (play-by-play), Rebecca Lobo (analyst), and Holly Rowe (sideline) on the call. 

How to stream Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun 

Streaming options for Fever at Sun include the ESPN app, ESPN+ , Disney+ and  Fubo . 

The game will also be available on demand on the  WNBA’s League Pass  upon its conclusion. Fans can get League Pass by downloading the WNBA app. 

SIGN UP FOR FUBO: Access to WNBA games during the season  

When is Caitlin Clark's first home game with the Fever? 

The Fever’s home opener is Thursday against the New York Liberty.

What to know about 2024 WNBA season 

Arguably one of the  most highly-anticipated WNBA seasons  in the league's history has arrived. 

The 2024  WNBA  season is set to tip off, and it is shaping up to be one of the most exciting times in professional women's basketball. The  game and interest in the league has exploded to new heights , and the  incoming draft class  has  generated more buzz . 

College stars such as  Caitlin Clark ,  Angel Reese ,  Cameron Brink  and more will be making their debuts at the professional level, but there is already plenty of stars they'll go up against, including New York Liberty forward and 2023 Most Valuable Player  Breanna Stewart , Liberty guard  Sabrina Ionescu  and Las Vegas Aces forward  A'ja Wilson . Can the rookies lead their teams to immediate success? Or will star-studded teams continue to shine? 

Read more from Lorenzo Reyes and Jordan Mendoza here.  

2024 WNBA GM survey predictions 

The WNBA on Tuesday released results from its survey of team general managers, who made predictions for the season. 

• Here are some of their picks:   MVP: A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. Wilson, who guided Las Vegas to back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023, received 67 percent of the MVP votes. The Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, the 2023 MVP runner-up, was next with 25 percent, and reigning MVP Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty was third with eight percent.
• Best defender: Wilson, a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, received 42 percent of the votes to finish ahead of Thomas, who was second with 25 percent.
• Rookie of the Year: The Fever’s Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, received 92 percent of the votes. The Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick, got the remaining eight percent.
• Most likely to have breakout season: Aliyah Boston of the Indiana Fever. Boston won WNBA Rookie of the Year honors last season.

10 bold predictions for WNBA season 

The 28th WNBA season tips off tonight, so it’s time to start thinking about what’s in store for women’s professional basketball the next few months.   

There’s  never been more excitement  around the women’s game. With a  star-studded draft class , a team going for its third consecutive championship and a Summer Olympics that will help drum up interest in women’s basketball, the WNBA is headed into its  most-anticipated season  since the league debuted almost three decades ago.   

So what can we expect this summer? For starters, Caitlin Clark will lead the WNBA in assists and make the Olympic team. Read Lindsay Schnell’s bold predictions here .  

WNBA’s newest team now has a name 

The WNBA's newest team, which will join the league from the Bay Area in 2025, now has a name. 

The league announced that the new team will be named the  Golden State Valkyries  and displayed a new logo and colors on its new website. The team's colors are known as Valkyrie Violet. 

The announcement coincides with the start of the WNBA's 28th season, which tips off tonight at 7 p.m. ET when the New York Liberty take on the Washington Mystics, one of four games on the schedule. 

The team said that a Valkyrie originates "from Norse mythology and that the nickname represents" a host of warrior women who are fearless and unwavering – flying through air and sea alike." Read more from Scooby Axson here.  

Las Vegas Aces star lands Nike shoe deal 

Las Vegas Aces  star  A'ja Wilson  is the latest athlete to get her own signature shoe, announcing the news Saturday as the two-time defending champions were preparing to play a preseason exhibition against the Puerto Rican national team. 

Wilson joins  New York Liberty  guard  Sabrina Ionescu  as WNBA players to have a Nike signature shoe in recent years. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark reportedly  signed a deal worth $28 million  that would also include her own signature shoe with Nike. 

Read more from Scooby Axson here.  

What time is Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun?  

The Fever-Sun tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 

How did Caitlin Clark play in WNBA preseason 

In what was maybe the most-anticipated preseason game in the 28-year history of the WNBA, Clark and the Fever played in Dallas against the Wings on May 3.  Indiana dropped the game, 79-76 , but Clark played well in her first-ever WNBA action. 

She started the game and played 28 minutes, and finished 6-of-15 from the floor – including 5-of-13 from 3-point range – to score 21 points. She also added three rebounds, two assists and two steals, but committed five turnovers. She made all but one of her five free throw attempts. 

