What is a WACky party you ask? Our 4th grade TEAM has been doing them forever to help push good behavior. They rock! Essentially, a WACky party is like golf....you want the lower score!
W=Work
A=Agenda
C=Citizenship
If a student does not follow the work rules, agendas rules, or citizenship rules they will receive a point. (Remember points are bad!)
Each nine weeks we have a party for the students that make the point goal. Point goals can look different for each class. As a teacher, you know your students best, and it is important not to not start too low in the beginning or too high You want an obtainable for your class. The second nine weeks the point goal lowers, and continues to lower each nine weeks as students become more and more familiar with your expectations. For the first nine weeks, our 4th graders could receive 12 or less points.....if they received more they did not get invited to our WACky party. Throughout the year the teachers really talk up the WACky parties. They truly are a big deal!
The four parties are planned at the beginning of the year by all the 4th grade teachers...this is what they look like in our school this year (sometimes they change depending on our mood or what is popular):
First 9 weeks: Movie Party!! Students bring pillows and blankets and lay on the gym floor to watch a movie on the big screen projector! The teachers provide movie theater popcorn (seriously, it really is movie theater! Our local theater gave us a donation!) and drinks.
Second 9 weeks: A party that is 'snow much fun!'. We have relays in the gym and a milk and cookie snack after! This year's relays included: build your own snowman, winter clothes relay (students put on layer after layer and race!), snowball toss, P.E. skooter 'sledding', sock and wax paper ice skating in the halls.
Third 9 weeks: A bowling party at our local bowling alley! This is the only party where students need to pay a little. Our local lane, Kingspin Bowl, is really, really awesome and makes our shoe rental cheap for students....They also stock the snack bar so students can purchase goodies-the popcorn and Mountain Dew are always big sellers!
Fourth 9 weeks: Ice Cream Sunday Field Day! Teachers provide the ice cream and allllllllll the toppings a sweet, little (maybe not so little by the end of the year) 4th grader could ever need. We also play field games. There is a giant parachute involved, spray paint twister, the game ships and sailors (google it! your kids will love it!) and any other games we come up with. Don't forget the playground equipment!
How do you help students meet behavior and work expections? How do you motivate students?? This has been working well for us for as long as I can remember. It is such a big "fourth grade deal" that students in second and third grade start talking about it and asking us questions for when they are in fourth grade. It is a very big motivator for our students and oh, so much for us to see them look forward to it!
