[Teach in TX]

Does anyone have any creative ideas to keep the fast finishers busy instead of silent reading? I would love to do something to challenge the higher level kids.

What work are they finishing too early?

During Math, I have them either help someone or play a math game.

[ABC]

I have a poster in the front of the room with "What to do when I'm done" They include...

• Write a letter to a friend. Sometimes if you go to local card shops or grocery stores, they will give you last season's extra envelopes from the card dept. I use those and have a cardboard mailbox. They may write to a friend and "mail" it without sealing the envelope so that I may look and make sure it's appropriate and then mail it to that friend.
• Do a wordsearch or puzzle. Carson Dellosa makes great seasonal books for St. Patrick's Day, etc. for about $3. They have mazes, what's wrong pictures and lots of other stuff.
  
• Write in your journal.
  
• Do math flashcards.
• Look at a book from our browse basket. These are usually books not at an instructional level, but related to what we are studying.
• Silent reading of course!
• I also have file folder games that you can buy or make from your local teacher's store. (I tend to limit these since they are not independent.)
• How to draw books for kids.
• Practice spelling words on a dry erase board or small chalkboard.
• Also, books called Doodleloops are great for creative writing purposes!
  

Of course you can limit any of these depending an your original activity, but overall these keep my faster workers busy for that extra 5-15 minutes you may need.

Good luck!

There are books called "take it to your seat centers" that have great file folder games...they are easy to assemble and the kids love them. I have the literacy one, but there are books for math and other subjects as well.

Good Luck!

[kit1024]

I have a bunch of file folders in the front of the room that have "fun sheets" in them. It ranges from coloring sheets to puzzles and mazes to extra worksheets we never got around to completing in class (but I had already copied). They are always sheets the kids can do by themselves. The kids know they can silent read and work on flashcards, but they can also pick a "fun sheet" if they would like. Surprisingly, kids choose the old review worksheets just as often as the coloring ones and mazes!

[hescollin]

At this site you will find 38 file folder games.
www.enchantedlearning.com in search put file folder games

 www.preschoolprintables.com

http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literacy%20Props.htm

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/storyprops1.html

http://www.state.ar.us/childcare/coloring.html
http://www.childcareland.com/filefoldergames.html
http://www.education.com/common/res...h/971006km.html
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec...ard/Matrix.html
http://www.nuttinbutkids.com/filefolder.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/filefoldergames/
http://kootweb.com/games.html
http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/games.html
http://www.preschoolprintables.com/...ilefolder.shtml
http://www.teachingheart.net/primar...rtimesaver.html
http://daycare.about.com/cs/printablegames/index.htm
http://www.webeans.net/hutt/ffgames.htm
http://208.183.128.3/tutorials/gameboard.htm

www.teachersdesk.org
It is designed for grades 5/6 but all the activities can be adapted for other grades. There are tons of ideas for file folder games (though they aren't labeled as such) and portable centers. I just browsed through the spelling activities and games and they are great. Lots of things you can copy to Word and print out.

[Hylin]

I use the Evan Moor centers too. They're amazing. They do take a little time to assemble but they last and my kids even like doing them over and over. My favorites are the writing ones, but I have phonics, math, and reading ones too.