6 Low Prep and Engaging Early Finisher Activities (EP22)

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to the first episode of 2024 of Elementary Math Chat! You might have noticed that I did take a few weeks off. Hopefully, that gave you the chance to go back and listen to any episodes that you might have missed. But I am back and I’m so ready to dig into even more elementary math topics. Som welcome back everyone!

Today we’re going to talk about what to do with your early finishers. This is something every teacher really does need to plan for, because the reality is you are going to have students that finish at different times, and you’re going to have those students who finish early and need some things to do. Many times the reason they are finishing early is that they just need more challenging work. With that in mind, most of the ideas I am sharing with you today are going to be more on the enrichment side, since again, those are the students who are probably finishing early and need some extra activities to work on.

My first early finisher idea is to have your students research and then put together a Google Slides presentation that they will eventually present to the class. Now this can be over a topic that you are currently studying or that you’ve covered before, or it can be something new that is related to what you are teaching. This one is probably my favorite just because it didn’t require any prep on my end, and they really enjoyed it.

They did have to get their topic approved by me, and I recommend you do this as well. I was pretty flexible, as long as it was educational and somewhat related to our standards. I also gave them the option of choosing math or science, and most of them did choose science just because that’s a little bit more interesting to research and present on.

This also came in handy when I had three to four minutes leftover in my science class, which you know, happened maybe once a week, and that was when I would have them present. So, it was a win-win situation. I was filling their time, and they were helping me fill my time. So, I definitely recommend adding this to your list of activities.

The second early finisher activity might be the most challenging of them all. There is a website called Open Middle and they have a ton of different puzzles to solve. They are organized by grade level, so you can easily find what you need, and they are really challenging. I’m glad they come with answer keys because I am not sure I could solve these on a whim myself.

You can do these puzzles a couple of different ways. One way is to take a few snippets of maybe about five puzzles and then put them inside of a folder in Schoology or Google Classroom, whatever platform you use, and then they can access the puzzles from there. But you can also print them. This is typically what I did just because it’s a little bit easier to solve the puzzles when they’re in their printable form, and then I would put them inside sheet protectors and they could use Expo markers to solve.

These puzzles are a lot of fun, and sometimes I would even put them on my board in the morning. So, when they came in, they would try to solve it, and then whoever had the answer could share how they solved it in the morning meeting. So, that’s another way you can use these Open Middle puzzles beyond just early finisher activities.

My third idea for an early finisher activity is to have your students create a math game. This one will definitely bring out their creative side, and you’ll really enjoy seeing the different twists and turns that they throw in their game. I always also enjoyed seeing what kind of theme they would choose and how they would personalize it to what they were interested in.

You are going to need to give them some sort of directions or instructions to get started, and then after that they can pretty much work on their own. The directions I gave my students are from the TPT seller Team Fifth, and they are super easy to follow, and it is free. So, I will have that link in the show notes for you.

If you’re on the fence about this idea, let me tell you that a huge benefit is that when they finish, these games can become an early finisher activity for other students. So, you can repurpose it, and they really love sharing it with their peers.

The only drawback with games is it can become a little messy. So, definitely make sure you designate a space in your room where they can store them. For me, I just had them put them in the corner on the back counter, and then I gave them Ziploc bags to put any materials in, and that helps keep it all in one place.

My fourth idea for an early finisher activity is to have them create a math crossword puzzle using vocabulary terms, and this is also another one that can become an early finisher activity for other students. 

Just like with the game, you will need to give them a little bit of guidance. Otherwise, they’re going to have a lot of questions for you. If you don’t have the time to type up instructions, you can use the one that I’m linking in the show notes. It is from my TPT store and it has them create their crossword puzzles from start to finish in six simple steps.

It first has them write out their vocabulary words, and it also has a practice grid where they can try to figure out how to connect the words before they put them on the final copy. It also reminds them to number the boxes, and how to number the clues. And then there’s a table for them to write their clues. For their clues to make it easy, just have them use their textbook.

