What to do with Early Finishers in the Math Classroom?
I think if I had a favorite topic, it would be What to do with Early Finishers in the Math Classroom? Maybe because it stumped me for so long. Maybe because when I finally found the one thing that worked, it was a game changer! Maybe because these have completely evolved over the years! No matter the reason, I can’t wait to share my NEW early finishers that are sure to be a hit with your students!
TO SET THE STAGE
Many moons ago, we moved to that observation check-list where we had to make sure all students were engaged at all times… go figure! Even though I thought I did a good job, I needed a “dog and pony show” to make sure my new administrator knew for SURE that my early finishers were engaged.
I’ll be the first to admit that I thought it was ridiculous that I needed to prove beyond a doubt… but that dog and pony show ended up being a new favorite in my classroom. AND… go figure – it worked! What I was doing was ok, but this was GREAT!
If you dread observation day… let my early finishers help you just a little bit! I know it’s not the entire lesson, but I promise – they will give you a little bit of security knowing that your students know what to do when they finish their exit ticket.
And let me just say… even as an administrator… I disliked (very strongly) those formal observations. I loved being in the classroom as a hands-on helper, but the days I had to go in and script… UGHHHH! I could feel the tension and stress from the teacher, and to me – it just wasn’t productive for anyone. I truly believe that what we see day in and day out is more reflective on what is going on in the classroom, versus a one-time observation. Just my two cents. Back to why I’m here…
EARLY FINISHER PPTS
As I was trying to think of a way to keep those early finishers engaged while I was working with the rest of the class, I decided to create an interactive powerpoint that students could work through that covered the same topic that was taught in our math lesson.
I knew I wanted a few things to make this actually work:
- NO PREP (seriously… as in I just press play… nothing else to do)
- Presented on board so that students could work on them at the carpet or at their desk
- Covered the topic taught so that the skill was being re-inforced
- Self-checking so that students didn’t need me at all – they could work it out and then the answer would appear
- Continous so that students could jump in at any time and start working
Here’s a video explaining how they work:
Not gonna lie!
Once I realized the impact of these early finisher activities… my creative side went NUTS! I created every single possible early finisher activity that I could think of. We used them daily and they truly worked wonders.
BUT… I realized that some of my students never got to the early finisher activities, and to be honest – they needed it just as much if not more than my early finisher kiddos. So I ended up creating a QR code card that they could use during centers to work on the early finishers as well. Win-win!
What I have and what I’m moving towards:
As always, I love learning new things. I’ve started working with a video program, and I’ve started creating animated videos that are a little bit more interactive and fun. I’ll obviously keep my powerpoints because they hold a purpose, but these animated videos are so much fun as well, and serve a different purpose.
Check this FREEBIE BELOW:
HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF ANOTHER VIDEO I HAVE… WAIT FOR IT!
My kiddos loved learning about numbers and practicing their counting with these videos. Fabulous!
My class is loving these videos!! They love getting to use the dry-erase boards and practice their math! Thank you!
My students LOVED using this resource as a station/center! They were all very engaged! Would love to purchase for numbers beyond 40.
AMAZON SUPPLIES USED WITH THESE EARLY FINISHERS
(affiliate links)
ELEMENTARY HUB CLUB
All of these videos are also included in my membership (Elementary Hub Club). There are five different videos for each topic, so that the problems are different each time you show the video.
IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING…
I had a few teachers say that they were worried that students wouldn’t actually do the work since the answers appeared after so many seconds. I have to say… I’m always watching – and I’ve never had that problem. My first graders loved to work for me, and they loved challenges. Oh… and they are great observers as well… I would think if someone wasn’t doing the work, you would hear about it.
So what am I doing while they are working on these early finishers? Check out my blog post on our Math Routine Rocks!! This post walks you through my entire math block.
I hope this helped in some small way!
Until next time!
