Tag Archives: beads

Feb26

Louisiana

Posted on February 26, 2017 by jd785

We traveled again this week but a little closer to home—-the great state of Louisiana! Our sensory groups explored boxes related to facts and symbols of the state. The fine motor groups used markers and crayons to complete their projects and the language group led a Mardi Gras parade.

It was a really fun week that both students and staff enjoyed—–so let the good times roll!

SENSORY GROUP

This box was filled with symbols of Louisiana including the state bird (pelican), beverage (milk), amphibian (frog), honey bees (insect), and mammal (black bear). We also recorded a version of “You are my Sunshine” one of the state songs, on a voice output device. All of this was put on a base of paper shred in state colors: blue, white, and gold!

Recognize a model of a really object is a science access point.

We made 3 discovery bottles made using the state colors. One was all gold and one was all blue. The third was a mixture of white, blue, and gold beads floating around in gold glitter. VERY eye catching!

The science access point track objects in motion can be addressed here.

New Orleans, Louisiana is known for its Mardi Gras celebrations and the colorful beads thrown from the floats during parades! This box was filled with beads in Mardi Gras colors. Fun to look at, wear, touch, or watch move when pushed or shaken.

Track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is a science access point.

Looking super cute while wearing Mardi Gras beads–

that’s just how our students roll 🙂

This Mardi Gras rice was made for a unit we did a while ago and it was fun bringing it out again. It really is one of our prettiest mixtures and is just so eye catching! We put in letter L’s and a map of Louisiana for the students to find.

The social studies access point, associate an object, picture, or symbol with a location can be addressed here.

We made some sunshine yellow play dough for the state song “You are my sunshine”. The students had fun squeezing together, pulling apart, or rolling the play dough into balls. We also included a little textured rolling pin to make some “sun rays” and a cookie cutter letter L to add to the fun.

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

For our messy play we went back to the Louisiana state colors—-we sprinkled BLUE and YELLOW glitter into WHITE shaving cream! The students had fun making swirls, lines, letter L’s, or just squishing it between fingers 🙂

The science access point recognize pushing and pulling an object makes it move is again addressed here.

We put some plastic crawfish and a rubber alligator to swim around in our water this week. Bath and BodyWorks vanilla sugar bath gel was also added because we thought it smelled like beignets—-those yummy New Orleans donuts!

The science access point match animals that are the same can be addressed here.

The matching lotion was a hit with our students this week. They really liked its sweet aroma and after having it rubbed on hands and arms they left the group smelling like yummy beignets!

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

On Wednesday we made some trumpets in honor of Louis Armstrong who was born in Louisiana. We used the state colors again for this project!

We started by asking the students to identify a rectangle——the shape of the paper we were going to use.

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

Then they used markers and crayons to color or draw on their papers.

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

The drawings were wrapped around paper towel tubes that had been taped to paper bowls and……….TA DA!

Our students are ready to play a little jazz!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday the students decorated a pelican, the state bird, using this: pelican-template

First we discussed the state colors and asked the students to identify the color blue using communication symbols.

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

Then the students scribbled on their penguins with blue and yellow markers. One of our students scribbled using a pressure switch activated vibrating massager with a marker glued to it. He activates switches using his elbow and is getting really good at it!

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

TA Da! We love the Pelican State!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Since Mardi Gras is coming up, we decided to have our own Mardi Gras celebration!

Our language group entertained the entire elementary staff and students with a small parade around the building.

Our students dressed up in hats and boas and gave out beads to all of the spectators. We even put on some zydeco music to walk to!

It was a fun crowd after all——– everyone loves a parade!

We are a really fun bunch 🙂

Once we rounded everyone up, we gathered together in the multi-purpose room for our party!

What is a party without cake and ice cream! We had King cake of course and topped with vanilla ice cream (thanks Jeannie) with apple juice to drink. The students requested what they wanted using communication symbol sentence strips.

YUMMY!!

With zydeco music playing, we had to start dancing 🙂

Our students have moves!!!!

Whether sitting and listening to music or getting their groove on—–

the students had a blast!

The photo booth was also so much fun and we had lots of colorful props!

Lots of opportunities for communication as the students had to communicate which props they wanted for their photos.

All of the dancing and fellowship was awesome and we all had a great time!

We hope your week was as fun filled as ours!

Be sure and join us next time for fun and learning——Group by Group!

Dec13

We’re FROZEN!

Posted on December 13, 2015 by jd785

We’re FROZEN!

The movie Frozen is SO popular with our students that we decided it was the perfect unit to end our semester! We had so much fun putting this unit together, collaborating with both the PE and Art departments made it even more special!

The sensory groups explored boxes with lots of different textures. The fine motor groups used markers and glue to make fabulous art projects and the language group conducted some frosty experiments.

Of course, our book was extra special for this unit so be sure to check it out also!

SENSORY GROUP

Aqua, blue and purple basket filler was the base of this box—-so pretty! The students had lots of fun discovering all things we had hidden in it. Well, perhaps the 3 giant snowflakes weren’t that hard to discover 🙂

Also hidden in the colorful filler were snowmen, “snowball” beads, and some cute little Frozen play figures.

The math access points differences in size of objects and associate quantities with number names can be addressed here.
We had 2 fascinating discovery bottles. One turned into a glittery snow flurry when turned or shaken. The other bottle was filled with some glass beads which looked like little chunks of ice.

Initiate a change in motion of an object is a science access point.

The students were pretty intrigued with our “reindeer fur” Sven box. This fake fur was long and a little coarse which we thought was a pretty good stand in for the real thing. A cute little plush reindeer was included for cuddling fun 🙂

Recognize common objects related to science by name, such as animal, is a science access point.

Do you want to build a snowman? Our students did! We put some potato head pieces and fake food carrot into our box of white Floam. It was fun to see the different creations the students made.

Recognize that the human—-and snowman :)—-body is made up of various parts is a science access point.

