5 minutes until the bell....what to do??

What do you do when you have 5 minutes until the bell?   You can't just let the kids go home (though, sometimes it would be SO nice to do ;) ) and breaking out the books to start a new lesson is out of the question, so you need to have some little filler activities to do with them.  Here are a few things that I do to help fill the time, but still have *some* educational basis.

1.  Mental Math

My kids LOVE this.  There is no paper or pencils allowed.  The only tools the kids have is their mind.  I basically give the kids a very long math problem, where they are doing multiple operations in succession.  For example, I will say, "5 plus 5, minus 8, times 2 equals...."   When I say equals, that is the students' cue to answer.  They may only raise their hand when I say equals.  The kid who raises their hand first gets to answer and then we start again.  Sometimes I make the problem really hard, sometimes really easy.  The idea is that they are using their brains and calculating everything without relying on pencil and paper.  It also is a great, educational time filler.

2.  Sparkle

This is a spelling game.  The kids line up in a circle.  I give them a word to spell.  The first kid says the first letter.  The second says the next letter, and so on.  When the word has finally been completely spelled, the next kid says "Sparkle" and the kid after him is out.  Then the process starts over again until there is only one student standing.  We try to do this as fast as possible...sort of "Speed Sparkle" if you will. The kids love it...and it only takes a few minutes.

3.  What I Learned in 5th Grade

Whenever we have extra time, I have my students break out their "What I Learned in 5th Grade" Sheets.  I give these to them at the beginning of the year, and as the year goes on, I periodically ask them to add to it.  Now, I do have to say that these sheets look pretty grubby now.  But that is ok.  Near the end of the year I plan to take each sheet, back it, laminate it, and include it in a yearbook for the kids.  So, grubby is ok...at least it is full of great things we have learned all year!  ;)    Here is a copy for you.  I actually made one for a few different grade levels (as I know there are many grade levels represented here)  Enjoy!

4.  Reading

This sounds like a no-brainer, but really, anytime we get a few extra minutes, I love to have the kids get out their library books and read.  We really do so little reading for enjoyment during the day, that any spare time we have is always used well when a book is in the hands of the students.


OK...so there are a few of the ideas I have on how to fill that extra 5 minutes.  What about you?  What are some thing YOU do in YOUR classroom to keep the class learning in those minutes before the bell?