We’re celebrating Australia Day a little bit late, but better late than never! We learned a lot of neat facts about Australia. There are lots of cool sites to see like Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef. There are even pink salt lakes! We have a couple of our students who are on the front and back of the book decked out in their Australian gear and enjoying the Outback. Check it out!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn About Australia
G’day mate! January 26 is Australia Day so this week we learned about that “down under” country! The sensory groups explored boxes related to facts about the country. The fine motor groups crafted symbols of the country and the language group made a favorite Australian dessert—-pavlova!
SENSORY GROUP
Since they are the national colors of Australia, we used yellow and green paper shred as the base of this box. We added some plush and plastic animals, such as the koala, kangaroo, and crocodile.
There was also some fake sheep wool and pictures of famous Australians. We even included a voice output device with a didgeridoo recorded on it.
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Our green and yellow rice contained some black bean “coal”. We learned that Australia is the world’s largest producer of coal!
There were upper and lower case letter A’s to find in the rice, as well as a map of the country at the bottom of the box.
Science access point: match objects by an observable property, such as shape.
Ayers Rock is called Uluru by aboriginal Australians. Our red mood sand resembled the color of the world’s largest monolith.
There were 5 snakes and a 1 lizard that might be found there.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
The world’s larges coral reef is located in Australia. Our Great Barrier Reef umbrella was a hit with the students. They also liked the plush “great white shark” puppet!
Science access point: match living things with their habitats.
Kinetic sand made a perfect “Bondi Beach”!
The students loved watching the sand drop through their fingers or using the sea life molds to stamp in it.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Students mixed cornstarch and shaving cream to make “meringue” pavlovas!
It was messy, but the students really loved the soft cool texture!
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Lake Hillier is a PINK lake—-how cool is that!! This cool pink bowl was a perfect stand in for the lake but since it was a little “tippy”, we put it inside a regular basin to avoid any accidental or not so accidental spills 🙂
There were some pool noodle pieces and a scoop to add to the fun.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Bath and Body Works eucalyptus scent was a perfect scent for out little koalas this week!
The strong scent certainly got everyones attention!
Science access point: recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday the students made kangaroo puppets using this template: kangaroo
First, they identified the color BROWN from an array of 3 colors. All of the students identified the correct color—-our students rock!!!
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, the students used brown crayons to color their kangaroos.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
Then, we added 2 googlie eyes.
Math access point: match one object to a designated space to show one-to one correspondence.
TA DA!!!!!
The kangaroo is a symbol of Australia!
On Thursday the students made a didgeridoo out of a paper towel tube.
First, the students chose their paper and identified the color.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, they drew lines and shapes using markers.
It was fun seeing the different patterns each student chose!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Then, they cut their paper into strips using paper cutters or switch operated scissors.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
The students then shared their strips with each other and began wrapping them around their
tubes. We fastened them down with tape, but glue would work too.
Science access point: share objects with a partner.
TA DA!!!
Look at our fabulous didgeridoos!
These were a hit 🙂
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made a tasty popular Australian dessert today–pavlova cake. Well, we made our own rendition of it. Here is a link to the recipe: lets make mini pavlova cakes
First, we PUT 1 cup of whipping cream into a BOWL. We compared a cup with a tablespoon. Our students were asked to indicate the BIGGER one.
Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.
Once the cream was in the bowl, we observed that it was a liquid. The students were told to watch and see if it became DIFFERENT after it was mixed. Each student took TURNS pressing the switch to activate the mixer.
Science access point: recognize changes in observable properties of materials.
We observed that the liquid became a solid. Next, we added a tsp of vanilla. We compared a teaspoon with a tablespoon and asked our students to identify the SMALLER one.
Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.
Next, we PUT a tbsp of confectioners’ sugar into the bowl. Each student got to taste some of the sugar. They had to indicate whether it tasted SWEET or SOUR.
Science access point: recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli.
Once that was all mixed up we started PUTTING together our pavlova. On the recipe, we saw that the cake was put together like a math equation. First, each student got a meringue cookie. Next, we added just a little bit of the whipped cream. Each student had to say if they WANTED MORE.
