I think using incentive programs can help with classroom behavior so much. Plus, it gives the kids something to work toward and look forward to.
For my behavior incentives, I like to do a whole class, small group, and individual reward system. Today I am going to share 5 of my favorite ideas for whole class reward systems.

1. Marble Jar

The marble jar has been around since teaching began, I think. If you somehow haven't heard of it, the concept is simple: you put a marble in a jar when the class is being good, and when it is full they get a reward (generally a party).

The reason I really like the marble jar is because it helps a lot with hallway behavior. Any time we walked in the halls, I would hold up 3 fingers, and take down a finger if the class got too loud. However many fingers I still had up when we got where we were going is how many marbles they got to put in the jar. If we got down to 0 fingers then we had to go back to the class and try again, and they did not get any marbles. It worked really well for keeping the class quiet and orderly in the halls. I also did this for assemblies and specialties.

2. BINGO

I found this cute BINGO game on tpt and my students loved it! All the specialty teachers in our school give the class ratings on how well they did in five different categories. They got a score of 1-5, with 5 being the best. If the class got all 5's, they would get to draw a bingo card. Then once they got a bingo (on the board it spells PRIZE instead of BINGO) they would get a reward:

P- Popsicle Day
R-Read-a-Thon
I-Inside Games
Z-Zoo Day (bring your favorite stuffed animal to school)
E-Extra Recess

The product and pictures are from Miss Kindergarten:

3. Mr. Potato Head

This is a simple but cute idea. Get a Mr. Potato head and all the pieces. For good behavior, you put pieces on and for bad behavior you take them off. When Mr. Potato Head is all put together, the class gets a reward.


4. Bag of Popcorn

I think this one is a lot of fun. Put the popcorn bag up on the wall. Any time the class is being good they get a piece of popcorn. When the bag is full, they get a popcorn party (or you could do popcorn during read-aloud time or silent reading time).


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5. Popsicle Sticks

I read a good idea somewhere about using popsicle sticks. You put a bunch of colored popsicle sticks in a jar and write rewards on a few of them. When the class is being especially well-behaved, draw a popsicle stick. If it is blank, you put it in a bag, and when there are 20 sticks in the bag the class gets a reward. If it has a reward, they will receive that reward some time during the week. The rewards can be simple, like watch a social studies or science movie, have a dance party (just 1-2 songs), play a game at the end of the day, etc. I like the element of chance in getting an instant reward. That makes it exciting every time you draw a popsicle stick.

Image from this website

There are so many fun ideas for behavior incentives. Hopefully some of these will be useful in your class this year. Keep an eye out for my post on small group and individual incentives.

What are some of your favorite whole-class incentives that have worked in your classes?