Super Challenge Box to handle early-finishers in the classroom

The notion of early finishers suggests that more capable children are whizzing through the work and then left waiting for something to do. I suggest below a technique which attempts to manage early-finishers bearing in mind that a good fast-finisher activity should be:

• useful- that it should imply some kind of extension activity which allows stronger pupils to learn more.
• relevant- that it is connected with the topic being studied or as a revision of something already studied.
• appropriate- that it suits the linguistic, as well as cognitive level of the learners.
• simple- that it does not require complex instructions.
• autonomous- that it can be done without taking up too much teacher-time.
• easy-to-end- that it can be finished quickly and is easy to check.
• discreet- that it does not disturb the rest of the group.
• flexible- that the activity will work for individuals or for pairs.
• fun- that it will not be seen as an onerous "punishment".

Procedure: The early-finisher student gets a card from the Super challenge box and the student works at his own level and pace. The kids love to see if they can 'beat' the challenge by finishing the activity! In my Supper Challenge Box I include activities like:

1) word-search games
2) crosswords
3) vocabulary inspector (students get a dictinary and chooses 5 cool words to teach the group)

4) make a vocabulary chain list ie country (England- Denmark- Korea...)

5) write a to z list of something ie fruit

6) read a fable and make a drawing to ilustrate it.

References:

 sparklebox.co.uk

There is a great set of activities ready to be used at : https://www.blake.com.au/v/vspfiles/downloadables/F13_20TaskCards.pdf