We brought back our snowflake umbrella yet again and as usual, it was a huge hit. It really is so pretty!

Because no one has heard the song “Let it Go” enough 🙂 we recorded a verse on our voice output device. Needless to say, none of the students passed on their turn to hit the button lol.

Recognize objects that create sounds is a science access point.

This box was filled with some Insta-snow, since we don’t have much access to the real stuff here in Florida! It had an interesting texture that wasn’t a hit with everyone, but most of the students had fun with it. They used their hands or the melon-baller to make snowballs.

The science access point identify different types of precipitation, including rain and snow can be addressed in this activity.

Hands were rinsed in water scented with Bath and Bodyworks juniper breeze scented water. There were a variety of foam snowflakes scattered in the water and a measuring cup was included so the students could scoop them out.

Since the snowflakes could be counted the math access point associate quantities with number names can be addressed here.

The matching lotion was used as a sweet remembrance of all the fun we had today. We chose this particular scent because we figured that junipers MIGHT grow in the cold climes of Arundelle!

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we used markers to color a Frozen picture. We found this PERFECT free printable at http://yourtherapysource.com

We started by discussing the shape of our paper and asking the students to identify a “rectangle” using communication symbols.

Recognize a common object with a 2-dimensional shape is a math access point.

Then they used purple and blue markers to make fabulous scribbles and swirls on their paper.

The students did a really great job with this and had such great concentration!

Since they had to share the markers with their friends, the science access point share objects with a partner is addressed with this activity.

After they were finished coloring, they got to add some snowflakes to their pictures. We applied glue to work on 1:1 correspondence. Of course, it was a great opportunity to practice pincer grasp skills as well (and the OT really likes that!!!).

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

Ta Da…….

…..let it go, let it go, let it go………

On Wednesday we continued talking about shapes while making Olaf!

We started by discussing the shape of the boxes we were going to use (cereal boxes covered with white paper) and used communication symbols to identify their shape.

The math access point recognize a common three-dimensional shape was addressed here.

Then the students used adaptive scissors to cut out another shape——this time a TRIANGLE—–out of orange paper and used glue sticks to attach it to their box.

The science access point recognize a change in an object and the math access point recognize a common object with a two-dimensional shape are addressed in this activity.

Next they added 2 eyes and identified the number 2 using communication symbols.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

The students used a black marker to draw a mouth to the face, then added a small RECTANGLE tooth that they cut out using the adaptive scissors.

It was fun to see the different expressions they came up with for their snowman 🙂

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

A brown chenille stem was added to the top of the box and the cutest Olaf you have ever seen!

TA DA!!!!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Since we are experiencing 70+ degree weather in the middle of December, snow—-or even cold weather—-seems like a distant dream, we decided to make some snowy experiments! Here are the experiments we did: Let’s Make Snowy Experiments.

We started out making a snowstorm in a jar. First, we poured baby oil in a cleaned out peanut butter jar. Our students got to take turns smelling the baby oil first and they all seemed to like the clean smell of it!

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

Next, we put water and white paint into a bowl. Our students had to mix it all up until the water was nice and white. Then we poured it into the jar and added some glitter—-we never pass up the opportunity to add glitter to a project 🙂

The science access point recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point is addressed here.

Not much of a snowstorm UNTIL we put half of an Alka Seltzer into the jar. Once it started going, we had our version of a Florida snowstorm!

Track objects moving up and down is a science access point.

Pretty darn cool!!!!

After we were done oohing and ahhing, we started on our second experiment, homemade snow. This one was pretty easy. We used a WHOLE box of baking soda and about HALF a canister of shaving cream and stirred it all together. We divvied up our mixture into a couple of small bowls and our students got to feel our “snow”.

Very cool feeling—–literally 🙂

The science access point recognize parts of whole objects and parts of sets of objects can be addressed in this activity.

We used our homemade snow for our final experiment, EXPLODING snow.!!!!! We put the bowls with the homemade snow onto a tray, sprinkled some glitter, and then poured some vinegar into each bowl. Tada! Exploding snow!!!!!!

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

THE FUN CONTINUES….

Our PE department has a fabulous winter wonderland unit going on this month and this coordinated perfectly with our Frozen theme! The students were having so much fun, we had to include some photos.

They got to experience some blizzard conditions (the teachers used a hairdryer and some fake snow to create this).

There were LOTS of giggles 🙂

There was an Aurora Borealis area activated with switches!

And finally ICE SKATING in shaving cream—–how fun is that!

Well that wraps up our first semester. Apart from an After Party post, we will be gone for a few weeks, enjoying our winter break.

From all of us here, we wish you Happy Holidays and be sure to come join us in 2016 for more fun and learning——Group by Group!

Apr6

Springtime in Tallahassee

Posted on April 6, 2014 by jd785

Springtime in Tallahassee

Flowers, birds, butterflies, eggs—-its springtime in Tallahassee! Spring is a really special time in our hometown and we had a great time celebrating the season this week. Our sensory group boxes were filled with bright colors and textures. The fine motor group made some fabulous butterfly and bird art projects. The language group dyed eggs in different ways and decided which way was the best!

SENSORY GROUP

We used some bright yellow basket filler as the base for this box. Then we put in a variety of flowers, carrots, eggs, bunnies, chicks—-all symbols of spring! There was also a little toy clock to remind us that daylight savings time happens around this time of year. We also included a pair of silly glasses with a flower motif, just for fun 🙂

Distinguishing between a plant and animal, which is part of learning about the organization and development of living organisms, is a science access point addressed in this activity.

Colorful beans—-what would we DO without food coloring!—-looked like tiny eggs scattered on our green rice lawn. Ok, this may totally be our new favorite rice box!

Visual and tactile discrimination skills are addressed as students find the letter S hidden amongst the beans and rice.

