5 Activities for Filling a Few Minutes of Class Time

What is one of your pet peeves as an ELA teacher? Late assignments? Disruptive students? Misuse of the semicolon? For me, it is wasting time. Specifically, those last few minutes of class before the bell has chimed and students think they can pack up early and congregate by the door. In an effort to not let these few minutes go to waste, here are five activities I use to fill those few minutes of class time:

1.  Play a quick game     

My default game is “Two Truths and a Lie” (or its alternative “Two Lies and a Truth”) where students listen to three statements and must determine which of the three is a lie. I have a few of these games that specifically relate to topics we’re studying: Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and baseball for when we read "Casey at the Bat". I like this because if we have only 60-90 seconds to fill, we can go through one or two rounds of statements, but if we have five minutes to fill, we can go through more rounds. In other words, it’s very flexible.

Some might think that hangman is a game for younger students, but I find that my 9th and 10th graders enjoy it. (Secretly I think some seniors have enjoyed it too.) I will use vocabulary that we are studying, or simply any words that are commonly misspelled. Again, if time is short, we might only get through one word, but we can expand it if time permits.

A few years ago, I found an old Trivial Pursuit game at a yard sale, and I keep the trivia cards handy for time fillers as well. Some of the references in the game are dated and simply beyond the grasp of teenagers, but over the years I’ve segregated out some cards that are within their grasp. There are plenty of online resources for finding trivia questions. Even if these trivia questions do not specifically relate to the topic we’re studying, they keep students’ attention away from the interpersonal drama that often percolates when they’re all congregated by the door.

2.       Super Duper Short Poem

Admittedly, this is not going to work with all classes, but I have had a few AP classes and Honors students who are game for this. I’ll put a super short poem on the board and ask students to read it and begin to identify poetic devices. When I say short—I mean really short.

Thoreau’s two-line poem is a good choice:

My life has been the poem I would have writ

But I could not both live and utter it.

Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” works well:

The apparition of these faces in a crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

And Dorothy Parker’s “News Item” is always good for a chuckle:

Men seldom make passes

At girls who wear glasses.

I’ve used some Shel Silverstein poems to good effect as well.

I have the most success using this activity with my AP Literature and Composition students in late April—right before they’re going to take the AP exam and want to cram in a bit more practice with poetry. Hemingway’s “Six Word Story”: For sale, baby shoes, never worn works in place of poetry. I teach a week-long unit on Flash Fiction, and I’ll sneak the six- word story in to show just how much emotion and storytelling can be captured in six words.

3.       Hot Potato Story Telling

Begin by stating the first line of a story. For example, “I didn’t mean to kill her,” “The air turned black all around me,” “Icy fingers gripped my arm in the darkness,” or “The robot blinked, then spoke, revealing a long-forgotten secret about humanity.” I have a bean bag (a whiffle ball or a small stuffed toy work too) that I then toss to a student and they must come up with the next line. Then they toss the bean bag to the next student, and this continues for as long as time allows. I have even offered a bonus point on the next quiz to whomever gets the biggest laugh for their line of the story.

An alternative to this funny storytelling activity is Mad Libs, which also has the benefit of reinforcing parts of speech. I have a PowerPoint folder of Mad Lib slides that I flash on the board when time allows.

4.       Quick Debate

Because I want the debate to be quick and not devolve into great controversy, I keep the debate topics light. For example, I’ll steer away from abortion or the death penalty in favor of lighter fare: Which flavor of ice cream is best? Should pineapple ever be on a pizza? Should Pop Tarts be toasted? Although relaxed, I try to enforce some basic rules of debate: only one person speaks at a time, alternate between points of view, no shouting.

5.       Guess the Slang

I’m more than a generation older than my students so we often lightheartedly mock each other about the slang that we use. I have a collection of 3” x 5” note cards that have slang terms from past generations on them with their definitions. I’ll call out a slang term from the 1950s and students will have to guess its meaning. Did you know that in the 1950s “Backseat Bingo” meant making out in the backseat of a car? We have a lot of fun with this activity, and some students have even reported that it has ignited a conversation between them and their grandparents (or great-grandparents!).

For 1950s slang check out this website. Here’s a link for some 1960s slang…and let’s not leave out the 1970s.

By making use of every minute of class time, you are communicating to students that it is your class, and you are in control. You’re also sending the message that learning can happen in non-traditional and fun ways.