Friday, November 16, 2012

Turkey with the Terrible Temper

Turkey with the Terrible Temper - How the Turkey Got His Tail Feathers
Turkey with the Terrible Temper
The story of how the Turkey got is Tail Feathers is an excellent way to talk about emotions. The author of the following story is unknown. Each year I read the story and showed a set of turkeys colored to match the events that were happening. At the end I provided each student with a copy of black line master turkeys for them to color so that they could practice retelling the story. Another way to use this story especially for students that are less verbal is to have them hold up the turkey that is the color of the emotion they feel at that moment. This will help them identify their own emotions. You could also have a class activity where students show a specific emotion guided by the teacher and the kids hold up the turkey they think the student is representing. 

Story with pictures

Prepositions and Pronouns

Speech Prepositions and Pronouns
I created another project that is posted on Teachers Pay Teachers. This one is more directed for speech therapy. In my eyes speech therapy is a group effort by the SLP, teacher, and parents. When only worked on in isolation progress is extremely slow and doesn't generalize to other settings. In this packet you will find

  • A list of a few of my favorite picture books about Christmas time with some ways to include them into speech therapy.
  • 2 pages with pronoun activities
  • Favorite Christmas books for speech
  • 66 cards with pictures and the corresponding prepositional word. With these cards you can play a matching game, show the student one picture and ask, "Where is Santa?" the student response would be the prepositional word. Or you can show the student a picture and have them tell you what they see, such as "Santa is in the sled." This way they are working on complete sentences with prepositions. The link below will take you to the Teachers Pay Teachers Web Site.
Prepositions and Pronouns


5 Senses Thanksgiving

I have been teaching my students about their 5 senses. We have been talking about things we see, smell, taste, touch, and hear at Thanksgiving. Each day we have created a list on the board for one of the senses. For example things we See: Turkey, family, pies, dishes, parades, football, friends, etc. Smell: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies, grandma's perfume, etc. Taste: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, pies, candy, cookies, etc. Touch: Food (lots of food), hugs from family, dishes, toys, etc. Hear: Family talking, dishes, football, parades, prayer, etc. Now after they create this simply list then we talk about adding descriptive words. They choose one word for each of the 5 senses, and it cannot be turkey on all of the categories each one needs to be different. For see if they choose "pies" then we talk about what kind of pie and what it looks like. In the end you want something like "I am thankful for my eyes to see orange pumpkin pie with white whipped cream" I realize you might be working with younger kiddos or students with more significant disabilities. In that case focus on at least one descriptive word like pumpkin pie vs. pie. The download has a simple version with more of the words on the page and a more complex for your older/higher functioning students.
5 Senses Poem

Friday, November 9, 2012

Turkey Hand Print Art

 
Turkey Hand print Art
Yesterday my students made turkey hand prints. The picture shows 2 hand prints of siblings. I helped them pain their palm and thumb brown and then we painted each finger a different color. Once dry they glued on an eye and drew some legs. This was a simple and fun art project.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Halloween Activities

Pumpkin Bowling
I know Halloween is over... Due to my preparation at the last minute things sometimes don't get posted until after the fact. Here are 2 fun activities to do next year. The first is Halloween bowling with rolls of toilet paper. I printed a simple ghost face and wrapped it around the toilet paper. Then I cut holes in a small pumpkin (I didn't remove the insides of the pumpkin, this way they the kiddos had a fun sensory surprise when they stuck their fingers into the holes.
 
The second activity was by far the biggest hit with all the kids from my young ones to the teens. I made tape balls. I wrapped my candy and prizes in plastic wrap. Then I took a piece of candy and began wrapping packing tape around the candy. For each piece of candy I placed 2-3 long pieces of tape. In this way I slowly built my candy/prize ball. in the end the ball was about the size of a large grapefruit. In addition to candy I placed small toys and coins. The kids sat in a circle and rolled two dice. When they rolled doubles they grabbed the ball and began pealing the tape off as quickly as possible, because everything they freed from the tape ball they could keep. They continued to peal tape off until the next kiddo rolled doubles.  I had 4 rotations going and this was the one that all the kids wanted to stay at. We are going to do this activity again at Christmas time. If you have a group of older and younger kids you can have the older kids wear gloves to even out the playing field. My suggestion is to separate the younger kids and older kids because this activity involves lots of fine motor and the younger kid ball was more simple to unwrap.   
Tape Ball with Prizes