Springtime in Tallahassee means the Rough Riders are coming to visit our school before marching in the Springtime Tallahassee parade. These people are really wonderful as they bedeck everyone at the school with beads and give a teddy bear to each of our students—-how cool is that! In their honor, this box is filled with colorful beads and teddy bears. There were 2 bears in the box, 1 little and 1 big one to compare and contrast.

The access point recognize differences in size of objects, related to ordering objects by measurable attributes, is the math access point addressed in this activity. Another math access point addressed is recognize length of real objects, such as big, little, long, or short.

This lovely spring weather we are having, makes everyone think about planting gardens. Our garden box contained coffee ground dirt and some “carrot seeds” (actually brown beans) to plant. We also included some toy carrots and a little scoop. Our students had a great time with this box, they especially loved scooping up the dirt and filling the tops of the carrots!

Recognize that plants grow is a science access point addressed in this activity.

The math access point associate quantities with number names can also be addressed.

While some people plant vegetable gardens, other plant flowers in hopes of attracting butterflies! We have used our colorful pasta box before and we really love it——pink butterflies and green spiral pasta, just so pretty. A laminated butterfly picture and wooden caterpillar were also tucked into this box.

Students were encouraged to match the different pastas which addresses the math access point recognize two objects that are the same size or color.

Store shelves are filled with yummy spring treats including marshmallow peeps in a rainbow of colors. We mixed shaving cream, cornstarch, and some yellow food coloring to make our peeps. This mixture really does end up with a marshmallow consistency. It is light, soft, and moldable—–completely cool!

This is a totally fun and messy way to explore the science access point apply a push to move an object. Most of our students LOVED this gooey mess………others not so much 🙂

Well, that marshmallow mixture is quite messy so we rinsed our hands off in sun-ripened raspberry bath gel from Bath and Bodyworks! We thought a fruity scent was perfect since it reminded us again of spring gardens. Along with 2 different sized measuring scoops, we included a little carrot shaped container for more scooping fun.

Recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids is a science access point addressed. Another one is recognize one way people use water.

We finished with the matching lotion—-leaving our students smelling like yummy little raspberries! The students liked the scent this week, it was quite a hit. Some of our students really anticipate this part of the group and immediately start putting out their hands when they see us bring out the bottle. Rubbing lotion on different body parts is a fun way to promote body awareness.

Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point addressed in this activity.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Our Tuesday art project evolved from an idea we got from Mr. Chris (thanks again!). We started with these cute and colorful butterfly placemats we got 2 for a dollar at Target—-we may have mentioned how much we love the dollar section before 🙂 We cut a butterfly stencil out of some black poster board (a freebie on the giveaway table—–another score!) using one of the placemats as a pattern.

Each student got a placemat and when it was their turn, we put the stencil on their placemat while they colored their butterfly with Crayola Pipsqueak markers. We like making our stencil black because we thought it helped reinforce where we wanted the color to go. The markers were used for 2 reasons. First, we like their size which works well for our students little hands. Second, markers have low friction and bright color—-as opposed to crayons—- which is more visually appealing to our students.

We also used our communication cards to work on color recognition as the markers were passed around the table.

This activity worked on lots of science access points including share objects with a partner, recognize a change in an object, identify objects by one observable property, and recognize a change in an object.

TA DA—-

our artists were just so proud!

For our Thursday art project we made little bird nests! We saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it fit perfectly with our springtime theme. Our students started by gluing green paper shred onto a small paper plate. Squeezing the glue works on hand strengthening and eye hand coordination is addressed as the paper is put onto the glue.

Next we used our adaptive scissors to cut 1 diamond shape into 2 triangles—–perfect little wings! Then we did it again because we are making 2 birds!

Recognize an object with a 2 dimensional shape is a math access point. In addition, associate quantities 1 and 2 with number names is another math access point addressed in this activity.

The wings were attached (with tape and a little help) to the 2 halves of a plastic egg that had been pre-decorated with googlie eyes and a beak.

Ta da, our little birdies are now tucked into their nests looking quite adorable!

Just like our students 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We decided to have a little spring experiment! Since people dye eggs during the spring, we decided to find out which way is the best way to dye eggs. We used the colors pink and purple for our experiment. To obtain those colors, we used PAAS Egg Decorating Kit, McCormick’s Neon food coloring, and Kool-Aid.

We used small, clear, plastic cups so our students were able to see the eggs change color. Each cup had a label on it to show us which dye we were using.

We started by taking out a boiled egg which had been in the refrigerator and letting each student feel it. They were asked if it was WARM or COLD and also if it was HARD or SOFT. Then we brought out a plastic egg—-in some ways it was the SAME as the real egg but it was DIFFERENT in other ways!

Recognize the temperature of items as cool or warm is a science access point addressed by this activity.

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

After touching the eggs, the students each picked which color they wanted their real egg to become. Identify classroom objects by one observable property such as color is a science access point.

Very CAREFULLY, and without a lot of adult assistance, the students put their egg in the dye. Yes, we do like to live life on the edge 🙂

We used small, clear, plastic cups so our students could see the eggs as they changed color. Every few seconds, we used a spoon to stir the egg around.

After a few minutes, we lifted the eggs out of the dye and put them in the egg carton. They all came out so differently and SO colorful!

The students told us which egg they liked the BEST. After the eggs dried a little bit, the students put a sticker on the egg they liked the best to decorate it.

It was a neat experiment! The boldest colors came from the PAAS and the neon food coloring, while the Kool-Aid eggs had texture on them. It was lots of fun to see the differences!

As with all our groups this week, we finished by doing the chicken dance along with our dancing chicken 🙂

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Join us again next week for more fun, learning, and occasional dancing——Group by Group!

Mar30

New York Vacation

Posted on March 30, 2014 by jd785

New York Vacation

It was back to school but spring break vacations were still on our minds with our New York City theme. It is a popular vacation spot and such an exciting place to visit——we had so much fun planning the different group activities! Our sensory group activities included a trip to Time Square, the fine motor group made art projects related to New York City symbols, and the language group explored tourist destinations on the Smart board.