As she did throughout her college career at Iowa, Clark flashed her ability to elude defenders in the perimeter with her dribbling and showed off her deep range. 

In Indiana's second preseason game,  Clark and the Fever beat the Atlanta Dream , 83-80. Clark played 32 minutes and went 4-of-12 from the field, including two-of-nine from 3-point range, to finish with 12 points. Similar to her first game, Clark committed a game-high six turnovers, but she added eight rebounds and six assists. 

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The huge solar storm is keeping power grid and satellite operators on edge

Geoff Brumfiel

Willem Marx

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of solar flares early Saturday afternoon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there have been measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm. Solar Dynamics Observatory hide caption

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of solar flares early Saturday afternoon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there have been measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm.

Planet Earth is getting rocked by the biggest solar storm in decades – and the potential effects have those people in charge of power grids, communications systems and satellites on edge.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there have been measurable effects and impacts from the geomagnetic storm that has been visible as aurora across vast swathes of the Northern Hemisphere. So far though, NOAA has seen no reports of major damage.

The Picture Show

Photos: see the northern lights from rare, solar storm.

There has been some degradation and loss to communication systems that rely on high-frequency radio waves, NOAA told NPR, as well as some preliminary indications of irregularities in power systems.

"Simply put, the power grid operators have been busy since yesterday working to keep proper, regulated current flowing without disruption," said Shawn Dahl, service coordinator for the Boulder, Co.-based Space Weather Prediction Center at NOAA.

NOAA Issues First Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Since 2005

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"Satellite operators are also busy monitoring spacecraft health due to the S1-S2 storm taking place along with the severe-extreme geomagnetic storm that continues even now," Dahl added, saying some GPS systems have struggled to lock locations and offered incorrect positions.

NOAA's GOES-16 satellite captured a flare erupting occurred around 2 p.m. EDT on May 9, 2024.

As NOAA had warned late Friday, the Earth has been experiencing a G5, or "Extreme," geomagnetic storm . It's the first G5 storm to hit the planet since 2003, when a similar event temporarily knocked out power in part of Sweden and damaged electrical transformers in South Africa.

The NOAA center predicted that this current storm could induce auroras visible as far south as Northern California and Alabama.

Extreme (G5) geomagnetic conditions have been observed! pic.twitter.com/qLsC8GbWus — NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 10, 2024

Around the world on social media, posters put up photos of bright auroras visible in Russia , Scandinavia , the United Kingdom and continental Europe . Some reported seeing the aurora as far south as Mallorca, Spain .

The source of the solar storm is a cluster of sunspots on the sun's surface that is 17 times the diameter of the Earth. The spots are filled with tangled magnetic fields that can act as slingshots, throwing huge quantities of charged particles towards our planet. These events, known as coronal mass ejections, become more common during the peak of the Sun's 11-year solar cycle.

A powerful solar storm is bringing northern lights to unusual places

Usually, they miss the Earth, but this time, NOAA says several have headed directly toward our planet, and the agency predicted that several waves of flares will continue to slam into the Earth over the next few days.

While the storm has proven to be large, predicting the effects from such incidents can be difficult, Dahl said.

Shocking problems

The most disruptive solar storm ever recorded came in 1859. Known as the "Carrington Event," it generated shimmering auroras that were visible as far south as Mexico and Hawaii. It also fried telegraph systems throughout Europe and North America.

Stronger activity on the sun could bring more displays of the northern lights in 2024

While this geomagnetic storm will not be as strong, the world has grown more reliant on electronics and electrical systems. Depending on the orientation of the storm's magnetic field, it could induce unexpected electrical currents in long-distance power lines — those currents could cause safety systems to flip, triggering temporary power outages in some areas.

my cat just experienced the aurora borealis, one of the world's most radiant natural phenomena... and she doesn't care pic.twitter.com/Ee74FpWHFm — PJ (@kickthepj) May 10, 2024

The storm is also likely to disrupt the ionosphere, a section of Earth's atmosphere filled with charged particles. Some long-distance radio transmissions use the ionosphere to "bounce" signals around the globe, and those signals will likely be disrupted. The particles may also refract and otherwise scramble signals from the global positioning system, according to Rob Steenburgh, a space scientist with NOAA. Those effects can linger for a few days after the storm.

