Category Archives: Education

Apr8

March After Party

Posted on April 8, 2017 by jd785

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 March—–enjoy!

We started the month celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss!

The “If I Ran the Zoo” box had a variety of animals in a box filled with sawdust. The sawdust had a really interesting texture that was intriguing to the students.

They also matched letters in the colorful ABC box.

Shaker pom poms made a great stand in for Truffula trees!

Bright, colorful—-so much fun to shake!

Using green Floam, the students made the own version of The Grinch.

Another intriguing texture!

Of course we had Oobleck!

Just cornstarch and water but always a big hit with the students!

In a box of paper shred (a nod to books) there were lots of Seussical things—-

representing lots of different Dr. Seuss books.

The box also contained a very popular hat 🙂

This unit was so much fun!

We celebrated Youth Art Month by learning about some famous artists.

Mondrian used primary colors in his grid paintings.

For his box we had the students sort primary colored pompoms.

Kinetic sand made for a perfect desert landscape for our Dali box.

It even had some melting clocks!

Our starry, starry night play dough was so pretty—-Van Gogh would be proud we think!

There were 2 different sized star shaped cookie cutters for the students to use.

Harold Newton became famous painting pictures of Florida.

We put lots of symbols of the state in this box.

Ian Falconer illustrates the Olivia book series. We thought pink sand was perfect for this box.

The students really loved the soft feel of this sand and watching it drift through the sifter.

Alexander Calder made mobiles using different shapes.

The students were encouraged to draw shapes in shaving foam—-circles were a popular choice!

J. Turner was famous for painting ocean scenes—–perhaps he would have liked our little ocean scene 🙂

Plumeria was our scent this week since Georgia O’Keefe painted a picture of them. The students really liked the scent!

Next we learned about the country of Israel—-one of our nurses recently traveled there and brought back lots of wonderful pictures and other goodies to share with us!

To travel there she had to fly in an airplane. We simulated the flight by using a vibrating massager and airplane sounds recorded on a voice output device.

The massager was a real hit with the students—–

they loved it!

We learned that Isreal has one coral reef in Eilat.

We used pink Floam to represent the coral and put in a variety of fish and silk flowers to decorate it.

The students had a lot of fun making their coral reefs.

Very eye catching and a very interesting texture to explore!

They also rebuilt some ruins in the Negev desert.

The wooden camel was one of the things Nurse Jill brought back for us!

The Dead Sea is very salty so one of our boxes was filled with salt.

We added a funnel and a map of Israel at the bottom of the box.

We colored the rice blue and white like the colors of the Israeli flag. We put in letter I’s for the students to find.

There was a picture of the flag at the bottom on the box.

During Sukkot children sleep in huts decorated with fairy lights.

We made our own version with a lighted umbrella.

It was a real hit with all the students!

There were fish to catch in our “Mediterranean” Sea

using a sifter instead of a net.

Our final theme for March was the History of Basketball.

The students learned about the founder of the sport James Naismith who was a physician and educator from Canada.

This box had lots of interesting items representing facts about him.

Here they sorted 5 objects of 2 different colors. This represented the 2 teams of 5 players each that play a game of basketball.

In addition to sorting,

there were lots of different textures to explore!

Colorful chenille stems represented the Olympics and colorful beads represented the NBA.

Both organizations associated with basketball.

This bright orange play dough was very eye-catching.

Fun smash, roll, or use a cookie cutter to cut out letter “B”.

Food coloring helped make our shaving cream almost basketball orange 🙂

The students worked on drawing circles.

Hands were rinsed in peach scented waters.

2 or 3 “points” could be scooped up with a large measuring cup.

We finished with matching peach scented lotion—-peach baskets were the first hoops in the game!

That wraps up March—-we will be back next month for another After Party, Group by Group style!

Apr2

The History of Basketball book

Posted on April 2, 2017 by jd785

The History of Basketball book

March Madness is here!! Lots of people get hyped up around this time of year due to all of the basketball games being played, so we decided to do a some research and find out a little more about the game of basketball. The book talks about WHO invented basketball, what the first pro game was, and how March Madness originated in the first place. We learned so many interesting things about the game of basketball! We do have one student featured in our book on our “THE END” page, so make sure to check it out!

