Communication Skills Center Ideas for the Early Finisher
When students finish work early, there are easy ways to keep them focused and learning with independent activities.
By Deborah Reynolds
What do you do when a student finishes their work early, did it correctly, and looks to you for what to do next? This is something that many teachers face on a daily basis. Some students finish assignments earlier than their peers, especially when they have mastered the concept in the assignment. If there are ten minutes remaining to allow the other students to finish, the early finisher is left with nothing to do. They will either become bored, find something to do that they should not do, and or take a book out and read during these periods.
Although having extra independent reading time can be beneficial, including other activities is very important to maintaining motivation and interest in the class work. This is where independent centers for early finishers can save the day. If students have mastered the skill being taught, it is important to have something on hand that provides a challenge on their level. Set up a basket that includes reading and writing activities that have multi-steps and rigor. If the class is working on cause and effect, the early finisher center could contain mysteries in which the students must solve the case in order to determine the causes and effects.
Putting together these baskets can take little time and effort. Check with teachers in the grade level above. See what they use for the skills you are teaching that week. Include those above grade level activities in the basket for the advanced learners. Include a small box such as a recipe box in the basket and fill it with index cards that have research topics. The topics could relate to famous individuals they are studying in history or science, or can be instructions to do research on their favorite authors. Another idea is to have a suggestion box and have students write ideas of things they would like to do when they finish early. If it is approved, allow students to work on their chosen activity when their class work is complete.
Teachers spend a great deal of time putting together lessons with a tight schedule in mind. Those plans do not always account for those that finish a lesson planned to last for twenty minutes in two. Try these time-saving ideas to create a place where early finishers can go and continue to grow.
Communication Center Ideas:
Here is an inventive way to have students do book reviews. Students create commercials for a favorite book they are reading. This lesson comes with all of the activity sheets you will need.
Creative Writing with Newspaper Photos
The teacher provides several news photos in a basket or folder for students. Students choose a photo. Then, they write a creative story about what they think the photo is about.
Here are nine ideas for reading centers. Students make a t-shirt describing their favorite book or character, design Medals of Honor for a favorite book, create a video talk or review in the format often seen on Reading Rainbow, and more.
Do you have students that love poetry? Here is a lesson plan that has several center ideas that contains various kinds of poetry. All handouts needed for each center are included.