Fun reward system that students LOVE!

I have totally revised my Star Bucks due to copyright laws and wanted to share the new version with you! I think they turned out pretty darn cute!

I am a firm believer in having a positive reward system. Even as an adult, I love to hear positive things from my supervisors and colleagues. Kids are the exact same way. They want to be rewarded. I’m sure you have rules and consequences for your classroom. But do you have a reward system? I personally cannot imagine teaching without one.

I have done many things as a reward system in the classroom. Passing out tickets (carnival tickets) where the students put their name/number on the back, merit money, etc.

A couple of years ago I came up with Star Bucks. They used the Star Wars characters, with each dollar denomination having a different character. To make it easier, I printed them out in colored paper, with each denomination having a different color. (Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, which means that we can no longer use any Star Wars clip art without violating copyright laws.) So…I totally revamped them with a space theme. Love the new clip art!

Star Bucks made my life easier. I never went back to another system.

My students LOVED it! I passed out Star Bucks for great behavior, going above and beyond on their homework, coming to Open House or Meet the Teacher (I taught in Title 1 schools where it was tough to get parents to come), doing great on quizzes and tests, being respectful and helpful to one another, etc. Be creative!

Included are denominations from 1 Star Buck to 10,000 Star Bucks. Hey…you know you have those kids who will earn 10,000 Star Bucks by just being them! They are those students who always do the right thing. And why shouldn’t they be rewarded?

Now students can owe you bucks as well. Together as a class, come up with a list of “no no’s” and how much each “no no” would cost.

Every Friday, my students could trade in their bucks at the bank. Star Bucks help reinforce place value too. Hey! You didn’t know these were great for math too, right?

Once we had had Bank a couple of weeks, I chose 2-3 students to be the bankers. They took their job extremely seriously and it only helped to boost their math skills and confidence.

I also worked with my students to create a list of rewards that students could buy with their Star Bucks. I’m all about not spending any more money than I have to (if you’re like any teacher I know, you spend hundreds of dollars already), so the rewards were all free. I also got some McDonald’s toys from a friend of mine…her kids weren’t playing with them anymore. I also let my students bring in things to sell. They loved that! I called it the student market, and they brought in books they had read, toys, things they had made…basically anything they wanted.

Oh, and if I ever forgot Bank, they would let me know!!!

Hope your students enjoy them as much as my students do!

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