Here is a link to the book: The History of Basketball

Apr2

The History of Basketball

Posted on April 2, 2017 by jd785

The History of Basketball

With March Madness going on we thought it would be fun to learn a little bit about the history of the sport. The sensory group explored boxes related to different facts about the sport. The fine motor groups made basketball themed art projects and the language group played an adapted version of the game.

SENSORY GROUP

James Naismith invented the game of basketball. This box was dedicated to him and had lots of Canadian symbols since that is where he was born. We included a toy stethoscope because not only was he a PE teacher but he was also a physician—-how cool is that!

Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point that can be addressed with this activity.

Using Koolaid we made our play dough a nice bright basketball orange. The students could make balls, stamp letter B’s, or just squish and squeeze the play dough. They throughly had a good time.

Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.

Basketball is played with 2 teams consisting of 5 players each.We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to reinforce some math facts with this box! There were 5 blue and 5 red items for the students to explore and sort——-or shake 🙂

The math access point solve simple problems involving joining or separating small quantities of objects can be addressed here.

There were more opportunities for sorting with this box filled with beads in the colors of the NBA—-red, white, and blue! Of course, it was mostly an opportunity to wear or shake the beads!

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

In 1936 basketball became an Olympic sport. Using giant fluffy chenille stems the students had fun making circles, joining them together, and taking them apart. The chenille stems also provided another opportunity to discuss colors.

Recognize when an object is added to or taken away from a situation is a math access point.

The students were encouraged to draw circles/balls in this orange tinted shaving cream.

Recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape is a math access point.

We put some foam numbers in our water play this week. The students got to “score” by scooping up either 2 or 3 points!

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

Since the original hoops were actually peach baskets, peach was the obvious scent to use this week for our water play and lotion! Our students are getting pretty good at using the Pixon board to tell us where they want the lotion.

Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made their own basketball playbooks!

We started with a rectangular piece of paper with a basketball court sketch and some X’s and O’s drawn on it by Ms. Zenia the fabulous OT intern!

Then the fun began! The students got to operate a switch activated drawing tool to illustrate their play calling. There were certainly some interesting strategies planned 🙂

Distinguish between objects in motion and objects at rest is a science access point.

TA Da—-game on!

On Wednesday the students made paper plate basketballs!

We started by identifying the shape of our plates and color of our paint using communication symbols.

Recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape is a math access point. Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

Then the students stamped their plates with a dish scrubber. We emphasized stamping UP and DOWN.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship is a math access point.

TA DA—-time to play!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We had our own tournament today in honor of March Madness. We used an All-Turn-It spinner that had 2’s and 3’s all around it to signify the points that basketball players make during a game.

Both adults and students got to be in the tournament. We started out by picking 2 names out of a bag. These 2 people would play against each other.

We had communication boards in front of each student so that they could convey “my turn”. The 2 “players” took turns and had 3 times each to press the switch and see what points they got.

We used a white board to write down the points that each player made. Once they each went 3 times, we added up the scores and talked about who had MORE points.

Once we figured out who the winner was, the next 2 players competed and so on until we finally had an overall winner.

This group was so great today because it gave the adults a great chance to model the use of the communication boards while they were playing the game. Everyone got so excited, too, when we had to go into overtime if the players tied.

Finally, we had a winner!

Of course, we can’t NOT have a little snack in this group so we summed it all up with some basketball shaped Vanilla Wafers 🙂

Join us next time for more fun and learning——-Group by Group!

Mar26

Israel book

Posted on March 26, 2017 by jd785

Israel book

We are taking a trip and learning all about Israel this week. We were lucky to get some authentic pictures of Israel taken by one of our nurses, Jill, who just recently visited the country. Our book tells about some of the things you can see in Israel, such as the Dead Sea and the Negev Desert. You can also find out what kind of produce is grown and distributed out of Israel. Check out the book and see some of the great photos from Jill!

Here is a link to the book: Let_s Learn About Israel

Mar26

Israel

Posted on March 26, 2017 by jd785

Israel

Shalom! Our very own Nurse Jill recently went to Israel for a vacation so we decided to learn a little more about the country! The sensory group boxes were related to facts about Israel. The fine motor groups made art projects based on symbols of the country and the language group made a tasty Israeli snack.

We enjoyed learning lots of interesting things about Israel this week and hope you do too!