All our activities focused on looking at the world in spatial terms and the social studies access point associate an object, picture, or symbol with a location.

SENSORY GROUP

We started our tour with the most exciting place in NYC—-Time Square! We put 5 strands of battery operated lights on our umbrella and it really gave a fabulous “Time Square” effect. Needless to say this was a HUGE hit, our students really loved all the lights and could hardly wait for their turn!

The lights were attached using good old twist ties and we used velcro to attach the battery packs as they were a little heavy.

The science access point recognize sources of light is addressed in this activity.

We also pulled out our battery operated spinning lights so that students could put on their own light show. The science access point apply a push to move an object while also working on fine motor skills is addressed.

NYC is filled with skyscrapers. Our students made their own cityscapes using Duplo blocks to make “building” impressions in moon sand. The blocks shape made them easy for our students to hold and manipulate—-they worked perfectly!

Again the science concepts of forces and changes in motion are addressed as students apply a push to move an object.

Bright yellow and black taxis are EVERYWHERE in the city and a great way to get from one destination to another! We put some soft yellow pom poms and hard black beads in this box to compare and contrast. The colors gave this box a pretty striking contrast and most of our students found it intriguing.

As the students sort the items they can address the science access point recognize 2 common objects that are identical to each other. They can also address the math access point recognize 2 objects that are the same color.

Central Park is one fabulous place a taxi might take you! Besides lots of grass, the park is filled with trees and flowers so we put silk ones on a layer of basket filler. We also included a bunch of animals—–zoo animals, butterflies, dogs, ducks, squirrels, birds—–you can find all of them in Central Park!

With all that walking, you might want a snack and a NYC hotdog would certainly hit the spot 🙂 The play food hotdog usually elicited smiles when found in the box.

Recognize the leaf and flower of a plant are science access points that can be addressed in this box as students explore organization and development of living organisms. Recognize a model of a real object is another science access point addressed.

Another exciting thing to do on a NYC vacation would be to see a Broadway Show. For this box we brought back our Wizard of Oz discovery bottle with it’s green glitter and red Barbie shoes! Music from The Wiz—-found via a Youtube clean video search—- was recorded on our voice output device.

As the students turn and shake the bottle tracking objects in motion, a science access point, is addressed.

Our students—–and teachers 🙂 had a blast rocking out to “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz and showing their moves.

Attending to sounds from various sources is a music access point addressed.

Our students searched for the letters N Y C in rice. As the rice was shifted aside, a picture of one of the biggest symbols of not just NYC but our country was revealed——the Statue of Liberty! This box didn’t have a lot of rice, so it made it especially easy for the hidden items to be revealed.

Recognize a symbol that represents America, such as the Statue of Liberty is an access point related to the understanding of structure and functions of government.

Finally, the scent of the week—–APPLE, of course 🙂 A fitting end to our tour of the Big Apple. A fabulous yellow ducky floated in our scented water and the students had a great time using the big apple sponge to give him a shower.

Explore, observe, and recognize objects in the natural world is a science access point addressed in this activity.

Our students enjoyed this week’s scent and as usual, we gave them an opportunity to communicate where they wanted the lotion.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday our art project focused on the Statue of Liberty! We started by making the torch. The first step was using our paper cutters to cut green paper into a rectangle shape.

Once again, working on the math access point, recognize a 2 dimensional shape and the science access point recognize a change in an object.

Then we taped the rectangle to a toilet paper roll and ROLLED!!!! Our students did a great job and showed such concentration.

This was great for working on bilateral coordination.

Time for the really fun part—–stuffing tissue paper in the top to make our flame! Our students certainly did a great job demonstrating the science access point apply a push to move an object!

Prior to the group, we had cut the center out of a paper plate and stapled on some green paper that we had freehand cut for the statue’s crown.

Ta DA—–welcome to New York City 🙂

For our art project on Thursday we used apple stamping to decorate a cityscape!

We started by gluing a precut cityscape—-here is the pattern Joy drew SKMBT_42314032815140—–onto a piece of white rectangular paper. In addition to the math access point recognize a 2 dimensional shape, the science access point recognize a change in an object is also addressed.

Then we discussed the different paint colors we were going to use and asked the students to choose which color they wanted.

Recognizing an object by one observable property, such as color is the science access point addressed. Using body movement or nonverbal expression to communicate preferences is a language access point addressed.

Little hands and big slippery apples are not a good combination so we stuck a fork into the apple which made it so much easier for our students to handle!

So did we count the numbers of apples stamped?

OF COURSE 🙂

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

Ta Da! These cityscapes turned out pretty fabulous—-the Big Apple never looked so good!

LANGUAGE GROUP

After reading Cara’s book about the sights to see in New York, we decided to take a closer look with a virtual tour. We had the students gather around the SMART board for this group. We printed out some pictures of places from our book, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

These pictures were put on an All Turn It Spinner so that our students were able to pick a place to go.

Cara found a couple of websites with virtual tours of New York. The one she had planned on showing, www.airpano.com, didn’t end up working on our SMART board; however, it has an amazing virtual tour. Instead, we used http://newyork.arounder.com. This was also a virtual tour, but wasn’t an eagle eye view like airpano.

Our students loved being able to experience seeing New York with a 360 degree tour. We used different adjectives to talk about what we were looking at. We commented on the TALL building, the LONG bridge, and the BRIGHT lights.

Developing an understanding of language concepts related to linear measurement is addressed here.

The final consensus was that we all wanted to travel to New York on our next CBI trip:)

Hope you enjoyed our geography themed activities this week! Join us again for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Mar9

The Oscars

Posted on March 9, 2014 by jd785

The Oscars

With the Academy Awards all over the news these past couple of weeks, the Oscars seemed like a perfect theme for us! Cara’s book was a huge hit and as usual, our groups were tons of fun! In our sensory group each of our sensory boxes represented a different Oscar winning movie. In the fine motor group our students made some movie star art themed art projects. For our language group it was all about the red carpet experience! Read along to see all the fun we had.

