With the new Dora the Explorer movie being released, we decided to have our theme be about the different characters that are in the Dora TV show and movie. We had lots of help from our students as they dressed up as some of the characters. Take a look to see Dora, Diego, Boots, and lots of other friends!
Here is a link to the book: Which Dora the Explorer Character Can I Be.?
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are learning all about Puerto Rico! We learned some really neat things like how Puerto Rico got it’s name, what the state bird and flower are, and which famous people were born there. We have a couple of students here at school who are from Puerto Rico and they are taking in the sights on the front and back of the book. Take a look and find out some cool things about Puerto Rico!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn About Puerto Rico.
It is Hispanic Heritage Month and we are learning about Puerto Rico. The sensory groups explored boxes related to facts about the country. The fine motor groups made colorful crafts and the language group hosted a Carnaval de Ponce!
SENSORY GROUP
We put the letters P and R in red, white, and blue rice—–the colors of the Puerto Rican flag.
Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties, such as shape.
There were lots of different things associated with Puerto Rico in this flower filled box including animals and foods grown there. There was a big white star like the one on the flag and the words HOME and FAMILY.
We also put in photos of famous Puerto Ricans and a voice output with a recording of a Ricky Martin song 🙂
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
The students stamped stars like the one found on the Puerto Rico flag.
The moon sand we used for this box has such a nice soft texture the students loved!
Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.
Gold can be found in the rivers of Puerto Rico. The students loved exploring or wearing the shiny gold beads!
So much fun!
They were fascinated by the swirling gold glitter in the discovery bottle.
This box was a hit 🙂
Science access point: track objects in motion.
Puerto Rico is known for beautiful beaches. There were sea shells to find and sand castles to build in our kinetic sand beach.
This is one of our favorite materials ever!!!
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Coconuts can be found in Puerto Rico so our oobleck became “coconut milk” this week—-what fun!
Goopy and drippy as usual 🙂
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
We put a boat and different size fish in our water play since Puerto Rico is an island.
Both the fish squirted water which made them extra fun!
Math access point: recognize similarities and differences in size of objects.
Puerto Rico is known as the Land of Enchantment so we used Bath and Body Works “be enchanted” scent for our bath gel and lotion.
Whether placed on hands, arms, neck, or behind ears it was a hit!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday the students made Puerto Rican flags.
First, the students identified the shapes found on the flag—-star, triangle, and rectangle!
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Next, they cut strips of red paper and glued them on to a piece of white paper.
The students used a variety of cutting tools.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
They were asked to glue their 3 strips to the TOP, BOTTOM, and MIDDLE of their papers.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Then they added a pre-cut triangle and big white star.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!
Let’s visit Puerto Rico!
On Wednesday we made Ponce Carnival masks using this template: Ponce mask
First, the students put glue on their masks using a glue stick.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
Then, they chose which color glitter they wanted to use on their mask.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
We added glitter——and sang our glitter song of course. For those new to us, the glitter song is our take on that old KC and the Sunshine band song. It goes like this: shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake that glitter, shake that glitter! Repeat as many times as needed 🙂
Science access point: recognize the change in the motion of an object.
TA DA!!!
We are ready for the Ponce parade!
LANGUAGE GROUP
There is a week-long celebration in Puerto Rico called the Carnaval de Ponce which is similar to Mardi Gras. There are parades and parties. We decided to have a social get together for the beginning of the year by having a Ponce celebration!
The language group used the masks they made earlier in the week as their costumes for the parade. They also got to wear colorful ponchos and costumes 🙂
Our students paraded through the halls……
……the crowds cheered!
We passed out beads and smiles………
………to the spectators.
After the parade, we all congregated for a “street party” in the hallways. Students got to socialize and listen to authentic Puerto Rican music.
We had so much fun dancing to the music!
Of course, what’s a party without snacks? For our party-goers we had some goldfish (Puerto Rico is an island after all), some coconut Oreos (lots of coconut in Puerto Rico), and some juice. We had sentence strips out so that students could request what they wanted.
What a great party!
It was a great week and we want to give a shout out to our fabulous volunteers who helped make everything possible.
Don’t forget to check your SPAM folder for your confirmation email if you want to follow us and join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
The theme for our school this year is “the jungle” so we decided to take a little safari and see what kinds of animals we could find. We had lots of help from students as they dressed up as the animals. We saw zebras, giraffes, and even some butterflies.
Take a look at the book to see all of the animals on our safari!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Go On A Safari
We are going on safari—-it is our school wide theme this year! The sensory groups explored animal themed boxes and the fine motor groups made animal themed art projects. The language group made a tasty animal themed treat!
