Apr23

Book for Week 29

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Book for Week 29

Spring is in the air!  There are so many things to enjoy now that the weather is more permitting.  The book this week covers different things that we see during Spring such as colorful flowers, leaves growing back on the trees, and baby animals.  While Cara read the story, Joy used some of the objects we had to show the students when they were being talked about such as big leaf placemats when we mentioned the leaves on the trees growing back, and also a mist bottle which was used to emulate the April showers we experience. 

Here is a link to the book–

Spring Has Sprung

Apr23

Week 29—Spring and Summer Safety

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Week 29—Spring and Summer Safety

The theme for our Fine Motor and Sensory Groups was Spring. Our Language Group learned about Summer Safety.

Sensory Group—Spring

We read Cara’s book “Spring has Sprung” and looked at all the colorful pictures while using the voice output device to read the repetitive line.  When we got to the page discussing rain, we told the students to get ready for the rain and we used our spray bottle  to spray water into the air. As the fine mist came down we loved watching the students reactions!

The leaf placemats we put on the table were give aways (we do love free!) and perfect for our theme.

 

 

 

Our boxes this week focused on things we 

see growing in the spring.We looked for seeds (dry beans) in our dirt (coffee grounds). There were 2 wormsto find and we discussed how helpful they are for the soil.

We also put in pictures of some vegetables that might grow from the seeds (science access points).

 

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with silk flower petals and leaves, toy and felt vegetables and some yarn “roots”. We also included a wooden sun (plants need sun to grow) and some craft foam bees (to help pollinate our plants).

Lots of opportunities for building language skills in this box!

 

 

 

 

 

Pompom’s come in a variety of colors just like flowers.

We discussed the texture (soft) and shape (round). Counting and matching address math access points. Grasp skills are addressed while reaching for and holding them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We searched for the letter S in our rainbow rice box. We picked the rainbow rice for all the different colors, just like flowers. Great for practicing scooping as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For olfactory stimulation we brought out our

“Follow your Nose” game. We had fun

smelling the flower, fruit and plant

scents.

Ms Metra really liked this one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants and flowers all come from seeds (our box of mixed beans). We also placed some puzzle pieces with pictures of flowers.

The beans make a very busy background for the puzzle pieces, challenging some figure-ground discrimination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual we adapted our sensory items for

some of our students by placing them in

ziplock bags. We were really excited to

see this student start visually attending

to and exploring these bags, something

he has not been doing!

 

 

 

 

Our  pink cloud dough(made with flour, oil, strawberry koolaid, and glitter) was perfect for making shapes with our flower cookie cutters.

Holding the edges of the cookie cutters and pushing them down into the cloud dough helps build palmer arches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We scented our water with sweet pea body

wash!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finished by giving the students a choice to 2 different scented lotions (one citrus and one floral). The student pictured was able to independently squeeze the lotion onto his own hands but most of our students need assistance.

After everyone had made their choice and gotten their lotion, we counted the votes for each one and discussed which one received more votes—addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Spring

On Tuesday we read Cara’s book and used our spray bottle to make it “rain”. This group loved the rain and asked for more, lots of smiles all around! For our art activity we made flowers using a variety of plastic bottles—we saw this idea on Pinterest.

First we counted out our paper (addressing math access points). Our students practice writing their names. This student is working on connecting dots to form the first letter of her name. For others, their name might just be a scribble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After turning their papers over, the students used markers to make

“down” lines. They all really did a great job, of course some of

them needed a little help but we are still really excited to see

their progress.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we dipped the bottom of our bottles into paint and stamped onto the paper.

On a cute note, this student added “ooh’s” every time she stamped her flour—-adorable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted the flowers and helped our students find the number on

the communication board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta Da!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our student with a visual impairment, the vision teacher added some

pompom’s to the centers of the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, after reading Cara’s book again, we did another stamping activity—but this time with fresh vegetables!

Before starting, we put on “paint shirts”.

A great opportunity to practice dressing skills.

 

 

 

 

 

We passed out our paper and discussed its

shape as we counted it out—we never

forget our math access points!

Then the fun began!

We used potatoes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

And carrots!

and…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…………………………..corn!