SENSORY GROUP

To get to Israel you have to fly on an airplane. We brought out our vibrating massager and recorded some airplane sounds (found on Youtube) on a voice output device to simulate the experience for our students. The students really liked the vibrating massager—–it is usually a hit 🙂

Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.

The colors of the Israeli flag are blue and white. Our blue and white rice contained letter I’s to find as well as a picture of the flag at the bottom of the box.

Associate an object, picture, or symbol with a location is a social studies access point.

The Negev desert covers more than half of Israel! In our miniature version we included some wooden blocks to let the students recreate their own ancient ruins. Nurse Jill also brought back some little camels that we also included.

The math access point recognize when an object is added to or taken away from a situation can be addressed here.

The Dead Sea is well known tourist destination and the waters are VERY salty! The students loved scooping up the salt and watching it stream out of the bottom of the funnel. There was also a map of Israel to find at the bottom of the box.

Track objects in motion is a science access point.

As opposed to the Dead Sea, the Eilat coral reef is teaming with life! The students got to make their own coral reef using pink Floam. The Floam texture is always pretty intriguing to the students and all they also liked all the colorful accessories such as little sea creatures and sea anemones we included.

Match common living things with their habitats is a science access point.

During Sukkot, a jewish holiday, children sleep in cabins decorated with fairy lights. We created a similar effect with a lighted umbrella which was definitely a hit with the students! This was a pretty simple umbrella to construct but it really had a lovely effect 🙂

Recognize sources of light is a science access point.

Israel is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. Our miniature version contained 2 small and 1 big fish to scoop up.

Recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects is a math access point.

Israel grows a lot of citrus fruit so we chose a yummy orange scent this week. The students really liked having it rubbed on hands, arms, or behind ears!

Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made a Canaan dog which is the national dog of Israel. We used this: canaan dog template

First we discussed the color of our paint and the students used communication symbols to identify the color BROWN.

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

Then the students began painting! We precut the dog templates out of orange poster board. A popsicle stick was taped to the back, this support made the dogs easier to hold.

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

We squeezed out a dot of glue and asked the students to add a little googlie eye. Then we helped them add a chenille stem to make a curly tail—–a feature of the Canaan dog. This was a great opportunity to practice pincer grasp skills!

Match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is a math access point.

Ta Woof Woof Da!

Such cute puppies 🙂

On Wednesday the students made an Israeli flag.

First we identified the color of the stripes on the flag.

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

Then the students used a paper cutter to cut 1 piece of paper into 2 pieces! We encouraged the students to use both hands when using the paper cutter—–practicing bilateral coordination.

Associate quantities with number names is a science access point.

Next they glued their papers strips near the TOP and BOTTOM of a white piece of paper. They glued a star of David to the MIDDLE of their paper.

The math access point recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship can be addressed here.

Ta DA!

Let’s visit Israel!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We were SO excited to have Nurse Jill come and help us with our language group today. We asked her what kinds of food she ate in Israel and she said that hummus was on the menu pretty much every day. So that’s what she helped us make today! Here is the recipe:Let_s Make Hummus!

We started out by putting the liquids into the blender. First we put olive oil in the blender and followed that up with the lemon juice. You know how much we LOVE taste testing lemon juice and today was no exception. We got a wide variety of reactions as usual 🙂

We talked about how the lemon juice was SOUR.

We poured some tahini into the blender next. Then we added the chickpeas and garlic.

Recognize when an object has been added to a situation is a math access point.

Since it is so pungent, we passed the garlic around for everyone to smell.

Again, we found that students either really liked it or really didn’t!

Lastly, we added some salt. Our students had to HELP put the blender on using a switch. We observed the ingredients MIXING together until they were smooth.

This was fun!!

Jill brought some matza so that our students could use it to dip in the hummus. YUM!

THANK YOU so much to Jill for coming in and cooking with us and also telling us all about her wonderful trip!

Join us again for more fun and learning——Group by Group!

Mar12

Youth Art Month book

Posted on March 12, 2017 by jd785

Youth Art Month book

The theme for this week is Youth Art Month, which is observed during the month of March. Our book takes a look at several different artists like Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, and Salvador Dali (just to name a few). Each page shows a picture of the artist along with one of their pieces of art. It’s so neat to see all of the different types of art! The front page features one of our students visiting a muesum while the back page features one of our students painting. Read the book to find out about these amazing artists!

