We learned about India this week and have some special pictures in our book featuring some of our students and their families. You will learn different facts about India such as the national bird, the Taj Mahal, and some foods that are common.
Take a look and see some of the wonderful things about India!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn About India
Many states in the Republic of India are celebrating the New Year this week so we thought it would be fun to learn a little more about the country.
We are lucky enough to have students whose families are from India so that made it even more special for us as they contributed some of the photos we used in our book. The sensory groups explored boxes related to different facts about India. The fine motor groups made art projects with animals that are symbolic of the country and the language group made a yummy ethnic dish to eat!
SENSORY GROUP
Our rice was orange, green, and white this week because those are the colors of the Indian flag. There were lots of letter I’s to find both upper and lower case, as well as a picture of a Bengal Tiger, which is the national animal, at the bottom of the box.
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
We went with the flag colors, paper shred this time, as the base of this box. It was filled with animals that are symbols of the country such as tigers, peacocks, lions and elephants. We learned India is the only country in the world with both lions and tigers—-how cool is that! Cricket is a favorite sport so we included a picture of that also! There was a little teapot and cup in the box because tea is an important Indian export.
Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.
The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and is located in Agra. Our students tried their hands at building a replica of the Taj Mahal using our white Floam. Not quite as lovely as the white marble used for the original but our students had fun anyway 🙂
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Dahl or lentils are a staple food throughout India. Our box of dried lentils felt so cool to run hands through—-the students loved it! There were some King Cobras to find AND match in this box.
The math access point recognize two objects that are identical to each other is addressed with this activity.
There were some interesting discovery bottles for the students to explore. One bottle was filled with sequins—-like those seen on colorful saris. If looked at closely enough, a little elephant could be found floating around too! Our peacock discovery bottle was filled with blue and green sparkly glitter which made it pretty fascinating to watch swirl.
Track objects in motion is a science access point.
The other discovery bottles were had cotton balls with scents associated with India—-sandalwood and curry. These were some pretty interesting aromas and very intriguing to our students.
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli—-in this case smell—-is a science access point.
We put some green and orange glitter into our white oobleck—–once again representing the colors of the Indian flag. It was lots of fun to practice making the vertical and horizontal strokes needed to make a letter I!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Hands were rinsed in our Ganges River, complete with an Indian crocodile—-ours a very cute one 🙂 India is known for periods of rain called “monsoons” so we created a little one here using a hand operated water mister fan. When pointed above the students heads it created a mini rainfall—-resulting in lots of giggles.
Our water was scented with coconut bath gel as a nod to the fact that it is an important crop in India.
Recognize weather conditions including hot/cold and raining/not raining during the day is a science access point that can be addressed here.
We finished our group with mango scented lotion. Mangos are the national fruit of India. A perfect scent to remind us of all the things we learned about the wonderful country of India! The students really liked the aroma and as usual they practiced body part identification by indicating where they wanted it applied.
Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday our students painted a Bengal Tiger using marbles. The tigers were cut from orange poster board using this: tiger template
First the students identified the color orange using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property such as color is a science access point.
The tiger was placed in a box, then the students scooped 3 marbles out of black paint and put them in the box.
Recognize when 1 or 2 items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 3, is a math access point.
Next came the fun part which our students always LOVE—–time to shake, shake, shake!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
The lid was opened and our tigers had their stripes! Googlie eyes and popsicle stick handles were then added.
Recognize that the appearance of an object has changed is a science access point.
Ta Da…………….. GRRRRRRR!
On Wednesday, our students made peacocks—–the national bird of India. We used this: peacock template
We started by discussing the shape of the coffee filter and asked the students to identify it using communication symbols
Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.
They used blue and green markers to scribble on the coffee filters and then…….sprayed their art work with water.
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
The filter was then folded in half and placed on a paper plate (we had cut in half ) to make it a little more stable. The peacocks body was placed on TOP of that then everything was stapled together.
Recognize a half of an object as part of the whole object is a math access point.
Ta DA! What beautiful peacocks!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made some curry hummus in our language group! This was a neat recipe because there were so many things for our students to SMELL.
We started by putting a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas in our food processor. One student poured HALF of the can in and another student poured the REST of it in.
Recognize when an object or person is added to (addition) or is taken away from (subtraction) a situation is a math access point.
