At the beginning of this school year I sat down and thought about the things I wanted to do differently from the year before. The easiest most inexpensive thing I did was give my students no reason to get out of their seats! After my year of rambunctious, out of control, 4th graders I was willing to give anything a try in 3rd grade. So knowing I was going to have my students in groups I decided I was going to place a basket with all the things they needed so they had no reason to get out of their seat unless they wanted water or a bathroom break.
Each group had a small Sterilite basket that I purchased from Walmart. (about 2.50 each)
In each of these baskets I put a "character cup" that was also purchased from Walmart (.98 each).
Each basket then was given 1 of the following unless other wise noted, Kleenex, covered pencil sharpener, hand sanitizer, 2 glue sticks, 2 pair of scissors, a box of crayons, 5 sharpened pencils.
Total out of pocket cost for 5 groups: < $20.00!
I was so excited by this because it truly kept the students in their seats all year long! The students took ownership of this and were sure to be sure that they had their baskets daily and if they ran out of something I was told immediately! The pencils were to be swapped out only if yours broke and they you were to put your broken one in and take a sharpened one. Each afternoon the pencil sharpener would gather all the pencils and then divide them equally amongst the baskets.
I will definitely be doing this again next year. The baskets held up great aside from the bottoms becoming dirty because they are white and the pencil sharpeners also broke but most students had their parents get them one because they knew they couldn't get up and use the electric sharpener after 8:00am.
Please try this with your students if you find they won't stay in their seats and you will see a big difference!
Maria
Each group had a small Sterilite basket that I purchased from Walmart. (about 2.50 each)
In each of these baskets I put a "character cup" that was also purchased from Walmart (.98 each).
Each basket then was given 1 of the following unless other wise noted, Kleenex, covered pencil sharpener, hand sanitizer, 2 glue sticks, 2 pair of scissors, a box of crayons, 5 sharpened pencils.
Total out of pocket cost for 5 groups: < $20.00!
I was so excited by this because it truly kept the students in their seats all year long! The students took ownership of this and were sure to be sure that they had their baskets daily and if they ran out of something I was told immediately! The pencils were to be swapped out only if yours broke and they you were to put your broken one in and take a sharpened one. Each afternoon the pencil sharpener would gather all the pencils and then divide them equally amongst the baskets.
I will definitely be doing this again next year. The baskets held up great aside from the bottoms becoming dirty because they are white and the pencil sharpeners also broke but most students had their parents get them one because they knew they couldn't get up and use the electric sharpener after 8:00am.
Please try this with your students if you find they won't stay in their seats and you will see a big difference!
Maria
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