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Shapes, Shapes, & More Shapes

Shapes Unit Following Directions
I have been working on developing a shapes unit that includes many different skill levels. I have submitted a 40 page unit to Teachers Pay Teachers. You can find the unit at the following link:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shapes-Shapes-More-Shapes

The most challenging level are the first pages that involve reading, following directions, counting, and coloring. For students that do not yet read you can read the directions to them. An example is pictured on the right.  Sample Page

The next set of worksheets involve tracing, coloring, or cutting out shapes. The individual shape worksheets are simple. However the worksheets with multiple shapes are more complex. Sample Page

Finally there are 3 different sets of memory games. The first set all the shapes are the same color and the student matches the shape to the word. Second each shape is a different color so 2 blue circles, 2 red squares... With this type the student may be matching based on color and not shape (so it is a little more simple) Last all the shapes are different colors this way the child has to recognize the shape and not use the color as a prompt.

These worksheets can be completed in a whole group setting, small group, or individual work, centers, or TEACCH.

Shapes Unit - Tracing and Cutting
Shapes Unit Memory Game











Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Froggy Counting

Froggy Counting ~ Flies
I created a froggy counting activity for my students. The packet includes a black line master and color version. The froggy unit is free on Teachers Pay Teachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Froggy-Counting This activity can be used in several ways:
  • Print the black line copy to give to each student. Then using stamp ink they can "squash" the flies as they count the flies. This is great because they will know if they have counted that fly already or not and this skill works on finger isolation (fine motor)
  • Print the color version, cut in half, and laminate. Have the students use small fly swatters or something similar to swat the flies as they count. After they have counted the flies they can place the corresponding fly number on each froggy.
  • This activity can also be placed in a center or independent work station or used in a TEACCH task to promote independent work.


Froggy Counting ~ Flies


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Camels

Camel Rides at Tuacahn
I work with an adorable kiddo that loves Disney and music. Well a wonderful outdoor theater called Tuacahn located just outside of St. George UT put on a production of Aladdin. This student went to see the show earlier in the summer and since then has been fascinated by camels. He has decided that he wants to be a camel for Halloween. This past weekend was the school districts fall break. I was very excited to go to Tuacahn to see Aladdin. I saw the show and it was incredible Broadway worthy performance. The next day Tuacahn had a market with lots of craft vendors. I went back to check out the market. When I arrived I realized that they were offering camel rides with the camels from the show. I quickly called the child's mom to find out if they were in the area and told her about the camel rides. She hopped in her car and quickly drove over. When he arrived he said, "Miss Jackson you found a camel for me" He very quickly went up the stairs where you can get on the camel. Then he realized that the camel was very large and became scared. Luckily his little brother said he would ride with him. The brother hopped on first and then he climbed onto the back. The camel took a step forward and he said "Woa take it nice and slow" and "careful, slowly now" After his short ride it was time to get off the camel. He was having too much fun and wanted to stay on, but he hopped off and then found some greens to feed the camel. I was glad I could share in this experience.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Halloween Silhouette

Halloween Art - Water Color with black shapes and border

I gave my students a piece of 12x12 paper (you want to use at least card stock for this art project). Then I told them to paint with water colors over the entire piece of paper. Their papers were very wet by the end but that is alright because they dry and create a cool background. Then we placed a black border all the way around the edge to frame their silhouette. My students with better fine motor skills created their own shapes to cut out from the black paper. For the kiddos with more motor difficulties I had pre-cut Halloween shapes using a Cricut machine. They then could choose which shapes they wanted and place them on their paper. In the end all their art projects looked amazing!

Halloween Art - Water Color with black shapes and border

Spider Web Art

Halloween Art - Spider Web
A fun way to create a spider web is to use glue on wax paper. If you are working with older students you can have them use a hot glue gun to create this effect. For younger students I have used Elmer's glue (to add a bit of fun you could add food coloring to make the spider web black.) Make sure that the entire web is connected together so that when you peal the spider web off the wax paper it will be one solid piece. You can also create a simple spider from things found around your home or school. This spider was created from bobby pins and 2 beads that were all hot glued together. You could also use buttons or rocks for the spiders head and body.  

