We took a look back 100 years to see what kinds of things were happening in the 1920s. We found out some pretty interesting things like women getting the right to vote, Charles Lindbergh flying solo across the Atlantic ocean, and the invention of sliced bread and bubblegum. We have one of our students on the front as a flapper and one on the back as a child of the 1920s. Take a look and see how much the times have changed!
Here is a link to the book: What Happened In The 1920s?
Just into a brand new decade we decided to look back—–WAY back to the 1920’s! The sensory groups explored boxes related to different events of the decade. The fine motor groups crafted projects with paint and cardboard. The language group made a vintage recipe.
SENSORY GROUP
Rice in the colors of the Suffragette movement, celebrated the ratification of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote.
There were numbers 1 9 2 0 and a picture of Suffragettes to find at the bottom of the box.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
The 1920’s was known as the Jazz Age!
The students enjoyed listening to some jazz recorded on a voice output device while exploring beads—-like the flappers used to wear.
Science access point: recognize objects that create sounds.
We found out the traffic light was invented in 1923 by Garret Morgan.
The students had fun sorting red, yellow, and green pompoms.
Science access point: match objects with similar observable properties, such as shape or color.
Charles Lindberg completed the first transatlantic plane flight in 1927. A vibrating massager simulated the feel of an old-time airplane.
To add to the effect we included some goggles and a toy airplane—-the students had a blast!
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
The massager REALLY was a hit 🙂
The stock market crash, which led to the great depression, occurred in 1929. The students looked for coins hidden in dollar symbol pasta (mixed with some regular pasta).
The students had fun exploring the different coins or shaking the pasta.
Social studies access point: recognize an example of money.
Baseball was considered the “national pastime” in the 1920’s. We learned that Babe Ruth set a home run record that stood for 70 years—-how cool is that!
We had the students make circles, like baseballs, in shaving cream.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Mickey Mouse first appeared in Steamboat Willie in 1928.
Our water play this week featured a small toy tugboat and Mickey character.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Bubblegum was invented in 1928 so we chose that as our scent this week.
We used Mr. Bubble bubble bath in our water and instead of lotion we used bubblegum scented Chapstick (applied to wrists or behind ears—-not on lips, of course!).
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we made model airplanes using cardboard rolls and tongue depressors!
First, the students chose their paint color—they had a choice between red or blue.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Then, they painted their planes.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
TA DA!!
Our pilots are ready for their transatlantic flight!
On Wednesday the students made trumpets using paper bowls and cardboard tubes. We hot glued the paper bowls and valves to the cardboard tubes prior to the start of the activity.
First, the students identified the shape of trumpet’s opening.
Science access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Then, they applied gold paint.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
TA DA!!!
Let’s play some jazz!
LANGUAGE GROUP
This week we made a recipe that people in the 1920s would eat: a Waldorf salad. Here is the recipe we used: Let’s Make A Waldorf Salad
We started out by PUTTING a chopped apple into the bowl. On the recipe page, the students saw what a whole apple looks like next to a chopped apple. We saw that they look DIFFERENT.
Next, we measured out 1 cup of quartered grapes. Students had to identify the measuring cup on their communication board. They also had to observe to see when the grapes reached the 1 cup mark. If there weren’t enough grapes, they had to indicate MORE.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.
We PUT 2 stalks of chopped celery into the BOWL and followed that up with 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/4 cup walnuts. Students observed that 1/4 cup is LESS than 1 cup.
Math access point: distinguish parts of objects from whole objects.
Finally, we measured out some plain Greek yogurt. Students HELPED by making sure it was measured out correctly before it was PUT into the bowl.
Each student had a chance to STIR the ingredients together.
Students had to request a PLATE and a SPOON. They had to indicate that they WANTED salad. Only a small amount was put on their plate and they had to request MORE.
We thought it was a pretty delicious healthy recipe!
Join us again next time for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!
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Welcome to the After Party! Each week after the weekly blog featuring activities in the elementary department is posted, our sensory cart is parked in the media center where it is available for check out by the rest of the school.
We celebrated International Authors Day by learning about JK Rowling.
The students loved the magical bubbling oobleck!
There were lots of fun things to explore in the Harry Potter themed box.
The wizard hat and wand were a big hit!
Pom poms in the colors of the different Hogwarts houses were sorted.
Of course, we included an owl box 🙂
Next, we celebrated Sesame Street Day.
The students made Grover faces in blue moon sand.
We used a combination of laminated and Mr. Potato Head pieces.
Colorful chenille stems could be used to make stripes like those on Bert and Ernie’s clothes.
