Students adapt to their settings. If they are given free time, they will expect to always have free time. However, if they are expected to work to the bell, that’s what they will do. And that last few minutes can be so very valuable to your lessons.
Use the time to wrap-up your lesson in a way your students will remember. Utilize prompts that will bring the lesson home, and always ask students to examine the significance of the day’s lesson, while tying it into their starter (bellringer) responses from the beginning of class. I called these prompts Left Side Assignments (LSAs) because students entered their response on the left page of their interactive notebook.
Today, many refer to these prompts as Exit Slips or Wrap-up Prompts. All in all, they are the same – a prompts that helps your students compile the information presented in the class lesson and process the information for better understanding of its relevance in history.
More importantly, the LSA, Wrap-up, or Exit Slip can serve another purpose: It can keep your students engaged in your lesson, and even more importantly, thinking critically about your lesson as the bell rings and they move on toward their next class.
See an example of wrap-up prompts with this FREE Holocaust Prompt Set. Or find them included with most of the lessons and activities available in My TpT Store!
Happy Teaching!