4 Seasons Art with Fingerprints

Art for Season - Fingerprint Trees
I am teaching my students about the seasons. I found this great picture of a tree and then we made the tree look like each season. The kids used stamp ink to create the leaves, flowers, and grass. Then for the winter tree I combined equal parts Elmer's Glue and Shaving cream to create this puffy mixture. Using a Q-tip the kids added snow to their winter tree and the ground.
Season Tree Printable


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Halloween Movement

Halloween Movement
Halloween, my most recent addition to the set of movement activities for kiddos. When your students need to get their wiggles out have them line up on one side of the classroom. Show them one card at a time to have them move across the classroom like ghosts, skeletons, Frankenstein, and more. I love these activities because they are quick and can refocus your students.  Halloween Movement

Friday, September 21, 2012

Letter Cc Activities

This week we are focusing on the Letter Cc, number 3, shape triangle, and color yellow. The theme will carry over from the previous week about friendship/sharing.

Letter C Books:
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - By:Bill Martin
  • Caps for Sale - By:Esphyr Slobodkina
  • Clickety Clack - By:Rob & Amy Spence
  • Charlie the Caterpillar - By: Dom Deluise (also great for friendship)
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar - By: Eric Carle
  • Curious George Goes Camping - By: Margret & H.A. Rey
  • Cars Storybook Collection - By: Disney Pixar
Books on Friendship/Sharing:


  • Chrysanthemum - By: Kevin Henkes
  • Enemy Pie - Derek Munson
  • Big Al - By: Andrew Clements
  • The Crayon Box that Talked - By: Shane Derolf and Michael Letzig
  • The Rainbow Fish - By: Marcus Pfister
  • Chester's Way - By: Kevin Henkes
  • A Rainbow of Friends - By: P.K. Hallinan
  • Friends - By: Helme Heine
  • That's What a Friend Is - By: P.K. Hallinan
  • Amigo Means Friend - By Louise Everett
  • Eight Animals Bake a Cake - By: Susan Middleton Elya
  • Just My Friend and Me - By: Mercer Mayer
  • How to Lose All Your Friends - By: Nancy Carlson
  • It's Okay to Be Different - By: Todd Parr
  • We are Best Friends - By: Aliki
  • I Can Share - By: Karen Katz
  • Sharing: How Kindness Grows - By: Fran Shaw
  • Sometimes I Share - By: Carol Nicklaus
Art:
  • After reading Charlie the Caterpillar or the Very Hungry Caterpillar create your own caterpillar out of an egg carton. You will need egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.

Letter of the Week Books:
Snack:
  • Read Enemy Pie then make your own Enemy Pie - Enemy Pie is a book about a boy that thinks he has an enemy so he wants to make him go away. His dad tells him that if he can make "Enemy Pie" which is gross and disgusting and will make your enemy go away. The only way the pie will work is if you spend an entire day with your enemy. In the end the boys get to know each other and become best friends. When they sit down to eat the pie it is delicious.
  • Making Enemy Pie - Use crushed Oreos for the dirt, Chocolate pudding for mud, Gummy Worms, Candy Rocks, Whoppers for animal droppings, etc.
  • I have the kids play together and when they are done they get to eat the enemy pie.

Motor:
  • Try to drop clothespins into a can while standing

Math:
Cars Matching Activity
 


Caterpillar Measurement - Letter C Activity

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Sunflower Art Project

Sunflower Art Project
This is a fun art project that works on fine motor skills. For this art project all the kids start with an upside down paper plate. They cut out triangles - we worked on pattern skills for the border. Then on the part of the plate that bends they twist small pieces of tissue paper on the eraser end of a pencil, dip in glue, and place on the plate. Finally they glue pom poms on the flat center of the plate.

School Movement



Movement in the Classroom - Brain Break
You know how our kiddos need to get up and move around. Well I have been trying to come up with new ideas for creative and fun movement. These are cards about 4x6 in size. I tell my students "wiggle time" they know what this means and they line up against one side of the wall. Then I or a student (this can be a classroom job) pull out cards one at a time. The following is a description for each card: Honk like a bus the kids can crawl or walk across the room while honking. Roll like an apple they can roll on their sides or do somersaults. Open & close like scissors is an arm movement while they walk. Brush like a paintbrush is a swishing side to side motion as they walk. Stick like glue they can stick to a wall and try to move or stick to a buddy. Straight like a ruler they must walk without moving their arms. Clang like a bell the kids move back and forth while going "ding dong." Zip like a backpack is an up and down motion of the curve of a backpack, while they move and they say "zip, zip, ziiiiip." Erase like a pencil is a small fast frantic movement back and forth like an eraser. Finally you end with go to you seat like a star student and they walk to their seats quietly, ready to work. Brain breaks are an excellent way to refocus your class. This also helps students that have more sensory needs or attention deficits. Free printable below.

