Aye aye aye...It's the MIDDLE of the year?!? {Read for a FREEBIE!!}

Okay...so it's blowing my mind that it's already the middle of the year.  I'm not even kidding when I say this year has literally gone by in warp speed!!!  It's so hard to believe that I've been SO terribly busy this year, I could probably count the number of bloggy posts I've written!

AND, it's hard to belive we're 5 month in and gearing up for "middle of the year" testing...goodness...where has this year gone?  (Do I sound like an old lady?)  :)

So I know many of you all out there are in states with Common Core.  I mean, let's face it, besides the great state of Texas, and a few others, Common Core is the rule of thumb (*jealous glances*...).  Here in Texas, though, our curriculum is still based on the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills).  Starting in 3rd grade, our kiddos are tested on those TEKS.

Since I teach 2nd grade, though, we have no official, fancy, dancy state testing.  Instead, we individually test our kiddos 3 times a year (beginning, middle, and end) with a reading inventory (TPRI) and a math test (AMI). 

During the TPRI, my dear sweet class gets to patiently and independently work and learn while I give the looong individualized reading inventory to each of my 20 students.  It's totally like this:

:)  Yes, I needed to add some RG in to put a smile on everyone's face (mainly my own!)  :)

ANYWAYS...back to the point of the story...
So this time, I created a little behavior "bingo" for my class.  Instead of "BINGO", though, I substituted the letters "QUIET"....(yes, I'm so creative...I know).

I let  my students come up with their own rewards for each letter.  We had a such a fun, creative time trying to come up with prizes that matched each letter.  I gave each of my students a notecard and they had about 10 minutes to think of words or phrases for each of the "QUIET".

Then, I compiled them, picked the ones that worked, and we began!



The pile of idea notecards! 

Since they have to be so super quiet and independent during the testing, after each successful test, we draw a square.  Just like regular BINGO, once a column is full, we earn that prize.  :)

So, what do you think?  It worked well for me, and actually, it worked SO well that I'm going to pull it back out during our state standardized testing days for the upper grades.  Even though we don't have to test, we still have to be so quiet and respectful!  It'll be a great incentive, and I pretty much love it so much that I want to share with YOU!  Want a free copy?  Simply click below before Friday, January 25 and enjoy.  :)

Glad to be back and blogging.  See you soon!