20 Follow-On Activities For Elementary Learners

When learning material for the first time, teachers sometimes forget that kids may not understand it right away. They may need your help to take a second look at it, time to revise on their own or even in groups. Follow on activities should provide different ways to think about the original content whilst continuing to push the conversation in a progressive direction. Here are 20 great follow-on activities for kids in elementary school.

1. Vocab Reviews

For reading passages that may be a little more challenging for students, have them go over vocabulary that they may not know. They can write down words they don’t understand or a teacher can give them a vocab sheet with definitions to refer back to.

2. Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down

This activity is great for engagement during the lesson. When reviewing the reading lesson, make certain statements about particular reading passages. If the kids agree with the statement, ask them to give you a thumbs up and if they don’t, they can give a thumbs down.

Learn more: Reading Horizons

3. Response Sheets

Whether you are reading to the kids or having them take home an exercise, response sheets are a great way to gauge comprehension. This could be applicable to movies too. Ask questions to make sure they are paying attention so they can fill out the answers as they go.

4. Gallery Visits

When kids do an art project that has to do with an interpretation of a piece that they went over in school, have them show off their work. Display the projects all over the classroom and allow the kids to do a little art gallery visit. 

Learn more: Reading Rockets

5. Book and Movie Comparison

Kids love watching movies in class. When there is a movie based on a book assignment it is a great idea to do a comparison chart. You can create a simple table with two columns- labeling one the movie and one the book. Ask kids to write down the differences in the two columns.

6. Interpretation Essays

Asking the kids to gauge a book’s theme can be tricky, but it is often the biggest indicator of how they have interpreted the reading passages. You can give them a list of themes to choose from to make things easier. 

7. Character Experts

Assign each kid a character to study and present in class. They can talk about their journey or the symbolism behind the specific character. You can give them prompts to answer or let them be creatively free to compile their own presentation.

8. Book Reports

They aren’t always the most fun for kids, but summarizing books is a great way to gauge comprehension of an assignment. Have the kids complete different books- choosing something they’d like to read from a list or a classroom library.

9. Monster March Out

This cute ticket displaying cute monsters lets the kids express how they feel at the end of a lesson. They can choose from “confused, lots of questions, or I got it”. It is a great way to individually follow up on how each child felt.

Learn more: Teach Starter

10. 3-2-1 Feedback

Allow the kids to list three things they learned from the lesson, two fun facts they enjoyed, and one thing they still have questions about. It allows the teacher to gauge whether the questions are similar and assess what learners don’t understand.

Learn more: Teach Starter

11. Draw It Out

Sometimes words aren’t for everyone. Letting kids creatively express what they learned through drawing a picture is a fun way to change it up. They can, of course, label or write something aside from the drawing or articulate it to the class afterward.

12. Buddy Up

Kids working together is a skill to learn in itself. But what kids can learn from each other is invaluable. Pair the kids up on a particular assignment and have them work together to understand the meaning behind a passage or book.

13. Sticky Note Board

Grab three different colors of sticky notes and hand one to each kid. One should be for questions, another for a concept they understood, and one they are feeling uncertain about. Allow the kids to place the sticky notes in the section drawn up on the board.

Learn more: Teach Starter

14. Becoming the Author

Not everyone is going to like all parts of a story. Let the kids talk about or write what they would change about the story. This focuses on comprehension and gives them a creative avenue to work on their literacy.

15. Venn Diagram Fun

Have the kids compare two characters, two books, or two themes with a Venn diagram. This is a great way to compare the similarities and differences to understand each book or assignment. If you find the kids are struggling, you can include some hints at the bottom to place into each section rather than having learners fill in the spaces unassisted.

16. Class Guest

If you are reading a book on a particular subject, who better to come and talk about it than an expert themselves? For instance, a book on firefighters or police- bring one of them in to speak to the class. 

Learn more: Reading Rockets

17. What About Today?

Some important literary pieces are outdated, but nonetheless super important to read to learn about our history. Older kids can compare older books to today’s work and explain how things are. 

18. Debates

Having classroom debates are always fun. This is more of a speaking and critical thinking exercise. Assign a question or topic to pairs and let them come into class and debate the interpretation of such a topic. You can also give them vocab to read and familiarize themselves with.

Learn more: Bridge.edu

19. Put On a Play

Picking important scenes from the book or movie to reenact as a group is never a bad idea, You can even assign different skits from the book to different groups so that it keeps things exciting. You can give them play scripts or allow them to have full creative control.

20. Choose the Next Book

Let the kids choose the next book based on their thoughts and feelings about the current passage. Explain why they chose their book and what it does or does not have to do with the previous assignment they were working on.