Movement Printable

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Letter Bb Activities

Letter Bb, number 2, shape square, theme friendship/sharing

Books for the Letter B:
  • The Berenstain Bears (lots of books) - By: Stan and Jan Berenstain
  • We're Going On a Bear Hunt - By: Michael Rosen
  • Berlioz the Bear - By: Jan Brett
  • The Big Balloon Race - By: Eleanor Coerr
Button Project - Use the students Initial or the letter Bb
Books on Friendship/Sharing:
  • Chrysanthemum - By: Kevin Henkes
  • Enemy Pie - Derek Munson
  • Big Al - By: Andrew Clements
  • The Rainbow Fish - By: Marcus Pfister
  • Chester's Way - By: Kevin Henkes
  • A Rainbow of Friends - By: P.K. Hallinan
  • Friends - By: Helme Heine
  • That's What a Friend Is - By: P.K. Hallinan
  • Amigo Means Friend - By Louise Everett
  • Eight Animals Bake a Cake - By: Susan Middleton Elya
  • Just My Friend and Me - By: Mercer Mayer
  • How to Lose All Your Friends - By: Nancy Carlson
  • It's Okay to Be Different - By: Todd Parr
  • We are Best Friends - By: Aliki
  • I Can Share - By: Karen Katz
  • Sharing: How Kindness Grows - By: Fran Shaw
  • Sometimes I Share - By: Carol Nicklaus
Chrysanthemum Name Quilt

Art:
  • Print a large letter B on card stock then have the students glue buttons all over the letter. (The picture is of the letter A because I was working on the students initials vs. letter B)
  • Rainbow Fish Art (refer to previous post for details)
  • Chrysanthemum Name Quilt (refer to previous post for details)
  • Letter Bb Puppet
Rainbow Fish Art
Letter of Week Book:
Here is the Letter Bb book for information about the book refer to the post on letter Aa. Letter Bb Printable Book

Singing and Rhymes:
Five little bears little bears were dancing on the floor
One fell down and that left four.

Four little bears climbed up a tree
One found a bee hive that left three

Three little bears were wondering what to do
One chased a bunny rabbit that left two.

Two little bears were looking for some fun
One took a swim that left one.

One little bear sitting all alone
He looked all around and then ran home.

Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee:
I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee, won't my mamma be so proud of me I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee Ouch! That bumblebee stung me!

I'm smashing up my baby bumblebee, won't my mamma be so proud of me I'm smashing up my baby bumblebee Yuck! It's all over me!

I'm licking up my baby bumblebee, won't my mamma be so proud of me I'm licking up my baby bumblebee Ugh I don't feel so good!

I'm throwing up my baby bumble bee, won't my mamma be so proud of me I'm throwing up my baby bumblebee. Uh-Oh Here comes Mommy!

Motor:


  • Transition by walking "Backwards"
  • Blow Bubbles
  • Create the letter Bb by using different types of blocks
  • Bounce balls or play basketball
Math:
Creative Play:
Make a bear mask and pretend to be bears. The kids could even create a den out of a large blanket or sheet draped over chairs or tables.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Letter Aa Activities

I decided to write about what I will be doing each week with my little preschoolers. Then next year I can simply look the information up as opposed to trying to remember. I am terrible when it comes to writing everything down in a lesson plan book. We are beginning our first week of preschool next week. Our first set of lessons will be based on the letter A, number 1, shape circle, and theme "going to school"