Math access point: indicate more of an action or an object.
Finally, we added some strawberries. Only one piece of strawberry was given to each student and they had to request MORE if they wanted more.
It turned out to be a really pretty dessert!
We sure learned a lot about Australia this week! Join us next time for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!
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Holy cuteness!! We have such an adorable book for this weeks theme. We decided to celebrate National Popcorn Day(1/19) by talking about the different movies we love. This was a GREAT opportunity to dress some of our students up as some pretty cool characters. Some movies featured in our book are Frozen, Trolls, and Toy Story. You’ll have to read to find out what other movies we love!
Here is a link to the book: movies we love
January 19 was National Popcorn Day so we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do another movie theme—they are just so much fun! Our sensory groups explored colorful movie themed boxes. The fine motor groups made cartoon character art projects and the language group got to be movie critics!
SENSORY GROUP
Students searched for letter M’s to find in this box of popcorn kernels.
The students loved the feel of the kernels running through their hands!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Lots of fun movie themed items could be found in this box. There were some plastic and plush characters from movies in this box including Winnie the Pooh and Toy Story.
Since it is fun to eat a snack during movies, we put in a popcorn box and some play food.
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
For our Peter Pan box, we put in a Captain Hook figure and a crocodile cookie cutter.
The green kinetic sand was especially eye catching and so much fun to explore!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
We thought these potato flakes resembled the look and feel of sawdust. They are soft but have a crunch quality—-very intriguing!
In addition to the various circus figures, there was a spoon for scooping fun.
Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
Follow the Yellowbrick Road was recorded on a voice output device to go along with Wizard of Oz discovery bottles.
The students had fun finding “ruby slippers” and “witchy shoes” in one of the bottles.
Glittery swirls in both bottles were mesmerizing and a huge hit with all the students this week!
Science access point: track objects in motion.
Insta-Snow filled our Frozen box. The students were intrigued with the snow, not only is it fun to sift through fingers but actually FEELS cool—-just like the real thing!
Of course, we included some fun figures and a little scoop!
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Both Dory and Nemo could be found swimming around our little ocean this week. Not only were the colorful fish very eye catching but, they wiggled when strings were pulled!
Lots of fun with this splashy box!
Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.
We used Bath and Body Works “be enchanted” scent this week….. because doesn’t everyone want to be enchanted when they go the movies!
The students are encouraged to use the Pixon communication boards to indicate WHERE they want the lotion.
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday, the students made Troll wigs using these templates: boy troll girl troll
First, the students identified the color of their paper wig. We used PURPLE paper for the girl wigs and BLUE for the boy’s.
Science access point: match objects by one observable property, such as size or color.
Then they used textured paint rollers to apply glue to the wigs. The rollers didn’t work quite as well as we had hoped, but the students still enjoyed using them.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
The students used either BLACK or PURPLE glitter on their wigs. Everybody sang the glitter song of course! In case you are new to the blog, we sing “shake, shake, shake that glitter” to the tune of that old KC and the Sunshine band song 🙂
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
Such cute hair!
Such cute Trolls!!!!!
On Thursday the students made Dalmatians using this template: dalmatian
First, they identified the color of the ink and the shape of the stamp they were using.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as size or color.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Next, the students stamped UP and DOWN to make spots on their Dalmatians. We made the stamps by adhering sticky back craft foam circles to sewing thread spools. The size of the spools makes them easy to grip for our students.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
Then they glued their Dalmatians DOWN on to a piece of red construction paper.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.
TA—-spotty—–DA!!!
We have 101 Dalmatians!
Well, almost 🙂
LANGUAGE GROUP
We changed things up a little bit this week. Although we still had food (we HAD to have some popcorn), our students didn’t participate in the making of any food.
Instead, our students acted as movie critics. Each student had a chance to request to watch a movie clip from one of the movies from our book.
They had to use the sentence strip that was provided to say “I want to watch” and then they had to point to the movie they wanted to see.
