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1st Power Standard
At our school, we picked 10 Power Standards that we find ESSENTIAL in the students’ learning and progression from the grade. We, of course, teach all standards, but we focus on 10 standards in Language Arts and Math.
Our first Power Standard covers several standards.
The goal is to master the following standards in the first 3 months: •RF.K.1.d Name upper and lowercase letters •RF.K.3 a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sounds or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. •K.CC.3. Read and write numbers •K.CC.4.b Understand that the last number said represents the number of objects counted. •K.CC.5 Use counting to answer questions about “how many.”
Sometimes it helps students to have something to look forward to. With our First Power Standard, the incentive is GUMBALLS! Gumball Incentive
The students are given a gumball machine to color. I laminate it and place them on the wall for the students to see every day. I also show my students the pom poms/gumballs to encourage excitement and desire to work hard.
Post up the gumball “I can statements” and the gumball reward page. Before starting your lessons, remind the students of our power standard, I can statement and the opportunity to earn a gumball. This will help with preparing students for their learning, letting them know that what the goal of the lesson is. Plus the I can statement helps them HEAR that they, at their age, can do it!
I created tracking sheets to help track the alphabet and number mastery over the course of 5 weeks. I use this tracking to share in our PLCs (Professional Learning Collaborations). I plan interventions based on which letters they struggled with.
Rewards and Incentives
My first year using this, the students earned by passing off half the letters, sounds and numbers. Then we started focusing on just 4 letters a week and so I added in more gumball spots in a new gumball machine option.
As the students pass off the requirements, they add a gumball to their gumball machine. If you choose to use pom poms, I recommend gluing with a hot glue gun or using a glue dot. However, if you are using cut out paper gumballs, then double sided tape works great!
The students are called over individually or in a pair. I congratulate them on passing off letters or sounds or numbers etc. and tell them how many “gumballs” (pom poms) to pick. The “gumballs” get added to their gumball machine and put back up on the wall for display! If students feel they could be successful, they will be successful! Praise and cheer always!!
The 1/2 inch pom poms fit on the mini gumball spots, but you can also use the 1 inch for a “fuller” look.
With parent permission, I give out gumballs as well! I ask permission because some parents don’t want their child to have gun. In this case, I offer another candy or little trinket.
UPDATED: I decided to do Gumball incentive all year and instead of earning gumballs for learning letters each week, they now will earn gumballs for each power standard all year. This is our kindergarten mastery incentive now and I feel it’s lots better!
Another fun incentive is earning an ABC PENCIL! A new pencil they can take home and show off to everyone to share they learned their ABCs. 🙌🏼
I am proud to say they do great without an incentive! This incentive was created because I was doing other Power Standards with incentives, so I might as well start the year with a fun incentive!
Check the Gumball Alphabet and Number Incentive Unit on TeachersPayTeachers.
I use my alphabet cards to teach letters and sounds because they have been successful for 9+ years and why change something successful? My students usually learn them by end of October/November. My kindergarten classes usually have 1-2 students that know their alphabet completely. Then a handful that know many, but the bulk of my school’s kindergartners do not know any letters and sounds. They are already a step behind to many schools, so it is my job as a kindergarten teacher to get them caught up FAST!! Check out about my alphabet cards on that post!
Intervention:
Some students will need intervention. I do small group with other students needing the added help as well as individual one in one.
For intervention: I use my upper and lowercase combined pages so the students see the upper and lowercase letters together. I have my students point to the uppercase and say the name and sound. Then I have the student point to the lowercase and say the name and sound. If the students have struggled transferring my alphabet cards with regular letters, I have them match number tiles or magnets with the fun alphabet.
Thank you for reading my post! I sure hope your students are successful! I believe in cheering on and helping our students believe in themselves. ❤️🥰