We then measured out some sesame oil and poured that in as well. Our students got to smell the sesame oil——some liked it and others were not so thrilled about it 🙂
We then squirted some lemon juice into the mixture. This time, our students got to TASTE the lemon juice. We talked about how it was SOUR.
They made some pretty funny faces when the lemon juice hit their taste buds!
After that, we shook some curry, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into the food processor. Each of our students had a turn smelling the different spices.
These spices have some strong smells!
With all the ingredients added, the students used a switch to activate the food processor——-they always love that part 🙂
Observe and recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship related to a science topic.
Once all of the ingredients were smooth, each of our students got to taste some of the hummus on a piece of pita bread.
YUM!
Hope you enjoyed our visit to India this week! Join us next time for more fun and learning———–Group by Group!
We are putting our spin on the Unique theme this month by talking about how we can make money in order to be able to buy things. We had a “dress-up-as-what-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up” day at school recently and got to take pictures of students and staff. We photoshopped the pictures onto backgrounds that went with the jobs. We had beekeepers, a marine biologist, and a pediatrician, among other jobs.
You’ll just have to read it to find out what other jobs we looked at!
Here is a link to the book: I Make Money at My Job
This week our theme compliments the April Unique Curriculum unit for our students. They are learning about money and what we do with it. Our focus is on how we earn it! The sensory groups explored boxes related to specific jobs. The fine motor groups painted job related art projects and the language group got real time job experience—–they made a dessert 🙂
SENSORY GROUP
Helping people get an education as the President of a University would be a pretty important job to have! If you were the president of FAMU you would cheer on the Rattlers. Our box featured the team colors of ORANGE and GREEN and the little egg shaker we included made rattling sounds when shaken.
The science access point recognize objects that create sounds can be addressed here.
Paleontologists study dinosaur bones—–how cool is that! There were four little bones to find buried in our sand and we included a small scoop so they could be buried again. Of course it was also really fun to watch the sand sift through fingers. This box was lots of fun 🙂
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Veterinarians take care of our pets. There were lots of “medical” supplies in this box for fun pretend play. There were soft cotton balls and gauze as well as a fun stethoscope to try out. Our little vets took good care of their patient!
Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.
One really cool way to earn money would be as a Rock Star! In addition to finger drums and a tiny toy guitar, there were some star worthy sunglasses and feather boas in this box.
The science access points recognize objects that create sounds and the science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed with this activity.
Everyone got in on the fun……..
…..looks like we have some future superstars in the making 🙂
We brought out our underwater umbrella for our budding Marine Biologists. To add to the experience there were orca and humpback whale sounds recorded on a voice output device. Everyone found it fascinating!
Match living things with their habitats is a science access point that can be addressed here.
Our little Chefs had fun icing the play food cupcake with whipped (shaving) cream. Great messy fun!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Our students got to play Lifeguard by scooping swim rings (made out of water noodle slices) and a little toy figure out of the water. This activity is great for counting and eye hand coordination practice!
Recognize 2 dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.
We chose Bath and BodyWorks vanilla sugar scent for our water play and lotion this week because the aroma reminded us of some of the yummy treats that Chefs might make! This is always a popular scent with our students 🙂
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we talked about Beekeeping and our students made some bees using this: honey bee template We used yellow poster board for the base so it was a little sturdier and just regular white paper for the wings.
We started by discussing the shape of the bees body—-an oval—-and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property such as size or color is a science access point.
Next the students painted black stripes on their bee.
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
Then they used a glue stick to apply glue to the wing and put it on their bee. We encouraged them to put the wing DOWN onto the bee’s body.
Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.
With a little help they added a googlie eye by placing in ON a glue spot.
The math access point match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is addressed here.
Ta Da!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!
On Wednesday like Paleontologists, we discovered some dinosaur fossils! To prep this an adult traced this: dinosaur bones template Instead of making copies of our template, we took another piece of paper to trace over it with a pencil and made copies of that. By doing it that way the outline was very light. One of our fantastic volunteers then filled in each template with glue—-all 7 of them! She used a paint brush and it actually went really fast!
The students identified the shape of the paper using communication symbols—-they did a really great job and we were SO proud 🙂
Recognize 2-dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.
Then they dipped their sponge brushes into VERY watery brown paint. You need your paint to be pretty translucent for this project to turn out correctly. As the students brushed the paint over the paper, their fossils appeared—–this was super cool!!!
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
Ta Dino DA
Fabulous fossil finds!!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We tied in a couple of the jobs we talked about in our book because we made an edible treat (chef) with honey (beekeepers)!