The movie clips weren’t longer then about 2 1/2 minutes. After the clip ended, each student had a chance to indicate that they thought the movie was good and they liked it, or they thought the movie was bad and they didn’t like it.
We used a voice output device that the students used to indicate if it was good or bad.
After watching the movies, our critics’ outcome was that the best movie out of all of the movies was Sherlock Gnomes, but there were 2 close seconds–Toy Story and Finding Dory.
We noticed that once we were all done, the room looked a little bit like a movie theatre with all the popcorn on the ground 🙂
Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
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Who can resist chocolate?! We jumped at the chance to celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, which is January 10. Our book talks about some really neat chocolate facts. Did you know that cocoa beans used to be used as currency? Do you know how many cocoa beans it takes to make a pound of chocolate? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
Here is a link to the book: let_s learn about chocolate
January 10 is Bittersweet Chocolate Day so this week we are all about CHOCOLATE! Our sensory groups explored chocolate themed boxes. The fine motor groups painted some sweet art projects and the language group made a very tasty chocolate treat! The students are learning about properties of matter with their Unique Curriculum this month and this unit complemented it quite nicely.
SENSORY GROUP
Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean. We didn’t have any cocoa beans on hand, so we substituted with coffee beans—-they look pretty similar.
The students searched for letter C’s in the beans.
Science access point: recognize objects that are identical to each other.
Pompoms were sorted into either a cute heart shaped candy tin for the BROWN chocolate ones or a white “candy dish” for the WHITE chocolate ones.
Of course, sometimes it was fun just to grab a handful and enjoy the pompoms’ soft and squishy texture!
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Math access point: recognize a common three-dimensional object.
Our chocolate scented play dough was pretty realistic looking AND smelling!
The adults definitely kept a close eye on things with this box 🙂 The students cut “chocolate donuts” or made their own candy creations.
There was also a pastry wheel that made some fun patterns in the play dough.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
Chocolate cake mix made perfect cloud dough! It was fun to scoop, mold, or squeeze through fingers.
A little messy, but a really fun sensory experience that smelled good too! The students were really intrigued with this box!
Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
We wanted to add a little bit of color to this unit, so we brought out our colorful candy colored rice. There were some “cocoa” beans to find as well as play food candy, chocolate, and two different sized cookies. This rice was really eye catching!
Underneath the rice were pictures of chocolate candy.
Science access point: recognize the larger of two objects.
A little cocoa powder added to oobleck made for a fun chocolate river.
This was really MESSY but really FUN 🙂
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
There was a little teapot and water wheel in our water basin this week.
Once the first student rinsed their hands, our water play turned into a chocolate fountain!
Science access point: recognize water as a liquid.
We couldn’t find any chocolate scented lotion, so we used a chocolate scented LipSmacker to apply our signature scent to wrists or behind ears.
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday the students made candy apples using purchased craft foam apple shapes!
First, they identified the color of their apples.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
We mixed a little glue with the brown paint and painted our apples. The popsicle stick already taped to the apple made it easy to hold.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Then, we added some confetti sprinkles (the glue in the paint helped make sure it stuck) and of course, we sang our glitter song 🙂
Math access point: indicate desire for more of an action or object.
TA—-yummy—-DA!
Candy apples………
……they look good enough to eat!
On Thursday the students made chocolate chip cookies using paper plates.
First, they identified the shape of paper plate.
Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.
Then, they painted their paper plates with brown paint.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
Next, the students let us know how many chocolate chips they wanted on their cookie.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
The pre-cut chips were added and the glue we had added to the paint helped them stick.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!
Time for cookies!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We got to make a nice and chocolatey treat this week for language group. This week we made chocolate mousse using this recipe: let_s make chocolate mousse
**Words in caps are the words targeted on their communication boards**
We started out by talking about how we were going to MAKE chocolate mousse.
The first thing we did was PUT a box of instant chocolate pudding mix into the BOWL. Whichever student WANTed to HELP had to raise their hand and indicate HELP on their board.
