Getting Students To Shine!

Do you need some stellar work done?  Do you want your students to give their best effort and shine brightly?  Is their behavior a bit tarnished and requires a bit of star quality?

Why not try this simple star behavior modification technique.

Here’s How:

Run off my flag master and color it, or glue on strips of red construction paper and a blue rectangle. You could also buy a picture-poster of a flag and put star stickers over their stars.

Laminate your flag and put it up on the board.

Buy a star hole punch + some star stickers if you don’t already have some squirreled away.

Run off copies of the student flags on white construction paper and have them color their stripes, but NOT the stars.

Ask your students if they remember how many stars are on the flag.  Challenge them to get 50 stars as a class before summer vacation.

Brainstorm a list of ways they can earn stars such as:  Quiet transitions, their great behavior is noticed and complimented by another teacher, everyone completes their morning work, no one ends up in the Time Out chair etc.

Write these down on the star behavior chart and post them.

If you want to add this option, explain to students that they can also earn star cards for star behavior as well as star work.  They are awarded each day.

So many cards equals a trip to the treasure box or whatever other reward you deem appropriate, like work to music of your choice, switch desks with someone, work with no shoes on, lunch with the teacher, receive a pencil or eraser, sit at the teacher’s desk etc.

Each day you also punch the edge of their student flag for a variety of reasons.  You caught them being good, they had the best paper, they really improved, they got 100% on a spelling test, they completed all of their morning work etc.

So many star punches and they get to color a star yellow on their flag.

Anyone coloring all 50 stars by the last day of school, gets a special prize or whatever your class votes on.

Discuss the rules with your students, then have them raise their left hand and cross their heart with their right, promising to be a star student that does star work and behaves like a star.

Everyone then signs the contract.  If you begin this at the start of the year, I’ve included a Star Gazer graph for you to keep track of who has gotten to color in a star each month + a weekly punch card to help you keep track.

At the end of whatever time period you do this for, there's a certificate of praise.

Whether you do all, or only one of these activities, I’m certain you’ll see students shining a bit brighter!

Click on the link to view/download the Star Student Behavior Modification packet.

“I’ve got a little light and I’m gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!”