The kids start each day with  their pins on green. I try to use a “three strikes” approach with them – remind them of the rule they are forgetting and say “that’s 1; if I have to get on to you for that 3 times, we have to move your name.” That works well for things that don’t pose a risk for injury – dangerous behaviors only get one warning.

At the end of each day, everyone who stays on green gets to pick a prize from the treasure box. Yes, that’s just a box of candy. With most of the class getting to pick something everyday, candy is the cheapest option for me. A $4 bag of candy looks like it may last me a couple months (if I can stay out of it myself!)

But candy isn’t the only reward system in my classroom. After all, everybody has a bad day now and then and may wind up on yellow.  So I keep track of the red lights throughout the week (and those have been very rare). Everyone who stays off of red all week long gets to bring one toy from home on Friday for show and tell. Everyone gets a chance on Friday morning to show and tell, and if we have a good morning Friday (stay off orange and red), they get to play with those toys Friday afternoon.

The system seems to be working pretty well for us.

This is exactly what one little girl in my class told me I needed to do to bake a cake. She was playing with the dishes in the dramatic play area while she talked and was “showing” me how to do it. I would try it myself, but I can’t find “burnt” on my oven. Hmm.

My class is in love with the book “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” And I have been wanting to make some file folder games for the classroom anyway. So here is the newest addition to our shelves.

When you aren’t the most artistic person in the world, it helps to have some imaginative kids to work with.

Start with an open file folder. Cut a rectangle from brown felt for the tree trunk and some triangles from green felt for the leaves of the coconut tree. I used craft glue to put
it together in the folder.

Now you could just write your letters on felt and cut them out, but we had some foam alphabet stickers and I thought they were cute, so I stuck those to felt and then cut around them. Your letters can go in a ziplock bag or an envelope that can be attached to the back of the folder.

Easy peasy!