This was totally one of our best activities! Our

students had so much fun and nobody ate the

vegetables 🙂

 

 

 

 

Here this our first TaDa!

Love it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

And one more Ta Da

we just couldn’t

resist!

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Summer Safety

We started by making our pledge for Summer Safety. Cara wrote out the pledge with fill in the blank sentences. Then the students were asked to choose  the correct answer (made with BoardMaker symbols) from a selection of 3 (alternate assessment format).

Some of the students need fewer choices and we adapted the activity accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

Gluing the squares onto the poster addresses fine motor and visual

spatial skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After completing the poster, we read all the sentences aloud.

 

We are going to be safe this summer!

 

 

 

 

Going along with our summer safety theme, we started making a sun hat. It gets quite sunny here in Florida and a hat can come in pretty handy on a summer day!

We started by placing a large piece of colored paper (you could also use wrapping or newspaper) over the students head and taping it around brow level.

Not all our students could tolerate this part of the activity but fortunately we had others who were glad to help out 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we rolled up the sides all around.

This was a lot of fun and everyone was able to participate.

Crumpling and rolling the paper addresses finger and

wrist movements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a fabulous hat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went outside to see if the hats work

—-and they do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished up by looking at some of the Summer Safety words we found today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week was so awesome, we hope you come back next time to share more fun Group by Group!

Apr16

Book for Week 28

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Book for Week 28

We ventured into the sea this week.  The book setup was a little bit different than the previous books written.  The repetitive line is “what do you see in the sea?” which the students asked.  Cara then would ask a question, such as “do we see elephants in the sea?” and the students would answer yes or no.  They were provided with a yes/no sheet with boardmaker symbols on it, but we also encouraged the verbal children to answer aloud and also to use sign language.  The students liked seeing what kind of animal was going to be asked about next and we got a few laughs about some of the animals who did not live in the water.

Here is a link to the book–

What do you See in the Sea

Apr16

Week 28—Under the Sea and the Sun

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Week 28—Under the Sea and the Sun

This week our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups explored the ocean Under the Sea. Our Language Group learned about the Sun.

Sensory Group—Under the Sea

We started by reading Cara’s book and answering questions about whether different animals are found in the ocean.

Our students used a yes/ no visual support or verbalized their responses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we read the story, Ms. Bennet blew some  bubbles around to help give the effect of being underwater.

The students really loved watching the bubbles drift around.

Visual tracking is addressed in this activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we began exploring our sensory boxes starting with our moon sand box. Just like the bottom of the ocean!

We used cookie cutters shaped like starfish or round bubbles.

Comparing the different shapes addresses math access points.

Fine motor skills are addressed when manipulating the cookie cutters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our ocean sensory box turned out really great, although our picture doesn’t do it justice.

We put in some blue easter grass and some green chenille stems that reminded us of seaweed. We also included a variety of beads—white like the pearls that you might find, green and blue like the ocean colors. Green and blue pompoms added a contrasting textural component. Different koosh balls and kitchen scrubbers reminded us of sea urchin and other marine life. There were also some plastic fish and sea shells to discover.

 

 

 

 

We placed some blue aloe lotion in a freezer bag along with some sea shells. It was SO pretty!

…. and great fun to run fingers across to “squish” the gel in different directions practicing prewriting patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t our blue play dough awesome!

We love the way it turned out, perfect for our fish shaped cookie cutter.

Counting the fish as they were cut addresses math access points.

Fine motor skills are also addressed when using the cookie cutter.

 

 

 

 

 

This adorable vibrating fish, purchased from the Special Needs Toys catalog, was great for body awareness.

Vibration can be a pretty intense input and we made sure to respect our students responses to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our pompom yarn has a variety of shades of blue—-

just like ocean waters!

This yarn is soft and easy to grasp, our  students just love the way it feels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We filled a plastic bottle with water, dishwashing liquid and blue food coloring.

When shaken you get foam—just like waves in the ocean—so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We discussed the photo luminescent animals at the bottom of the ocean.  Mixing our cornstarch with tonic water to make it glow under the black light—very cool stuff!

Really, oobleck that glows in the dark—-how could you possibly make exploring science access points more fun 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in Bath and Body Works Ocean scent.