Like Dahl, Steenburgh said it's unclear just how bad the disruptions will be. While we are more dependent than ever on GPS, there are also more satellites in orbit. Moreover, the anomalies from the storm are constantly shifting through the ionosphere like ripples in a pool. "Outages, with any luck, should not be prolonged," Steenburgh said.

What Causes The Northern Lights? Scientists Finally Know For Sure

The radiation from the storm could have other undesirable effects. At high altitudes, it could damage satellites, while at low altitudes, it's likely to increase atmospheric drag, causing some satellites to sink toward the Earth.

The changes to orbits wreak havoc, warns Tuija Pulkkinen, chair of the department of climate and space sciences at the University of Michigan. Since the last solar maximum, companies such as SpaceX have launched thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit. Those satellites will now see their orbits unexpectedly changed.

"There's a lot of companies that haven't seen these kind of space weather effects before," she says.

The International Space Station lies within Earth's magnetosphere, so its astronauts should be mostly protected, Steenburgh says.

In a statement, NASA said that astronauts would not take additional measures to protect themselves. "NASA completed a thorough analysis of recent space weather activity and determined it posed no risk to the crew aboard the International Space Station and no additional precautionary measures are needed," the agency said late Friday.

People visit St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay to see the aurora borealis on Friday in Whitley Bay, England. Ian Forsyth/Getty Images hide caption

People visit St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay to see the aurora borealis on Friday in Whitley Bay, England.

While this storm will undoubtedly keep satellite operators and utilities busy over the next few days, individuals don't really need to do much to get ready.

"As far as what the general public should be doing, hopefully they're not having to do anything," Dahl said. "Weather permitting, they may be visible again tonight." He advised that the largest problem could be a brief blackout, so keeping some flashlights and a radio handy might prove helpful.

I took these photos near Ranfurly in Central Otago, New Zealand. Anyone can use them please spread far and wide. :-) https://t.co/NUWpLiqY2S — Dr Andrew Dickson reform/ACC (@AndrewDickson13) May 10, 2024

And don't forget to go outside and look up, adds Steenburgh. This event's aurora is visible much further south than usual.

A faint aurora can be detected by a modern cell phone camera, he adds, so even if you can't see it with your eyes, try taking a photo of the sky.

The aurora "is really the gift from space weather," he says.

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• solar flares
• solar storm

Powerball for Saturday, May 18, 2024 is a $77 million jackpot. Check your numbers!

Did Powerball make you a millionaire?

After  no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the Wednesday, May 15, jackpot drawing, the grand prize climbed to $77 million for the Saturday, May 18, drawing.

The winning numbers for Powerball on Saturday were 19-36-37-42-59 and the Powerball was 19. Power Play was 2x.

More:  What are the top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in Wisconsin history?

Tickets start at $2 apiece. Below is what to know about lottery odds, how long to claim the cash option if you bought a ticket in Wisconsin, and what happens to unclaimed prize money, according to the Wisconsin Lottery.

How much was the Powerball lottery jackpot for Saturday, May 18?

An estimated $77 million with a cash option of $36 million.

When do Wisconsin Lottery tickets expire?

Prizes for the Wisconsin Lottery must be claimed within 180 days (six months) from the date of the drawing. You can find a list of expired tickets, or those expiring soon, on the  Wisconsin Lottery website .

What happens to the unclaimed prize money?

According to the Wisconsin Lottery, the value of unclaimed prizes is credited to the Wisconsin Lottery property tax relief fund.

What are the odds of winning the Powerball lottery game?

Powerball drawings are held at 10 p.m. CDT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. According to  Powerball.com , players have a 1 in 292.2 million chance to match all six numbers. Prizes range from $2 to the grand prize jackpot, which varies.

Are the odds of winning Powerball the same if the jackpot is $1 billion?

Players have a 1 in 24.9 chance of winning a prize,  powerball.com  states. Players have a 1 in 292.2 million chance to match all six numbers whether the jackpot is $20 million or $1 billion.

Can Wisconsin lottery winners remain anonymous?

No, according to the Wisconsin Lottery. Due to the state's open records laws, the lottery must, upon request, release the name and city of the winner. Other information about the winner is released only with the winner's consent.

How do you claim a lottery prize in Wisconsin?

That depends on how much you won.