SENSORY GROUP

Popcorn—-gotta have some at the movies! Our first box was filled with popcorn kernels and items related to our theme including: Disney princess figures, a pirate ship wreck, pirate beads, and an Indiana Jones duck! There was a “Music Man” maraca to shake and an Alice in Wonderland cupcake that squeaked. Since the Academy Awards take place in California, we tossed in a state magnet and finally—–a mini Oscar statue (thanks Ms. Caressa!) This was a great box—-something for everyone!

In addition to lots of opportunities for vocabulary building, science concepts of forces and changes in motion were explored with some of the items. Specifically the science access point recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move is addressed.

The world in spatial terms is also explored and the social studies access point associate an object, picture, or symbol with a location is addressed.

The students got to make their own Shrek ogres using our green Floam, some potato head features and 2 plastic pegboard pegs—–perfect ogre ears :). Floam has an interesting texture and while you can mold it, it doesn’t “feel” sticky. Pretty cool stuff!

It’s great for working on bilateral coordination as it is squished and molded into roundish heads.

We explored organization and development of living organisms addressing the science access point recognize one or more external body parts.

We loved the way our Wizard of Oz discovery bottle turned out! We mixed some green tinted hair gel with water and green glitter. Then we put in 3 red Barbie shoes—–they looked just like ruby slippers!

The Unique Curriculum intermediate unit this month explores the theme of movement so this bottle, along with other items in our boxes compliments it.

Science concepts of forces and motion are explored. In addition motion of objects is explored with the science access point track objects in motion.

Our Wizard of Oz box also included a slinky rainbow and this was a HUGE hit with our students! Some of them loved SLOWLY pulling it apart. Others pulled it as wide as they could make it and then shook it to see it vibrate. Either way——–fun was had!

Of course forces and changes in motion were explored with the science access point recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move. Forms of energy are explored with the access point recognize the change in motion of an object.

The students had so much fun with our Pirates of the Caribbean box! Along with tons of sparkly gold beads were an eye patch and hook so they could get into character if they wanted.

Again the science access point recognize external body parts is explored. In addition tool use is practiced as the hook plunders for beads—-arrgg!

The number 3 and 3 plastic snakes were buried in the sand of our Indiana Jones box—–guess he probably wouldn’t like this box very much 🙂

The science access point match animals that are the same can be addressed with this activity. This access point is related to the concept of diversity and evolution of living organisms.

Recognizing when 1 or 2 items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 3 is a math access point addressed. This access point is related to developing understandings of multiplication and division and strategies for basic multiplication facts and related division facts.

Blue “genie” oobleck——for Aladdin of course!!!! We sprinkled blue raspberry Koolaid onto our oobleck observing as it changed from white to blue!

As usual, fun was had as our little scientists pushed, pulled, and grabbed handfuls of this gloppy goo 🙂

Recognizing that the appearance of a material has changed is a science access point related to the concept of changes in matter.

For our nod to Snow White we washed the oobleck off hands and arms using an apple sponge. The water was scented with lavender vanilla scented bath gel from Bath and Bodyworks chosen because when Snow White ate the apple she fell asleep…….and lavender makes you feel relaxed…… Ok, kind of a stretch but we went with it 🙂

Properties of matter are addressed with the science access point recognize water as a liquid.

The matching lotion was used to send our students off with memories of all the things they learned. Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is the science access point addressed and is related to the organization and development of living organisms concepts.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Our Tuesday art project had the students putting their own stars on the Hollywood walk of fame! The students counted the sides of our grey rectangular piece of paper—-and then we counted out one for each student. After they “wrote” their names, we painted their hands with dark grey paint and stamped them onto the paper.

Using appropriate vocabulary to compare shapes according to attributes and properties is promoted as the math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes is addressed in this activity.

The students chose which glittery star they wanted and then glued a picture of their face onto the star.

Squeezing the glue is great for hand strengthening of course! Pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination are promoted when placing the picture.

Effectively communicating wants and needs to a familiar person using gestures is a language access point.

The star was then glued down onto the paper and——–

TA DA!!!!!

A few new stars on the Hollywood walk of fame!

On Thursday we made our own little Oscar statues!

Joy drew an outline of an Oscar onto gold colored paper. You can print out the outline here: oscar award. It was then glued onto a toilet roll so it could stand up.

Glue was diluted with water and the students used a paint brush to apply it to the paper.

Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point addressed as the students paint with their brushes.

Gold glitter was then added for that authentic look 🙂

While some of our students were able to able the glitter independently, most of them needed a little help.

We stopped periodically to ask them “do we need more?”. They used a Go Talk to communicate whether they needed to add more glitter or if they were all done.

Solving problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language such as enough, too much, or more is a math access point related to understandings of addition and subtraction.

Using technology resources to support learning is a language access point.

The finished product looked fabulous!

We’d like to thank the Academy………..

LANGUAGE GROUP

We’ve talked about some movies that have won Oscars. We’ve earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received an Oscar. Now it’s time to walk down the red carpet! But of course, before getting near the red carpet, we need to be dressed for the occasion.

We printed out pictures of all of the different things we could wear and bring to the red carpet, such as sunglasses, sports coats, feather boas, top hats, and earrings. The pictures were put on an All-Turn-It Spinner which was activated using a switch.

Our students took turns activating the switch and seeing what they would be wearing. A couple of our students were able to verbalize what they landed on.

Using an input device, such as a switch to interact with a technology resource is a language access point.

We talked about putting the clothes/objects ON. It was neat to see how many of our students got so excited to dress up! Such a fun way to practice dressing skills!

But really, who doesn’t get a LITTLE excited about getting all fancy 🙂

Communicating recognition of familiar objects and communicating about a selected object are language access points.

Time for a quick interview with Entertainment News…….

then off to the red carpet!

