Basically get a cup, get some Popsicle sticks and write your students’ names on them. That’s it. As you are going through your lesson, simply, every so often stop and pick out one. Use some washi tape and write the student name on it, that was it.
Anyway, that is my little easy tip for you. I just call up my Popsicle stick cup, it’s not fancy. It can be a coffee mug, it can be a paper cup, or it could be a tin, I think I got this one at our favorite Target. Just grab some colorful Popsicle sticks, start writing student names on there, and that’s an easy way to keep them engaged.
I also grabbed several other items from that blasted Dollar Spot to use as prizes. You do NOT have to buy things for your classroom store by the way. You can always solicit parents for gently used toys.
Garage sales are another wonderful place to grab some great trinkets at a cheap price. Even Happy Meal toys or large stuffed animals are perfect!
Personally for me, I like to do a combination of both prizes and reward slips, says: “All students will want something different – and having those options makes them earn what they feel is the best for them! Set up your organizer with the good stuff and I even grabbed a couple small backpacks for a few bucks each in the Dollar Spot and zip tied them to the rings at the bottom to hold any additional prizes to fill the organizer back up after students have shopped on Friday..”
- Students were in desk groupings and were given a color
- We had a red team, orange team, green team, and so on
- Throughout the week, if they were the first team sitting quietly
- Hopefully this gives you some thoughts for creating your own
- Have you used something similar in your classroom before?
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I imagine by now most of you have at least heard of interactive response systems? For me, I know we have used them in the past in conjunction with our interactive whiteboards. They are little remotes that each child received and you could do a quick quiz on the interactive whiteboard and allow the students to answer. From that information, you were able to drive your instruction accordingly. It is wonderful for preassessment, middle of the lesson, or even a post-assessment review. The data is nice because you can break it down by question.