SENSORY GROUP
This box contained safari themed items such as a toy camera, hat, sunglasses, jeep, compass, and a variety of toy animals.
Of course, the students had fun trying on the props 🙂
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Our bright colorful “tiger” rice was very eye catching. It might just be our favorite!
There were 3 camouflaged tigers to find in the rice!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
There were lots of animals, including monkeys, butterflies, lizards, bees, and bird to find in our jungle themed umbrella.
We also included a sloth hand puppet and a voice output with jungle sounds.
Science access point: recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli.
Yellow and brown pom pom’s filled this giraffe themed box.
Whether just feeling their soft texture or sorting by color, the students really enjoyed this.
Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties such as color.
More eye catching colors could be found in our butterfly and caterpillar pasta box.
There were a variety of other butterflies to find.
Math access point: recognize similarities and differences in size of common objects.
The students mixed yellow food coloring with shaving cream to make a fluffy mane for the laminated lion in our messy play.
Our lion ended up with some pretty wild hair 🙂
Science access point: recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.
Hands were rinsed in a little lake containing a crocodile and hippo.
Two different sized measuring cups were included for scooping fun.
Science access point: match living things with their habitats.
We are using up the last of our banana scented lotion with this unit. PLEASE start stocking it again World Market 🙂
Whether placed on hands, arms, neck, or behind ears, this lotion was a hit!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday the students made paper bag zebras.
First, they identified the paint color.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, they used a fun patterned roller to add stripes to their zebras.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Then, they added a nose, ears, eyes, and a cool mohawk cut from scrap paper.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!
Some zany zebras!
Quick—–take a picture!!!
On Wednesday we made sunset safari pictures.
First, the students identified the paint color.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, the students tore pieces of colorful tissue paper. The students really had fun with this part 🙂
Science access point: recognize a change in an object.
Then, they used paint brushes to spread glue over the yellow background paper and patted down strips of tissue paper on to the glue.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
Elephants were added by stamping UP and DOWN.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.
TA— trumpety trump— DA!!
We saw a herd of elephants.
What fabulous safari pictures!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made a yummy safari treat this week in our language group. Here is the recipe that we used: Let’s Make A Zebra Striped Parfait Disclaimer: we changed it a little bit by using 2 boxes of mix rather than 1 and using 3 cups of milk instead of 2 due to the amount of kiddos we had.
We started out by PUTTING white chocolate pudding mix into a bowl. Students who said they would HELP were given the pudding mix box. We waited for a few seconds while the students tried to open the boxes. After they were unable to open the boxes themselves, they were prompted to ask for HELP from staff.
Once the boxes were open, the mix was poured into the bowl.
Next, each student got to touch the milk. They indicated whether it felt COLD or HOT.
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Since we used 3 cups, 2 DIFFERENT students got to HELP. We first measured out 2 cups. The students were then asked how many MORE cups we needed to add.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
Once the pudding mix and milk were in the bowl, each student got to HELP mix it up.
After each student, we LOOKED at the bowl to see if the pudding was ALL DONE or if we needed to mix it MORE.
When the pudding was ALL DONE, we set it aside. Each student got a bag with 3 Oreo cookies. Students had to make sure they each had the correct amount. Then, they got to SMASH their cookies into pieces.
We used an ice cream scoop as a hammer and it worked perfectly!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Each student had to indicate that they WANTED some pudding in their CUP. Then, they each added HALF of the Oreos and repeated the pudding and Oreos again.
TaDa! A yummy zebra striped treat 🙂
Hope you enjoyed the safari! Join us next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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Although summer is over, we can still reminisce about the good times that we had. You can see what fun some of the staff here at school had by reading the book. Lots of staff got to travel–several traveled abroad! There were also new babies, birthdays, and festivals. Take a look and see what a great time we had this summer!
Here is a link to the book: We Had A Great Summer!
We are back and this become a little tradition of ours; we are beginning the school year with a summer themed post highlighting what staff did over the summer. The sensory groups explored boxes related to the different places staff visited. The fine motor groups practiced their cutting skills and the language group made a refreshing summer treat!
SENSORY GROUP
Ms. Joi’s dad celebrated a milestone birthday this summer and we continued the celebration with birthday cake cloud dough 🙂 We added two cookie cutters to stamp the number 70.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
An astronaut, rocket ship, and stars could be found in our “spacey” black beans. Ms. Judi visited NASA with her family.
The rocket was a BIG hit!
Science access point: recognize a space related object.
Ms. Robin cruised around the British Virgin Islands so we put a flag banner and little boat in this box.