We had taped down some red paper to act as our red carpet. One by one our little movie stars walked the red carpet and were photographed in their fancy attire. They had fun with that!

After the red carpet they were treated to a movie on the smart board. Our version of the Oscars was a success! So much so that a couple of our students didn’t want to give back their costumes 🙂 Sadly, they had to and we talked about taking things OFF.

Hope you enjoyed seeing all the fun we had with the Oscars. Be sure and come back next week—–there will be more fun and learning Group by Group!

Dec15

Christmas Traditions

Posted on December 15, 2013 by jd785

Christmas Traditions

It was a busy week with a special program affecting our group schedule a little but we still had fun exploring our Christmas Traditions theme! Cara used pictures submitted by staff members for her book and our students really enjoyed looking at the pictures and labeling things they saw—-such as the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Our sensory boxes were bright and colorful with lots of Christmas related items to explore. The fine motor group had two cute projects and the language group went on a Christmas parade!

Sensory Group

Colorful lights are a Christmas tradition that we find decorating trees and houses. We put 2 sets of colorful battery operated lights and some shiny garland in this box. The garland reflected the lights and made the box even more eye catching—–and mesmerizing 🙂

This one was a favorite!

This addresses the science access point recognizing sources of light.

This box was filled with plastic pine branches and holly leaves. We also put in some red garland, shiny beads, and a little Christmas stocking. All sorts of fun textures and items to explore! Of course, we had to include a couple of Santas, a little elf, a wrapped present, a nutcracker, and some jingle bells—all traditional Christmas symbols.

We also included a voice output device with the song Jingle Bells—-it got played ALOT 🙂

Science access points addressed include recognizing common objects related to science by name, such as plant and recognizing a model of a real object.

This activity also addresses the social studies access point, associating a celebration with an event, such as a holiday.

Red and green are considered Christmas colors. We put shiny, hard beads and soft, round pom poms in this box.

Lots of opportunities to compare and contrast materials. It addresses the science access point identifying common objects by one observable property, such as color. It also addresses the science access point recognizing two objects that are identical to each other.

The math access point recognizing a 3 dimensional object (sphere) is also addressed.

Red and green are also the colors of our rice box—-red rice and green split peas! Wow, this was such a pretty box—so eye catching! Hidden in the box were 3 letter C’s to find. We also taped some Christmas tree wrapping paper to the bottom of the box—-a fun picture to find as the rice was pushed aside.

In addition to tactile and visual discrimination skills, the science access point of applying a push to move an object is addressed.

A giant Christmas tree cookie cutter was used with our peppermint scented green playdough. Although is smelled pretty yummy, our students did a really good job of refraining from tasting it!

Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point addressed in this activity.

As more than 1 tree is formed, the science access point recognizing two objects that are identical to each other is also addressed.

We swirled red food coloring into our “candy cane” oobleck. It turned out pretty cool—starting out with swirling color and ending up a delightful pink!

As usual, our students loved playing with it—oobleck is simply amazing stuff 🙂

The science access points recognizing a change in an object and recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move are addressed here.

This week, we found our scent at Joann’s—-Gingerbread!

We used the water to rinse the oobleck off our hands AND address the science access point recognizing water as a liquid.

As well as the science access point observing and recognizing that people need water —to clean off oobeck, of course 🙂

The matching lotion smelled very yummy and after the students had smelled the lotion, we asked them which body part they wanted the lotion rubbed on. This scent was a real hit, ALL our students loved it!

This activity addresses the science access point recognizing external body parts and the language access point communicating a preference for a familiar action.

Fine Motor Group

On Tuesday we made some super cool reindeer using floor puzzle pieces. We have done this before and we liked them so much, we decided to do it again! Our super volunteer, Sarah, glued the pieces together for us.

We started by using our sponge brushes to paint the reindeer brown.

Recognizing a change in a object is addressed as the white puzzle pieces become brown.

Next we asked our students to find their eyes, then put 2 round googlie eyes on their reindeer. Placing the googlie eyes helps to promote pincer grasp skills.

It also addresses the science access point recognizing external body parts.

Rudolph needs a bright shiny red nose, of course! We added a cute pompom noses after asking the students to find their own nose.

Again, this activity addresses pincer grasp skills and identifying external body parts.

Our students were thrilled with their reindeer!

Time to run, run Rudolph—-

TaDA!

On Thursday, our students turned into little elves!

We started by discussing the color of the paper we were going to use. Our students did a great job of finding the color green. We were so excited when we realized that everyone had answered correctly!

Identifying classroom objects by one observable property, such as color is a science access point addressed here.

Then we used our paper cutters and electric scissors to turn our green rectangles into triangles!

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

The math access point recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is also addressed.

Time to add some decorations—working on pincer grasp and eye hand coordination skills!

Of course, we counted each decoration as it was added to the hat.

We glued the hat onto our pre-made faces, made from paper plates (thanks again Sarah!).

Elves ready and reporting to work 🙂

HO HO HO

Language Group

After reading Cara’s book, we made Christmas cards for the other elementary classes. The students got to pick what they wanted on the front of the cards by activating the All-Turn-It spinner. The pictures on the spinner were: Christmas tree, Santa Claus, bells, angel, reindeer, snowman, and an elf.

Our students did so well watching the spinner and they are also learning not to hit the switch but to push it to activate it.

The language access point, use technology resources to support learning is addressed here.

After finishing up the cards, we dressed our students up with different Christmas props. We let them look in the mirror to see themselves which is always fun to do. The different props we had coincided with the different pictures that were on the spinner. We talked about putting things “on” and trying not to take them “off”.

Responding to specific information about familiar objects and routines is a language access point addressed here.

We also made sure everyone had some jingle bells 🙂

Time for a Christmas parade! We went over who was “first” and who was “last” then we turned on some Christmas music, rang bells, and paraded through the halls to deliver the cards. SO FUN!

Surprisingly, the props stayed on our students the entire time! The students in the other classrooms loved watching our language group parade around their room!