We started by going around the room and letting our students look at and smell some real honey comb that Joy brought it. We talked about how it smelled SWEET. We also talked a lot about looking with our eyes and smelling with our noses, not with our hands!
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
Next, we counted out cups for all of our friends. Each of our students got to indicate how many spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt they wanted by pointing to the numbers 3, 4, or 5. When scooping out the yogurt, we counted out loud to make sure that we put in the correct amount.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
Our students then got to indicate if they wanted strawberries on top by verbalizing yes/no or by nodding/shaking their heads.
Once the strawberries were in, our students helped SQUEEZE the honey onto their yogurt and strawberries. Finally, we topped the mix with some granola.
We think this job was a successful one for our students!
They thought it was a pretty a delicious one as well 🙂
We had an absolute blast this week! Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
This week our theme compliments the April Unique Curriculum unit for our students. They are learning about money and what we do with it. Our focus is on how we earn it! The sensory groups explored boxes related to specific jobs. The fine motor groups painted job related art projects and the language group got real time job experience—–they made a dessert 🙂
SENSORY GROUP
Helping people get an education as the President of a University would be a pretty important job to have! If you were the president of FAMU you would cheer on the Rattlers. Our box featured the team colors of ORANGE and GREEN and the little egg shaker we included made rattling sounds when shaken.
The science access point recognize objects that create sounds can be addressed here.
Paleontologists study dinosaur bones—–how cool is that! There were four little bones to find buried in our sand and we included a small scoop so they could be buried again. Of course it was also really fun to watch the sand sift through fingers. This box was lots of fun 🙂
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Veterinarians take care of our pets. There were lots of “medical” supplies in this box for fun pretend play. There were soft cotton balls and gauze as well as a fun stethoscope to try out. Our little vets took good care of their patient!
Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.
One really cool way to earn money would be as a Rock Star! In addition to finger drums and a tiny toy guitar, there were some star worthy sunglasses and feather boas in this box.
The science access points recognize objects that create sounds and the science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed with this activity.
Everyone got in on the fun……..
…..looks like we have some future superstars in the making 🙂
We brought out our underwater umbrella for our budding Marine Biologists. To add to the experience there were orca and humpback whale sounds recorded on a voice output device. Everyone found it fascinating!
Match living things with their habitats is a science access point that can be addressed here.
Our little Chefs had fun icing the play food cupcake with whipped (shaving) cream. Great messy fun!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Our students got to play Lifeguard by scooping swim rings (made out of water noodle slices) and a little toy figure out of the water. This activity is great for counting and eye hand coordination practice!
Recognize 2 dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.
We chose Bath and BodyWorks vanilla sugar scent for our water play and lotion this week because the aroma reminded us of some of the yummy treats that Chefs might make! This is always a popular scent with our students 🙂
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we talked about Beekeeping and our students made some bees using this: honey bee template We used yellow poster board for the base so it was a little sturdier and just regular white paper for the wings.
We started by discussing the shape of the bees body—-an oval—-and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property such as size or color is a science access point.
Next the students painted black stripes on their bee.
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
Then they used a glue stick to apply glue to the wing and put it on their bee. We encouraged them to put the wing DOWN onto the bee’s body.
Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.
With a little help they added a googlie eye by placing in ON a glue spot.
The math access point match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is addressed here.
Ta Da!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!
On Wednesday like Paleontologists, we discovered some dinosaur fossils! To prep this an adult traced this: dinosaur bones template Instead of making copies of our template, we took another piece of paper to trace over it with a pencil and made copies of that. By doing it that way the outline was very light. One of our fantastic volunteers then filled in each template with glue—-all 7 of them! She used a paint brush and it actually went really fast!
The students identified the shape of the paper using communication symbols—-they did a really great job and we were SO proud 🙂
Recognize 2-dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.
Then they dipped their sponge brushes into VERY watery brown paint. You need your paint to be pretty translucent for this project to turn out correctly. As the students brushed the paint over the paper, their fossils appeared—–this was super cool!!!
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
Ta Dino DA
Fabulous fossil finds!!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We tied in a couple of the jobs we talked about in our book because we made an edible treat (chef) with honey (beekeepers)!
We started by going around the room and letting our students look at and smell some real honey comb that Joy brought it. We talked about how it smelled SWEET. We also talked a lot about looking with our eyes and smelling with our noses, not with our hands!