Books for Letter A:
  • Ten Apple on Top - By: Dr. Seuss
  • Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator! - By: Mo Willems
  • The Lady with the Alligator Purse - By:Nadine Bernard Westcott
  • Letter A Art Project - Ten Apples on Top
  • There's an Alligator Under My Bed - By: Mercer Mayer
Books about going back to school:
  • The Kissing Hand - By: Audrey Penn
  • First Day Jitters - By: Julie Danneberg
  • My Teacher is My Friend - By: P. K. Hallinan
  • My First Day of School - By: P. K. Hallinan
  • The Berenstain Bears Go to School - By: Stan & Jan Berenstain
  • How do Dinosaurs go to School? - By: Jane Yolen
  • If You Take a Mouse to School - By: Laura Numeroff
  • First Day of School - By: Mercer Mayer

Art:
  • "Ten Apples on Top" by Dr. Seuss Give the students half of an apple and have them stamp apples on top of a simple picture of a head. I allowed my kiddos to use red, yellow, and green paint for this activity to show all the apple colors.
  • When you cut up apple for the above activity save the seeds to be glued on later. You can glue them on their 10 Apples on Top art project or have them complete a simple apple coloring page and glue the seeds in the middle. You can also glue the seeds on a large letter "A"
  • Alligator paper bag puppet
  • The Kissing Hand - This is a great way to start off the school year, especially since so many children are nervous about their first day of school. This book helps them understand their nerves. Printable: The Kissing Hand Poem

The Kissing Hand - Poem & Art Project
Letter of the Week Book:
Each week we make a book with our letter of the week. The first 4 pages are part of the book. Then the last two pages are additional practice. Page 5 with the letter and pictures is for rainbow writing. The kids trace each letter 5-10 times using lots of different colors. The final page I change how we use this each week. The kids can place small stickers all along the letter. These stickers could be things like apples, ants, alligators... We poke holes in the letters (refer to the post called "Push Pin Fine Motor") They can practice cutting on the lines. Have the students dab their pointer and middle fingers on an ink pad and then "walk" along the letter.

Letter Aa Printable Book

Singing/Rhymes:
You can use pictures of apples on a tree with the following rhyme, I have also had each of my students pretend they were the apple so at the end when the apple tumbles down they fall slowly to the ground.
(Five) red apples hanging in a tree,
The juiciest apples that you ever did see!
The wind came by and gave an angry frown
And one little apple came tumbling down!
 
Five Little Apples
Five little apples hung on a tree...
The farmer didn't care
So guess who came to eat?
A MOUSE... Munch, Munch, Munch
Four little apples hung on a tree...
The farmer didn't care
So guess who came to eat?
A BIRD... Munch, Munch, Munch
 
Three little apples hung on a tree...
The farmer didn't care
So guess who came to eat?
A SQUIRREL...Munch, Munch, Munch
 
Two little apples hung on a tree...
The farmer didn't care
So guess who came to eat?
A PIG... Munch, Munch, Munch
 
One little apple hung on a tree...
The farmer didn't care
So guess who came to eat?
A SHEEP... Munch, Munch, Munch
 
Now the tree is bare
There are no more apples there
But when next fall comes around
Guess who'll be there?
The mouse, the bird, the squirrel, the pig, and the sheep. Yum! Yum!

The Ants Go Marching
  
3 Apples Up On Top
2 Apples Up On Top
Motor:
Give the students several whole apples to see if they can balance one apple on their head, then two, then three... Usually they will fall off with just one apple on top.


March like an ant when moving around.
 
Print out a large letter "A a" and then have the students make ant shaped finger prints with black ink along the line of the "A a" (3 small finger prints together then draw legs)
 
Math:
Circle printable tracing page

Have the students guess how many seeds are in a yellow, green, and red apple. Then cut each apple open and graph the number of seeds on a graph.

Have the kids place apples in order from smallest to largest.

Create a pattern with actual apples or with pictures of apples in the 3 colors - red, yellow, and green.

Begin working on the number 1. Practice writing the number 1 and counting. Here is a worksheet I use for this activity. Number 1

Creative Play:
Pretend you are different Animals
I am going to have pictures of animals and have the kids act like the animal to see if the other students can guess what animal they are.




Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Apps for Stages

Looking for some good apps but not sure how challenging the app will truly be. This website lists apps by stages and also describes what each stage looks like. http://apps4stages.wikispaces.com/

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Multiplication

I always try to teach my students how to complete multiplication independently. However sometimes they need some extra help and here are some of the things that can assist them. Teach the students a song to remember how to count by each number.

