Classroom Economy System

I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It again this week. I've been on a roll!

Last year was the first year I used a classroom economy system. It worked wonders for all of my kiddos, especially my student with a Behavior Support Plan. It's hard not to buy into something when it all revolves around (fake) money and prizes.  You can read all about how I set up and used my classroom economy system last year here. 

This year I have decided to switch to coins for our money system. My students really mastered counting bills last year. Tha
t was easy peasy by the end of the year. But many of them are struggling with counting various coins. So what better way to get them motivated to count money than by earning it themselves! I converted all of their "earnings" and "fines" into coins. What was $1.00 last year now converts to $0.25. We'll be using quarters, dimes and nickels this year.

While updating the amounts, I also made this little Dollar Store photo album into a prize catalog.  My students love to "purchase" these reward passes during our Friday store. Last year I used to put out the passes and higher priced rewards that were printed out in plastic sleeves out onto the table. It was cluttered and hard to find what we were looking for. Now they will have this small 4x6 photo album to flip through with the prices listed on each item.

I basically enlarged the reward passes to 4x6 size, printed them out and added them to the photo album. I also made a cover and back to match my classroom theme.  If you'd like a free copy of my reward passes, you can find them here on TpT.  If you'd like to make a prize catalog, you can download that here from Google Docs.  If you email me or leave a comment with your email address, I'd be happy to make you a photo album cover to match your classroom theme for your prize catalog.


Remember when I mentioned those zippered pencil pouches that I had no idea what to do with them? Alison mentioned she used them for her classroom economy system. They will work perfectly for all of our coins that the students will be earning this year. Perfect! I labeled each of the pouches with the student names (I am fortunate to already know all of my students from last year) so they are ready for day 1 of school. 

If you are interested in finding out more about what my students can earn money for and what our "fines" are, you can see that here. Included on the list is our monthly rent.  Oh yes. My kiddos have to pay rent for their desk, chair and supply box. It teaches them important life skills, that's for sure!