No Hassle Rewards

The Title I Reading classroom is a very unique setting. Its unlike many regular education classrooms because its a small group setting where the students are only there from 30-45 minutes daily. This makes behavior management different than the average elementary classroom.

So what do you do? Well like any teacher, you create and steal ideas until you've designed what works best for you! I used the "Whole Brain Teaching" method of points. When the students do something good, they get a point. When they do something they're not supposed to do, I get a point. The object is to beat the teachers in points by the end of the week to earn their reward.

Rewards can be tricky, too. I don't always want to give the students material things, but I also don't want to take instructional time away. So I made these "No Hassle Rewards" that the students work for each week. Some of them we can do while instruction is happening. Others just take 5-10 minutes on a Friday to complete. Check out some examples below:

Click here to download my "No Hassle Rewards".

Happy Reading!

"Phantastic" Phonics Phones

What did I do on my day off today you ask? I made phonics phones! Phonics phones are essential in any primary classroom. They're great when teaching phonics and phonemic awareness.

As a reading specialist, I work with many students who have deficits in these areas and the phonics phones always help them to hear themselves better during instruction. Did you ever notice that many times students can blend together a word when you sound it out for them? In many cases its because they can't hear the sounds well enough themselves. The phonics phone helps them amplify the sound.

Test taking situations are another great use for phonics phones. It helps many of our reluctant readers slow down and listen to what they are reading. It allows them to clarify meaning while they are reading.

So here's how you can make your very own phonics phone:

Head over to Lowes, Home Depot, or your friendly neighborhood hardware store. Pick up 2, 3/4" PVC elbow joints. I just bought a whole bag. It was cheaper that way. Then pick up a 3/4" PVC pipe. These come in 5' and 10' sections so you will have to cut it down to 3 1/2" sections. The friendly people at Lowes or Home Depot can do this for you as well if you don't have access to a hack saw.

( P.S. Don't mind the leftover henna on my hand from a wedding I went to last weekend)

Next? Put them together. Attach the elbow joints on either end of the pipe and viola! I made mine a little bit prettier, too by adding some colorful duct tape that I picked up at Target.

Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy...as my students like to say. Now I have a set for my students to use! The colorful duct tape makes them more alluring to my students as well. And it is helping them to be better readers when they use them. Win, win!

Happy Reading!