10 Whole-Class Rewards & Incentives for Distance and Hybrid Learning

It’s important to make sure your classroom works for every kid, especially kids that need to take frequent breaks. Often disruptive behavior is the result of boredom, work avoidance, and short attention. With virtual teaching, this kind of behavior can be even more challenging to manage. Try offering whole class and individual incentives when behavior goals are met.

You can easily and quickly incentivize appropriate behavior and completed work by offering a break when a goal has been met. Here is a menu of 10 quick and easy incentives you can choose from when needed. All these ideas can be done virtually or in-person with the whole class. You can also allow individual students who need to take more frequent breaks to do some of these activities independently. Each of these activities should take about 5-10 minutes.

1. Play a game on abcya.com. This can be done individually, in small groups, or as a whole group using a shared screen.
2. Take a reading break. Students bring a book and visit a buddy classroom with a favorite teacher. If students are at home, have them take a break to read a favorite book with an adult, sibling, pet, or stuffed animal.
3. Choose a book to read to the class. Students can read out loud to the class, or the teacher can read. If you want this to be a bit of a break for you too, try showing a video from KidTimeStoryTime on youtube or use a Lalilo book as an interactive read aloud with the class.
4. Work on a Puzzle. You can use either a physical puzzle in the classroom or an online puzzle on JigZone or JigsawPlanet.
5. Color a coloring page. If your students are at home, have them try a guided drawing exercise from Art for Kids Hub on YouTube.
6. Choose a friend to partner read with. This can be done in-person or in a break out session on Zoom.
7. Listen to a favorite song or video on GoNoodle.com.
8. Make a card or draw a picture for a loved one.
9. Listen to an audio book.
10. Do a yoga video.