The outdoorsy scent reminding us of a day at the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Under the Sea

After reading Cara’s book, we began our art activity.

We used our paper cutters to cut out fish. Counting the fish addresses math access points.

The fish were set aside and a staff member taped short strands of fishing line to them and to the inside of a tennis ball container lid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we squeezed glue into a tennis ball

container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tore blue tissue paper into little pieces (saved from birthday presents past, of course!), crumpled them and dropped them into the tennis ball container.

Bilateral and grasp skills are addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put the lid on and our little fish aquarium is finished—

TaDa!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we made an aquarium for a jelly fish! We got the idea from bhoomplay.wordpress.com   just brilliant!

First we cut strips of some scrap bulletin board trim. Then squeezed on some glue.

Squeezing the glue along the strip addresses visual spatial skills and hand strengthening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we brushed the glue to make

sure the strip was fully covered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colorful aquarium gravel was sprinkled on top—Jeannie had some lying around 🙂

Picking up the gravel promotes pincer grasp skills.

We set this aside to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue food coloring was squeezed into a  gatorade bottle filled with water— practicing those pincer grasp skills again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had pre-made the jelly fish by cutting a square from a plastic grocery bag, gathering it up in the middle, and wrapping a rubber band about 1 inch from the middle–making a head. We snipped some “legs” along the bottom part. Then we held the “head” open under a faucet, leaving room for a little bit of air.

 

 

Then we put our jelly fish into his habitat!

Eye hand coordination is addressed when placing the the jelly fish into the bottle.

Wrist rotation is addressed when tightening the lid—-

make sure its really tight!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t this just awesome! When shaken the jelly fish moves around and looks just like the real thing. Our students LOVED watching it…. well not just the students 🙂

You really have to try this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—The Sun

Now that we have finished the alphabet, we are trying some new things with our Language Group so things may change from week to week—but always fun 🙂

We first looked at a stuffed sun and talked about what it looked like: what color it was, what shape it was, how it felt (hot or cold).  Then we took turns making it rise and set.

This activity addresses math and science access points!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used our tongs to pick up yellow pompoms.

Counting the pompoms and comparing their shape and size to our stuffed sun addressed math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we play Cara’s latest language game. We went over things we do when the sun is out during the day and things we do during the night. Then we categorized them.  Each student looked at a picture like “eat breakfast” and pointed to a picture of day or night.

We glued on the pictures and discussed that we do more things during the day when the sun is out than at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to have an art activity 🙂 so we made our own sun picture!

The students chose either  a light or dark blue sky.

We then passed out  a yellow circle to each student and  discussed its shape, then glued it to the paper.

Of course, we counted them as they were passed out— addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

Then we  passed out a strip of yellow paper and cut them along lines to make sun rays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lining up the rays with the sun addresses spatial relationships.

We also counted the rays….

never passing up an opportunity to address math access points!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


But wait—there’s more!

We counted out 4 cotton balls (our non-verbal students used a voice output device) and added some clouds to our sky.

Awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to finish off—some of the fantastic sun related words we found today!

Wow, this week was fantastic—we had so much fun!

Come back next week for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Apr9

Book for Week 27

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Book for Week 27

Easter time is here!  It’s spring and baby animals are in abundance.  Candy is filling up in the stores and Easter baskets are being filled with grass for the Easter bunny to fill up.    The repetitive line “Easter time is here” is in response to the question “why?” after each line is read.

Here is the link to the book—

Easter Time is Here!

Apr9

Week 27—Easter Time

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Week 27—Easter Time

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was Easter. We did not have a Language Group this week because the class went on a field trip.

Sensory Group—Easter Time

We read Cara’s book and used our voice output device to read the repetitive line.

Some of our students use their hands or their heads and a few even use their feet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we started exploring our sensory boxes. Our first box had a variety of easter related items including easter grass, plastic eggs and carrots, easter cookie cutters, purple/pink/yellow pompom’s, a little plush chick and duck.

The Easter grass was a huge hit and pulling apart the strands promotes bilateral coordination in addition to fine motor skills.

Counting pompoms or carrots addresses math access points. Discussing size, shape, color and texture addresses science points.

It’s amazing how much you can fit into one little box!