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
Next, we counted out cups for all of our friends. Each of our students got to indicate how many spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt they wanted by pointing to the numbers 3, 4, or 5. When scooping out the yogurt, we counted out loud to make sure that we put in the correct amount.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
Our students then got to indicate if they wanted strawberries on top by verbalizing yes/no or by nodding/shaking their heads.
Once the strawberries were in, our students helped SQUEEZE the honey onto their yogurt and strawberries. Finally, we topped the mix with some granola.
We think this job was a successful one for our students!
They thought it was a pretty a delicious one as well 🙂
We had an absolute blast this week! Join us again next time 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.
This post has photos of our middle and high school students enjoying the books and cart during the month of March.
We learned about Nevada with our first unit. In this box students learned about some of the symbols and key industries of the state.
The sunglasses we included were a big hit!
The students explored hydroelectric power, like that produced by the Hoover Dam.
They totally rocked the “hard hat”!
First invented for the workers who constructed the Hoover Dam.
Las Vegas is one of the brightest cities in the world so we included a box with some lights of our own.
Of course the brightest light would be from the sun. The students made replicas using yellow Floam.
There were letter N’s to find in turquoise (the official semi-precious stone) beans.
They also searched for animals in the sandy desert habitat.
The students practiced making circles—–like the sun—–or writing letters in the shaving foam.
Always fun!
We finished with some lemonade scented lotion——YUMMY!
We celebrated Women’s History month by learning about some famous women in history.
Maria Montiessori, an Italian educator, promoted education for children with intellectual disabilities. Our rice was in the colors of the Italian flag.
Sacajawea was a guide for Lewis and Clark. Her tribe, the Shoshone, were clothing with beadwork.
Our Silent Spring box honored Rachel Carson—-she started the modern environmental movement.
Emmeline Pankhurst was a British suffragette.
Bessie Coleman was the first African American to become a pilot.
The students had a blast with the fun box dedicated to her!
Edith Flanigen was a scientist who invented a molecular sieve. The students experimented with a regular sieve in our water play.
Our scent for the week was a fruity scent dedicated to Julia Child.
March Madness was our next fun theme!
The students had a blast picking out shaker pompoms in the colors of the favorite teams…….
……….and wearing silly a fan hat!
Our red, white, and blue oobleck was a tribute to NCAA founder President Teddy Roosevelt.
Such cool stuff!
The students cut letter B’s out of our basketball orange play dough.
They scooped out foam numbers to score points in our water basin.
The students sorted pompoms and beads in the colors of UCLA which has won the most championships.
Our rice was blue and white like the colors of the University of Kentucky which as won the most games.
The final four games were scheduled to be played in Houston, Texas so there was a box dedicated to the state—-complete with fun cowboy hat!
Pretty dapper 🙂
Our final unit was all about the Hoedown we had at school. Our book included photos from the event—-be sure to check it out!
Hoedowns are all about music so we recorded some square dance music on the voice output device and added a fun shaker for the students.
Yeehaw!!!
Of course we included cowboy hats and bandanas!
Fun!
Since hoedowns are often held in barns, we filled a box with sawdust. We also added some farm animals and square dancers.
Swing your partner!
The students had fun using cowboy hat and boot cookie cutters in the blue moonsand.
They experimented with different sized scoops in the water play—-especially fun outside on a warm summer day!
We made a “Goo Bag” with some hair gel and the students practiced writing patterns, letters, and words with their fingers.
It was something different and the students really enjoyed it!
Toe tapping fun was had by all 🙂
At our school, the whole school participates in a hoedown every year. We decided that it might be fun to have our theme for this week be about a hoedown. Our book talks about what a hoedown is and then goes into what our hoedown was like this year. Our students were really excited to see pictures of themselves and our verbal students were able to talk a little bit about the hoedown and what they remembered. Take a look to see the fun we had!
Here is a link to the book: My School Had a Hoedown
One of the most fun activities our PE department does is hold a annual “hoedown”. At the hoedown, each class performs an original square dance they practiced during PE. It is always so much fun that we decided it would be this week’s theme! The sensory group explored boxes with textures and symbols associated with hoedowns. The fine motor groups made colorful art projects and the language group invited their friends to a hoedown.
