Do you do a student of the week? I have done "Star Student of the Week" since I began teaching. I posted about this last year here, but I am posting again and adding some FREEBIES! choose one student a week randomly using my stick system. (Craft sticks with everyone's name on them in a cup.) I do this on Friday. All students who have not been star student yet stand up. I draw a name and hide it. The class has to ask Yes or No questions to eliminate students until we are done to the 1 student I drew. I love this because it really got them use to Yes/No questions such as "Is it a girl?" "Do they have blond hair?" "Are they wearing tennis shoes?"
Once the student is announced I send home the Star Student poster with them to complete over the weekend. There are TONS out there. I just use this one from Oriental Trading.
The student returns the poster on Monday and it is hung in the hall, along with any other pictures they send in. Now here is the fun part. On Monday, the Star Student gets to take home "Froggy". I have used a frog theme for my star student bag for the past 8 years. I used to do a monkey theme, but I had some trouble finding a monkey every year so I switched to Froggy. In the Star Student bag I send the following:
A journal for the students to complete telling about their week with Froggy. I ask that they journal what they did with Froggy, their favorite Froggy book, and to include a picture of them and Froggy. I just use a spiral bound journal (in green of course).
And a Class Scrapbook. At the beginning of the year I send home the following note attached to an 8.5 X 11 piece of construction paper. (Click on the note to grab your freebie.)
I ask that the parents create a scrapbook page of their child. I then place these in a 3 ring binder with this cover (click to grab):
The student LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at their classmates and their family. This whole bag is returned on Friday, when the students then get to share their poster in the hall. The students DIE to get to be Star Student. Some of the other fun things the Star Student gets to do that week is:
-Be line leader
-Be calendar helper
-Group switcher (original name, huh?)
Now, I know you may be concerned about the Froggy going "home" with students and lice. Well.....it is a risk I take. I teach in a pretty rural area. I encourage all parents to wash Froggy as soon as he gets home. The students LITERALLY sleep with Froggy so I HOPE the parents wash him. We did try these little plush frogs from Oriental Trading one year. They were really small and students got to keep their frog at home. It just wasn't the same. They didn't "love" Froggy like the other classes did, so I went back to good old Froggy. I really haven't had a problem with lice and Froggy (knock on wood). I do get a new Froggy every year (sometimes 2). What do you do to celebrate your student of the week?
Once the student is announced I send home the Star Student poster with them to complete over the weekend. There are TONS out there. I just use this one from Oriental Trading.
The student returns the poster on Monday and it is hung in the hall, along with any other pictures they send in. Now here is the fun part. On Monday, the Star Student gets to take home "Froggy". I have used a frog theme for my star student bag for the past 8 years. I used to do a monkey theme, but I had some trouble finding a monkey every year so I switched to Froggy. In the Star Student bag I send the following:
Froggy
(I found my frog this year at Kohls that went with this book.)
Froggy Books
A journal for the students to complete telling about their week with Froggy. I ask that they journal what they did with Froggy, their favorite Froggy book, and to include a picture of them and Froggy. I just use a spiral bound journal (in green of course).
And a Class Scrapbook. At the beginning of the year I send home the following note attached to an 8.5 X 11 piece of construction paper. (Click on the note to grab your freebie.)
I ask that the parents create a scrapbook page of their child. I then place these in a 3 ring binder with this cover (click to grab):
-Be line leader
-Be calendar helper
-Group switcher (original name, huh?)
Now, I know you may be concerned about the Froggy going "home" with students and lice. Well.....it is a risk I take. I teach in a pretty rural area. I encourage all parents to wash Froggy as soon as he gets home. The students LITERALLY sleep with Froggy so I HOPE the parents wash him. We did try these little plush frogs from Oriental Trading one year. They were really small and students got to keep their frog at home. It just wasn't the same. They didn't "love" Froggy like the other classes did, so I went back to good old Froggy. I really haven't had a problem with lice and Froggy (knock on wood). I do get a new Froggy every year (sometimes 2). What do you do to celebrate your student of the week?