 

 

 

Next we explored bright yellow feathers and big white pompoms—-our version of chicks and bunnies! These items let  us compare  and contrast the various properties of these materials, addressing science access points.

We loved these fluffy feathers. It was so much fun to pick up a handful and watch as they drifted down. There were so many feathers, that some of the students ended up looking a little like  Big Bird 🙂

Visual tracking is addressed as the feathers drift down and pincer grasp skills are addressed as the students pick up the feathers. Tactile discrimination is also addressed.

 

 

 

 

We also had fun with our easter garland. We draped on or wrapped it around our students. It was also fun to grab it and shake it.

The little egg decorations really fluttered around, very visually interesting and soft to the touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for the letter E in our green rice. Its bright green color looked just like grass with tiny little white easter eggs (navy beans).  We also taped some easter egg pictures to the bottom of our box which could be found as the rice was brushed aside.

It was really eye catching and our students loved sifting it through their fingers.

This activity addresses visual and tactile discrimination in addition to literacy.

 

 

 

 

 

We also addressed visual skills with our sensory bottle filled with jelly beans. Our students loved shaking it and listening to the rattle as it was shook.

We did have to carefully watch the bottle as a few of the staff really wanted a sample 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bunny and sheep fake fur was fun to rub and touch. Soft and cuddly just like little bunnies and lambs.

While it was the same color  the textures were different (science access points).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our own version of marshmallow peeps by mixing cornstarch, shaving cream and yellow food coloring.

Soft and squishy just like marshmallows! This is the same stuff we made last week (minus the food coloring) and it was just as much fun this week—awesome stuff you HAVE to try it 🙂

We discussed how the materials changed as we mixed them, addressing science access points.

 

 

 

 

Finger painting in chocolate pudding, practicing prewriting strokes and the letter E.

It doesn’t get much messier than this!

Our students were pretty good about not sampling but as you can see in the picture, our hands needed to stay pretty close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed off in vanilla sugar scented water and rubbed our hands in vanilla sugar scented lotion—to remind us of all the yummy candy we hope to find in our easter baskets, YUM!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Easter Time

We read Cara’s book and students took turns using our bunny puppet.

It was so cute to watch as they waved it around or made it hop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our art activity we started by passing out 8 pieces of blue paper.

We counted the papers as we handed them out and discussed their rectangular shape addressing math access points.

Of course they have to “sign” their names!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we used our hole punches to cut out circle shapes and compared them to larger circles we had previously cut on the ellison machine addressing more math access points.

Squeezing the hole punch helps with hand strengthening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We squeezed glue onto our blue paper.

Also great for hand strengthening and bilateral coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put some green easter grass and the big yellow circle onto the glue.

We found we probably should have put the easter grass on last instead of this early in the process—it was very entrancing to our students, making it hard to move onto the next step 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we glued on our small circle and a precut orange triangle—more math access points 🙂

Spatial relationships are also addressed.

 

 

Our little chick is starting to come together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We added a yellow feather—the finishing touch 🙂

 

Spatial relations and fine motor skills are addressed when completing this activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta-Da—a cute little chick

complete with googlie eye!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t they look awesome hanging outside Jeannie’s classroom!

Love it! Love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, we read Cara’s book again

and all had fun pointing to our

favorite candy—although it was kind of

hard to make a choice 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we gave our students a choice of 3 craft foam eggs.

We discussed their oval shape addressing math access points.

We got these eggs (10 in a package) in the dollar section at Target—we love a bargain!

 

 

 

 

 

We decorated the eggs using craft foam stickers—so cute.

We helped the students peel the backing off of the stickers, practicing pincer grasp skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we counted the stickers, addressing math access points.

Our students are also working on being able to identify numerals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super cute!

What a  colorful bright egg!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hippity Hoppity!

We had a great time this week, join us again next week —-our Language Group will be back—for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Apr1

Book for Week 26

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Book for Week 26

This week we focused on the life cycle butterlies.  The book talks about each part of their lifecycle, starting with the butterfly laying eggs.  The question “what happens next” is the repetitive line.  When it was time for the students to use the voice output device we would prompt them by saying, “what do we need to know?” or “do you have a question?”.