Here is a link to the book: We Celebrate Youth Art Month

Mar12

Youth Art Month

Posted on March 12, 2017 by jd785

Youth Art Month

March is Youth Art Month and to celebrate we learned about some famous artists. Each of the sensory group boxes represented a different artist. The fine motor group drew inspiration from some of the styles of famous artists to make their art projects and the language group made food art! This week was lots of fun and our theme also compliments the Unique Curriculum unit our students are working on.

SENSORY GROUP

Salvador Dali has a very famous painting with some melting clocks in a desert landscape. We replicated it using kinetic sand and some craft foam clocks (drawn by Ms. Erika) so there were 3 “melting” clocks to find. It was a fun box and the students were pretty intrigued with the clocks!

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

The students cut different sized stars out of our Vincent Van Gogh starry night play dough! With the added blue and gold silver glitter, it sparkled quite nicely.

Recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects is a math access point.

Harold Newton was one of the Highway Men famous for their Florida landscape paintings. This Florida box was fun to put together and filled with symbols of our state such as flamingoes, dolphins, pine trees, flowers, and oranges. Lots of things to explore!

The science access point recognize a model of a real object is addressed here.

Olivia is a character in illustrator Ian Falconer’s book series. Since Olivia is a pig, we went all pink with this box. We pulled out our pink sand and included a cute little toy pig. This play sand is really fine and perfect for sifting—-our students LOVED watching it fall from the sifter back into the box!

Track a falling object is a science access point.

Piet Mondrian used primary colors for his grid paintings. We put blue, red, and yellow pompoms to sort into matching plates in this box. Some of the students could do this independently while others needed help.

Either way, this was a very bright, eye catching box!

Match objects by one observable properties, such as color, is a science access point.

Shaving cream was perfect for drawing geometric shapes—–like those used by Alexander Calder in his mobiles.

The science access point apply a push to move an object is addressed here.

Hands were rinsed in a seascape worthy of JMW Turner. There was a little sailing ship and octopus to find in the water. There were also 2 scoops, one of which had a hole in the bottom for some fun experimentation as well as scooping practice.

The science access point recognize differences in objects can be addressed here.

Flowers are the theme of some of Georgia O’Keefe’s famous paintings. She made one called Plumeria so we used that as our scent this week. We used Bath and Bodyworks plumeria and it was a light floral scent that the students really liked.

Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students made “drip” paintings like Jackson Pollock.

First we discussed the shape of our paper and identified it using communication symbols.

Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.

Then the students used more communication symbols to pick colors to use.

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

We used these kids eye droppers that we found at Walmart. They were fairly inexpensive and a nice size. Most of the students needed a little help with this part of the activity. They were all fascinated with the process!

The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed here.

Ta Da!!!!!!!!!!!!

So colorful!

On Wednesday the students made art projects inspired by Gustav Klimt.

We discussed the shape of our paper and identified it using communication symbols.

Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.

Then the students used a variety of cutting tools—-paper cutters, adaptive scissors, and regular scissors—-to cut strips of colorful paper.

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

Next we mixed all the pieces together and shared them among the students to turn OVER and glue DOWN on to their paper.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down, is a math access point.

Klimt liked to add gold leaf to his paintings. We didn’t have any gold leaf but we did have gold paint and that worked pretty well!

The science access point recognize a change in an object is again addressed here.

Ta Da!

Just fabulous!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Since you know that we like to incorporate food into our language groups, it was a great excuse to use food to make art!

Each of our students got a piece of white bread which served as their blank canvas. We started out talking about the primary colors: RED, BLUE, and YELLOW.

Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

We poured some sweetened condensed milk into 5 small cups. We put RED food coloring into one cup, BLUE food coloring into another cup, and YELLOW food coloring into a third cup (we put 10 drops of each coloring into each cup). Then the students got to stir the colors using brand new paint brushes!

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

We the talked about mixing the primary colors to make new colors. First we showed our students RED and BLUE and asked them to PREDICT what color it would make. We did the same with BLUE and YELLOW.

Then the students mixed up the colors again—–they thought it was really neat to see the colors changing!

Observe and recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship related to a science topic is a science access point.

Next, each of our students used communication symbols to indicate what color they wanted to paint with.

The colors ended up being so vibrant on the bread—-they really popped!