The math access point, recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities is addressed here.

Responding to familiar persons is a language access point addressed.

It’s been a great celebration these past 2 weeks, but now we’re all ready for a break! Since next week there are only 2 full days of school, we decided not to have groups. We’ll see you in 2014 with some more fun Group by Group!

Feb18

Valentines Day and Letter U

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jd785

Valentines Day and Letter U

Love is in the air with a Valentines Day was the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups this week. Our Language Group looked at words that start with Letter U.

Sensory Group—Valentines Day

Our first box was bursting with valentine related items including silk rose petals, beads, garland, assorted red ribbons, paper valentines, shredded paper, candy boxes AND hearts of all sizes and materials.

This box addresses the social studies access point of associating a celebration with an event. Comparing the varying textures addresses the science access point of identifying objects by observable properties.

The valentines in the box also give the students opportunities to attend to print materials by touching and looking, which is a language access point.

Red and white was the color theme of our next box. It was just SO pretty!

Shiny hard beads to compare to soft pom poms ( identifying objects by observable properties).

Also the opportunity to match items of similar shape (spheres) (the math access point of recognizing common three-dimensional objects ) or color ( the math access point of recognizing two objects that are identical to each other).

The beads, of course, are always fun to wear and shake around 🙂

Our discovery bottles filled with glitter, assorted small hearts, and beads were so colorful and eye catching! Lots of fun to shake and look at.

These bottles address the science access points of tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled.

These bottles are a lot of fun to make (and a way to recycle juice and water bottles). We hot glue the lids shut for safety but still keep a close eye on the students as they are playing with them.

Our pretty pink cloud dough was so pretty and fun with our hearts and kisses cookie cutters.

Also included was a heart shaped scoop—we had a lot of fun finding items for this week’s theme 🙂

Recognizing common objects with a two-dimensional shape (hearts) is a math access point.

We used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of cooking oil to make our cloud dough. Then we added some glitter and a couple of packages of kool-aide to get the pretty pink color. If you haven’t yet, you HAVE to make this stuff, it’s just SO COOL!!

Messy—–yes

BUT oh so worth it 🙂

Our pink and white rice is perfect for Valentines day. We put in some big glittery letters spelling the word of the day—-L O V E.

Again, an opportunity for our students to attend to print materials.

The students had so much fun either sifting their fingers through the rice (building tactile discrimination skills) or using the small spoon—–heart shaped, of course—-when we pick a theme we go all out 🙂

We mixed shaving cream and cake mix to make “chocolate mousse”. Our students were not quite sure what to make of this at first but then dived in and started exploring it. It had a nice aroma but for the most part the students refrained from sampling it.

This was a great medium to practice scribbling and prewriting patterns.

Recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli is is a science access point.

Messy hands were rinsed in “red hot cinnamon” scented water. We used body wash found at a clearance sale a couple of years ago and it really does smell like cinnamon scented candy!

With two different sized heart shaped measuring cups our students had so much fun scooping and pouring the liquid.

The different size cups helps address the science access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

We finished with strawberry scented lotion—- a lovely reminder of our valentines celebrations.

As lotion is rubbed on arms its a great opportunity to provide some deep touch pressure which is calming and helps build body awareness. Additionally, it encourages social interaction.

Fine Motor Group—Valentines Day

On Tuesday we started by reading all about Valentines Day in Cara’s latest book using the voice output device to read the repetitive line. Our students have been practicing giving the voice output device to their neighbor and some of them are getting quite good!

Sharing objects with a partner is a science access point.

For our art project we made some beautiful hearts using paints in Valentines colors of red, purple, and pink. By chance, 3 of the adults wore matching shirts—-so of course we worked on some color identification!

Identifying objects by one observable property is a science access point 🙂

We counted out paper hearts (discussing the shape, of course, to address the math access point of recognizing a two-dimensional shape) and after the students had written their names on them, put them into a box.

Then using a spoon, we scooped a marble out of the paint and dropped it into the box.

Scooping up those marbles and dropping them into the box was a great eye hand coordination activity!

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

The lid was closed and it was time to shake, rattle and roll.

This clear box works perfectly for the activity because you can see, as well as hear, the marbles rolling around!

We are talking major fun and excitement here 🙂

This activity addresses the science access point of applying a push to move an object.

Using both hands to push or pick up the box addresses bilateral coordination.

TA DA!!

Pretty cool looking!

On Thursday we continued with our heart theme. We discussed the color and counted out hearts cut from red poster board.

We proceeded to decorate them with a variety of glittery craft foam stickers. Great for practicing pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

If you also count the stickers—-more math,

and we love that!

TA Da!

So cute!!!!

We finished with a Valentines Party with LOTS yummy sweet cookies and cupcakes! Mealtime activities are wonderful opportunities to address social and self care skills as well as indicating a desire for “more” or “no more” which are math access points.

Of course with cupcakes and cookies, you are guaranteed lots of practice indicating a a desire for “more” 🙂

Language Group—Letter U

We started, as Usual, with Cara’s sound game.

Recognizing and responding to common sounds is a science access point.

Then we discussed different things that could be found in the Universe. We tossed around these planetary balls from our science closet and had fun trying to identify which planet they represented—and of course, got into a discussion on whether Pluto was a planet or not 🙂

Recognizing a model of a real object is a science access point.

Catching and throwing the balls addresses eye hand coordination.

We lifted Up a funnel and found some Ugly bugs!

UGH!!!

Recognizing objects related to science by name (such as animal) is a science access point.

We also Undulated around while singing along to the Ugly bug ball song 🙂

We finished by coloring an Unusual Unicorn (we found this by googling “free unicorn coloring pages”). For some of our students this is a perfect time for practicing using switches. For others who use standard coloring Utensils, it is an opportunity to practice coloring in a designated area.

Here are some of the U words we found today.

It was an Utterly (thanks to Joia, the OT intern for coming up with the activities) fun week.

