Mrs. Stewart’s 4th Grade Class Builds Character and Creativity with Compliment Jar Rewards
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In Mrs. Stewart’s 4th-grade classroom, kindness and teamwork are a key focus. At the center of this effort is the class Compliment Jar. Sitting prominently on Mrs. Stewart’s desk, the jar is filled with pebbles every time the class as a whole earns a compliment from someone else. The compliments can come from teachers, staff, or even students in other classes.
The idea is to encourage positive behavior and reward the class for working together. Compliments have been earned this year for maintaining a quiet and straight line, being polite, cleaning up after themselves in the cafeteria, and showing respectful behavior at assemblies. Even a note from a substitute teacher praising their excellent conduct added to the jar’s growing pebble collection.
This year, the students had a brilliant suggestion: adding pebbles to the jar when they earned a 4 in a specialist class. Their reasoning was that earning a 4 is like the ultimate compliment.
Once the jar is full, the class brainstorms reward ideas and votes on their favorite. Past rewards have included extra recess, pajama day, movie and popcorn time, board games, and free computer time. This time, the students’ creativity truly shined. One student suggested building forts, while another proposed a read-in. The ideas were combined, and the class eagerly voted for an afternoon of fort-building and reading.
What started as a simple reward turned into an unexpected STEM activity. Mrs. Stewart set parameters: each fort could use two blankets, two desks, and two chairs per pair of students. From there, the kids’ creativity took over. They experimented with different types of blankets, debating whether flat sheets, fleece throws, or lap blankets worked best. One student brought a fitted sheet, which proved to be a game-changer by securely wrapping around the desk edges without slipping.
The students discovered innovative ways to stretch the desks further apart to create larger forts. They worked together problem-solving and engineering their designs. Once their forts were complete, the students settled in with a book from home or the classroom library.
It was an amazing reward of reading in the forts. Watching the students collaborate and use their imaginations was incredibly rewarding for Mrs. Stewart. By combining character-building with engaging rewards, her students have learned that their positive actions have meaningful and fun outcomes; lessons that will stick with them far beyond 4th grade.