We found that we have some pretty good artists in our group!

Finally, after their edible art was complete, they got to eat their masterpieces.

YUM!

We will be gone next week for spring break but will back in a couple of weeks with more fun and learning——-Group by Group!

Mar10

February After Party

Posted on March 10, 2017 by jd785

February After Party

Here are photos teachers have sent of their students exploring the different sensory boxes during the month of February—–enjoy!

One of our paraprofessionals is from Minnesota, so we started the month learning about that state.

After learning that the monarch butterfly is the state insect,

the students sorted RED butterflies and GREEN caterpillars.

Judy Garland hails from the state of Minnesota.

Her rainbow rice box contained letter M’s and a map of the state.

Another Minnesota native was the musician Prince.

For his box, the students stamped the state’s initials in purple Bubber.

Our next box contained a variety of symbols of the state.

Including Babe the Blue Ox!

The Minnesota NFL team is called the vikings and their colors are purple and gold.

Great to twist and wrap around each other.

The students had a little fun with the chenille stems in the team colors.

Kids will be kids 🙂

It gets pretty snowy in Minnesota in the winter.

So we may snow with shaving cream!

Minnesota is known as the land of 10,000 lakes.

Fishing is popular there!

For our scent this week we used Bath and Bodyworks dancing waters. The students really liked the soft scent!

Our next unit celebrated the Grammys! This unit also had a fun book with students dressed as famous singers—–check it out!

Since the Grammys are all about music, we put a variety of musical instruments in this box.

The finger drums are always a favorite with the students!

Taylor Swift’s “Red” box (red velvet cake mix) had 2 heart shaped scoops because she writes lots of songs about love.

Our students loved the box 🙂

Fun to sift and scoop—-and it had a pretty nice aroma also!

Ziggy Marley comes from Jamaica, so we made some rice in the colors of the flag.

This bright and colorful box was VERY eye catching!

Eric Church is a country singer so we thought a farm themed box would be appropriate for him.

There were a number of different farm animals to find in this box filled with birdseed.

Katy Perry had a hit song titled “Roar” so we made a jungle box for her!

It was a fun box with lots of jungle animals to find and listen to.

Bruno Mars is from Hawaii so his was a beach themed box!

There were shells to find and flowers to stamp into the sand.

One of our teachers got to visit Machu Picchu in Peru so we decided that would be perfect for our next week!

Part of the Andes mountains are found in Peru! Our students made their own mountains out of Floam,

and added 4 llamas (laminated pictures) to climb them.

Potatoes were first grown in Peru!

The students enjoyed the crunchy feel of the potato flakes as they uncovered a map of Peru at the bottom of the box.

Copper is one of Peru’s leading exports.

The students stamped the letter “P” into our copper colored kinetic sand—–or just enjoyed the way it felt on their hands!

The students looked for 2 jaguars hidden in some tropical flowers.

They also had fun with the flower petals!

The colors of the Peruvian flag are red and white. We put a variety of red and white items in this box for the students to sort and explore.

The vibrating crab was a HUGE hit!

Part of the Amazon rainforest is located in Peru.

We also recorded some rainforest sounds on a voice output device.Our rainforest umbrella was a hit!

We traveled again for our next unit, but this time a little closer to home—–Louisiana!

We had lots of Mardi Gras beads.

Always a big hit!

We had discovery bottles in the state colors——

white, blue, and gold!

There was also a box filled with Louisiana state symbols.

One of the state songs was recorded on a voice output device.

The students stamped letter L’s into our sunshine yellow play dough.

Included was a rolling pin with sun”rays” to make impressions in it.

Shaving cream was sprinkled with blue and gold glitter.

As usual, lots of fun!

We had colorful Mardi Gras rice—-

with letter L’s to find in it.

The students scooped up plastic crawfish out of water.

We finished with some beignet (actually vanilla sugar) scented lotion—-yummy!

It’s been lots of fun—–see you next month, Group by Group!

Mar5

Dr. Seuss book

Posted on March 5, 2017 by jd785

Dr. Seuss book

We are celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday this week in our groups! We have a wonderful book featuring several of our students dressed up as characters from varying Dr. Seuss books. We have the Lorax, Daisy-Head Mayzie, the Grinch, and of course, the Cat in the Hat, just to name a few. You’ll have to check out the book to see the other characters that are featured!