Next, we PUT 2 tbsp of cocoa powder into the BOWL. Each student had to identify the tablespoon when presented with a cup and a tablespoon. They were told that the tablespoon was the LITTLE one. We talked about how using the wrong kitchen tool could ruin the recipe.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
For the final ingredient (only 3 ingredients…yay!) we PUT some heavy cream into the BOWL. This time, the students were presented with a cup and a 1/2 cup.
They were told to identify the BIG one.
Math access point: recognize a half of an object as part of the whole object.
Each student got a chance to press the switch to make the mixer TURN. Our mousse formed really fast, so each student just got a little chance to press the switch.
Science access point: observe an recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship related to a science topic.
When it was ready, each student got a small amount of mousse and no spoon. They had to indicate that they needed a SPOON and that they wanted MORE.
We think we’d all like to do a chocolate theme each week 🙂
Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
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For the new year, we’re taking a look back at the 1950s. We found lots of neat things that happened during the ’50s like the invention of TV dinners, the creation of the Mickey Mouse Club tv show, and the welcoming of the 50th state of the United States. We found a few other things too. You’ll have to read the book to find out what those are 🙂 We have one of our students attending a sock hop on the front of the book and another one of our students dressed as Lucy from the I Love Lucy show on the back. Enjoy!
Here is a link to the book: what happened in the 1950s?
To start the new year, we decided to take a look back——–WAY back, all the way to the 1950’s! The sensory groups explored boxes related to different facts from the decade. The fine motor groups made some cool art projects and the language group made a 1950’s inspired recipe.
SENSORY GROUP
We put the numbers 1 9 5 0 in this rice box. In addition to running their fingers through the rice, the students had fun scooping it up and adding it to a small metal cup.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions, using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
Our outer space black beans and rice contained our nod to NASA which was started in 1958.
There was a cool rocket toy that had a spinning astronaut and flashing lights when the button was pushed.
Science access point: distinguish between objects in motion (kinetic energy) and at rest.
Disney Land and the Mickey Mouse Club tv show both had their start in 1955.
There were lots of fun things to find in this box, including Disney character figures, colorful beads, and a VOD that had the Mickey Mouse song recorded on it.
Social studies access point: recognize a character in a story that is not real.
Elvis had a hit with the song Heartbreak Hotel in 1956.
The students made both BIG and LITTLE hearts in red moon sand.
Math access point: recognize the larger of two objects.
TV dinners were first introduced in 1953. Since they had foil trays and covers, we thought it would be fun to have a box with a foil. This space blanket was the perfect choice.
It was fun to throw up in the air and made a fun crackling noise when crunched—–it was a huge hit with the students!
Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
A couple more photos—–this was a really fun experience for the students!
Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay made it to the top of Mount Everest in 1953.
The students swirled snowy shaving foam around a laminated mountain top for messy play this week.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
20000 League Under the Sea was a movie released in 1954.
Our water play contained a little submarine and a variety of sea animals—-including a giant squid!
Science access point: match living things with their habitats.
Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959! This inspired us to use Bath and Body Works pineapple as our scent this week.
The sweet aroma was a big hit with the students.
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday the students made Mount Everest models and then put themselves on the mountain using this template: mountain climber template
First, the students identified the shape of their poster board mountain. They also identified the shape of a tissue box that would be used for the project.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Then they added “snow” (a mixture of glue and shaving cream) to their triangle.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Next, they put themselves on to the mountain. Since there was glue in our snow mixture, we didn’t need extra glue!
The mountain was hot glued (by an adult) on to the tissue box to help it stand up and…..
TA DA from the top of the world!!!
We climbed Mount Everest!!!!
On Thursday the students gave themselves a new look using this: elvis hair template
First, the students identified the color of the yarn we were going to use for the project.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Then, using regular, adapted, or switch operated scissors, the students snipped pieces of yarn.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
Glue spreaders were used to spread glue around the black poster board hair template and applied their pieces of yarn.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA—-Elvis—- DA!!!