SENSORY GROUP
We put some sawdust at the bottom of this box to give it that “barn like” feel. The sawdust was not super fine so no dust was kicked up when little fingers ran through it. It really had an interesting texture that our students found enticing. There were some barn animals and square dancers to find as well as the word FRIENDS.
The science access point select an object or picture to represent observed events.
It wouldn’t be a hoedown without music! We recorded some appropriate music on a voice output device and our students rocked along with a bean bottle shaker. Needless to say, fun was had!
Recognize objects that create sounds is a science access point.
So did we mention how much fun the students had—–and how totally cute they looked 🙂
There were lots of colorful bandanas and a bandana garland in this box. The students had fun waving and shaking the items. There was also an opportunity to compare the SOFT cotton of the bandanas with the ROUGH feel of the burlap on the banner.
Recognize differences in objects or pictures is a science access point.
We included 2 cookie cutters—-a boot and hat—- with the blue moonsand in this box.
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Each classroom decides the kinds of patterns they form in their square dance. The students practiced making some of those same kind of lines—– such as straight, curved, or zigzag—- in our Goo Bag (made with hair gel and confetti stars).
We found that double bagging the gel and taping all four sides down onto the tray helped make it a little more durable.
Initiate a change in the motion of an object are science access point.
There were both upper and lower case letter H’s to find in our rice, dyed blue and yellow which are our school colors.
There was a cute cowboy hat to find at the bottom of the box.
Recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Country apple scent from Bath and BodyWorks seemed the perfect scent for our hoedown unit! We put some of the bath gel in our water play and it really was a nice aroma. There were 2 different size scoops to add to the fun.
Recognize different containers that hold liquids is a science access point.
The matching lotion was very popular with our students. As usual, after we asked them to smell the lotion, we asked them to show us where they wanted it applied.
The science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed here.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday our students used markers and stickers to decorate a cowboy boot using this: boot template.
We started by asking the students to choose a marker and identify it’s color using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property, such as size or color.
Our students did a great job coloring within the designated area!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
Applying stickers was great for practicing pincer grasp skills. The students were able to brush up on their math skills by counting the stickers as they were placed on the boots!
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
Ta yeehaw Da!
Ready for the hoedown!
On Wednesday the students made a poster and used this: hoedown girl and boy template to decorate it.
First we asked the students to use communication symbols to identify our paint color—–they did an awesome job!
Match objects with similar observable properties, such as size, shape, color, or texture is a science access point.
Then they stamped “hay” on the poster using UP and DOWN movements. Our stamper was made using a piece of fringed craft foam folded in half and held together with rubber bands.
Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.
Next it was time to add dancers—–we have our fantastic volunteers to thank for getting them ready for us. We asked the students to find the one with their picture on it, apply glue, and attach it to the poster.
The math access point recognize when an object is added (addition) or is taken away from (subtraction) a situation.
Ta Da—-swing your partner round and round!
LANGUAGE GROUP
So since we were talking about hoedowns this week we HAD to have one! After we read the book, 2 of our little cowpokes moseyed on down to the other elementary classrooms to invite their friends to join the fun.
We had some cider and vittles—-otherwise known as apple juice, ice cream, and chips 🙂
It was pretty TASTY!
YUM!
There was a fun photo booth….
Say “round ’em up cowboy”!
Of course we did some square dancing—-you can’t have a hoedown without dancing!
We pulled up a bunch of different bluegrass videos from YouTube on the Smart Board and took a turn around the dance floor.
Yeehaw!
A good time was had by all 🙂
Join us again next week for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
March Madness is in full effect right now, we decided to go ahead and do a theme about it since we haven’t ever really touched on this topic before. We learned some pretty neat things about March Madness, such as who the winningest team is and also which team has had the most NCAA tournament championship wins. Since we’ve been trying to get pictures of our students in each of our books, we feature our own basketball team on the front cover of this book and added in a picture of another student on the back cover. We hope you enjoy!
Here is a link to the book: It’s Time for March Madness
It is that time of year——time for March Madness! So we are all about the NCAA basketball tournament this week! Our sensory groups explored basketball themed boxes. The fine motor groups painted their basketball themed art projects. The language group made bouncy balls!
SENSORY GROUP
Lots of college teams compete in the tournament and UCLA has won the most championships! This box contained pompoms and beads in the team’s colors—–blue and gold. In addition to the color, the items can be differentiated by texture.
Identify common objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.