For prizes up to $599:

• You can redeem your winnings at any Wisconsin Lottery retail.
• At the Wisconsin Lottery offices in Madison or Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Lottery recommends arriving by 3:30 p.m. to allow enough time to process your ticket.
• Tickets can also be mailed to:

P.O. Box 777

Madison, WI 53774

For prizes between $600 and $199,999:

• Prizes can be claimed in-person at the Wisconsin Lottery offices in Madison or Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Lottery recommends arriving by 3:30 p.m. for most prizes and 2 p.m. for prizes of $50,000 or more to allow enough time to process your ticket.
• Tickets can also be signed and mailed to:

For prizes exceeding $200,000:

Prizes must be claimed in-person at the Wisconsin Lottery office in Madison. The Wisconsin Lottery recommends calling 608-261-4916 to schedule a time to process the ticket.

When did lotto jackpots hit $1 billion or more?

As of May 18, 2024, 11 lottery jackpots have reached or surpassed $1 billion. Only once has a jackpot surpassed $2 billion.

• 11 . $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021: A single ticket won in Michigan.
• 10.  $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023: A single ticket won in California.
• 9.  $1.13 billion, Mega Millions, March 26, 2024: A single ticket won in New Jersey.
• 8.  $1.33 billion, Powerball, April 6, 2024: A single ticket won in Oregon.
• 7.  $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022: A single ticket won in Illinois.
• 6.  $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023: A single ticket was purchased in Maine .
• 5.  $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018: A single ticket won in South Carolina.
• 4.  $1.58 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023: A single ticket won in Neptune Beach, Florida
• 3.  $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016: Three tickets won from California, Florida, Tennessee.
• 2 . $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023: A single ticket won from California.
• 1.  $2.04 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022: A single ticket won in California.

What are the Top 10 biggest Powerball jackpots in history?

Here are the Top 10 Powerball jackpots as of May 18, 2024:

• 10.  $731.1 million — Jan. 20, 2021; Maryland
• 9.  $754.6 million — Feb. 6, 2023; Washington
• 8.  $758.7 million — Aug. 23, 2017; Massachusetts
• 7.  $768.4 million — March 27, 2019; Wisconsin
• 6.  $842.4 million — Jan. 1, 2024; Michigan
• 5.  $1.08 billion — July 19, 2023; California
• 4.  $1.33 billion — April 6, 2024; Oregon
• 3.  $1.586 billion — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida and Tennessee
• 2 . $1.765 billion — Oct. 11, 2023; California
• 1.  $2.04 billion — Nov. 7, 2022; California

What are the Top 10 largest lottery jackpots in U.S. history?

The following Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots made the Top 10 biggest lottery jackpots in U.S. history, as of May 18, 2024.

• 10.  $1.08 billion Powerball drawing — July 19, 2023; California
• 9.  $1.1 billion Mega Millions drawing — March 27, 2024; New Jersey
• 8.  $1.33 billion Powerball drawing — April 6, 2024; Oregon
• 7.  $1.337 billion Mega Millions drawing — July 29, 2022; Illinois
• 6.  $1.35 billion Mega Millions drawing — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
• 5.  $1.537 billion Mega Millions drawing — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
• 4.  $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
• 3.  $1.586 billion Powerball drawing — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida and Tennessee
• 2.  $1.765 billion Powerball drawing — Oct. 11, 2023; California
• 1.  $2.04 billion Powerball drawing — Nov. 7, 2022; California

Winning Powerball numbers for May 8, 2024. Anyone win last night's drawing jackpot?

The  Powerball  lottery jackpot resets after a single ticket in Florida matched all six numbers from Monday night's drawing .

Grab your tickets  and let's  check your numbers  to see if you're the game's newest millionaire.

Here are the numbers for the Wednesday, May 8, Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $20 million with a cash option of $9.3 million.

Powerball, Mega Millions: Want to win the lottery? Here are luckiest numbers, places to play

Powerball numbers 5/8/24

The winning numbers for Wednesday night's drawing were 7, 41, 43, 44, 51, and the Powerball is 5. The Power Play was 2X.

Did anyone win Powerball last night, Wednesday, May 8th, 2024?

No one matched all six numbers  to win the Powerball jackpot.

A ticket sold in Michigan matched all five numbers except for the Powerball worth $1 million.

Double Play  numbers are 10, 22, 43, 55, 57, and the Powerball is 2.

Zero tickets matched all six numbers , and one ticket sold in Florida matched all five numbers except for the Powerball worth $500,000.

Powerball winner? Lock up your ticket and go hide. What to know if you win the jackpot

How many Powerball numbers do you need to win a prize?