The boat was pretty much ignored—-waving the banner around was way more fun 🙂
Science access point: recognize an action as fast or slow.
Our yellow and green rice represented the colors of Brazil—-Ms. Maria vacationed there. There were 3 letter B’s and a picture of the Brazilian flag to find.
This colorful rice was very eye catching!
Science access point: recognize objects as the same.
Ms. Danni visited Iceland! Our kinetic sand was just like the black sand beach she saw there.
Fish molds added to the fun for our students.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
There were some laminated pieces to build castles in green Floam in this box. Ms. Joy got to see lots of castles while visiting the Scottish Highlands.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
Dolphins and other fish swam around in our mini version of Discovery Cove. Ms. Ashley and her children got to swim with the dolphins there—-how cool is that!!!!
Our students were pretty intrigued with the dolphin and puffer fish toys.
Science access point: match living things with their habitats.
We used Sunset by the Pool Bath and Body Works lotion for our scent this week since it seemed the perfect reminder of summer fun 🙂
This scent was a hit!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday, the students made a camping scene using this template: tent
First, we identified the shape and color of our paper.
Math access point: recognize objects with two dimensional shapes.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property such as color.
Then, they stamped silver stars on their paper—-to look like a starry night sky.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.
The students cut the door opening of their tents. They had to be sure and STOP cutting at the end of the line.
Some of the students used switch operated scissors.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
The tent flaps were folded back and glued to the paper with a photo of each student inside.
TA DA!!
Summer camping fun!
On Wednesday, the students made a fun summer memory using colorful craft stick frames.
First, the identified a square.
Math access point: recognize objects with two dimensional shapes.
Then, they used paper cutters to cut a squares out of old calendar pages. We counted the sides of the square as we trimmed it.
Math access point: recognize the sides of a square.
Next, they glued on a picture of themselves on fabulous tropical beach scenes.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
Tropical Island fun!
We had a great summer!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Because it’s still hot here, we decided to make a nice cool drink that we could enjoy during this heat. In honor of the watermelon festival that one of our staff members went to this summer, we are making watermelon lemonade! Here is the recipe we used: Let’s Make Watermelon Lemonade.
We started by measuring out 4 cups of chopped watermelon. We had a measuring cup that can hold 2 cups, so we talked about how we would have to measure the watermelon 2 times. We had 2 students HELP PUT the watermelon in the blender.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Next, we had to squeeze 4 lemons. Our students HELPED by pressing a switch to activate the juicer. We counted how many lemons we had squeezed. Each student got to smell and then taste a little bit of lemon. They got to say if they LIKED or did NOT LIKE the smell and also got to indicate that the lemon tasted SOUR.
Science access point: recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli.
After we poured the lemon juice into the blender, our students HELPED TURN the blender on by activating a switch.
Science access point: recognize that electrical systems must be turned on in order to work.
Once the watermelon and lemon juice was all mixed up, we poured it into a pitcher. Next, we added some water. Each student felt the jug of water. They had to indicate whether it felt HOT or COLD. We had to PUT 6 cups in, so 3 DIFFERENT students got to HELP.
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Finally, we added some sugar and stirred it all up until the sugar dissolved.
Science access point: recognize a common substance that dissolves in water.
Each student had to request some of the lemonade by indicating that they WANTED some.
Pretty good first treat of the year!
We are so happy to be back and are looking forward to all the exciting things we have planned for the year.
Join us next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
Cara, Joi, and Joy would like to thank our parents, teachers, volunteers, and other staff members who help make our groups such a success week after week. We have had a blast this year and made lots of fun memories.
We are off for the summer but hope you join us again in the fall for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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.
We started April with Where We Go On CBI. This was a fun unit with the book featuring our students in various CBI locations.
Students used cookie cutters to stamp B U S into school bus yellow moon sand.
Blue and white rice represented one of the most popular CBI locations—— Walmart!
Another popular location is the Publix grocery store.
There were different play money coins to find buried in this box of multicolored beans.
We thought that making balls out of bright yellow Floam would be a great representation of sports activities.
Messy play represented the Community Arts program. We put some drops of food coloring in the shaving foam and let our artistic students mix it together.
Many of our parks have a lake or water feature. Our water feature contained the letters C B I to scoop up.
Bath and Body Works vanilla sugar scent reminded us of some yummy Publix cookies 🙂
We Hatched Some Baby Ducks came next.
We made our own duck egg incubator using some battery operated lights and some plastic eggs.
Duck and egg cookie cutters were used to cut out shapes in yellow play dough.
There were lots of plush ducks along, with a variety of plastic eggs in our “duck hotel”. We even lined it with some bedding straw!
