Celebrating Accomplishment
You don't need to offer candy or presents to reward accomplishment. With obesity on the rise it seems unconscionable to continue the practice of offering candy or even food as a reward in the classroom.
Teachers across the country are learning new ways to praise, reward and cheer their students without presents or food.
So let's all cheer!
Rewards and Cheers Table of Contents
Eureka! You got it!
Celebrate the moment and offer a reward
We might stop in the classroom to have the rest of the class recognize individual or group achievement, for example, if someone gives a particularly good answer in discussion or good grades on a test. If they work really hard to figure something out we stop the class and give them a Classroom Cheer. Use imaginative ways to celebrate.
The Great Big Book of Classroom Songs, Rhymes & Cheers (Grades PreK-1)
Build literacy and community in your classroom with this HUGE, kid-pleasing collection of easy-to-learn songs, rhymes, and cheers. This irresistible treasury will help you enrich circle time, perk up theme units, teach numbers and letters, build self-esteem, celebrate special days...and everything in between! Includes instant skill-building activities.
Amazon Price: $17.12 (as of 12/31/2009) 
The Applause Book
Recording the Achievement
1. Trace around a hand to make a template.
2. Fold the paper at the wrist and cut it out.
3. Open the hands and trace around the hands onto a blank sheet of paper and then retrace with a black marker.
4. Duplicate the page to make books.
When a child or group does especially good work, reward them by taking their picture with a digital camera and writing a page in the Class Applause Book. By making it into a class book everyone can reread all the accomplishments over and over during the year.
Three Cheers for Catherine the Great!
Sara learns that presents don't have to be bought. They can be "no presents."
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/31/2009)
Hurray! Let's Celebrate!
Cheers for Learning
Jump for joy. Sing and shout. Celebrating with voices and hugs can make you feel the accomplishment more than material rewards.
Hurray For Spring
Amazon Price: $3.70 (as of 12/30/2009)
Kids Celebrate!: Activities for Special Days Throughout the Year
Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 12/30/2009)
Classroom Cheers
Comedian Eddie Murphy Clapping Hands
Buy at AllPosters.com
Whenever you want to reward a student or even the whole class, call out one of these cheers and start everyone smiling.
Write the names of the cheers on Popsicle Sticks and keep handy for whenever you need a new cheer.
Please add more cheers to the list so that we can all spread the joy.
Cheering Crowd
Everyone waves their hands in the air and makes th more...1 point
Candy or Hugs
What kinds of rewards do you give the people in your life?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byCandy and gifts.
alison says:
it depends on the occasion.
Posted May 05, 2009
Cheers, hugs and words of praise.
JoyfulPamela says:
Positive words encourage people deep down. "Catch them being good!" with words of praise. :)
Posted September 13, 2009
ronpass says:
Positive feedback and thanks that are specific, genuine and given with feeling and meaning.
Posted May 16, 2009
Kristina says:
hugs
Posted September 24, 2008
More Cheers
- Word Wall Chants
- Though these chants are meant to be used with Word Walls some could be used as reward cheers as well.
- Sonja Dunn: Chanting: A Springboard into Learning
- Chants provide a genuine opportunity for young readers to learn more about print. First of all, show the chant on a flip chart, on an overhead, or on the chalkboard. If your students are barely beginning to read, treat the chant as a rebus, substituting some words with pictures they can interpret.
- Dr. Jean's Cheers
- Cheers for Summer Celebrations!
Demonstration of Classroom Cheers
Our Children Deserve only the Best!
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Chester Raccoon and The Kissing Hand
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The first day of school can be very traumatic for both children and their parents. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a wonderful tale of a mother raccoon reassuring her baby that he will have a great night at school and that the kiss she leaves on h...
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Do You Know a Fancy Nancy?
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Do you have a Fancy Nancy in your house? A Fancy Nancy likes sparkles and glitter, lace and tulle. No amount of jewelry is too much. Tutus, boas, and satin are the latest fashion and she will wear them anywhere. Fancy Nancy is not just for little gi...
