Señora Chase

Winner, winner chicken dinner: Stamp Sheet

What do we win

What do you do when they win a game? Some teachers buy them prizes. Some teachers buy them candy. Me, I don’t buy them anything because I am cheap and I would rather save my $$$ for vacation. And let’s face it, the last thing they need is sugar.

This brilliant idea I learned from Tawnya, my lead teacher from my student teaching days of yore.  It is so simple and so easy and almost criminal.

In my class, when students win a game, they bring me their Stamp Sheet that they keep in their binder. It looks like a calendar and I stamp the next empty square. They collect stamps all semester then turn it in for extra credit with their final exam.

Disclaimer: I don’t like extra credit and this is the only extra credit I do. I think it’s worth it because students are wildly motivated to play and win (even my lame games!) And here’s the criminal part: it really doesn’t have much impact on their overall grade! (Shhhh, that’s one of my most closely guarded secrets! That and I sleep with my eyes open, there’s my other secret. Shoot.) I award 1 point per stamp, so a kid with 13 stamps gets 13 additional points…in the grand scheme of things it might move his grade up 1 or 2 percentage points.

Pro Tip: I have a bunch of different stamps (Joanne’s is a great place to buy them in the dollar bin!

Or Amazon has everything;   (Disclosure: all the Amazon links are associate links- which means if you click on them and buy something, Amazon sends me like .002 cents, just FYI!): Here’s a cute sombrero stamp.  Here are some maracas!   Here’s a cute Día de muertos Rubber Stamp and here is a  super sweet Spanish Speaking Countries Passport Stamps set that’s real expensive…that’s what I’m saving my Amazon commissions for!)
French Teachers: Here’s an adorable set of Paris stamps

I rotate them, so I try to not use the same stamp two times in a row. This is part of my anti counter-fitting strategy. I figure if a kid steals one of my stamps and all of a sudden someone has 15 of the same stamp, I’ll know there’s sneaky business going on! (It hasn’t happened yet but I try to stay one step ahead of my little darlings. )

OR, if you want to go high tech, www.classdojo.com is a great way to go! During hybrid teaching, I switched to Class Dojo and they LOVED their adorable little monsters! It was easy for me to award their Extra Credit point, whether they were in the classroom or learning from home.  After you set up your class, just click their monster to award the points. Easy peasy!

classdojo-1-1

Other thoughts on keeping score…

In my humble opinion, for a lot of games it is easier for me to give the students something to indicate their points than mark the points on the board. We live in Nevada so  the natural choice is poker chips. Team 2 won a round of 20 questions, so they get a poker chip. At the end of the game, the team with the most chips is announced as the winner. When I used to keep track on the board, I got real tired of their whining: You gave them too many points! You didn’t give us a point! Your math is wrong, their score should be 17. And the nice thing about awarding something (poker chips, paperclips, playing cards, whatever) is that the other teams cannot easily see who is winning, which keeps everyone engaged and they play nicer.

and on announcing the winners…

Since I’m obsessed with cramming my kiddos full of comprehensible input, here’s another way to give them more reps of common structures and give them a chance to stretch their legs. For a game where students compete individually or in pairs (like in Art Memory or Cierto o Falso ) I say  to the class “Levántate si tienes 4 puntos o más” (Stand up if you have 4 points or more) Then repeat it with a higher number, stand up if you have 7 points or more. Students with fewer than 7 points sit down.  And again repeat “Stand if you have 11 numbers or more”  increasing the number each time and decreasing the number of students who are standing. When I have one or two (or three or four…let’s face it, I’m pretty generous when determining the winners!) students left standing, I announce the winners.

Something else fun (if I have a minute left in class and I’m feeling sassy)…Once there are 3 or 4 students left standing, I’ll ask the rest of the class to “bet” on their winner. Of course there’s lots of input and discussion. Who thinks that Shelbi is going to win? Who thinks that Danny has the most points? Then once we figure out the winner, I will give a stamp to the winners and everyone who bet on them. It’s fun and hey, we’re in Nevada!

36 comments

  2. […] To play: Teacher says a statement in Spanish, repeats the statement several times (giving everyone a chance to think about it’s meaning) then calls a number. Both students who are assigned that number stand up (really, POP UP, hence the name!) and translate it out loud in English. The fastest one earns the point for their team. The teacher makes a mark on the score sheet indicating which student was called (so all students get called the same number of times) and records the point on the score card. Then the teacher says a different statement (slowly, several times!) calls a different number and those students race to translate the statement.  Since I can tell which numbers are high flyers and which ones struggle (because I jotted down H or L on my score card) I adapt my statement to the number I will call. Of course, at the then of class, the team with them most points wins and they bring me their stamp sheet for a stamp.  […]

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  3. […] Once we finish “correcting” students get their own paper back and I do my whole routine (in Spanish, obvio) Stand up if you have 10 points or more…..stand up if you have 13 points or more….stand up if you have 22 points or more. Students sit down once they’re eliminated and the last few students standing are named the winners and receive a stamp on their stamp sheet.   […]

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  4. […] Here’s how I figure out the winner of every game we play (guess what? More input!) I say  to the class “Levántate si tienes 4 puntos o más” (Stand up if you have 4 points or more) Then repeat it with a higher number, stand up if you have 7 points or more. Students with fewer than 7 points sit down.  And again repeat “Stand if you have 11 numbers or more”  increasing the number each time and decreasing the number of students who are standing. When I have one or two (or three or four…let’s face it, I’m pretty generous when determining the winners!) students left standing, I announce the winners and give them a stamp on their stamp sheet. […]

