Saturday, October 26, 2013

Spark Student Motivation Saturdays...$1 pumpkins...

As you know...Halloween is right around the bend.  It's the time of the year when the natives get restless. Voices in the classroom get a lil' louder, the kids start wigglin' a lil' more and for some reason they have temporary hearin' and memory loss.  I know you know what I'm talkin' about...


I'm linkin' up with my buddy Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation Saturdays.  I don't know if you know this about Joanne, but she is an avid Dollar Tree shopper.  I am slowly followin' in her footsteps.  EVERY time I read her blog, she has some phenomenal idea and 9 times out of 10, one of her awesome props comes from the Dollar Tree.  My problem, I read her blog at night, usually right before Dollar Tree closes and I WANT what she has RIGHT then...I'm too impatient to wait.  So, off I speed drive followin' all traffic laws to run around D.T. as fast I can to get my own props and treasures.
On one of my five most recent trips...this week, I picked up some cute, lil' pumpkin cut-outs.  I didn't know what I was goin' to do with them, but they were $1, so I NEEDED them.

As the natives got a lil' more restless with the end of the grading period, the end of our first A.R. goal, and our annual Walk-a-Thon, their desire to get anything accomplished quickly diminished. That's when I had an
"A-ha moment".  I was goin' to use my cute, lil' pumpkins to spark some student motivation.
I wrote a number on each of the pumpkins and laminated them and started hangin' them on the board.  Obviously that piqued some curiosity and the natives started payin' attention to what I was doin' instead of talkin' about what Halloween costume they were goin' to wear to a birthday party last night.

The kids got to move their pumpkin when they were finished with their work.
$1 is all it took.

$1 got this to happen.  
The natives were no longer restless!

Happy Saturday friends!  
Be sure to check out Joanne's blog for more ideas how to spark some motivation in your students.
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5 comments :

  1. Aylin ClaahsenOctober 26, 2013 at 2:40 PM

    I love when you don't really know how you are going to use some super cute cheap item and then something like this happens! Who knew little pumpkins could make your students so productive?? :)
    Aylin
    Learning to the Core

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fourth Grade FlipperOctober 26, 2013 at 5:08 PM

    It amazes me what teachers can do with $1 from the Dollar Tree! What a great little trick to motivate your students! This has me thinking...
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanne MillerOctober 27, 2013 at 6:17 AM

    LOL! I loved your descriptive paragraph about the Dollar Tree! And, I've never really thought about how much I blog about Dollar Tree! But, now I have to go buy some pumpkins! I love little tricks that are so effective! You're so clever! Then you can use some turkeys (for a $1)! It will be decorative and motivational! Perfect!
    Thanks for sharing a great idea and linking up friend!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jennifer LaffinOctober 27, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    Joanne has the best ideas, doesn't she? It's a good thing she finds so many treasures at the Dollar Store or else I would go broke!

    Have a great week!
    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

    ReplyDelete
  5. Im Lovin LitOctober 27, 2013 at 10:40 PM

    It's the little things!! LOL
    Joanne has also sent me running to the Dollar Tree (among other places)!
    :) Erin
    I'm Lovin Lit

    ReplyDelete

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