End of the School Year Pencil Challenge
Do you run out of pencils at the end of the school year? I always ran out of pencils at the end of year, until I started an end of the school year classroom pencil challenge.
At the end of the school year, classroom pencils always seem to disappear! I would always run out of pencils at the end of the year. I would restock the pencil box on Monday and by the end of each week there were two or three pencils remaining. Where did all the pencils go?!
The pencils always seem to go missing towards the end of the year. I can’t believe it! I noticed my kiddos really needed to learn how to become more responsible with regard to classroom pencils. So I decided to implement an end of the school year pencil challenge with my students. I’ve heard stories about teachers trying different types of pencil challenges with their students, so I thought my students would benefit from a pencil challenge too. So that’s just what I did! I implemented an end of the school year pencil challenge in order to help my kiddos develop more responsibility, and what I found is that the pencil challenge really works!
How I Implement the End of the School Year Pencil Challenge
In order to implement the end of the school year pencil challenge, I simply write each student’s assigned class number on the top of each pencil in a permanent marker. I assign two pencils to each student, but one pencil per student will also work. To write the student numbers, I use Sharpie fine point permanent markers and it is so easy! It only took me a few minutes to write each number on the pencils. I also use pre-sharpened pencils to help save time during preparation, as well as allowing the pencils to be used right away, instead of waiting for each student to sharpen their own pencil.
Then I introduce the Pencil Challenge to my students during morning meeting. I tell the class that each student will be responsible for their two numbered pencils. Each student receives two pencils for when a pencil point breaks, the students can go to the pencil box and grab the second pencil, which is already sharpened.
Classroom Management Pencil Hack
Classroom Management Pencil Hack
I use a pencil box that has two sides: one side for sharp pencils, and another side for dull pencils. Therefore, when a pencil breaks, kiddos can simply replace their dull pencil with an already sharpened pencil. This little classroom hack helps minimize classroom interruptions such as searching for a new pencil or using the pencil sharpener. Also, in my classroom, the student who is able to use the pencil sharpener is the student who is assigned the job of pencil sharpener for the week.
On the last day of school, students who have the assigned number pencils readily available in the pencil box, and have not lost their pencils, will receive a surprise! Surprises range anywhere between choosing a special pen or pencil, a bookmark, stickers, prize box, a teacher’s helper coupon for the following school year, and so much more!
My students respond so well to the end of the school year pencil challenge! The kiddos definitely learn how to be more responsible with their pencils. During the pencil challenge, my students constantly remember to pick up pencils off the floor, keep their pencils in a safe place throughout the day, and even work together by reminding their friends to be more responsible! It is a great win-win for everyone, the kiddos have fun participating in a classroom challenge and I save pencils!
How will you implement an end of the year pencil challenge?
How will you implement an end of the year pencil challenge with your students? Leave a comment to let me know how you use an end of the year pencil challenge in your classroom! I’d love to hear about your experience with a classroom pencil challenge!