A few days ago, I went to
pick up the kids from lunch and walked in as one of the amazing women from the
lunch staff was having a serious discussion with them. Of course my first thought was “what in the
world did they do this time,” but it turned out that she was just talking to
them. As I stopped by the Room 114 line,
I heard Ms. J* telling the kids that they were lucky that I was their teacher
and so they should treat me well. The
conversation stopped when Ms. J spotted me, but I thanked her for the
compliment. That’s when one of the
sweetest comments ever happened. One of
my boys, David*, gave me one of his gigantic smiles and said “we always have
fun with Ms. Fiema.” I looked at Ms. J to
make sure that I had heard David correctly and then I looked back at David and
my heart just melted. David is a super
sweet little boy, but he can also be a handful.
David has the potential to be incredibly smart, and he’s almost always
so positive with his bright smile, so I can be hard on him. Because I’m hard on him, his comment meant
that much more to me. I realized that
David takes my expectations to heart and sees that at the end of the day, I do
just want to have a good time learning in 2nd grade.
We have a giant 100 chart
and as the whole class does something really well one student pulls out a
popsicle stick and colors the number found on the stick. Once ten numbers in a row are colored in, a
party is earned, and Room 114 earned a party yesterday. Since it’s been incredibly hot this week, we
had a popsicle party at recess. All of
the ups and downs in Room 114 were worth it as I saw the smiles on the monsters’
faces yesterday as they smiled for a picture and said “POPSICLE DAY!”
-Lisa
That's so sweet & heartwarming!
ReplyDeleteLisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure
What a sweet post! I love your 100 chart ideas!
ReplyDeleteMary
Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives
Love it!
ReplyDeletei just made this for my kids and i teach middle school! it should work with them, too!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you were able to use the 100 chart idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to reinforce numbers in my first grade class. Now I just need a catchy title. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteHow about "Connect 10," "Color Me 10," or even something about working together for 10?
ReplyDeleteHope that helps!
Lisa
I love the idea. I teach fourth grade (3 classes). How can I make this work when there is always 3-4 students that will ruin it for the class? Ideas welcomed.
ReplyDeleteJglenn
I have found that the rest of the class motivates the children who would normally be the ones acting up. As soon as the children with the behavior problems do something positive, use that as a learning opportunity and give away a popsicle stick for a square on the chart. Hopefully, that will help them see the future reward!
ReplyDelete-Lisa
I love this idea! But I have a few questions:
ReplyDelete1. Do you start over with a blank chart once they get their 10 in a row?
2. Do you have one class or multiple classes?
3. For multiple classes, would you use separate 100s charts for each group or just one for all?
Thanks!
Lisa, I keep the chart going until every single number is colored in. My class this year came VERY close to filling in all 100 numbers.
DeleteI do have just one class, but you could absolutely do this with multiple classes and charts for each.
How about "Way to go, ten in a row!"
ReplyDeleteLove this idea for a whole class reward! Great reinforcement for number recognition in my kindergarten class at the beginning of the year. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do if a student pulls a number that is already colored in?
ReplyDeleteOnce the Popsicle stick is pulled, I put it to the side so that it doesn't get picked again.
Delete-Lisa
I have the same question debbi
ReplyDeleteI put the number to the side so that each number is only chosen once.
Delete-Lisa
Once ten numbers have been colored in are they marked out? Can students use numbers that were a part of a previous ten in a row?
ReplyDeleteYes the number can be used again. For example if 91 is used for all of the numbers that end in "1," then 91 can also be used in the 90s. Hope that helps!
Delete