Here is a link to the book: we-introduce-dr-seuss

Mar5

Dr. Seuss

Posted on March 5, 2017 by jd785

Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! We celebrated his birthday this week for Read Across America! Our sensory groups explored colorful boxes inspired by Dr. Seuss books. The fine motor groups made Seuss inspired art projects and the language group made a yummy snack to finish off the week. It was tons of fun and everyone LOVED the book we made to go with this unit—–be sure to check it out!

SENSORY GROUP

This box was filled with lots of Seuss (or Seuss like) items including the ABC book and a fabulous hat! The base of the box was shredded paper—-because Dr. Seuss wrote books back when they were all paper!

The language access point attend to familiar literary forms (ex. picture books) can be addressed here.

The Grinch is one of our favorite characters! The students used green float to form their own Grinch figures using a plastic ornament and some hands from a play dough set. Ok so the Grinch didn’t have purple hands in the original story but we still think they worked pretty well 🙂

The science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed here.

We used some sawdust as the base of our Zoo box. There were a variety of animals and a little zookeeper to help take care of them. In addition, we put a picture of a lion at the bottom of the box and asked the students to find the animal that was the same as the picture.

Match animals based on a given shared characteristic is a science access point that can be addressed here.

We thought our shaker pom poms kind of looked like the tops of Truffula trees! Colorful, eye catching and so much fun to shake! We haven’t brought these out for a while and the students were pretty excited to see them again!

The science access point distinguish between objects in motion and at rest can be addressed here.

The students also got a little goofy and had fun pretending to be Truffle trees by putting the pom poms on their heads.

Pretty fun stuff 🙂

The students found the letters A B and C in colorful pasta. We put in 2 of each letter so the students could match them. Of course, it was also fun to just put hands in too!

Match objects by on observable property, such as shape is a science access point.

With a Dr. Seuss unit, you HAVE to have oobleck! Gooey, drippy, always fun!

Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move, is a science access point.

There were 2 blue fish to find in our bubble filled water play. These fish were especially fun since they squirted water when squeezed—-there were lots of giggles with this 🙂

Recognize two objects that are the same size or color is a math access point.

We used Bath and BodyWorks apple scented bath gel in our water play and again for our lotion this week. This was a perfect scent to help us remember all the fun we had this week and was a hit with the students.

The science access point recognize one or more external body parts is addressed here.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday, the students made their own puff balls and became little Who’s to dance on them!

After discussing the circle shape of the puff ball and identifying it using communication symbols we mixed together shaving cream and glue.

The math access point recognize when an object or material is addressed here.

The students painted the mixture onto a purple circle. This thick gooey mixture dries like puffy paint—-so cool!

Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.

We added a little glitter and then each student put a cutout pictures of themselves to the puffball.

The math access point recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down, is addressed here.

Ta Da———- super cute!!!!!!

On Wednesday the students made a Horton inspired elephant!

First we discussed the shapes we were using and asked them to identify a circle using communication symbols.

Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.

The students cut their circles in half using a paper cutter addressing the science access point recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.

Then we looked at how the 2 half circles could be put back together to make a circle.

The math access point recognize parts of common objects can be addressed here.

The elephant’s trunk started as a RECTANGLE which the students then folded an crumpled to give it some dimension!

Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.

Then the students began assembling their elephants—-a big circle face, 2 half circle ears, a rectangle trunk AND 2 big, round googlie eyes!

Recognize when an object is added to a situation is a math access point.

TA Da!

Some of Horton’s cute relatives!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We made an apple treat today in honor of the book 10 Apples up on Top. Here is the recipe that we used: lets-make-an-apple-delicious-dessert

We used Pixon communication boards throughout that had fringe vocabulary focusing on cooking.

We also used super large symbols such as the symbol “turn” when it was time to turn the page of our recipe book.

We started out by crushing up graham crackers using a rolling pin. We broke this part up between a couple of students, so after the first student crushed them a bit our students had to indicate that we needed to crush them up MORE.

Once the graham crackers were finished, we put them in a bowl and POURed melted butter on top. Our students helped STIR the ingredients together then we PRESSed them into a baking pan.

Next, we combined some whipped cream and cream cheese. Again, our students helped STIR the ingredients together. When finished, we SPREAD half of the mix over the graham crackers in the pan.