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

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

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



Push Pin Fine Motor



Push Pin Fine Motor Letters

I have been saving my cardboard from packages that I receive. I cut the boxes apart so that each child would have a piece large enough for a piece of paper. I gave all the kiddos a large push pin. These can be purchased at places that sell office supplies. If you are working with kids that have better fine motor skills you can use regular push pins and smaller letters, shape, or numbers for this activity. The kids poke holes in their letters in the direction you would write the letter. This helps to build motor memory for writing the letter, letter recognition, and fine motor skills. 


Push Pin - Fine Motor



The Collector of Many Things

I work with an adorable boy who finds joy in collecting things. Over the years he has collected many things such as puppets, animal toy figures, grass, snails, crumbs, and more. His most recent collection began last fall. He started collecting leaves. When he started it was cute he would bring one special leaf into the house and place it on the windowsill. Slowly that one turned into 2...10...20...50... you get the idea. Pretty soon he had a heaping pile of leaves. These leaves were his collection and he placed each one in a very specific location. I liked to think of this as a form of "art." The "leaf closet" as he liked to call it remained in that window for months. His sweet mom let him keep this by her dinning table window because he loved his collection so much. Now that spring has arrived his mom was trying to get rid of the dried up leaves however he was very attached. Last week I was working with him at the dinning room table and I talked about how much fun it would be to watch the leaves blow away in the wind. He said, "I could do that" He jumped up and took out just a few leaves. I asked him if it would be alright to let all the leaves blow away in the wind. He agreed and we took the entire leaf closet outside. Of course, my luck the wind stopped blowing, but thank goodness for his mom because she pulled out the leaf blower and we said "goodbye" to the leaves. This showed, so much trust and growth in this child. I am proud of him. He still would like to collect leaves but we have turned this into a more manageable project. He selects one special leaf, writes where he found the leaf, and then glues it all on a colorful piece of paper which has been laminated. Some pages even have a picture of him with the tree where he found the leaf. This has been a great way for him to work on showing restraint by only selecting one leaf. He is working on handwriting. He has started to learn the trees names and parts of plants. Now he has the fun book that he can look back through with pages of special leaves.

Alphabet Books

I created a set of alphabet books using "Fonts 4 Teachers" The font shown here is an ABC print with dashed lines, so it is perfect for tracing. Then the student write the same sentence below on the lines. Each book is 6 half pages long with simple repetitive sentences. I love Fonts 4 Teachers because it has so many fabulous font. I can create my own worksheets. I have made numerous tracing pages in print and cursive, math pages using the clock fonts, and so much more. My students always need additional practice so this gives me the freedom to create more worksheets when necessary.  

Aa Book

Examples of a few fonts

Fonts 4 Teachers - Excellent Fonts

Comprehension Checks

TEACCH Comprehension Check

TEACCH - Comprehension Check

When working with children with disabilities we want to challenge them as much as possible and not become stagnant. I found that even if my students were reading their comprehension was typically an area where they struggled. I have been trying to create ways to work on "WH" questions independently (TEACCH) I used simple pictures (the ones shown here are from Boardmaker). Then I asked between 5-8 questions. These cards are printed on a half sheet of card stock paper and laminated. I place a different card in my TEACCH system each day. The student gets the card and either a visa-vi marker or a separate sheet of paper to answer the questions.

These cards are working very well and I want to expand on this skills. So here are a few more ideas. One you could use photos of the students in your class, you could cut pictures out of magazines, or download photos from the Internet to ask questions about. To make this skill more complex I would use a photo and then write a short 5 sentence paragraph to ask the questions about. For example you could use a picture of a boy, cat, and bird and say, "My name is Eric, yesterday a bird flew into my house. My cat chased the bird. I ran to the door. I opened the door. The bird flew out the door and into the tree." Then you could ask questions such as, "who opened the door?" "Where did the bird fly?" This would work on more in depth comprehension. Make sure the text is on a level that the student can read independently.

TEACCH - Comprehension Check

Leaf Animals and People

The last few weeks in September we talk about why leaves change colors and then we gather up as many varieties of leaves, flowers, grass, and weeds as we can. I read the following 2 picture books: "Look What I Did with a Leaf!" by Morteza E. Sohi and "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. Both of these books show examples of things you can make with leaves. My students enjoyed this activity because they could use their imaginations to create spiders, people, dinosaurs, snakes, fish, dogs, turtles, and much more. To keep your leaves from curling and drying out laminate your art project when you are finished. After the students have created their leaf animal or person I have them write a short paragraph about their picture that is then posted under their project in the hallway.