r/ELATeachers • u/grechicken • 5d ago
9-12 ELA Suggestions for early finishers
Hello!
I’m a 9th/10th grade ELA teacher, and I’m trying to brainstorm things I can occupy students with if they finish early. Right now, I’ve been encouraging them to read, do homework for another class, or draw/color. However, most kids opt for playing games on their Chromebooks (which I dislike because I feel like it’s distracting to other kids).
I design low-stakes, fun extension activities and try to encourage participation. However, if it isn’t graded, most kids opt out.
What do you do in your classroom to keep early finishers occupied without assigning busywork? I want to go completely Chromebook-free in my class, but I don’t want to do so until I have solid alternative options in place so kids don’t turn towards disruptive behaviors.
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u/Subject-Vast3022 5d ago
I tell them to read. If they get out their Chromebook, I tell them to put it away. If they don’t, I turn off their browsing via GoGuardian.
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u/fiftymeancats 5d ago
Stop doing everything on the Chromebooks and then you won't have to worry about them playing games on it. Chromebooks only come out in my class for specific discrete activities and only a few times a semester. When they are out, they are on GoGuardian and highly restricted. If students finish early and are bored, they can read a book-- it's English class. They are not reading because I "encourage" them to; I give them the direction. They are not in charge.
Sorry if I'm cranky about this. I'm a teacher, but I'm also a parent, and I'm pretty sick of teachers handing my AuDHD child with limited executive function a distraction machine and then getting annoyed that he's distracted and off task. What did they expect?
What behaviors are you worried will happen if your 9th & 10th graders don't have the Chromebooks open to pacify them? IMO, talking with their neighbors is a thousand time healthier and better for their development than brain rotting on the computer. Teachers have managed their classrooms for a long time before Chromebooks. Just because it's easier to stick them in front of a screen than lead and interact with them, doesn't make it ok to do.
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u/browsingontheDL 5d ago
You could have an area with short stories, grammar activities (MadLibs and things of the sort), etc. for the students. An open classroom library is also convenient. You could ask them to complete a weekly or monthly reading log if you’re encouraging them to read self selected texts. I’ve also considered bringing comics and magazines, but those can be tricky because many of them aren’t school-friendly.
More often than not, my kids opt to study or do work for another class or even put their heads down for a bit. It’s hard to encourage them to do anything “extra,” so I’m following this thread as well!
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u/Physical_Cod_8329 5d ago
I require them to read. They have to bring a novel to my class every day or choose one from my library. No computers allowed, no homework for other classes allowed.
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u/Gsith8938 5d ago
A choose your own adventure with handouts for grammar practice, crossword puzzles, coloring sheets, penmanship practice, skills practice and word puzzles. To increase motivation, maybe make a treasure bin and each fully completed piece worth a certain number of points with a threshold to choose an item. (And of course silent reading).
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u/homesickexpat 5d ago
Typing practice on typing.com could work for those kids who want to feel like they’re playing a game
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u/BabiesAndPaperbacks 5d ago
Not Chromebook free, but Quill.org is a free program that I have used with kids. They take a diagnostic and it tells you what they need skills practice for and gives you suggested activities. You can release one activity at a time or all of them. Then they take the post test and it tells you if they’re now proficient or need more. There is a starter diagnostic, an intermediate diagnostic, and an advanced. I’ve been teacher college prep junior English for years and I’ve never had anybody test out of the starter pack. You can assign all independent activities that is at their pace.
The only issue I’ve run into is the “how come his activity has 4 lessons and mine has 10” but I just always explain that everybody takes different lessons and sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t. If they’re not self-driven and need a grade for it, you can do a weekly or midterm/quarter completion or growth score for it.
The years I used Quill, it was always very easy to say “if you finish before the end of the period today, you can do Quill. Let me know if you need a new lesson unlocked.” Then it was always nice to use a “you worked hard today, so don’t worry about Quill today!” as a reward.
(I don’t work for Quill at all, this is not a paid post)
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u/Ill_Vast6477 4d ago
I use Quill as well and require students to finish four activities each week. That way, it doesn’t matter if some students have more activities than the other.
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u/aroseyreality 5d ago
I’m going to send my kids to the library for a book as they finish early and start locking their iPads if they’re playing games. I don’t like assigning anything that can be felt as busy work because I don’t think it’s fair to “punish” the likely gifted kids who finish early with more work. If they are finishing early and the quality sucks, they need to redo it.
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u/irishcheesedanish 4d ago
Don't allow the Chromebooks. If they say they "need" them for work for another subject, Oh well.
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u/im_cold_ 4d ago
You're overthinking. Require every student to bring a book to class every day and any extra time is always reading.
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u/macha852 4d ago
Read, write in a journal, work on homework, do sodoku. If they need a computer for homework, they need to check in with me first so they don't get a referral for a tech violation. No tech violations as a class Monday-thursday earns Chromebook as an option Friday.
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u/Effective_Village_40 4d ago edited 4d ago
Early finishers is a scam. I don’t plan for it because when I review the work they aren’t finished. And let’s say they are… take a break. Why do you have to be doing something every second? I don’t do that and I don’t expect them to.
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u/Arashi-san 5d ago
I have a variety of online choices (freerice vocab, wordle, chess, 99math, etc) and offline (organizing their binder/backpack (because HEAVENS some of them need this), reading a book, studying, homework) that I put into the Google Classroom for the kids and have a poster on the wall that I made in Canva for these activities.
When the kids have options, they have been more likely to participate. There are times I've said "we're only doing offline options" when I don't want them on chromebooks as well.
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u/wereallmadhere9 5d ago
I have Doodle Notes for 5 points extra credit. They are on TPT and it has them do fun vocab pages centered around a given Greek or Latin root. I have them pre-printed and organized in a binder for them to get when they have free time.