The students got pretty inventive 🙂
Pink sand was sifted in our Abby Cadabby box.
Play food Cookie Monster cookies were hidden in oatmeal!
A few black bean “chocolate chips” were also added.
Like The Count, students counted numbers found in lentils.
We also included a little vampire puppet.
We added yellow food coloring to make Big Bird shaving cream.
Hands were washed in water with more Sesame Street figures including Oscar the Grouch and Grover.
The students really enjoyed learning about Utah with our next unit.
We learned that Utah’s nickname is “the beehive state”…….
…..so we used our yellow and black rice!
Our Arches National Park box contained laminated arches and dinosaur stamps.
A letter U cookie cutter was also included.
Gold and silver beads represented the mining done in the state.
Beads are always a hit.
This box contained items representing the state.
Lots to explore and discover.
Utah is a popular destination for winter sports.
The students loved the insta-snow.
Jello is the official state snack food!
We added jello powder to shaving cream and loved the new texture it created.
Hands were rinsed in a small pond filled with fish 🙂
Cherry scented lotion was a nice finish to all we learned about the state of Utah!
Join us next time for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!
We took a look back at the different groups that we had this year and chose some of the sensory boxes that we thought our students enjoyed the most, like kinetic sand, beans, and slime. Our book has lots of different pictures of our students engaging with these boxes throughout the year. The front of the book features 2 of our students celebrating the end of 2019 while the 2 students on the back are celebrating the new year, 2020!
Here is a link to the book: Oh What Fun We Had This Year!
For our last post of the calendar year we thought it would be fun to look back at some old posts from the year. The sensory and fine motor groups explored some of our favorite materials. The language group made a yummy treat—-of course 🙂
SENSORY GROUP
We use colorful rice almost every week in our groups. This eye catching watermelon pink rice is one of our favorites!
We added a fun car to drive around the rice and a picture to find at the bottom of the box.
Science access point: track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled.
All sorts of beans and peas find their way into our boxes, but these lentils have such a cool texture and they are are definitely one of favorites.
They are so much fun just to bury hands in, but we added a measuring cup and wide mouth funnel for even more fun!
Science access point: track a falling object.
Shiny colorful beads are always a hit with the students!
Fun to touch, look at, listen to, or wear!
Science access point: use senses to recognize objects.
Around here we LOVE kinetic sand! This stuff is so cool—-we just can’t stop touching it 🙂
Since the new year is just around the corner with put in 0 and 2 cookie cutter numbers.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Slime isn’t something we use a lot but when we bring it out, the students are always intrigued.
Little teddies with letters F U N were included.
Science access point: recognize that pushing or pulling makes an object move (contact force).
We recently added some jello to shaving cream and thought the result was SO COOL we had to do it again!
The mixture ends up being sort of firm and very fluffy—–so much fun!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
In the water play there were some rubber spiral noodles to scoop up using a sifter spoon.
We included two more measuring cups for additional scooping fun.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Since our students are so awesome, we chose Bath and Body Works “mad about you” as our scent this week 🙂
The students really liked the aroma!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
The fine motor group made cardboard gingerbread houses. We only had one group this week—-it is a busy time of year!
First, the students identified the color brown and shape of our houses.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Math access point: recognize common three-dimensional objects.
Then, the students painted their houses with a mixture of glue and shaving cream—-we just love homemade puffy paint!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
The student chose to add glitter or confetti to their houses. We sang our glitter song—another favorite 🙂
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
Look at our gingerbread houses……
……we are ready for the holidays!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We got to decorate some cute gingerbread cookies this week in our language group.
Each student first got to choose which gingerbread cookie they wanted. They got to choose from Santa Claus, a snowman, a Christmas tree, and a gingerbread man. Picture symbols of each type of cookie were available and students had to choose the one they wanted and place the picture on the sentence strip. They then had to request “I want ___ please” using the sentence strip.
Once they picked their cookie, they got to choose what color icing they wanted. They chose from red, green, white, and black. Again, they had to use the sentence strip in order to request what they wanted.
Finally, they got to choose from 3 different types of sprinkles. They requested help if they had difficulty getting the sprinkles onto the cookie.
We don’t usually do TADAs in our language group but we did today!
