It is time for another Bright Idea Linky Party and I am EXCITED!
This is going to be another great month of awesome teacher tips and ideas!
It is no secret that I am a bit of a hoarder and like to pull out ideas that I have used in my
classroom for years. I can tell ‘ya… some of these charts I’m going to show you are OLD.
I like to think I’m RETRO-CHIC like that.
How many of you use a marble jar? Marble jars have been around forever.
They became REALLY popular in the early 90’s (yes… 90’s) when Lee Canter’s Assertive Discipline was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I had one, everyone had one. I still know people who STILL have them and LOVE them, but they just were never my cup o’ tea.
Mainly because they take FOREVER to fill up.
I was terrible at the marble jar. My kiddos (and I) needed shorter goals. I felt that is was important for the kiddos to know how much it will take to complete their goal. The marble jars were just not concrete enough for me. They are great for teaching estimation, but not so great for goal setting.
So I started making charts that could be reused and the kids could count and see how many more they needed to make their goal. This was one of my FIRST ones, and yes… I still have it. (Hoarder ALERT!!)
Every time the class would earn a compliment or reward for anything, they would earn a grape. When the bunch was full, they would earn a reward. Back in the day, we would do “Read and Munch.” They got to bring a snack for silent reading. (Super simple!!)
This is another OLD one. I went through a Suzy’s Zoo phase.
The kiddos earn bubbles on the chart, just like the grapes.
I usually pull her out during our Air and Weather science unit.
My “Old Lady” is about 10 years old. She has fake doll hair glued on her. LOVE HER!!
I lost my original pieces of the story, so I made some new ones.
This one is great for when my class needs shorter goals.
Once she swallowed the horse, an incentive is earned by the class.
One of my favorite charts is from my Scooby Doo phase. I simply laminated a Scooby poster and cut out brown paper Scooby Snack dog bones and stuck them on the poster.
I KNOW I still have it somewhere… in my garage… sigh. So sorry, no picture of that one. BOO!
Since I’ve decided to do a bee theme this year, I am going to start the year with this bee hive my hubby drew and I painted. The students are going to earn bees for compliments in special area classes or when walking in line. I will mix up the goals and incentives depending on my class.
So, the point of this post is to give you some food for thought. Keep your incentive charts fresh and the goals attainable. It is easy to mix up your charts and change up your class reward incentives. This creates novelty and makes your class a more exciting place to be!
Happy hopping!