Here is the link to the book:

What Happens Next

Apr1

Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

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Week 26—Butterflies and the Letter Z

This week are theme was Butterflies for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. We are finishing the alphabet with Letter Z in our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Butterflies

Cara’s book explored the life cycle of the butterfly with our students asking the question “what happens next” using the voice output device.

In addition to literacy and math access points, we are going to be addressing science access points today!

 

 

 

 

Our first sensory box was filled with colorful flowers, leaves, a variety of  butterflies, caterpillars made from chenille stems and a body scrubber—its that long pink and white thing in the picture—doesn’t it  look like a giant caterpillar :).

This box was so colorful with lots of contrasting colors and textures.

Discussing how these items relate to each other in the life cycle of the butterfly addresses science access points.

 

 

 

Our next box was filled with caterpillar eggs, AKA lentils. Our students hunted for the letter C and found a cute little caterpillar peeking out as well.

The students grasped these lentils by the handfuls—they loved them!  Even our students who are quite tactile sensitive, couldn’t resist these tiny beans 🙂

This box addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills.

 

 

 

 

We used a cookie cutter to cut letter B’s in our purple Bubber (available from Amazon in addition to a variety of catalogs).

We chose the Bubber because its soft powdery texture reminded us of butterfly wings. Its pretty purple color also a lot like that of a butterfly.

Of course, we also just love the way it feels–not just our students but the adults couldn’t put it down 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

The white fiberfil in our next box reminded us of the silky strands of the butterfly cocoon.

Its just so much fun to grab this stuff and shake it around or pull it apart!

Pulling apart the strands addresses bilateral and fine motor skills.

Contrasting smaller pieces from larger pieces addresses math access points.

 

 

 

 

Our next box contained some colorful red butterflies (bow tie pasta) and green caterpillars (celletani pasta). Very eye catching with the bright colors. You dye it in basically the same way you do rice but it takes a LOT longer—so be patient!

Pincer grasp skills are promoted when picking up individual pieces. Counting them and comparing the contrasting shapes addresses math access points.

Making one of the caterpillars crawl up a students arm promotes giggles 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

These fuzzy colorful caterpillars (some  pencil covers!) filled our next box. Very eye catching also and our students dived in. They loved grabbing handfuls and watching as they dropped back into the box—or the floor 🙂

Tracking falling objects is a science access point.

Counting caterpillars is an opportunity to work on math access points.

 

 

 

 

We mixed shaving cream and cornstarch which turned into this really cool texture—sort of a cross between playdough and Bubber. It was so much fun to squeeze and mold into cocoons.

We just loved this stuff, its just really hard to resist!

Science access points are addressed in addition to fine motor skills during this fun activity!

 

 

 

 

 

We rinsed our hands in plumeria scented water and then rubbed on the lotion, its floral scent reminding us of the flowers the butterflies go to for their food.

Recognizing water as a liquid and whether it is warm or cold addresses science access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Butterflies

On Tuesday we started by reading Cara’s book.  We also practiced making the butterfly sign with our hands.

Butterflies start out as caterpillars and that is what we made in our art activity. We started by dipping pom pom’s into glue then placing them on a clothespin.

This is a great activity for practicing pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We counted the pom pom’s using our multi-message voice output device, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by adding some chenille stem antenna and googlie eyes.

Aren’t these caterpillars just so cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday after we read our book again—- we turned our caterpillar into a butterfly!

First we placed a 3 dimensional butterfly (found in one of the schools science kits) on a light board for our student with a visual impairment.

Of course, all the students enjoyed running their hands over the contours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we began our art activity by counting out our coffee filters (addressing math access points).

Then we colored them using markers. Some of our students made just a few marks but others enjoyed using a variety of colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they were finished coloring, we sprayed the coffee filters with water.The water makes the colors run, kind of like tie dye—pretty cool.

Squeezing the spray bottle is great for hand strengthening and spraying water is always fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We let them dry for a few minutes and then scrunched them up—working on thumb/finger grasping patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed it between the clothespin from Tuesday and…….

Ta Da—the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly!

This student really enjoyed making hers “flutter” around—so cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our butterflies look so beautiful clipped to these branches…..

aren’t they just fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Z

We started by unZipping bags and taking Zoo animals out (we used Beanie Babies).