Blue and white rice represented The University of Kentucky which has had the most WINS of any university—–how cool is that! We put in the letters N C A A for our students to find and there was a little picture of a basketball player at the bottom of the box.
Match objects by an observable property, such as size, shape, and color—-in this case the letter A’s—is a science access point that can be addressed here.
Everybody has a favorite team to cheer for so we put a bunch of colorful shaker pompoms into this box. Of course we made sure to include some in the colors of our favorite teams 🙂
We also included a goofy fan hat for the students to wear and our fans had a blast with this box!
Initiate a change in the motion of an object is a science access point.
The students had fun with this bright orange play dough—–very eye catching! We encouraged them to try to roll the play dough into balls or to use the cookie cutter to cut out letter B’s.
Recognize changes in observable properties of materials is a science access point.
This year the final four games will be held in Houston, Texas so we dedicated this box to the state. We used paper shred in the colors of the state flag (red, white, and blue) and put in a big white “lone” star that is also seen on the flag. We also included a cowboy, horses, and cows—-other things we associate with the state.
There was a fun little cowboy hat (thanks Ms. Kim) which our students
—–and teachers :)—–thought was lots of fun.
The science access point recognize a model of a real object can be addressed with this activity.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was founded by President Teddy Roosevelt so we went “all american” with some red and blue glitter sprinkled into our oobleck this week 🙂 As usual the students had a blast with it and those little bits of sparkle made it even more inviting!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
We went with a “sporty” scent for our water play, hands were rinsed in Old Spice Denali scented water. You may notice we even tied our circle shaped bowl into the theme—-rather clever, if we don’t say so ourselves 🙂 Since getting the highest score is the object of the game, we included some numbers for our students to scoop out and SCORE!
Recognize quantities 1 to 3 using sets of objects, pictures, or number names is a math access point.
Instead of lotion this week we used some Coca Cola scented lip balm. We figured all that cheering would make any fan want a nice cold soda! The students loved the scent which we applied to wrists, ears, or hands—–NOT lips of course!!
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday our students painted paper plate basketballs.
First we discussed the shape of our plate and asked the students to identify a CIRCLE using communication symbols.
Recognize a common object with a 2-dimensional shape is a math access point.
Then students also used communication symbols to identify the color ORANGE.
The science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color is addressed here.
We wrapped some bubble wrap around a scrubber sponge and encourage the students to stamp UP and DOWN.
Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.
Ta DA—–
let’s play some B-Ball!
On Wednesday our students made some basketball jerseys using paper bags.
First the students identified the color of our paint using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property is a science access point.
Then they started painting their “jerseys”.
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Next they identified their number and placed it on the wet paint.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
TA DA—-
put me in coach——
—–I’m ready to play!
LANGUAGE GROUP
To celebrate March Madness, we made our own bouncy balls! We actually used 2 different recipes so that we could COMPARE them to see which one worked better. These are the 2 recipes that we used: DIY bouncy balls Since both of these recipes contained borax, we VERY closely supervised our students!
We started by asking our students to choose which 2 colors they wanted the balls to be (since we were making 2 different recipes).
After we tallied up all the votes, we discussed which 2 colors had the MOST votes: blue and pink it was!
Compare quantities using language, such as more, less, or the same is a math access point.
We started with the first recipe in the link above. Our students helped us POUR the ingredients into each of the different cups. We observed the white glue change colors when we put in the food coloring. When we poured the glue mixture into the cup with the borax/water, we observed the glue becoming solid—–how cool is that!
The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed here.
Once we took the glue mixture out of the water, we had to squeeze the water off and form the ball (this was done by an adult). After the ball had hardened somewhat, everybody got to touch it!
Recognize 3-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres) is a math access point that can be addressed here.
Then we made the next recipe. We talked about how the amounts of ingredients were smaller and how the steps were DIFFERENT. We also got some good math skills in by discussing how we needed 2 half tablespoons to make 1 whole tablespoon while measuring out the ingredients.
Distinguish half from whole using objects is a math access point.
Once both balls were made, we compared the 2 by bouncing each of them. Before we bounced them, though, we HYPOTHESIZED which one we thought would bounce higher. Although they bounced about the same height, we think the blue one (from the first recipe) went a little bit higher! The students loved this part of the activity 🙂
Distinguish between objects in motion (kinetic energy) and at rest is a science access point.
Thanks for joining us this week for March Madness and we hope your bracket did well 🙂
Join us again next week for more fun and learning——Group by Group!