You only need to match one number in Powerball to win a prize. However, that number must be the Powerball worth $4. Visit powerball.com for the entire prize chart.

What is the Powerball payout on matching 2 lottery numbers?

Matching two numbers won't win anything in Powerball unless one of the numbers is the Powerball. A ticket matching one of the five numbers and the Powerball is also worth $4. Visit powerball.com for the entire prize chart.

Powerball numbers you need to know: These most commonly drawn numbers could help you win

How much is the Powerball drawing jackpot?

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday, May 8, 2024, is now an estimated $36 million with a cash option of $16.8 million, according to  powerball.com .

When is the next Powerball drawing?

Drawings are held three times per week at approximately 10:59 p.m. ET every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

How much is a Powerball lottery ticket?

A single Powerball ticket costs $2. Pay an additional $1 to add the Power Play for a chance to multiply all Powerball winnings except for the jackpot. Players can also add the Double Play for one more $1 to have a second chance at winning $10 million.

How to play Powerball

Mega Millions numbers: Anyone win Tuesday night's drawing jackpot?

Mega Millions winning numbers

The Mega Millions  continued to rise after nobody matched all six numbers from Tuesday night's drawing . Tuesday night's  winning numbers  were 26, 28, 36, 63, 66, and the Mega Ball was 15. The Megaplier was 3X.

How much is the Mega Millions drawing jackpot?

The  current Mega Millions jackpot  is worth an estimated $331 million, with a cash option of $153.1 million.

Powerball 2024 drawing jackpot winners

Here is the list of 2024 Powerball jackpot wins, according to  powerball.com :

• $842.4 million — Jan. 1; Michigan .
• $1.362 million — April 6; Oregon .
• $214.9 million — May 6, Florida .

Powerball Top 10 lottery drawing jackpot results

Here are the all-time top 10 Powerball jackpots, according to  powerball.com :

• $2.04 billion — Nov. 7, 2022; California.
• $1.765 billion — Oct. 11, 2023; California.
• $1.586 billion — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee.
• $1.326 billion — April 6, 2024; Oregon.
• $1.08 billion — July 19, 2023; California.
• $842 million — Jan. 1, 2024; Michigan.
• $768.4 million — March 27, 2019; Wisconsin.
• $758.7 million — Aug. 23, 2017; Massachusetts.
• $754.6 million — Feb. 6, 2023; Washington.
• $731.1 million — Jan. 20, 2021; Maryland.

Powerball numbers: Florida Powerball winner! $214.9M winning Powerball ticket sold for May 6 lottery drawing

Powerball, Mega Millions history: Top 10 U.S. lottery drawing jackpot results

Here are the nation's all-time top 10 Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots, according to  powerball.com :

• $2.04 billion,  Powerball  — Nov. 7, 2022; California.
• $1.765 billion, Powerball — Oct. 11, 2023; California.
• $1.586 billion,  Powerball  — Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee.
• $1.58 million, Mega Millions  — Aug. 8, 2023; Florida.
• $1.537 billion,  Mega Millions  — Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina.
• $1.35 billion, Mega Millions — Jan. 13, 2023; Maine.
• $1.337 billion,  Mega Millions  — July 29, 2022; Illinois.
• $1.326 billion, Powerball — April 6, 2024; Oregon
• $1.13 billion, Mega Millions — March 26, 2024; New Jersey.
• $1.08 billion, Powerball — July 19, 2023; California.

Chris Sims is a digital content producer at Midwest Connect Gannett. Follow him on Twitter:  @ChrisFSims .

Where you can see northern lights Sunday night from another solar storm

Sunday night could offer another opportunity to see the northern lights unusually far south, though less than earlier predicted

If you missed the recent auroras over the past two days, you may have another chance. The sun will continue to send more activity to Earth on Sunday night and early this week.

Fast eruptions from the sun are expected to slam into Earth on Sunday night and Monday morning, triggering another round of geomagnetic storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sunday is predicted to offer the best chance for aurora-chasing before this round of solar activity diminishes.

After predicting geomagnetic storms of level G4 or G5 — the most intense rating — on Sunday morning, NOAA downgraded the forecast to G3, meaning less likelihood for a repeat of Friday night , when storms brought aurora sightings down to Florida and Mexico.