Don’t tread on our blue suede shoes!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made a yummy treat that was popular in the ’50s: jello salad! Here is the recipe that we used: let_s make blueberry vanilla jello salad
(The words that are capitalized are the targeted words on the communication boards)
We started by talking about how we were going to MAKE a jello salad, noting that this type of salad is DIFFERENT from the salad that we usually eat.
First, we PUT a box of vanilla instant pudding mix into a BOWL. One of our students indicated they WANTed to HELP by raising their hand and indicating HELP.
Next, we PUT vanilla yogurt into the BOWL. We had 2 students HELP with this since the container was big. We had to STIR the ingredients together.
After that, we PUT cool whip in and STIRRED that together as well.
Finally, we added some blueberries and STIRRED those in, first talking about how the bag of frozen blueberries felt COLD.
We LOOKed at the ingredients and saw that the color was becoming DIFFERENT, going from white to a purple color.
Each student had to request some of the jello salad by indicating WANT. They were only given a small amount, so they had to request MORE if they wanted more than what they got. A spoon was not given to them either, which prompted them to request a SPOON as well.
We’re thinking these kiddos really LIKED their ’50s treat! What do you think? 🙂
Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
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Welcome to the After Party! Each week after the weekly blog featuring activities in the elementary department is posted, our sensory cart is parked in the media center where it is available for check out by the rest of the school.
Here are photos teachers have sent of their students exploring the different sensory boxes during the month of November and December 2018.
We started with a Candy Land theme! The students molded “plum” colored Bubber into play figures.
They used gingerbread girl and circle cookie cutters with rainbow colored kinetic sand.
Our candy colored beans were fun to sift through to find the letter C.
Then the students made Lord Licorice chenille stem “candy”.
They loved the “gloopy” chocolate ooblek!
For Queen Frostine, we added some glitter gingerbread men and candy figures to our snowflake umbrella.
Next we celebrated Veteran’s Day with a salute to our armed forces!
The students cut different sized stars out of had red, white, and blue play dough.
Eventually it got mixed together and we got camo green play dough 🙂
They drove an airplane through red, white, and blue rice.
There were also some letter A’s to find.
Toy army soldiers were camouflaged in our “camo” beans!
The soldiers could be sorted and/or counted.
There was a box devoted to the animal mascots of the different service branches.
A small Coast Guard boat sailed in blue kinetic sand.
For National Hiking Day we learned about the state of Wyoming.
The students loved the Insta-snow and colorful “prism pool” water.
There were lots of fun things to find in the hiking box, including sunglasses and a toy camera—-to take wildlife photos.
We put letter W’s in a box of pinto beans—-the official state food!
There were horses to find on in the oatmeal “ranch”
and fish fossils to find in kinetic sand.
Let’s Go Shopping was a fun unit and the book featured students out on CBI shopping trips.
Since the students ride a school buses for CBI,
there were some toy buses to find in a box of black beans.
You need money to go shopping!
This was a popular box!
Clothes are something you might buy at the store.
The students used clothing shaped cookie cutters in yellow moon sand.
There were letter S’s to find in our rice box.
There were also some spoons for scooping practice.
Play food filled the food court box.
The squeaky cupcake was a hit!
Our oobleck looked just like Cinnabon icing—-
cool, drippy, fun!
Messy hands were rinsed in vanilla sugar scented water.
Yummy!
The semester finished with A Christmas Carol!
Mardi Gras beads stood in for Scrooge’s gold.
Chenille stems looped together like Marley’s chains.
There were lots of things to discover in our Christmas box.
The blinking red nose made for silly fun!
Since the story takes place in England, we used our tea box this week.
Fairy lights filled a clear shoe box and were a big hit with the students!
So was the shaving cream snow.
Holiday themed balls were scooped from peppermint scented water.
Thanks for joining the After Party—-see you next month!
Tis the season! Our theme this week is A Christmas Carol. Each page features one of our students dressed as a character from the book. The background on each page was painted in art with our art teacher Judy and some of her students. It’s so great and we love it! Joy put together some pretty terrific costumes also that you don’t want to miss!
Here is a link to the book: Who Are The Characters In A Christmas Carol?