2 X Tables = Yankee Doodle Dandy
3 X Tables = Row Row Row Your Boat
4 X Tables = Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
5 X Tables = Teach a Regular/Steady Beat
6 X Tables = London Bridge or Mary Had a Little Lamb
7 X Tables =Mary Had a Little Lamb or Are You Sleeping
8 X Tables = This Old Man
9 X Tables = Yankee Doodle Dandy or Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer

Also teach your students how to use a multiplication table. This can be a great visual support when they are learning their times tables.
Multiplication Table Printable

Multiplication Table

Sand Letters

Tracing Sand Letters
Students need so many different sensory inputs to learn new skills. I believe that the more diverse ways I teach the better understanding my students will have. I created these letter cards that show the directional arrows for writing. I then laminated and bought sand from a craft store. I traced the letters with craft glue and sprinkled sand over the glue. Once everything had dried I had a great sensory activity for the students to feel each letter. They love touching the rough, bumpy sand for each letter. This has helped them create motor memory for the way the letter should be written.

Trace Letter - Printable

Dollar More


Dollar More - With Visual Supports
I love teaching the dollar more strategy. For kids that have greater difficulty adding coins and bills together this strategy is genius. What you do is provide the students with a price for example $2.80. The student gives $2.00 for the bills and a "Dollar More" for the change to equal $3.00. What I created was a visual support to help students understand the difference between money before the decimal and the change after the decimal. This visual support has been extremely effective in teaching money skills. I like to place several pictures with the prices in front of the student and have them select the one they want to work on. This way we can also work on the skill of knowing if you have enough money to buy particular items. Here are a few suggestions to help with generalization and motivation.

1. Always use real money. If you are worried about stealing, keep the money in a locked box but use real money.

2. Find things the students would be interested in buying to have them practice their money skills. Then use a picture or the actual item while they practice. 

3. While teaching this skills also work on having the student identify if they have enough money to purchase an item. I like to place their favorite picture/item in front of them and then give them slightly less money than they need. This way they understand that just because you have money doesn't mean you can buy anything you want.

***4. If you have a student who is reluctant to work this can also be used as a behavior motivator. I will start the student off with $1.00. Then ask them which item they would like to buy and these are things that are classroom reinforcers such as run time, sensory time, extra recess, book time, special toy, small snack, anything reinforcing. Then I tell them that it will cost $6.00 to earn that particular item. The way they earn their money is to complete tasks in the classroom. One line of math = $1.00. One fine motor task = $1.00. Reading a story = $2.00, etc. This is like the "I am working for" program but requires a high level of thinking and a real life connection to money and the value of money. As the students become better at working I increase the amount of money to earn a given reinforcer.

5. You can also provide the students with a set of prices and bills to complete this task in your TEACCH system - You would want to closely monitor the money. One way to do this would be to have price cards in the TEACCH box and then the students would request the money from the teacher and return the money afterwards.

6. After the students are comfortable with using dollar bills then increase the difficulty level by having five dollar bills, then ten, and twenty dollar bills.
Dollar More - With Real Money  Visual Support
 Dollar More Printable

Friday, August 10, 2012

Angry Birds

Angry Birds Welcome Wall Decoration
WelcomeWall Decoration


This year my roommate decided on an Angry Birds theme for her 6th grade classroom wall. I thought these pictures were awesome so I decided to share. She is going to add her students names to each piggy. Her students can also earn classroom library time where she has placed bean bags and angry bird pillows.

Welcome Wall Decoration

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Categories with Favorite Characters

Disney Category - Boys vs. Girls
Categories are always a key part when it comes to language skills. I haven't found a kid yet that doesn't enjoy Disney movies. Over the past few years I have been collecting Disney Play sets. I now use these while working on language. For students who are learning categories this becomes a fun activity. I have them sort these in many different ways - refer to the pictures for examples. The students think they are playing when in reality they are learning some valuable skills. I also love these toys because I can get so much language from my students. When I am working with students with language needs I pull out my Disney toys. They can work on requesting more toys. We can play with the figures together building joint interactions. We can work on building simple language words/phrases such as Tigger bounces say "bounce" I know that the play sets cost money, for me they were well worth the investment. If you do not have the funds another idea is to print pictures on card stock of the students favorite characters from movies, books, tv remember to laminate. Use the pictures in the same way as the figures.

