"I'm Done... Now What?"

At the beginning of the year I was getting the above question about a million times a day. I had explained to my students that they always had the option of reading, finishing morning work or practicing their spelling words. Well, those options worked for a while but then the question came back and I knew something needed to change.

I took to good ol' Pinterest to get some ideas on brain breaks or activities for fast finishers. After I found a few great things, I used a combination of those ideas and came up with my own system.

Introducing the "Sticks Center"

Now, when my students are finished and are sitting there with nothing to do, they have the option to read, finish their morning work or "do the sticks." Simple system that works like this.

1. Draw a stick
2. Do what it says

Simple right? :)

Here is a closer look at the sticks in the can:

These are all of their options. The rule I have is they can't look when they draw a stick and whatever they get, they have to do or they go back to their seat and read.("If you're gonna do the sticks, you do 'em right" I say that a lot) If they draw the same stick in a day they don't have to do it twice, they can redraw. Been doing this for about four months and it has been great so far, they enjoy it and are great at completing the activities. Very little work on my part and they don't ask me the dreaded question anymore!

Here are short explanations of each stick.

Flash Cards: There are two sets of multiplication flashcards (about 20 cards each) they take them back to their seat and go through the cards twice.

Word Problems: The students gets to be the teacher and they write me two word problems. I have to solve it by the end of the day. The only rule is, they have to know the answer to the problem! Sometimes I solve it wrong to see if they can catch my mistake... they have no idea and get so proud of themselves when they catch my mistake!

Spelling ABC Order: Write that week's spelling words in alphabetical order.

Wrap-Ups: Subtraction and multiplication manipulatives. Buy here.

Spin Multiplication: Fun interactive multiplication flashcards. Thanks to the teacher who had my room before me!

Random Worksheet: This folder is full of random challenging worksheets. They have to draw a random one without looking. There are all kinds of things in there like crosswords, riddles, math challenges, word searches.

Book Report: Students get a piece of notebook paper and write a short summary of a book they read recently.

Just for Fun Book: I have a tub full of lower-level children's books. I still think those are fun to read so why wouldn't fourth graders?

Spelling Story: Students write a story containing all of their spelling words.

Rhyming Words: Students pick a word and write as many words that rhyme with it as possible.

Write a Short Story: Students write a story no longer that a page about anything they want!

Math Challenge Number: I created a worksheet with a different number at the top. They pick one and each worksheet has them adding 15 to the number, subtracting 25, writing the number with words, dividing by 3, and multiplying by 13. Really makes them think!

Write Cursive Letters: I don't make my students write in cursive very often but they still need to practice. For this stick they simply have to write their cursive alphabet.

Spelling Pictures: Students draw a picture to go along with each spelling word.

Spelling 2x Whiteboard: Students grab a whiteboard and write their spelling words two times each.

Dictionary Hunt: I love this one! Students use a dictionary to find 3 words they don't know. They write the word, the definition and draw a picture to go with it.

Write 20 Verbs: Pretty self explanatory.

Write 20 adjectives: Ditto!

Alphabet List: Students write their alphabet, then try to come up with a word for each letter. Bonus if they use past vocab or spelling words.

Boggle: My kids are OBSESSED with this one right now. I printed out some pre-made boggle lists with 20 letters. They are all trying to beat each other for who can come up with the most words. One of my students has a list of 112 going right now.. she won't quit! I LOVE it!

ABC Order Challenge: In one of the trays I have multiple worksheets that have lists of words that start with the same letter and need to be put in alphabetical order. They are tricky and my kiddos like the challenge.

Addition Challenge has been replaced with Division Challenge: A large sheet of division problems with remainders. My kids love to do these and see if they can get them all right in one try!


This truly has been great for my classroom! It makes my kiddos use their brains all day long, no sitting doing nothing and a lot less getting into trouble in between activities!

Try it, you'll like it!

Fourth Grade Shenanigans

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I am a teacher. I am one of those obnoxious people who absolutely loves my job and am excited to go to work everyday!

I teach a wonderful (and also incredibly talkative) group of 19 fourth graders! Something that I love to teach is writing, but there are so many things I have to do during the day it is hard to fit a lot of writing in. We usually do at least one major writing piece a month. I have taught research papers, friendly letters, opinion papers and summary writing. Throughout the week we do some smaller writing projects but I wanted to find a way to incorporate it even more often. 

The best way to help my students become better writers is to give them as many opportunities to write as possible! So I decided we would start doing journal writing after Christmas break. I spent some of break buying those cheap composition notebooks and attaching ribbon as books marks in them. We do journal writing directly after recess on Tuesdays and Thursdays for just fifteen minutes. I made a list of writing prompts to get us through the end of the year and put them all into a powerpoint. 

On the first day back, it was a Monday so we did a read- aloud instead of writing. On Tuesday I explained the process of journaling and gave them time to decorate their journals. Thursday was the first day and they knew that their journal would be out on their desk, Mozart would be playing and they were to come right in, read the prompt on the board and begin writing. I thought I would have tons of questions or kiddos who wouldn't follow or remember the directions. But to my surprise they all came right in, sat down and wrote for fifteen minutes without saying a single word. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, I seriously almost cried! 

Now, the kiddos have finally figured out the schedule. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I read aloud from a chapter book and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they journal. They always get excited on Tuesdays and Thursdays and say "Yes, it's journal day!" I love that they are getting excited about writing and they work so hard during that time. I respond to what they wrote the time before and they love reading what I wrote back to them each time. I simply use this to encourage them to write and to help them get more and more writing practice. I created a NO EXCUSE list that they glued in the front of their journal and they have to check for the following things before they can turn their journal back in:

1. Capitalize beginning of sentences and proper nouns.

2. Punctuation in the correct places. 

3. Use your best handwriting. 

4. Indent at the beginning of a paragraph. 

5. Write at least a paragraph (which is 5 sentences). 

6. Have fun!

They have done a great job of this so far and I have really seen their writing improve since we started. I would highly encourage other teachers to add this into their day somehow. My students just love it and it is making a difference! 

Here are a few of the writing prompts I have used. 

- If you were a super hero, what powers would you want and why?

- If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be? (You can't wish for more wishes!) 

- Write a Want Ad for a best friend. What qualities are important?

- What are three things you love about yourself. Why do you love these things?

- If you got to rule the school for one day, what things would you do or change? 

Every other Thursday I use a picture and they are to write a story to go along with it. Here are two of my favorites we have used so far. I have just googled writing prompt pictures or found them on pinterest. They really love when it's "Picture Thursday".