What is a marble jar? This special jar fills with marbles as individual children or the whole class "do the right thing." A marble is added to the jar when children are cooperative with each other and with their teacher. A marble is earned when a child tries a skill for the first time that is challenging. Other marbles are earned by cleaning up quickly, helping a friend or a teacher without being asked, and generally by being a good role model for the other children. This helps build community spirit and reinforces positive behavior.
How many marbles has the class earned so far? The children are very proud of the 54 marbles that our class has earned over the first six and a half days of school. Natalie suggested that we make a chart to record the number of marbles we have earned as far. When the jar is full of marbles, we will plan a party to celebrate our accomplishments.
How do we know how many marbles are currently in the jar? The class asked to count the marbles to find out. The marbles were dumped in a big pile, and I started to point and count. Avery suggested that this was not a good way to count our marbles. Julian said a better counting plan was to move the marbles from one place to another as each one was counted. In this manner we were able to accurately count out the 54 marbles.
Great Work, Class!