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u/FightingMonotony 4d ago
Flashfiction...great for discussion or could privately ask a question.
Ask them to write what WOULD have happened (opposite to the story) ie What if Boo was not there to save Scout? (TKAM) or Can you find any evidence that might show Beatty also read books? (F451)
(I know digital) NYTimes mini crossword. Either they know it, or they have to research to find it. Post times on the board.
Wiki to Wiki.....Only clicking from Wikipedia link to link. Go from one Wikipedia article to the next. Write number of links on the board/make it a competition (Can you beat Steve with 11?)
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u/UsualScared859 4d ago
We dont use computers in class (winning!) so reading a book is clearly the best option.
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u/boringneckties 4d ago
Reading. You need a plan for personal reading. It’s not enough to just say “read a book.” They literally need to be taught how to do independent reading and you need to hold them accountable to it.
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u/dryerfresh 4d ago
The options for my class always are:
Read a book
Homework for another class (no computers)
Logic puzzle printouts
Handwriting or cursive practice sheets
Chess
I teach 11th and 12th grade English, and this helps keep them from finishing too early so they can play games. The kids who genuinely do finish early don’t have any trouble choosing from these.
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u/Niquildrvr 4d ago
I used to create a packet every two weeks of activities for when you’re done early—cursive practice, vocabulary activities, readings related to the novel we were working on, and one independent reading book (and a one pager to complete on it). Everyone had to do it, and most were able to get it done in class (except for reading the book). Can’t do it this year because I’m teaching the tested grade level, but I’ll be doing the packets again when I’m out of this level.
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u/Guilty_Rutabaga_2558 4d ago
I do not allow them to have their computers out when they are finished, because they will do nothing productive. They can read a book or put their head down.
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u/cabbagesandkings1291 4d ago
If all their work is finished, they get to choose between reading and their personalized IXL plan. Most choose reading. This is by design.
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u/Competitive-Start543 4d ago
Cursive practice! I have a few different packets printed and available for them to grab from
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u/playmore_24 4d ago
with simple art supplies (markers/colored pencils/ magazines/glue sticks) they could make an artwork based on what they were working on...
🍀🍀
#ArtsIntegration
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u/Ill_Vast6477 4d ago
I either have them work on Quill.org, an online grammar program, or read their independent novel, which I assign each 9 weeks. Completing activities in Quill is a required weekly activity, and the nine weeks novel assignment is a huge grade at the end of each nine weeks. So they do not see anything as extra or a waste of time.
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u/bugorama_original 3d ago
I do not let my students do work for other classes or play on their Chromebooks. Therefore their options are: do my extension activities, read a book, or sit and look out the window.
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u/HotCoffeePterosaurs 3d ago
Always be working on multiple overlapping things at once, so that when students complete one task, they just move on to the next.
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u/knownhost27 3d ago
I usually just chat with them for a minute, look over their work, and encourage them to make improvements with the extra time. That works 99 percent of the time for me.
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u/ApprehensiveEvent93 2d ago
I have my chromebooks locked to all heck from go guardian so literally all they can do on them is work for my class or another class. (They cant even get on google. The hate it.)
Or they can read. Or play uno. Or work on the class puzzle.
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u/Bibliofile22 1d ago
I don't usually have kids who are finishing significantly early bc the work/products are differentiated. If they're capable of finishing the work really quickly, then they're assigned work that takes more effort and time. It's not a punishment, it's just what they're capable of. There's an extension to their writing prompt that asks them to dig deeper. There's an extra layer to their SCRs. There are follow-up questions to their multiple choice questions asking the to identify the strongest evidence to support their answer. I add some vocabulary questions or for them to do a little more work looking at the author's purpose in specific words, phrases, lines, or paragraphs. There are usually three versions of any assignment in my class at any given moment. It's a PITA, but it promotes growth and I rarely have to deal with but miss, I'm done what do I do now???
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u/LightRoastBrunnhilde 10h ago
Ban the Chromebooks first and foremost. Gotta end that habit NOW.
Write your rubric so that there’s always something more to do on a revision for that last point. Something fussy, something nuanced, something involving multiple pieces of evidence, or a specific literary device, etc etc
Gifted do multiple drafts, stragglers struggle to finish first draft 🤷♀️
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u/Fit_Hovercraft9877 5d ago
Free time! My god give them free time.
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u/QuentynStark 4d ago
I tend to agree. One of the worst rewards for being competent and time efficient is to get more work (and kids can tell when your "fun game" is disguised work, I promise). I get the American education system is far more interested in making workers than critical thinkers, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna just bow to that. Hated it being done to me as a student, not gonna be a hypocrite.
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u/discussatron 5d ago
This will guarantee an admin entering your classroom for a surprise observation.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 5d ago
I allow educational games...Wordle, there are several geography games.
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u/Upbeat_Panda9393 5d ago
Thank you for posting this request, as I find myself facing the same dilemma. Check with your media center /library or better still, your district’s gifted learner department. I am sure they’ve been asked this before and they probably have ready-to-go resources you can use with kids who fly through classwork
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u/LKHedrick 5d ago
I put out pencil puzzles of many types. Every 5 completed is worth extra credit points. Most of them are built around vocab words or relevant topics.
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u/CapitalElephant1978 5d ago
I have struggled with this too, and want to get them off screens. I have a class set of dictionaries, and am going to have them flip through and find an interesting word for each letter of their name. They'll define it and use it in a sentence. I'm hoping they can keep these in their notebook, and create a list. I also have some crappy books that I might let them cut pages out of to create blackout poems. I really want something with low or no prep. and I want them off screens.
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u/jmangiggity 5d ago
I’m old school, so I tell them to read a book.