Keeping The Peace With Early Finisher Tubs
Are you tired of trying to figure out what to do with your students who finish their work early and still maintain PEACE in your classroom? This post will show you how to Keep The Peace With Early Finisher Tubs.
When I started teaching, all I knew to do was have my students read a book after they finished their work. The only problem with that is my students weren’t strong readers yet. This caused them to be bored, frustrated and ultimately not enjoy reading. That is when I decided that something had to be done because anything that led to my students despising reading was not going to be a staple in my classroom. I decided to create an Early Finisher Tub. It would be purposeful and independent and allow for learning to continue and also for me to work with students who needed extra attention.
Here is my tub for Back To School Tubs for August and September. Seriously, these are one of my favorite creations. These have made my life so much easier and my classroom so much quieter.
Here is what the tubs looks like and how I set it up. It isn’t huge because let’s be honest, we don’t have enough space.
I show my class the activities on the carpet whole group. Initially, we spend a lot of time talking about how to go to the tub and make a selection, where we can sit, and how to clean up (I call that “restoring work”). I model this and we practice it too. We go back to our seats and “practice” using the EFT.
My kids learn pretty quickly that I have two rules for EFT’s. First, you must work quietly so you don’t disturb anyone. Second, you must restore the work like you found it. My students know that if they are being loud, disturbing anyone, or have not restored their work, they lose their EFT privilege. Yes, they are learning big time by doing these activities, but if you treat it as a privilege, so will they. I promise, they WANT to do these activities. I also stress the importance of not rushing through their work at their seat and doing a good job or else again, no tub privileges.
For those of you who have purchased my tubs, you can grab this rules freebie. Hopefully it will help you implement your tub expectations.
What Teachers Are Saying
“I love these and the kids do too! Keeps them engaged and busy while others finish work. Great for reinforcing a wide variety of skills in a fun way!”
“I used these in my Pre-K 3, Pre-K 4, and Kinder classes. They worked great and got the students excited about learning new concepts before they tried them on their own.”
“I love the predictability of the activities. It makes transitioning from one month to another easy to do because the activities remain mostly constant just with a new theme. I think that is so important for developing independence, which early finisher activities need to be. So excited to have options other than just reading a book for my early finishers. Love this bundle!”
I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed when I thought about the idea of EFT's but I went ahead and purchased your Aug/Sept ones and oh my goodness they are awesome! I love, love, love that my kids are learning yet are so excited to get to "play a game" (at least that's what they think). So I went ahead and purchased the whole year! Now I have a parent who is laminating and cutting the rest of the year for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for creating these!
Do you have the whole year bundled or do you have to buy each unit separately??
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I would love you forever if you would do this for second!! Moved to NC and transitioned from K to 2nd. 🙁
Do you have any for first grade? They look amazing!
Would this be appropriate for prk4?
I bought the bundle and LOVE them all. My kiddos love them too! Thank you for a great resource.
Thank you! I appreciate your feedback. <3