"I'M FINISHED!!!!"
As a teacher you always have that one kid...
"I'm done. What now?"
Most of the time I would tell kids, "Just go read a book, or work on stuff for other classes." I really didn't have anything else planned when I first started teaching.
A few years in, I got smarter and started coming up with a board of things that kids could do if they were finished early, but sometimes you just don't have the time to plan for that. It's nice to have something that you can just pull out and have ready to go.
So that's where a lot of these ideas have come from! When students have free time on their hands I want to engage them in something academic, but also something that is interesting. So here are 10 sites that students can use when they finish early and you need something that will still keep them engaged!
1. Free Rice
Each time you answer a multiple choice vocabulary question correctly, you generate enough money for the United Nations World Food Programme to buy 10 grains of rice to help reach Zero Hunger. Click here!
2. BeanBeanBean
BeanBeanBean works like Free Rice where you answer questions and each one that is correctly answered earns you virtual beans that are converted to money that is donated to charity. Quiz topics include times tables, ASL alphabet, world capitals, the periodic table and more. Click here!
3. City Guesser
City Guesser is a global guessing game where students watch videos, collect clues, and then try to guess on a map where they are. The closer they get the better they do! Click here!
4. Wonderopolis
Kids are curious. Wonderopolis is a site that asks and answers interesting questions about almost anything. Click here!
5. A Google A Day
Most of us search the internet daily, if not multiple times per day. But effectively searching for something is a skill. A Google a Day challenges users to put their searching skills to the test by asking them to answer a question using Google search. With Google’s search education lesson plans you can take this game even further and begin teaching search literacy in your classroom. Click here!
6. Ted-Ed
TED-Ed is filled with tons of short video lessons on a variety of topics. Students can watch anything from “How Thor got his hammer” to “Can you solve the vampire hunter riddle?”. The goal of these videos is to spark the curiosity of learners. Each video offers students the opportunity to watch, think, dig deeper, and discuss. Click here!
7. Crash Course
Crash Course is a YouTube channel filled with educational videos for kids ages 12+ and adults. Videos offer content delivered by entertaining teachers combined with animated graphics. Each playlist contains a course focusing on a different content area. Topics include Engineering, Media Literacy, Psychology, World History and more. Click here!
8. Imagineering in a Box
Khan Academy has also teamed up with Disney to create Imagineering in a Box which allows you to explore different aspects of theme park design, from characters to ride development, as you design a theme park of your very own. Click here!
9. Google Arts and Culture
Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces. See super high-resolution images of some of the best works of art in the world. Walk world-famous museums. Examine historical happenings in detail. Click here!
10. Pixar in a Box
Pixar has partnered up with Khan Academy to bring your students Pixar in a Box. With video tutorials and interactive lessons, this course gives us a window into the jobs of Pixar animators. Topics include the art of storytelling, animation, rigging, color science and more. This course shows students that the subjects they learn in school — math, science, computer science, and humanities — are used every day to create the movies we love from Pixar. Click here!
Want more ideas? Head over to the Wakelet that has tons of ideas. Make a copy and edit it for your class, or even assign it to your Google Classroom!