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.
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!
