Early Finishers

What do we do with students that are early finishers? In all grades, you will have students who can finish the work quicker than others. Especially in primary because a lot of the time they have not been taught what to do next or every teacher does something different. So why does that matter? The most important part of my day is small group time. I feel that I can reach ALL students during that time. I can help them fill gaps or provide them with enrichment. When I have 5 students, what are the rest doing? They are doing stations. You can check out how my class does station time HERE.  The problem is what do the early finishers do when they are done with that station?

From day 1 I have 3 things they do when they are done. THIS DOES NOT CHANGE! After the first month of school, I never hear, “What do I do now?” I am consistent and take a lot of time to remind them, instead of just telling them what they should do. The consistency and 3 things they can do that never change help build independence. Okay… I know you are ready to find out the 3 not so special things they can do right?

Check Your Folder

My first graders have a red folder with a ketchup on it. This is their catchup folder. One side says done and the other says not done. ANY TIME they finish something they put it in the done side. If they don’t have time, they put it on the not-done side. EVERY TIME, we clean up I remind them and praise students who are being responsible and putting it in the right spot. During the first few weeks of school, I say at least 100 times check your not done. That just means check your not done side of your red folder. By the 3^rd week, it is part of their routine. Is it hard work to be consistent and remind them? YES!! I would rather spend 3 weeks reminding them than having to tell them all year. Am I right? Step 1- check your not done. This builds responsibility and organization. It also lets them know that it is okay not to finish during 1 station. I tell my students I would rather them take their time than rush through it just to get it done.

Read

This couldn’t be simpler. What do we want students to be able to do after 1^st grade? I bet you said read, right? Well, we might need to give them a chance to do so. I have big books in a laundry basket that they can only use during that time. They have pointers, witch fingers, stuffys to read to, bookmarks, library full of books, a comfy couch, scoop rockers, a rocking chair, and recently I purchased a blowup pool that I might put some comfy pillows in. Long story short they want to be there! It fosters their love of learning and letting them be curious about the type of books they want to explore and look at.

Does it take time to explain all of this? OF COURSE! In the first few weeks we build our stamina. If you want to know more about it check out my plans for the first 9 days, HERE. You will find out how and why I do stamina as well as a ton of other activities. During stamina, I explain to them how to read a story, even if they can’t read, how to use the library items correctly, and how to put books back. If you want to know how I organize my library (the EASY way) check it out HERE.

Draw On Your Whiteboard

Before you come at me, imagine you are a 7-year-old and you are in school working hard ALL day. School is hard for you, and you struggle. Every free minute you have you are getting pulled to do more things that are hard for you. You just need a break. You might not agree with me, but I believe that there is a lot of stress put on our students and I think having a creative break or release is good for them!

I also have students write stories, and practice spelling or math problems, and sometimes they create a problem for me to solve! During the year I will pose problems or give ideas on things to do with their whiteboard if they want to. I will just plug it into my lesson. I might say, “If you have time today see if you can___________________ on your whiteboard.” They love it!

That’s it. It is my simple, easy solution for early finishers. You might be tempted to give more work or give them a project and that is fine. You must do what is best for you. These 3 things will work for ALL students no matter what their ability level is, and you won’t have to explain something new each time and take away from your small group instruction. If I had a HUGE time block and they had a lot of free time I would not use these three. This is just for early finishers when they have 5-10 minutes. If I can stress anything, it would be to be consistent! Let me know what you do for early finishers in the comments below!