I LOVE REWARDS! In addition to your dazzling personality, unique teaching style, and your snazzy classroom environment, rewards are a FUN and CREATIVE way to make your classes MEANINGFUL and MEMORABLE.
I used to be overwhelmed by choosing a reward for each and every class. (And please note, this is NOT required.) But when I started seeing my students respond positively to different, individualized rewards, I really became motivated to use this reward time as effectively as I could.
Since individualizing my rewards, I've seen an increase in most of my students' ...
attention
participation
motivation to succeed
speaking output
energy and enthusiasm
confidence
To me, it's 100% worth the extra bit of thought on my end to provide an individualized reward for each one of my students! Stars are MORE than just 5 boxes to check. They are a fantastic OPPORTUNITY to take your teaching and your students’ learning to a 5 apple level.
First of all… Make sure you consider the PURPOSE behind your reward for EACH student (totally acceptable to have more than one purpose as well). But I want to challenge you to consider:
WHAT MOTIVATES THIS SPECIFIC STUDENT?
Positive Reinforcement – Some days, providing positive reinforcement is plenty good enough! You can choose to “surprise” your students with evenly spaced rewards (about every 5 minutes). OR you can hone in on a student’s specific language needs (whether it’s pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc.) and reward whenever they demonstrate improvement or perfection on a particular skill. Pay attention to your student’s abilities and areas of need, then use rewards to guide them and praise their successes!
Engagement/Entertainment – Maybe your student is distracted by their own environment (toys, people, their own thoughts). Or maybe your student is participating well but you can see them f a d i n g (and after a full day of school, extracurriculars and homework, who can blame them!?). For these students, provide a BRAIN BREAK in the form of a reward. This type of reward should interrupt the lesson in a way that pulls the student back into focus in a refreshing way. It’s okay if the interruption is abrupt! Your goal is to wake them up with a change of pace, get them active and thinking again, and then carry on with your lesson.
Extension – Any of you have a fast finisher out there? Use your reward times as extension opportunities throughout the lesson! And what about the Chatty Cathy’s who are adorable but keep you rushing to beat the clock? Use your reward time as an opportunity to guide the conversation in a way that relates to the lesson… this way you’re hitting the lesson targets and evaluating understanding while providing space for them to speak.
** Side note: If you normally teach several classes/day and like to use ONE reward per day/week, you absolutely can! Just keep in mind the purpose of the reward for each student, and tweak the way that you present it!
Now… drumroll please!
MY FAVORITE GO-TO REWARDS THAT I ALWAYS HAVE ON HAND
So now that we know the WHY behind the reward, I wanted to share with you my three go-to rewards for younger levels and my three go-to rewards for upper levels. These rewards are LOW TO NO PREP, and I ALWAYS have them ready to go on the fly! (Even when I take my classroom on the road.)
(For now, these are no-tech, non-Google Slides rewards. I’m a HUUUGE FAN of VIPKid Google Slides and I use them almost every day! Stay tuned for a post dedicated to Google-Slides in the near future!)
3 GO-TO REWARDS FOR YOUNGER LEVELS (levels 3 and below)
Find a Star (FAS) – Basically, you hide 5 stars and the student tries to find all 5 during your class together. When I first started out, I printed and laminated these FAS covers to be used over and over. I prefer to use my magnetic whiteboard to display rewards, but you can use sticky tack, glue dots, pocket charts, etc. I have several FAS game boards printed out from Teacher Jennifer's Website so the set up is as simple as taping up a game board and throwing the covers on top. Tada! If you don’t want to bother with the FAS covers/boards, hide a star/object in one hand, hold up both hands, and have them guess where you’re hiding the star! Remember, there are always easy ways to simplify or modify a game!
Token Rewards – These are any object that you can award to your student. These come in super handy for short notice classes, trial classes, new-to-you students. It’s great to have a boy option, a girl option, and a gender-neutral option on hand. Here are some examples of tokens that I have ready to go at all times: pizza emojis, princess Dinos, robots, dollar store flowers, stars (of course), Paw Patrol, magnetic animals, stickers, Legos. You can even award magnetic letters to spell their name! Use your kids’ toys, dollar bills, a simple puzzle, ANYTHING GOES! Again, check out Teacher Jennifer's website for all of the great printables!
Drawing Rewards – Here’s your ZERO prep option! Just grab your whiteboard and a dry erase marker (or a piece of paper and a pen!) and you’re set. Choose something to draw for your student and see if they can guess what it is! The object can be something your student likes and knows such as a hobby or their family, or it can be something related to the lesson. One of my regulars LOVES drawing. So for her, I forego the whiteboard, and I let HER draw on the last blank slide of the lesson. I’ll assign her something to draw (or tell her to surprise me) and she goes to town. Drawing is such a great brain break for our students. Even if you’re not an artist, give it a try! At the very least you and your student will probably get to laugh together!
3 GO-TO REWARDS FOR OLDER LEVELS (levels 3 and up)
Guess My Word – Many of my older students love this reward. Choose a word from the lesson like a vocabulary word or a sight word, draw the blanks for each letter on a whiteboard, and give your student opportunities throughout the lesson to guess the letters or the word. I love how we can practice vocabulary, spelling, letter sounds, blends, etc. all with this one activity.
Vocabulary Tic Tac Toe – This takes me a couple of minutes before class to write out, but it’s another well-loved game for my older students. In each square of the board, write in a vocabulary word or sight word. Take turns with your student saying a word before marking the X or the O. This is a great way to check for understanding and practice pronunciation of the words. If you have time, you can also practice defining the words and using the words in full sentences.
Ask a Question – This is becoming a new favorite game of mine. I use a dry erase dice from the Dollar Tree, but you can use index cards, flip a coin, a spinner toy… On my dice I draw a few stars and a few question marks. When it’s time for a reward/brain break, I roll the dice. If it lands on a “?” then the student gets to ask me a question! The questions that they come up with are AWESOME and sometimes super random. I love that it gives the student a chance to direct the conversation! It’s also a good way to evaluate grammar and sentence structure. If you haven’t tried this yet, get ready to be surprised!
And that’s it! I hope you can add one or more of these options to your reward bank! To see exactly how I implement these rewards, check out the video below!
Are you looking for a few new rewards to add to your classroom? Enter your email HERE, and I'll send you my FREE STARTER REWARDS PACK that's full of some great options!
<3 Teacher Chelsea
Comments