Disney Category - Animals vs. People
Disney Category - Movie Sort


Disney Category - Land Animal vs. Water Animal

Movement with Dice

I found these wonderful soft cube dice that allow you to change the picture, word, number, etc that is on each side. Oh the possibilities! The first day I tried them I placed colored paper all around the room. The kids rolled a color die and a movement die and then went found the correct color by moving around the room. They thought this was the greatest activity ever. They worked on their gross motor skills and color skills. Next I am going to try numbers and movement. What is great about these dice are the fact that I can change what skill they are working on from things like the movement to retelling parts of a story to multiplication facts. Like I said the possibilities are great!
Movement printable


Soft Dice with Plastic Picture Inserts

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Elephant and Piggie!

Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems!
I love the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems! These books are fun, creative, and maintain the kids attention. Here are just a few reasons why you should pick up these books today:
1. The characters are the same in each book so children will get to know Gerald and Piggie
2. The characters show their emotions clearly (excellent for kiddos with disabilities) 
3. There aren't any excessive words on a page, it is also written with thought talking bubbles above the characters heads
4. You can use the Gerald and Piggie stuffed animals to act out the book
5. The books teach about friendship, sharing, difference, and much more!


Elephant and Piggie Comic Strip
My students love the elephant and piggie books. When we have library time I see them trying to retell the story in their own words, acting it out with puppets, or stuffed animals, and requesting a read aloud. I used the graphics from Mo Willems to create a few simple story outlines for the kids to create their own story. The students loved this idea and came up with some extremely creative stories.  Comic Strip Printable


Sensory Painting with Sand

Glue and Blue Sand
My students were learning about the letter Ss. I decided to have them paint with sand. Using wax paper have them squeeze Elmer's Glue into a design on their paper. They can create shapes, letters, numbers, or just swirly lines. Make sure everything is connected with a thick amount of glue. Then I put decorator sand into small containers so the kids could sprinkle it over their design. I helped them move the sand around by shaking the sand across all the glue. Remove excess sand. Let dry. Once it is completely dry you can peel off the glue/sand design. The end result is tactile and fun. Some other uses for sand: I made letters, printed on card stock, laminated and then traced the letters with glue and sprinkled with sand so that the kids had textured letters. You can also make numbers, shapes, and words.  

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Move Like Animals

Farm Theme - Move like Animals
When your kids are wiggly get them up and moving for just a few minutes with structured movement. This is a page I have made that I print on card stock, cut into apart, and laminate. For this activity I have all my kids line up against the wall and then I pull a card out and they move like the animal pictured on the card. This is an excellent way to get them up and moving. The kids think this is fun and they beg to do this everyday. The of cards below is for farm animals. I was able to find a set of insects cards on the following website: http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2011/08/i-is-for-insects-mommy-school.html (there are also lots of other wonderful printables on this blog!)

By doing these activities you are also able to address gross motor skills like crawling, walking, jumping, galloping, and more.  

Move Like an Animal Printable

Shape Printables - Star



Shape Printable - Stars

I wanted to incorporate more skills into simple activities. This is a worksheet about the star shape. This worksheet is extremely simple to adjust to different skill levels. Your students who can read have them read and follow the directions. The kiddos that are learning to read monitor and help out as necessary. For non-readers read the directions to them. For kids that are working on matching colors you can outline the star with the color and have them finish coloring with the same color. The final 2 questions on the worksheet involve counting. I wanted to address multiple areas. Below you will find the star printable.
 
Star File 

For my full shape printable check out: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shapes-Shapes-More-Shapes


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Painting with Q-tips

Painting with Q-tips
Painting with Q-tips


















The letter of the week in preschool is Qq and I wasn't sure what activities to do... Then I had an idea that would not only work on the letter of the week but would also address fine motor skills and artistic fun - painting with Q-tips. I placed a glob of paint on small plastic plates with 2 Q-tips. There were 9 colors to choose from. The kids chose a color and began painting. For the number and letter page I had them create dots using the Q-tips. We called this dot art. I was amazed to see that they were able to stay more closely on the line or in the lines using Q-tips than with crayons. Their motor control was more precise using the Q-tips. Then on the gumball machine with counting I had them paint back and forth with Q-tips. The kids enjoyed both painting techniques.
Painting with Q-tips
Painting with Q-tips