When students begin to pass levels in Rocket Math, and color in the Rocket Chart in their folders, they naturally are proud of their accomplishments.  Invariably when I go into classrooms students want to tell me what level they are “on.”  Left unchecked this can sometimes grow into unhealthy competition where some students begin to feel really bad about their slower progress, and students in the lead act arrogantly or disrespectfully.  The Rocket Math Wall Chart is designed to curb that competition, by putting all the students on the same team.

The Wall Chart comes with over 700 star stickers.  Each time a student passes a level the teacher awards them with a star sticker, which they take up to the Wall Chart and put into one of the squares in the chart.  Students fill the chart from the bottom up.  The teacher sets a goal in a few weeks, which date is marked on the goal arrow, and the goal arrow is placed a couple of rows up from where the students are now.  (You can just see that in the picture above.)  If the students fill in the squares up to the arrow–before the date specified on the arrow–they earn a group reward such as extra recess time, or a popcorn party, etc.  In this way, each time a student passes a level they are putting up a score for the whole team.  It is good for everyone.  The teacher is able to praise the class for their hard work and accomplishments, and the whole class is able to feel good about their collective effort.

Passers-by as well as interested administrators can praise the class as a whole for their successes with Rocket Math.  The Rocket Math Wall Chart becomes a focus of pride and recognition for the whole class.  The normal price for the Wall Char (#2005) of $18 includes directions, plenty of star stickers, four goal arrows, and the chart itself.   They are cheaper by the dozen, $135 for all twelve.