Visual Reward System

I am teaching second grade again this year and love my class. They are beautiful! They love a chat...but they are so sweet!

I have one particular child who requires a lot of one-on-one support and has their own educational goals. This little one doesn't spend a lot of time doing activities that the rest of the class do and isn't interested in completing desk work.

To help encourage them to complete more desk tasks (a goal that I've set) I pulled out this old reward chart that I made a few years ago in my first year of teaching.

I created it for a child in my first year but didn't end up using it. I'm SO glad I kept it because my new cherub is responding really well to it and always asks to 'put a smiley face on' after completing group and desk tasks.

How it works:

It's sort of set out like a game board. Each star has a number on it. I cut some velcro spots in half and stuck the rough side to the stars.


I printed smiley faces onto coloured paper, laminated them and stuck the soft velcro half on the back.

I placed a velcro spot in the centre so that goals can be changed. For this student, I took a picture of them working at their desk and stuck it in the centre as their current goal. I love using photographs as visuals for young students. Our class promise/rules are photographs of them doing that rule blown up. I stuck them up on the wall so they see every day what they should be doing.

Each time the student completes a desk task, they get to place a velcro smiley face on a star. We then count how many they have left until their goal.

For their goal, I gave a choice between two rewards. They chose some computer time. At the moment, they are only 4 smiley faces away from their goal!

I've found it a huge success with this little one, however I know it won't last forever and I know that it would not work for every child. Never the less, a success which I am claiming!

On a side note, have you entered my mini giveaway? If not, click the image below to check it out!

What visuals do you use in your classroom?