Enhancing Enrichment

One of the most difficult parts of teaching is meeting the needs of a diverse range of students. This is most evident when students complete assignments at different times. Getting to know your students at the beginning of the school year can help you plan for these early finishers all year long.

The delivery was flawless. You spent half of your summer researching, designing, and creating the perfect activity. It went off without a hitch. Students were engaged and hanging onto your every word. At that moment, you were as important as their favorite YouTube star. You sent them out to complete the written part of the assignment independently. You went over to scaffold the assignment for a student that needed some extra explanation and before you could even finish you heard the dreaded two words, “I’m done!”

While there are some students that finish quickly without completing the assignment correctly or in depth, there are many gifted and talented and high achieving students that are able to complete tasks swiftly and competently. It is important that these students are not just given more work. They should be given assignments and activities that focus on critical thinking and allow them to explore concepts in depth.

Planning for Early Finishers

One of the best ways to plan for early finishers is to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. As the year progresses you will know everything about your little class community. However, this might be harder in the first weeks of school.

In order to effectively plan for early finishers it is helpful to know how they learn best. You will want to learn about the following topics:

• Learning Style
• Group Style
• Noise Level
• Preferred Way to Present

You will want to learn more about their likes and dislikes.

• Favorite Subject
• Least Favorite Subject
• Topics of Interest
• Favorite Foods
• Favorite Books
• Favorite Movies
• Hobbies

It is also helpful for students to identify their own strengths and learning goals.

• Areas of Strength
• Areas to Grow
• Goals for the Year

There are many interest inventories and get to know you activities that ask students to identify this information. Use your favorite one or have students try this Back to School Get to Know You Cube to identify their interests and learning preferences.

Planning for Early Finishers

Once you know all about your students you can use this information to help plan for early finishers.

Using Learning Styles

Allowing early finishers to create a research project is a great use of their time and can be an ongoing task. This can be accomplished with a genius hour or passion project. Students will choose a topic that they are interested in and research it in depth. They will take notes along the way and present what they learn when they are completed. Allowing students a choice in how they present this information is a great way to incorporate their learning styles and allow for creativity. Visual learners might choose to create a poster or slideshow. Auditory learners might choose to create a podcast or video. Kinesthetic learners might create a skit or game show. Reading/writing learners might write a poem or song.

Using Interests

In addition to choosing a project topic that supports their passion, students can also use their interests to choose books for independent reading. You can recommend books that they will enjoy based on their hobbies or direct them to the library. Students that read books of interest are more likely to read more often, have increased reading comprehension, and develop a lifelong love of reading (Bridges, 2018).

Students can also be encouraged to write about their interests. They can write poems, stories, or essays. Writing about a topic can increase creativity and deepen understanding.

Project based learning activities are another option for early finishers that involve critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students could learn more about community service, create their own inventions, or create their own games to teach others about a subject that they know a lot about.

Using Learning Goals

Finally, you can use your students’ learning strengths and goals to find activities for them to complete when they finish assignments early.

Students that enjoy math can be challenged with logic puzzles, mobile puzzles, or magic square puzzles.

Students that excel in reading could try word ladders, hink pinks, or rebus puzzles.

Students that love science could try a STEM project or try a virtual chemistry lab.

Check out the Free Resource Library if you are looking for specific activities to implement now.

Once you know more about your students’ interests it is much easier to plan early finisher activities. Ask your students what they would like to do and allow choice. Just remember that it is important for them to do meaningful work, not just more work.

Bridges, L. (2018). The joy and power of reading: A summary of research and expert opinion. Scholastic Education. https://www.scholastic.com/worldofpossible/sites/default/files/Research_Compendium_0.pdf