So many fun and yummy creations 🙂
Join us after the holidays for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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Last week we talked about the different gift-bringers around the world and THIS week we’re talking about the different winter holidays around the world. There are so many holidays that people celebrate in different ways. We talked about Bodhi Day, Las Posadas, and Dongzhi just to name a few. We have one of our students dressed as a winter princess on the front and another student as a star on the back. Super cute 🙂
Here is a link to the book: Look At All The Winter Holidays
This week we learned about winter celebrations in other countries. This compliments the student’s Unique Curriculum unit for the month. The sensory groups explored boxes related to different holidays. The fine motor groups made some colorful art projects used during the language group’s holiday parade and party.
SENSORY GROUP
On December 8, Buddhists celebrate Bodhi day. One of the ways they celebrate is to decorate a Bodhi tree with colorful lights.
We made a Bodhi tree umbrella using colorful lights and heart shaped leaves.
Science access point: recognize a source of light.
Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights during which, for eight days, a candle is lit on a menorah.
Wikki Stix are strings covered in wax—-just like candles! Since dreidels are also symbols of Hanukkah, we included some of them in this box.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Kwanzaa begins on December 26 and it celebrates African American heritage.
The students sorted pompoms in the colors of Kwanzaa—-black, green, and red.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Las Posadas is celebrated in Mexico. We put letters L and P in a box of rice in the colors of the Mexican flag.
There was a picture of a donkey to find at the bottom of the box.
Science access point: match objects by an observable property, such as shape.
Junkanoo is celebrated in the Caribbean with lots of parades and music.
There were feather boas, masks, and noise makers.
Parade music recorded on a voice output device added to the fun.
Our students totally know how to rock a look!
Social studies access point: associate a celebration with an event, such as a holiday.
Natilla Colombiana is often eaten during Navidad en Colombia.
We made our messy play version using oobleck dusted with cinnamon—-it is a shame it doesn’t taste as good as it looks 🙂
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
In China they celebrate the winter solstice or Dongzhi festival. During the festival people eat Tang Yuan which are glutinous rice balls served in boiling water.
The students used a soup ladle to scoop 3 plastic “rice balls” out of warmish water.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Our scent for the unit was Bath and Body Works winter candy apple. We chose the scent as a reminder of all the sweet treats people eat during the holidays.
The sweet scent was very popular!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
Like the people who celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali we finished with some fireworks, although ours were of the bubble wrap kind 🙂
There were lots of giggles with this activity!
Science access point: observe and recognize a predictable cause-effect relationship related to a science topic.
The students had a BLAST!!!!!
So many giggles!!!!!!
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday, the students made Diwali lamps out of paper plates.
First, the students identified the shape of their plate.
Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.
After choosing a color, the students used markers to color their plates.
Some of the students used a switch operated vibrating massager with a marker attached with velcro.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move
Next, we folded the paper plates in half and glued a flame on top and……….
Ta Da!!!
Let’s celebrate Diwali!
On Wednesday, the students made colorful costumes to wear during the Junkanoo parade.
First, they identified the shape of their paper.
Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.
They used paper cutters and switch operated scissors to cut the paper into strips.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
Then, they glued the pieces down on to another sheet of paper. Of course, we counted the pieces!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
Next, it was time to add glitter—–shake, shake, shake that glitter!
Singing our glitter song always makes it more fun 🙂
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
There are a few more things that will be added later but…….
……….we are almost ready…………
for the Junkanoo parade!!!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We had a Junkanoo parade and holiday party this week and it was lots of fun!
Our language group students got to wear what they had made in the fine motor group earlier in the week.
Staff joined in also 🙂
Students got to shake rattles and we also had Junkanoo parade music playing as we walked along!
Students and staff lined the hallways.
We even had Santa Claus make an appearance.
One of our students wore the costume and he did an awesome job with the part 🙂
All the onlookers cheered as we went by!
Smiles were everywhere.
It was quite exciting and…….
………..so much fun!
After the parade, everyone gathered for some snacks, drinks, and socialization. Students used sentence strips that were located on the tables to indicate what they wanted.
They had lots of tasty choices!
They enjoyed dancing and taking pictures with their classmates and friends.
We had some great music that you might hear during a Junkanoo parade playing in the background.
Adults and students seemed to have a wonderful time celebrating all of the different winter holidays together!
It was certainly a fun filled week! Join us next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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Our students learned this week that Santa is not the only gift-bringer! Different countries have different gift-bringers. We learned about who brings gifts to children in Spain, France, Italy, and the Ukraine, along with several others. Our students got to help with the book by posing as each of the gift bringers. The background of the book was made by our art teacher, Judy, and her awesome art students. It’s really beautiful! This is a book to not miss!
Here is a link to the book: Holiday Gift-Bringers Around The World..