The students had fun seeing what animal ended up coming out of their bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A chenille stem loop made a great

adaptive Zipper pull for some of

 

our students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we squeeZed scrap paper to make matZo balls to “feed” our animals a Zesty meal.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we tore black paper into strips—some of them in a Zig Zag pattern.

We glued them onto a white lunch bag.

Tearing the paper addresses bilateral hand functions.

Squeezing the glue addresses hand strengthening

Placing the black paper on the bag addresses visual spatial skills.

 

 

 

 

We adapted this for our students with physical challenges by letting them color their Zebra instead. Our students love pressing the switch to make the airplane color their picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we glued on 2 ears and a snout.

And added some googlie eyes—we love googlie eyes 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look another Zany Zebra!

Our students had so much fun playing with their puppets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody had a turn playing Cara’s

sound game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we looked at all the fun Z words we found today.

Whew!  We made it to the end of the alphabet but there is still more fun ahead so  join us again next week Group by Group!

Mar18

Book for Week 25

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Book for Week 25

Get ready to wear some green!  We’re talking about St. Patrick’s day this week.  The book covers different symbols that are seen or read about on St. Patrick’s day.  Instead of us asking the students a question, we decided to have the students ask US a question.  The repetitive line this week was “What do we see on St. Patrick’s day?”.  While going through the book, we counted the leaves on the 4-leaf clover, looked for our shoes since leprechauns enjoy making shoes, and looked around the room to see if anyone was wearing green.  One of the students even brought a clover in from outside to compare to the picture.  We’re hoping to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow someday!

Here is the link for the book:

Symbols of st patricks day

Mar18

Week 25—St.Patricks Day and the Letter Y

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Week 25—St.Patricks Day and the Letter Y

This week we had fun learning about St.Patricks Day in our Sensory and Fine Motor groups. Letter Y was the theme in our Language Group.

Sensory Group—St. Patricks Day

We read Cara’s book and learned all about symbols associated with the holiday. Our students used the voice output device to ask “what do we see on St. Patricks Day”.

Our first box was filled with a variety of green items such as silk shamrock leaves, silk leaves, easter grass, shamrock beads, manipulatives, chenille stems, mini kitchen scrubber and toys. We also included play food—some vegi’s you might use for irish stew and a couple of  rubber snakes St. Patrick missed when he was driving them out of Ireland 🙂

Lots of different textures to explore and compare (addressing science access points). Lots of interesting items to look at and talk about.

 

 

Legend has it there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and we found some! We used some gold mardi gras beads and green pom poms in our treasure box.

This box let us address science access points when contrasting properties of materials and address math access points when counting the items.

 

 

 

 

 

We looked for the letter P, for Patrick,  in our rainbow rice. Its just so bright and colorful!

As always, lots of fun to sift through and scoop.

Looking for the letters addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills, in addition to literacy.

 

 

 

 

We turned the light off and had more rainbow fun with our rainbow light.

Everyone had to be touched by rainbow!

Visual attending and tracking are addressed during this activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We turned the lights back on and made shamrocks out of our green sparkly play dough. Joy used lemon-lime Koolade and LOTS of green glitter, it looks fabulous!

Play dough activities are great for working on hand strengthening. We counted 3 leaves on each shamrock, addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we practiced scooping with our potato flakes. Potatoes are popular in Irish cooking and play an important role in Irish history.

We also taped a surprise to the bottom of the box—a little leprechaun peeking out!

Visual discrimination and social studies access points are addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Some chunky bright orange yarn made a great leprechaun bread. Soft and stringy, its so much fun to reach and grab, working on shoulder strengthening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green oobleck with gold glitter. So pretty and sparkly. Green to remind us of Ireland and gold to remind us of the leprechaun’s gold.

Very eye catching and fun to draw prewriting patterns in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished by rinsing our hands in Bath and Body works Juniper Breeze scented water and then rubbed the scented lotion on our hands.

This lovely outdoor scent reminded us of the Irish countryside and will help us remember all the fun we had learning about the symbols of St. Patricks Day.

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—St. Patricks Day

We read Cara’s book “Symbols of St. Patricks Day”. Our students did an excellent job activating the voice output device to participate in reading the book.

We started our project by using our adaptive table top scissors to cut some yellow squares.

