For as long as there have been classrooms, there have been students who finish their assigned work at lightning speed. We’re all familiar with the dreaded scenario. You have just explained a task and the class has moved to their seats to get started. Five minutes later, as you are giving extra assistance to one of the students at their desk, someone else quietly taps you on the shoulder and announces: “I’m done! Now what?”
As a teacher, it makes life a whole lot smoother to have an early finisher system in place for such times. Depending on the age of the class, some teachers might suggest to their students to read a book, complete a puzzle, color a picture or play a game on the computer. These are all great ideas, and I have used them more than once in my own classroom. But I have found something that works so well for me now that fast finishers are a breeze!
Enter Early Finisher Booklets!
I wanted an early finisher system that fulfilled these requirements:
1. Easy to prep for me!
2. Easy to understand for the students!
3. The work stretches their brains!
4. The students will not be finished the work in two seconds!
5. The students have a choice about which kind of work they pursue!
6. The work will be “ongoing”, e.g., It could last for a whole semester!
7. The students enjoy doing the work!
That’s why the early finisher booklets work so well.
1. EASY PREP
The booklets are PRINT AND GO. All I have to do is have the booklets printed and bound or printed and placed in a folder.
2. EASY TO UNDERSTAND FOR THE STUDENTS
Students know to work on their booklets if they finish an assignment early. There is no need to get out additional equipment or wonder if they should be doing something else.
3. THE WORK STRETCHES THEIR BRAINS
The worksheets are enriching, thought-provoking, creative and often open ended. Since there are packs for K-5, the appropriate level can be found for each student—and differentiation is effortless.
4. THE WORK IS NOT OVER IN TWO SECONDS
The worksheets are not designed to be completed quickly. It defeats the purpose of early finisher work if it can be finished in a flash because it means that students are not required to think deeply about a topic or spend time nutting out a problem. This is one of my pet peeves with a lot of other early finisher worksheets.
5. THE STUDENTS HAVE A CHOICE
The worksheets can be divided into six booklets. The booklets contain different topics. In addition, the worksheets within each topic are varied and interesting. It means that the students have a greater choice over which work they complete because there is so much to choose from!
6. THE WORK IS ONGOING
A bit like having a project to work on, the sheets allow the students to have continuity. They pick up where they left off when they come back to their booklets. This also means that they have a stronger incentive to do their best, as the booklet is not going to be stuffed in a backpack and taken home never to be seen again after one day.
7. THE STUDENTS ENJOY THE WORK With so many topics, students can find something they enjoy or something to challenge and engage them. I find that they become super proud of their booklets, too!
Here are the early finisher booklets:
In case you want to store your worksheets in folders like I do, I made these free labels! You can download and use them instantly! Just click on the PDF below the picture.
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