Do you feel overwhelmed when planning your lessons and activities? Have you ever noticed how fast time flies during your teacher planning time? It often feels like I finally get into a good working groove then I have to go pick my students up from specials. As teachers our to-do list is never-ending. Finish planning for one week and it’s time to start planning for the next week. Vicious cycle.
Each school year my goal has been to streamline my planning process and lesson prep. I’m finally starting to be able to get all my planning and prep done during the week and enjoy my weekends! It only took ten-plus years, but I’ll count it as a win. The biggest reason I’ve been able to do that is by being picker about what I plan for my students. Instead of creating elaborate new activities each week, I’m creating reusable student activities that can be reused week after week.
Save time, prep, and paper with reusable independent student activities.
There are already enough things on your plate, so take back some of your time with reusable activities. They not only save you time by making your lesson prep easy they also give students predictability allowing them to more easily work independently. They can also be good for the environment by saving some paper.
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What makes a good Reusable Activity?
A reusable activity is one that can be made once and reused repeatedly with minor or no adjustments. Instead of changing the worksheet or the activity that the students are doing you change the content they are working with. This allows you to teach students how to do the process one or two times (hopefully) and then focus on the content you’re wanting them to learn.
For example, each week your students learn a new list of five vocabulary words. Instead of creating new activities each week for students to practice the words, develop one activity that they do each week with the new set of words. Click here to get the reusable vocabulary slides I use with my third graders.
What to Make into a reusable Activity
Reusable student activities can work for all subject areas. Some of the best times to use reusable student activities are when you want students to be working independently. This way once they understand what’s expected of them they can confidently get started right away. Plus you won’t need to interrupt a small group or one on one conference to repeat directions.
I started with making my students’ morning work reusable. Before this, I had a different worksheet each morning for students. This meant I had to find or create a worksheet for each day, make sure they were printed, and then also go over the directions of each worksheet. This didn’t allow me to spend time greeting students, helping get them settled, or the other tasks that are needed each morning in a classroom. Also in our district students tend to trickle in, so directions needed to be repeated.
Now instead of a variety of different worksheets, I have my students do the same activity, but just change the content. Over the years I’ve changed up what I use depending on which subject area we start with. Working with sight words, vocabulary or journaling are great repeatable activities for reading. For math, I’ve had students do calendar time, show a number in different ways, counting practice, or related math facts. You can get a collection of the reusable worksheets I’ve used with my students from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Just click here.
These activities make planning easier and the school day runs more smoothly. I’m always on the lookout to find other areas where I can incorporate reusable activities. What reusable student activities do you use in your classroom?
Other Ideas for reusable activities By Subject Area
Reading or English Language Arts
- Vocabulary Practice
- High-Frequency or Sight Words Practice
- Reading Response Journal
- Daily Journal Time
- Handwriting Practice
Math
- Number of the Day (Show or Represent a Number)
- Counting Practice
- Related Math Facts (Addition & Subtraction or Multiplication & Division)
- Math Problem Solving
Science and Social Studies
- STEM Challenge Planning
- STEM Challenge or Investigation Reflection
- Noticing and Wondering
Classsroom Management
- Student Behavior Reflection Form
- Student Reward Ticket
- Family Communication Notes
How to put reusable activities into practice
There are a variety of ways to put reusable activities into practice so they meet your needs and the needs of your students. First look for activities that you do week after week. Evaluate the centers or activities you’re currently doing can you adjust them to make them reusable?
Next, create a template that can be used week after week with little to no changes. I’ve found Google Slides is a great tool for creating worksheets. You can easily convert them to digital worksheets by downloading your template as an image. Then put the image as the slide background. Add text boxes for students to record their answers in and you have a digital worksheet.
Once you have the template you’ll need to decide how you’d like students to use it. You can use traditional paper worksheets, worksheets in clear sheets, journals, or digital worksheets. If you need to make slight changes each week I’d recommend making a copy of the document each week with the adaptations.
Younger students often do better with traditional paper worksheets or journals as they work on their handwriting. Paper copies are also a better option if you would like students to keep a copy of their work.
Clear sheets are a great time and paper saver. The key to using them is teaching students how to use dry erase markers correctly and having a large supply of the markers. I’ve found students especially younger students tend to go through them quickly.
Digital worksheets are great for virtual or online learning but are also a great option for in-person learning. They work great with Google Classroom. When you assign the template on Google Classroom just make sure to make a copy for each student.
After you get all set to use the reusable activity you will want to spend time modeling how to use it with your students. The more comfortable they are with how you want them to complete the activity the more independent they will become.
With independent work, students thrive on work that they are familiar with. Once students understand the process of completing a reusable worksheet or activity they can focus on the content versus the process. Too often students struggle with an assignment or get the wrong answer because they don’t understand what they are being asked to do. Reusable activities take this worry away.
Premade Reusable or Repeatable Student Activities
Ready to try out some reusable student activities? What will you try first? You can get ready to print and use student worksheets and activities that are all reusable from my Teacher pay Teacher store. Check out some of the options below…
