Fast Llamas!
We are back! Part 4 in our series using Doug Curry's free resources... "Making School Fun".
Here's the link to access all of the great things, Doug Curry offers. Today we will talk about individual awards. Here's Doug...
Individual Rewards
There are a number of ways to reward students individually.
1. Coupons Create your own type of coupon:
Coupons such as these may be given out for practically anything: good behavior, good choices, a nice paper, a kind act, etc.
Set a target number. For example, once students get a total of 50 Curry Coupons, they may trade them in for a prize or activity.
2. Classroom Management System Rewards
If you use some type of classroom management system, for example a clip chart, or a card system, or even class Dojo, it is very easy to set a standard in which students are rewarded for good behavior. Be careful to make this age appropriate.
Let’s say it’s a 7th grade class. Every day that a student ended the day with no discipline issue (no yellow card), the student could earn a point for that day. This could simply be kept on a spreadsheet of some kind. Once the student reached a total of 20-25 days, the student would qualify for your reward. Again, this should be age appropriate as to the number of days.
So………What Kinds of Rewards?
To start with, here is a school-wide reward system that could be easily modified for the classroom. I don’t take credit for this one. I learned about it years ago, and it is a great reward due to the layers of complexity and randomness built into it.
Thus it becomes a great reward for middle school and high school kids.
Welcome to the Principal’s 200 Club, which could easily be renamed and used in your classroom.
Principal’s 200 Club
The Principal’s 200 Club is a system for recognizing great student behavior.
1.You need a bulletin board or display with 200 spaces in the form of a rectangle. Each space should be numbered (1, 2, 3,…)
2. Create your own master for a special certificate. Include a place for student’s name, teacher’s name, date, and brief description for why the student is receiving the award.
3. Decide how you “stick” the student names on the bulletin board. As in the above picture, student names can simply be written on a white board, but these would be easily erased.
4. Get 200 wooden discs (the kind you can purchase at as hobby store). Number each disc from 1-200. Have a special sack (with a drawstring) in which to keep the discs.
5. Decide on what prizes you will use for each student who receives a certificate. These are not your grand prize, but need to be something that students will like.
Procedure
1.Train all of your adults regarding how you plan to use the Principal’s 200 Club.
2. Each day put 2 blank certificates in the boxes of 4 adults. Keep a record of which adults have received a certificate. This will mean that 8 students per day will receive this award.
3. Each adult will decide which students to award the certificates.
It can be for anything you like: great consistent behavior, a change for good in behavior, etc. This is a great time to target some of those students who don’t always receive public recognition.
4. As each student receives a certificate, have the student come to the office with the certificate. Train all of the front office staff to make a big deal of this!
5. The student gets a prize. The student also reaches into the bag and pulls out a number. The student’s name is placed on the bulletin board on the corresponding number.
6. Have the principal or assistant principal to call the parents of the student to deliver the good news. Be sure that this call is made before the day is over!
7. The next morning, be sure and announce the names of the 8 students who were chosen.
8. Keep an eye on the big board. You are looking for a pattern of at least 10 names in a perfect row-either up and down, horizontal, or diagonally. Once this happens, the 10 students who are in that row win the Big Prize.
9. Once the Big Prize is obtained, take down all of the names and start again. Again, this can be easily modified to be a classroom reward. Kids love this one!
Here's more ideas:
Drawing from the Box (or Sack)
Do you want to bring the thrill of the casino into your classroom without getting arrested? Then this idea is for you! This is a fairly easy way to give out prizes. It will absolutely mesmerize students. The best way to describe this is to torture you into watching the following video clip of me actually explaining this when we used this with an entire school. You will see that half the battle is in how you market this!
Rewards of Chance Come up with something that takes a certain amount of skill. Kids love to perform in front of their peers to see if they can master a challenge of some sort.
Shooting at the Trash
Can All you need is a ball and a trash can. Mark off a distance that accurately provides a degree of difficulty along with a fair chance, and you have yourself a great challenge!
Wheel of Fortune Puzzle
Just replicate the final round of Wheel of Fortune.
Putting
This was a big one in my classroom! I built a putting cup. Nowadays you can purchase a practice putting green that will do the job.
Just put up a little basketball goal and backboard in your room.
Jazzing Up Class Dojo
If you use Class Dojo (https://www.classdojo.com), here are some ways to make it more interesting:
• Have teams of students. Have a team captain. This way the teams can work together to earn team points on things such as problem solving, having the neatest area, best behaved, etc.
• The teams can work together on special challengers: things such as riddles, puzzles, and other difficult problems.
Star Row
Do you want to have a better dismissal at the end of the day? The row or table that is the very best at the end of the day (quietest, neatest, straightest, etc.) gets a small trophy placed on it when the bell rings. This row or table is known as Star Row. Tomorrow morning when the students enter the room and begin to work, this row gets to do something fun or special for a few minutes.
Star of the Day
Every day at the end of the day, name one student as the Star of the Day. Display the student’s name in a prominent place in the room. Give the student a certificate and a small gum or candy.
Mr. Curry Bingo (Insert your own name)
Every Friday (or every other Friday, or however you see fit), we play Bingo for 20 minutes using our Math facts, vocabulary words, or any thing we are learning. Who plays Bingo? Only the students who met your standard for the week, whatever that is. There are plenty of great sites that allow you to make instant Bingo sheets.
What makes this Bingo so special? Students are on teams. If a student gets a Bingo, write that student’s name down. That student gets 2 pieces of gum/candy, but everyone else on the student’s team gets a piece just because they are on that student’s team. Play for 20 minutes. Who got the most Bingos? Have a playoff if you need to do so. The winner gets the grand prize. What do you do with the kids who don’t get to play? They sit and watch. Make better choices next time.
Prizes that Don’t Cost
There are a bunch of prizes that don’t cost a thing. Think of no homework passes, eat with the teacher, etc.
The Fun Guy
A fellow teacher once asked some of my kids what it was like to be in my room. They responded by saying, “Everything’s fun. Everything’s a game.” I found that to be very interesting because I was actually a fairly strict taskmaster. I just don’t like to be bored. There is truly a way to make everything interesting. Thank you for providing students with a fun educational experience!
Thank you Doug for all of these ideas... as we head toward summer... these are more important than ever! Finish Strong my fellow fast llamas!
