I had a breakthrough today. I was making a list of things I had to buy in July to prep for August, and I realized that I really didn't want to spend even more money on those raffle tickets. I've used them for years... I hand them out and then give out prizes...
A long time ago the kids would keep their tickets and turn them into our class store (which then I would have to replace both the tickets and the prizes). I moved to rewards that didn't cost me much - My Sweet Treat Prizes (it's FREE). It's a collection of activities and opportunities that kids really like to win.
But I was still dealing with tickets falling out of desks, or becoming lost, etc... So I switched a couple of years ago to doing a weekly raffle on Friday afternoons. Kids won tickets, turned them into a basket with their name on the back, and I would choose 3 tickets/students to then get to choose a random prize card. I would dump the tickets from the basket at the end of each month because honestly they are gross after the kids touch them.
I don't want to buy more tickets that I will then throw away.
I saw a Bingo board, and started thinking about having kids choose a spot... but I need a lot of spots for the amount of tickets I give out every week. The whole point is to encourage kids to make good choices!
So I made a hundreds chart that kids can choose a number and write their class number inside the square. It's big enough for initials or small names, but my class will be using their classroom numbers. I copied the set (one per week) on colored paper so I can stick it on my whiteboard and it's a constant reminder that won't blend into the background. Easy classroom management tool, easy reward system, and doesn't take up a lot of room.
I was thinking of making up popsicle sticks to choose the random numbers, but over on IG @starqz3 mentioned using the random number generator app. to easily choose. Less work for me!
Grab it from Google Docs! Hope this helps. :)