Ducks have feathers so we HAD to include some! There were 2 colorful feather boas in this box.
We hid 2 little baby ducks in this box of birdseed. The birdseed has such a cool texture and is so much fun to bury your hand into.
One big rubber duck swam around our blue oobleck pond.
There were 4 colorful ducks floating in our water bin. We also included a measuring cup for scooping.
For our scent this week we used Bath and Body Works Into the Wild in our water play, then their country chic scent lotion—it was the best we could up with to represent ducks 🙂
Earth Day 2019!
Neon blue food coloring and green glitter made our play dough very eye catching this week.
Students sorted blue and green pompoms into matching bowls.
We used one of our space blankets for our aluminum recycling box!
This was a hit!
There was a base of recycled paper on to which we added plastic leaves, a rain stick, blue and green beads, silk flowers, a toy trash can, and a variety of toy endangered animals.
Our colorful blue earth day rice contained both upper and lower case letter E’s.
Fluffy shaving cream clouds swirled around a large laminated picture of the earth.
Hands were rinsed in a little sea filled with “trash”.
We chose Bath and Body Works mahogany teakwood for our scent this week because with 2 trees in the name it was the perfect choice for Earth Day!
Who Stole The Cookie was our take on the familiar rhyme.
Our little chefs had fun with this box which contained a variety of items associated with baking such as toy spatulas, whisks, and measuring cups.
Oatmeal raisin cookies were represented with a mix of some black bean “raisins” in this box of oatmeal.
Candy colored beans reminded us rainbow chip cookies.
Our gingerbread scented play dough had a fabulous aroma and great texture!
Of course, we had to include a nod to chocolate cookies so good old chocolate cake mix made for perfect cloud dough.
Fun to scoop or mold.
Cocoa powder was mixed with oobleck this week to represent chocolate fudge cookies!
Messy fun for sure!
There were different sized measuring cups for scooping fun in our water play.
Prom was our first May theme.
This box was filled with a variety of prom “props” such as tiara’s, flowers, sunglasses, and a tie etc.
We added some photo booth accessories such as a mask and magic wand.
We chose purple kinetic sand, because we thought the sparkly color went along with an enchanted evening theme—-and Prom is always enchanting!
The letters P R O M could be found in blue and yellow rice—-our school colors!
We made an enchanted night umbrella complete with hanging stars, glittery lights, and sparkly beads!
Silver beads represented a disco ball—–the must have for every dance floor!
Our shaving cream was especially festive this week—-we added confetti to it!
Our water play this week represented a punch bowl—complete with floating fruit and a big ladle.
We celebrated the parents of staff in our next unit. It was fun learning about staff members families!
Ms. Kim’s father hosts a Kentucky Derby party each year—-how fun is that!
We put in some fun Derby hats, a trophy cup, flowers, and lots of horses of course!
These colorful beads represented the colors of the Colombian flag—-where Ms. Maria’s mom lives.
Ms. Joy’s mom lives in Ireland. Her box was filled with potato flakes and craft foam shamrocks.
There were 6 meatballs to find in this big box of “pasta and meatballs” is dedicated to Ms. Caitlin’s step-father who loves to make homemade pasta.
Ms. Jessica’s dad is a Star Wars fan. We filled this box with multi-colored Star Wars pasta.
A little plane flying around in some shaving cream clouds represented Ms. Elaine’s parents—
——-they liked to travel.
The water play featured Georgia peach scent from Bath and Body Works. Ms. Zellanyne’s parents are from the peach state!
We finished the year with a unit celebrating our graduates!
We put a lot of fun items in this box, including an actual graduation cap!
Also included were mylar balloons, play money, toy camera, phone, sunglasses, etc.
The numbers 2 0 1 9 were found in colorful confetti rice.
This box was dedicated to our school mascot—–
—–the owl!
Some graduates go on to college programs, so we represented that choice with a box of colorful cheerleader pompoms in the colors of nearby Universities.
Parties are a part of graduation events and when you have a party there is usually CAKE! Our cloud dough was made using strawberry cake mix and it smelled SO good!
Keeping in the celebratory mood we added some colorful Mr. Bubble bath crackles into our oobleck.
This was fun!
Some lucky graduates might get to go on a cruise! We put in a couple of little boats to float around a mini ocean.
Join us again for fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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It’s always so sad to see our students leave us when they graduate, but also such a happy time for them and for us to see how far they’ve come. We are celebrating our graduates this week. You get to take a look at the graduates taking their cap and gown photos and see what kinds of things they may do after graduation.
Congrats to all the graduates!!!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Celebrate Our Graduates