Activity is expected to wane by the pre-dawn hours of Monday, although storm levels are still predicted to reach moderate (G2) to strong (G3). Auroras could be spotted as far south as Iowa and Washington state with the naked eye, but cameras could capture the dancing lights farther south.

By Tuesday morning, NOAA forecasts that geomagnetic storm activity will diminish to minor levels (G1). During a minor storm, only higher latitudes such as northern Michigan or Maine typically see auroras.

Will there be clouds in my area?

In the Northeast, people may struggle to see the aurora through clouds on Sunday night, although some breaks are possible toward Monday morning. Unfortunately, clouds will blanket much of the area Monday night to Tuesday morning.

In the Mid-Atlantic, the skies will be mostly clear from Sunday night into Monday, providing promising views from West Virginia to South Carolina. Heavy cloud cover moves in over the region on Monday night into Tuesday morning.

The southern United States (from Georgia to western Texas) will be largely covered in clouds from late Sunday night to Tuesday morning.

The West Coast and northern Plains should have primarily clear skies from Sunday night to Tuesday morning.

If your region has a cloudy forecast over the next few days, don’t necessarily fret. Sometimes breaks emerge in the cloud canopy. And while clouds will make it harder to see the northern lights, sometimes they also make for interesting photos .

Will you be able to see the northern lights around D.C.?

It is unlikely that auroras will be visible Sunday night in the D.C. region, according to NOAA’s 7:15 p.m. update.

Washingtonians had a brief window during which to see auroras early Saturday morning . But there were too many clouds and the geomagnetic storm wasn’t quite strong enough for northern lights to be seen Saturday night into Sunday morning — although auroras were reported in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains at 10:30 p.m. and about 12:30 a.m., as well as in the mountains to the west.

You will improve your chances of seeing the aurora borealis significantly by finding an observing location away from city lights (this advice applies to any population center). Also, the lights — if they appear — may be rather faint and only visible through your camera lens, which is more sensitive to light than your eyes. Look to the north to try to find them.

Where has the aurora already been seen this weekend?

The geomagnetic activity over the past few days has been one for the books, producing once-in-a-lifetime or once-in-a-generation aurora displays.

The weekend began strong with an extreme (G5) storm on Friday into Saturday morning. One space weather physicist collected aurora observations on X from every state in the United States, and from much of the Northern Hemisphere — including rare places like Italy, Austria, London, Mexico and India. Auroras were even spotted in tropical locations, including Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the lights — known as the aurora australis — were photographed in Chile , Argentina , New Zealand and Australia.

Although activity decreased Saturday night, storm levels still briefly reached into strong (G3) to severe (G4) levels. At its peak, people were able to snap aurora pictures in the mountains of Virginia.

Were any satellite or power grid operations affected?

Intense geomagnetic storms can disrupt satellite, GPS and power grid operations. After Friday’s storm, NOAA received reports of issues on some power grids and high-frequency radio and GPS communications.

The last time a G5 storm hit was in 2003. That one also brought widespread auroras and some power interruptions in certain regions of the globe.

Why has there been so much auroral activity recently?

The slew of auroral activity stems from a particularly bustling area on the sun known as active region 3664. The region — measuring about 17 times the diameter of Earth — is marked with a cluster of dark splotches, known as sunspots. Sunspots are areas on the sun’s surface where its magnetic field is much higher than anywhere else on the sun. These magnetically complex regions are often the source of large, explosive bursts on the sun.

So cool. On Saturday morning, CWG reader David Abbou took this video of the giant sunspot facing Earth (which you can see with solar eclipse glasses) and which has been responsible for the solar storms and northern lights. As he was recording, an airplane photobombed the shot! pic.twitter.com/N52dCzwjn5 — Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) May 12, 2024

Last week, the sunspot group launched multiple eruptions from its surface — called coronal mass ejections — toward Earth. Coronal mass ejections are large clouds of solar energy and magnetized plasma that can temporarily disturb Earth’s magnetosphere, if aimed correctly. Some solar particles travel along Earth’s magnetic field into our upper atmosphere, exciting molecules and releasing photons of light, or the aurora.

Geomagnetic activity from this sunspot group will last until around Tuesday, then the sunspot group will rotate away from Earth’s view. If it rotates all the way around the sun and faces back to Earth in several weeks, it could send additional activity our way. However, most sunspot groups weaken on second appearance.

NOAA scientists continually monitor the sun and are tracking any potential activity from other sunspot groups.

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.