We discussed the square shape, addressing math access points.

What a great job our students are doing, they are really visually attending to the scissors.

 

 

 

 

We glued a small black square on top of the big yellow square.

This addresses math access points and spatial concepts. In addition, pincer skills are practiced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yellow square was then glued to a strip of black paper.

It looks like a belt but its not 🙂

We set it aside and began our next step.

 

 

Then we practiced writing our names on a small paper plate. Our students are given a model to copy.  Our students have varying skill levels in this area. Most are working on scribbling.

Then we turned the plate over and painted it green.

Our students are getting lots of practice using classroom tools. We get very excited when they start scribbling or painting independently.

 

 

We glued a green solo cup onto the paper plate. We used just regular old elmers glue and it held pretty well.

We then wrapped the black paper strip around the cup and taped it.

This activity addresses eye hand coordination and bilateral functions.

Have you guessed what we are making yet?

 

 

 

 

Why some fabulous green

hats, of course!

Just waiting for

some leprechauns:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again and then started our next activity. We are going to make a leprechaun beard.

 

We started by asking each student to cut 3 pieces of orange yarn. We counted outloud while each student took their turn.

Everyone did a great job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then squeezed a bunch of glue (Jeannie colors it with food coloring to make it easier for her students to see) on a strip cut from a large paper plate. Then we practiced our pincer grasps by picking up the yarn and dropping it on the plate.

 

The darker orange strings are actually pipe cleaners threaded through holes to make ear hangers.

 

 

 

When everyone had put their 3 pieces of yarn on the plate we used a voice output device to ask our students if we were finished or needed more yarn. Those students who chose “more”, got to add additional yarn to the beard. Most of the students chose “finished”—it was time for snack 🙂

This activity addresses math access points and communication skills.

 

 

 

 

Here is Ms. Martha (the OT intern), our leprechaun model for the day!

Jeannie (classroom teacher) also took lots of pictures of her cute little leprechauns for her yearbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter Y

We started by stringing some Yellow beads. Some of our students were able to manipulate standard beads and laces.

This activity helps bilateral coordination and fine motor skills.

 

 

Some of our students needed the activity to be modified by using pipe cleaners which are stiffer than regular laces.

We also used larger beads which are easier to grasp.

 

 

 

 

 

Other students strung beads on aquarium tubing which is even easier.

After stringing their beads, our students practiced one to one correspondence by counting how many Yellow beads were on their string. For our students who are non-verbal, we used a step-by-step voice output device.

 

 

Love how the voice output device matches our Yellow theme—we planned that 🙂

 

 

Next, we tasted some sour apple spray candy! We checked with nursing and they said it was ok for our students who are tube fed in this classroom (some students are completely NPO, so we always check with the nurses before any tastings).

Here is Ms. Garland taking her turn!

For our students who were hesitant to have something sprayed in their mouth, we sprayed a spot on their hands so they could lick it instead.

 

 

Everyone got a chance to communicate whether it was Yummy or Yucky!

As You can imagine, everyone had a definite opinion 🙂

 

 

 

 

Then we started on our project—making Yachts!

First our students used scissors to trim a Yellow  triangle (math access points). Some of the students in this class are able to manipulate regular scissors, others use adaptive ones.

We also modified this activity for the individual students by changing the amount of lines they had to cut. For example, this student only had to trim one side. Other students had to cut along 2 lines or even the complete shape.

 

 

Then we cut 2 holes with a hole punch. Some of our students really enjoyed the hole punch so they cut a few more 🙂

This is a great hand strengthening activity.

 

 

 

 

 

A straw (with the bendy part cut off) was treaded through the holes to make a mast.

Our Yacht is starting to come together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stuck the straw into a slice of pool noodle and tested the Yacht’s sea-worthiness— it floats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our students were so excited watching their Yachts float on the water. We wished we had gotten a bigger container but the smaller one gave the students an opportunity to take turns and also do some math problem solving—how many Yachts can fit into the container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came back to the table to play Cara’s sound game.

A Yellow Jacket—Yikes! If it stung, You might Yelp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we finished by looking at some of the Y words we found today.

Did we have good time?

YEAH!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We are off on spring break for the next week but we’ll be back soon with more fun Group by Group!