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  8. […] Who wins?: Quizlet will put students in random teams and I like to shuffle the teams often to give them the chance to work with a lot of different students. Every 4 or 5 rounds I shuffle teams and they sit with their new teams.  I think the easiest way to keep track of the winners is to assign poker chips to the winners of each round.  (Hey, we’re in Nevada!) Although students are playing in teams, everyone is keeping track of their points individually by holding their poker chips.  (See this kiddo’s chips he’s lined up below- he’s won 3 rounds so far, but all in different teams)At the end of the game I do my normal routine Stand up if you have at least 1 chip. Stand up if you have 3 or more chips. Stand if you have more than 5 chips…(But if Spanish, obvio) Winners get a stamp on their stamp sheet.  […]

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  11. […] This one takes a bit more work but they get a lot of input out of it and it’s a game as well. Make a list of things people may have done over the weekend or during Christmas vacation (or Spring Break or whatever!) Students work with a partner to translate all the options, then guess which student did each option. They write 1 name in each space. Then afterwards, students trade and grade papers. The teacher facilitates the discussion by asking the questions Who played in the snow during February Break? Students who did raise their hand while everyone “corrects” the paper in front of them. At the end, the student(s) with the most correct guesses wins!  […]

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  14. […] To make it a bit more fun, (and I’m always looking for fun!) of course, I made it into a game. Throughout the episode, there are multiple choice questions and students will have to predict the correct answer. I’ll indicate where in the room they should go if they think it’s Option A or Option B or Option C. After students have made their decisions and moved, I pass out poker chips to the correct students. They hang on to their chips all class and at the end, I stamp the students with the most chips. […]

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  17. […] Taking a cue from soccer (and elementary teachers everywhere!) I use yellow cards and red cards for classroom management. It’s an easy way to redirect behavior without saying a word and works, like, 99% of the time. Here they are if you’d like to print on yellow and red papers.  Make a copy to edit away! I keep a stack on my teaching podium…I rarely get past “the look” stage, but it’s nice to know they’re there.   Here’s my extra credit sello sheet and explanation as well.  […]

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  18. Hi! I LOVE this stamp sheet idea but…our school no longer allows extra credit!!!! Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!

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    • I’ve been pondering this all morning! Are you allowed to do a free homework/ assignment pass? 10 stamps = a free assignment? Or maybe you’ve got a special comfy chair that the winner gets to sit in? I’ll keep thinking!!

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    • or what if you get a comfy desirable chair (I’m thinking lazy boy or a padded swivel desk chair) and winners get raffle tickets that go into a jar. Every 2 weeks pull a ticket and that kid gets the fancy/comfy chair for 2 weeks. (While you’re collecting tickets for the next “preferred seating” raffle?

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  19. Hi! Thank you so much for your quick reply!! I don’t yet have any comfy or desirable chair. This is on my “to do” list but I still have desks and don’t want to add more furniture until I am able to get rid of them because there just doesn’t seem to be enough room for students to move around like I want them to. Also, I feel that maybe the novelty would wear off more quickly with a chair than with extra credit points. I remember when the kids would go crazy when we played games that were even worth one point extra. I miss those days!!
    So, a free assignment came to my mind as well. I don’t give a lot of homework so it would most likely have to be in class. And, even then, the majority of my classes are verbal input from me (stories, conversations, activities, games). I do collect things they do but not nearly as much as when I taught “traditionally”. I suppose there is always something I can excuse them from. Then I am thinking…while the rest of the class is involved in the ‘assignment’, the student who is excused would normally want to use their cell phone or listen to music as a privilege, but my school just banned all electronic devices completely. I suppose the student could work on homework for other classes, read, or just hang out and do nothing. I’m just hoping that this is just as appealing to them.
    I was thinking that the entire sheet would have to be stamped in order to get a privilege but that may take too long, right? Since you have been doing this for a while, you think ten stamps is reasonable for an excused assignment? I also don’t want this to happen very often either for each student.
    Thanks again for your ideas!!!

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    • Or a certain number of stamps could earn the privilege of assigning partners/groups/teams for a day – OR earn the privilege of leading the game (reading the sentences, judging winners, asking questions, etc.) – OR positive email/phone call home – OR teacher carries student’s backpack to the bus/car that day – OR on more traditional days, the privilege of listening to music while doing independent work, choosing their own seat (if that’s not usually done). Also, poll your students, what do YOU think is worth 10 stamps, 15 stamps, 20 stamps???

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  20. […] Starting with Team 1, the first pair of students announces two numbers.  The teacher flips  one paper over, shows it to everyone and reads it out loud, repeating two or three times. Then the teacher flips the other number over they requested, shows it to everyone and reads it out loud. If the two papers match (a Q and an A that go together) they are given to the team and count as 1 point. If the papers do not match, they are replaced face down and the teacher asks the first pair of students in Team 2 to pick two numbers.  Rotate through all the teams.  A new pair picks the cards each time. Play until all pairs are found the winners, of course, is the team with the most Q and A matches. In my class, this means the winners bring me their stamp sheet for a highly coveted stamp.  […]

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