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What happened to RECESS?
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Do you remember the games you played during recess as a child? Think about all the physical activity that involved and what you learned from those recess games. Did you know that more and more recess is being replaced by testing and homework? While...
National High Five Day!
National High Five Day falls on the third Thursday of April each year
- National High Five Day
- The holiday originated at the University of Virginia in 2002, and has since spread across the nation, and around the globe.
Rewards and Cheers
How do you praise a child and celebrate an accomplishment?
What are some things that you might give a child or do for a child that don't involve food?
Can Time Out be a Positive Reward?
- Misbehaving Kids with ADHD: Try Positive Time Out | Homeschooling ADD Kids
- Child Clinical Psychologist, Steve Curtis, PhD., NCSP, has a wonderful blog for parents of ADD homeschoolers.
One of his favorite strategies is to use the "positive time out." Positive time out is when you put your child in time out when he/she is being good as opposed to bad.
When a child is seen doing something desirable, he/she is told to go to time out. When in time out, the child is given a compliment for the positive behavior. Time out can still be used for more negative behavior, but the positive time out should be used far more frequently.
If used in the right way, positive time out will result in fewer tantrums and more positive behavior of the child.
Punished by Rewards
- Punished by Rewards: A Talk with Alfie Kohn - FamilyEducation.com
- Find out why rewarding your kids doesn't always work.
Question: If rewards are out, then what should we do when kids refuse to cooperate?
Kohn: I think we have to look at the deeper reasons why the child is not interested. In many cases involving school, the trouble lies not with the child's motivation, but with the task and the way it's being taught. That's why I spend a lot of time working with educators to rethink what they're teaching and how they're teaching it.
Rewarding a Child with ADHD
Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents (Revised Edition)
Amazon Price: $14.36 (as of 12/31/2009)
I am Special Literacy Bag
You are Special Literacy Bag
Literacy Bags can be used to help build self esteem while connecting learning between school and home. The books in this bag are all about expressions of love.
Tell us how you reward the children in your life.
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- GrowWear GrowWear May 16, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
- Very good lens! Saw the Tweet from ronpass.
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- a_willow a_willow Feb 15, 2009 @ 7:17 am
- High five to you Evelyn! :)
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- tutor1235 tutor1235 Jan 15, 2009 @ 10:46 am
- Devoted cheer fans might want to look up old Cub Scout Pack leader guides and suggestions. I remember when my brother was a member (um...nearly 40 years ago....), they had all kinds of unique cheers.
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- Dec 11, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
- Wonderful len.
5* and lensroll to Empower Your Children: Teach Them How to Set Goals.
Bj
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- funwithtrains funwithtrains Oct 30, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
- Great lens -- a topic that needed to be covered!
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- Lisa_Jo Lisa_Jo Oct 30, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
- I love all of your lenses. More teaches like you are needed. God bless you.
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- Pastiche Pastiche Sep 28, 2008 @ 10:33 am
- Hugs, cheers, banners, crowns, award certificates and star charts are all great motivators for kids! 5*s and lensrolled to 2 of mine!
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- lakeerieartists lakeerieartists Sep 24, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
- I like to give hugs and candy. Is that so wrong?
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- boutiqueshops boutiqueshops Sep 24, 2008 @ 10:59 am
- Hugs, encouragement and time spent with them on special activities are great...and so is this lens!
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- beeobrien beeobrien Sep 24, 2008 @ 9:09 am
- Smiles and hugs and cheers. Candy may be a treat but not a reward.
Look Who's talking about Cheers and Rewards
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- starbucks
- @pajamasceo When you logon to your account, go to 'manage my account' and then, 'manage my rewards' ... cheers!
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- hollesch
- Three cheers for a kind stranger to give me her 10$ secret rewards card FTW
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Meet the Author of this Lens
Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog.I look for ways to reward my children every day. We cheer, hug, smile, praise and love eachother. From that core of love we go out into the world to spread love and caring to our community and the world.
Check out what else I'm up to:
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Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
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My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...
by Evelyn_Saenz
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