Then they write their name on it and give it to you to check, and if everything looks good, you can copy it and give it to other students to complete either as an early finisher activity, or it might be fun to do it after a test as a brain break. Or, if it’s good enough, you can put it on your next choice board and you can repurpose it that way.

The fifth idea I have for you is a little bit different, and it may not be for everyone. Your early finishers can become a peer mentor or a peer helper for the day. This is something I really never considered until someone asked me if they could be a helper for the day, and she was a frequent early finisher. So, she had already done a lot of different Google Slides projects and puzzles and games. At the end of the day, she really just wanted to help others, and I was not about to turn that down.

So, I let my class know that this student was my helper for the day, and if they were struggling with anything, or maybe they had a game on their choice board that they needed a partner for. Whatever the case, she could help. And you know, this was especially helpful if I had a student who had been absent, and in that case, I would pair my peer helper with that student and have them go through the lesson in the workbook together.

I always appreciated their help, because it was really challenging to find the time to meet with those students who were absent. So, like I said before, that one’s a little bit different than the others. But it’s nice to have it as an option if you ever need it.

My sixth and final idea is probably the one that takes the most prep on the front end, and this idea is to put together an early finisher tub and then fill it with enrichment activities like Tangram puzzles or logic puzzles, math projects, or even the enrichment pages that your math series comes with. This could be another place that you put the crossword puzzles and games that others are working on.

My last few years in the classroom, I had an early finisher tub, and then math projects were always the most popular choice. They really liked the ones where they had to plan for a vacation or plan a camping trip, and those projects tie in a lot of different skills. So, they’re a good one to put in this early finisher tub.

Another type of project they liked were the math mysteries, and I’m sure you’ve heard of them. They are very popular. They are by the TPT seller, Mrs. J’s Resource Creations. Those also come in digital format, so you can assign the paper copy or the digital copy.

I do want to warn you, though. Make sure you have an answer key available because those projects are not easy to help with if you haven’t gone through them yourself. And you know what else is also a good answer key? A student who has finished the entire project! Whenever someone came to me with a question, and I knew that someone else had already finished the project, I went directly to that student and I said, “Hey, can you help so and so?” They were a much better resource than my answer key.

All of those activities I mentioned are printable, but you can also include a digital folder with early finisher activities within your Schoology or Google Classroom and put in things like digital escape games. They love those, and they will take a day or two to work through.

Do not forget to reach out to your math coach or your gifted consultant, and see if they have any additional ideas that you can put in this early finisher tub. They might be able to lend you some things for the month, or they might just give you some things if they don’t use it anymore. You never know until you ask.

Before I get to today’s teaching tip of the week, let’s do a quick run-through of all six early finisher activities.

1. Google Slides presentations
2. Open Middle puzzles
3. Create a math game
4. Create a crossword puzzle
5. Become a peer mentor for the day
6. Create an early finisher tub and fill it with games, puzzles, and projects that students can choose from.

As I said before, these will all be linked in the show description and in the show notes, and hopefully that’s going to help you get started right away, and that is going to take us to today’s teaching tip of the week.

Today’s tip is an idea for a very low-maintenance bulletin board for your classroom; a problem of the month bulletin board, and this problem of the month can also be an early finisher activity.

For each month, I would go through the textbook and I would look at any multistep math problem that we did not get to in class. Those were typically at the end of a lesson, and those were always the ones that my kids needed more practice with. So, I typed them up in my problem of the month template and that’s all I had to do.

I never made these mandatory for students but instead I put them on their choice board and then they could decide if they wanted to complete them or not. Almost everybody did choose to complete the activity because there was always a chance that I would select theirs to display on the bulletin board.

Once I chose these winners, I made a big deal about it in front of the class, and then we hung them up, and that was all I had to do for the problem of the month bulletin board, just switch them out each month. So, that’s what makes it a really low-maintenance bulletin board.

If you visit the show notes, you’ll see that I have my problem of the month template there for you. So, if this sounds like something that you want to do with your class, you can download that and get started right away.

Well, friends, that is all for the first episode of 2024. Have a great week and I will see you next Tuesday.