Go-to Activities for Fast Finishers
Offering fun designated extension activities means the learning continues, even for the speediest students.
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Go to My Saved Content.Every teacher knows the scenario: a student (or students!) who always seems to finish ahead of schedule. How do you keep them from needing your attention, distracting other students, or being bored out of their minds? Teachers who set up fast finisher extension activities (even simple ones) in advance have it figured out.
To encourage more reading, include pillows or bean bag chairs near the classroom library, change up featured books and magazines, or provide a tablet loaded with audiobooks and headphones.
Bring out classroom artists by offering up art supplies, art prompt cards, graphic novel and comic book templates—and show off the resulting student work in a mini-gallery.
Satisfy those puzzlers with everything from tangrams and jigsaws to logic problems and sudokus.
For more math practice time, make a cozy spot for flash cards, number riddles, and math brain teasers. Fill a tablet with fun math apps, or have students plan a road trip, where they have to calculate things like budgets and mileage.
Boost writing skills by setting out an assortment of fancy paper, stationery, and writing tools. Encourage students to free-write or craft letters to relatives they miss or create tiny blank journals for them to fill with their feelings.
Organize fast finisher activities by theme, create digital or printed choice boards, or designate a spot in your classroom where students can find a mixed bag.
For even more ideas for how to engage fast finishers, check out the Edutopia article “Your Student Finished Early—Now What?” from longtime contributor Todd Finley.