We had a lot of fun learning about different traditions this week! Our sensory groups explored boxes related to the different characters. The fine motor groups made holiday themed art projects and the language group made a tasty treat that any of the gift bringers would like to sample!
SENSORY GROUP
Children in France leave out carrots for Pere Noel’s donkey! There were 3 carrots to feed the donkeys—-ok so ours are actually horses, but that is all we had on hand 🙂
We put a picture of Pere Noel to find at the bottom of the box.
Science access point: identify basic need of animals.
Our box of garland was gold just like the Christkindl’s wings and hair!
The students had a lot of fun with the garland—-whether shaking OR wearing it!
Science access point: distinguish between objects in motion and at rest.
Los Reyes rice in the colors of the Spanish flag was very eye catching. There were numbers 1, 2, and 3 to find.
There was also a picture of the 3 kings at the bottom of the box.
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
We put a whole bunch of Christmas things in this box——lots to explore and discover!
In a base of green, white, and red paper shred there was a mini kaleidoscope, mini sweater and scarf, reindeer, Santas, and other symbols of the season.
Of course, we included a Santa hat 🙂
Social studies access point: associate a celebration with an event, such as a holiday.
La Bafana fills children’s socks with candy. We thought our colorful pasta resembled candy and put in a small sock for the students to fill.
It was also fun to run hands through pasta to listen to it rattle.
Math access point: solve problems involving small quantities of objects using language such as enough, too much, or more.
Sinterklaus put coins and candy into children’s shoes! Chocolate cloud dough was perfect for this box and was so much fun to run fingers through. It smelled really good too!
Five colorful coins were hidden in the dough.
Social studies access point: recognize coins as money.
Our water play had 2 different sized scoops to use for scooping up foam letter C’s.
We used Bath and Body Works sugarplum swirl which gave the water a lovely holiday aroma!
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
The matching sugarplum swirl lotion was the perfect reminder of all the fun we had in group.
Whether placed on hands or behind ears 🙂
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we made Los Reyes Magos crowns. We used craft foam crowns we found at the craft store.
First, the students identified the color of their crown and glitter.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Then, they squeezed glue on to their crowns.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Time to add glitter and sing our glitter song—–shake, shake, shake, that glitter 🙂
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
Our Kings and Queens like their crowns!
We are ready for 3 Kings Day!
On Wednesday, the students made ornaments for their families—-so they could become gift bringers!
First, the students identified a circle—-we used circle shaped embroidery hoops with fabric for this activity.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes, such as a circle.
Next, they glued precut felt trees to their ornaments. To attach the tree, they had to turn the tree to put the glued side down.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.
Then, they added pompoms to decorate their trees.
Math access point: match one object to a designated area to show one to one correspondence.
TA DA!!!
Our gift bringers…..
……with their fabulous gifts!!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made a holiday sweet treat today. After we made it, we figured out a way to make it more appealing to the eye, but here’s the recipe for how we made it this week: Let’s Make A Sweet Holiday Snack Dip
We started by touching the milk. Students identified the COLD symbol to describe how it felt.
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Students who wanted to HELP pour the milk in the bowl had to locate the symbol HELP.
Next, we added 5 drops of green food coloring into the bowl. Students helped by counting out each drop. We observed the bowl to see that there were 2 different colors–green and white. We talked about how it would look DIFFERENT when we were done mixing.
Each student got to HELP turn on the mixer using our wireless switch.
Next, we crushed some Oreos. Our students HELPED by using a can to crush the Oreos.
Once they were crushed, we mixed them into the pudding.
We added some red sprinkles to the mix by singing our “shake shake shake the sprinkles” song we love so much 🙂
Each student had to request a PLATE by indicating WANT and then the picture of the plate or by verbalizing “I want plate”. They then had to request some pudding and Teddy Grahams (which were supposed to be for dipping, but this turned out to be a little bit difficult, so we used some spoons as well.)
Sooo…this turned out to look PRETTY interesting to say the least lol. We think this might be a better suggestion as to how to put this snack together: put the crushed Oreos in cups first, then put the green pudding on top and then top with the sprinkles. Much more appealing to the eye; however, our students didn’t seem to mind too much about how it looked as it tasted really yummy 🙂
Join us again next time for more fun and learning——Group by Group!
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We learned lots of neat facts about Utah this week in honor of Take A Hike Day which was November 17. We found out that every county contains at least a part of a national forest, why it is called the Beehive state, and what their official state food is. The book also contains some pictures that a retired staff member, Jeannie, graciously let us use from her trips to Utah. Take a look and learn about this amazing state!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn About Utah