It’s the last 5 minutes of class. The lesson is over. The assignment is complete. How are you going to fill those last few minutes and avoid chaos from ensuing?
Don’t worry friend. I got you.
We won’t let those last 5 minutes of class go to waste.
You can always end class with an exit ticket. That’s a great way to informally assess your students and determine if they are ready to move on to the next lesson. I can even help you get some consistency with exit tickets. I have 25 writing prompts that make great exit tickets. Just click here to grab those so you can start using them now.
But sometimes you just need some end of class games. And that’s what I want to share with you today.
Class Closure Activities
As teachers we all know the importance of having a strong routine to start class each day. Our students thrive with consistency.
But did you know it is also important to have a strong routine to end class each day?
That chaos that can ensue in those last few minutes is one of my least favorite things as a teacher. And that is exactly why I started building my tool box with some class closure activities.
Today I want to share 3 easy ways to fill the last 5 minutes of class and avoid that chaos.
End Class Games
1. Round Table
One way you can fill that time is with an easy game I call Round Table.
It works best if your students are sitting in groups. My students happened to be sitting at round tables when I came up with this game hence the name Round Table.
Each group gets a blank piece of paper.
The best part of this little game is that it is played in silence.
Tell your students the category. For example Multiples of 3.
They get 1 minute to list as many multiples of 3 as they can. Each person writes down one answer at a time and then passes the paper. They must write down an answer. They cannot just pass the paper if they don’t know.
And again…it’s silent. They cannot help each other.
At the end of 1 minute, check their answers. No repeats. The team with the most correct answers wins.
It’s such a fun way to fill those last few minutes of class and practice math facts at the same time.
Don’t tell anyone but sometimes I like to do other non-math categories like states or pizza toppings. Have fun with it.
2. Stories with Holes
This something I discovered early on in my teaching career. These are basically riddles You read a story to students where something doesn’t quite make sense. Students then ask yes or no questions and try to figure out how the story could be true.
For example, a man was clearly going the wrong way down a one way street, yet the police officer did not give him a ticket.
Students will be BEGGING you for the answer. Of course I’m just mean enough to send them off to their next class without giving them the answer.
This one is really best if you have a few days in a row that you can play so students have time to solve the riddle.
I will link a couple of books for this at the bottom of this post if you are interested.
3. Count it Off
This third game is another one to practice math facts. We will use multiples of 3 again for this example. The teacher starts the game by saying the first number, in this case 3. A student will then say 6. A different student says 9 and so forth.
What makes this hard? Students cannot talk or have a plan going into the game. If more than one student says the next number, you have to start over at the beginning.
This one is fun to have classes compete against each other to see which class can make it the longest without having to start over.