Join Us again…….we will be just chilling Until next time

Group by Group!

Mar18

Week 25—St.Patricks Day and the Letter Y

Posted on March 18, 2012 by jd785

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!

Mar4

Week 23—Florida and Letter W

Posted on March 4, 2012 by jd785

Week 23—Florida and Letter W

Our theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor groups was Florida and our theme for our Language group was Letter W.

Sensory Group—Florida

The Unique Curriculum topic this month explored home, family and where you live, so we we chose our home state as our theme this week. We hope you enjoy exploring our wonderful state with us 🙂

We started our session by looking at a map of Florida. We pointed out where we live and where we might like to visit.

Then we read Cara’s book. Our students took turns activating the voice output device to comment on things we might see in Florida. We were quite excited when one of our students started kicking his feet (he activates the switch with his foot) as soon as we told him it was his turn.

Looking at maps and identifying places on maps is a social studies access point. Reaching for the map, since we held it vertically, helps strengthen shoulder stability.

Florida is the Sunshine State!

Our box of sunshine contained soft, round, yellow pom poms and some hard, rayed yellow shapes (from a set of manipulatives).

These bright and cheery items let us compare properties of materials: a science access point.

The next box contained some dried moss, just like the spanish moss that hangs from oak trees in Florida. It had a dry crinkly texture which was very different from the soft black bear “fur”. Again, exploring contrasting properties of materials is a science access point.

We put in a plastic orange and orange slice. This let us compare part to whole concepts which is a math access point.

There were lots of other cool Florida symbols that our students enjoyed pulling out which gave us lots of opportunities to explore language and literacy skills!

Seminole Indians are native to Florida.

They are known for the bead work on their clothing. We put our colorful beads in some sealed bottles.

We also put in a few shells to encourage visual discrimination as the bottles are turned.

Of course they are also lots of fun to shake, adding an auditory component!

In our next box we learned about alligators—we have lots of them in Florida!

Our alligator puppet had a zipper mouth which gave our students the opportunity to practice some activities of daily living skills. Feeling the open zipper was a safe way to touch a gators sharp teeth 🙂

We found a toy that reminded us of an alligators bumpy, rough skin. Also included was in the box, was a gator puzzle piece and a little rubber one. Comparing the sizes of the large gator puppet and a small rubber alligator targets a math access point.

Cape Canaveral, where men were first launched into space!

Black beans look like the dark night sky and are so nice to scoop or pick up with fingers to practice pincer grasp skills. Lots of tactile input is given when burying/digging out the astronaut and moon.

We also put in a small star shaped cookie cutter, can you find it?

Discussing the star shape and the sphere shaped moon addresses math access points.

Yikes, we are also known for hurricanes! Put a hair dryer on a high, cool setting and you have WIND.

Lots of giggles and smiles erupted as hair was blown or the wind touched their hands. Our students loved this so much, we ended up bringing the “wind” into the Fine Motor and Language groups also!

Exploring the effects of wind/weather is a science access point and the tactile effects increase body awareness.

Ok, we finally got to the beach! We have miles of it here to walk along barefoot (we found this plastic foot on a halloween clearance rack). The foot was a HUGE hit—no pun intended 🙂

We looked for the letter F and made seashell impressions in the sand.

Other students enjoyed trying to catch the sand as it as it was spilled from the shell—-so much fun in one little box!

Next we practiced our prewriting strokes in “key lime pie”, our state pie. Its actually vanilla pudding but its a similar color to REAL key lime pie—and a lot cheaper 🙂

The tactile aspect of finger painting helps reinforce motor memory patterns and is a great way to encourage hand and arm movements.

We rinsed our hands in orange scented water and took a little time out for some fishing, sometimes with a little help from our friends 🙂

Using the fishing pole to catch the fish promotes shoulder stability and eye hand coordination. The opening in the fish tails also makes them easy to grasp with hands.

Counting the fish as they are caught addresses math access points.

We had some other fish that were squirters! Fun to squeeze, working on grasp skills. Also fun to have the water squirt on your hand! We were really excited to see this student actively moving her fingers and smiling during this activity.

After drying our hands, we rubbed on some orange scented lotion. A wonderful citrus scent to help us remember all the things we learned about our state today!

Thank you Ms. Metra for donating that yummy scent!

Fine Motor Group—Florida

On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book about Florida. The students got excited as they recognized some of the familiar places and things pictured.

Talking about the different things they point out allows for lots of language and literacy opportunities.

Then we proceeded to make a palm tree—one of the most recognizable symbols of Florida!

We started by counting out rectangular pieces of white paper, working on math access points, of course!

Then we made a “down” stroke using a foam brush and brown paint.

We helped our students with the initiation point but they did a really nice job of completing the stroke. we were so proud!

Then we painted one of their hands with green paint and counted as we pressed it at the top of the brown line 2 times.

We told you we were making a “palm” tree 🙂

Some of our students could do this step independently but most of them needed some assistance.

WOW, doesn’t this make

you think of Florida 🙂

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again. Once again our students did a great job helping us read the repeating line. We didn’t talk about them in our book but Manatees are some of the wonderful animals that are native to Florida and we wanted to do a project that included them.

To get started on our activity, we counted out rectangular pieces of blue paper (addressing math access points).

Then we tore pieces of blue and green tissue paper. Tearing the paper helps promote bilateral coordination and fine motor skills.

We are making an underwater habitat for a manatee!

Our students dipped the tissue into glue and glued it onto the paper. Crumpling the paper was encouraged!

Grasping the paper encourages pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

This student needed a lot of help with his pincer grasp skills last year, but look at him now! Joy (the OT) is very pleased.

Then we painted our manatee. Joy drew the outline on some white craft foam. Its texture really resembles that of a manatee, just perfect for our project!

We added a googlie eye, OF COURSE, and glued our manatee into its habitat.

TA-DA!

Jeannie’s hallway looks so cute with the palm trees and manatees hanging on the wall!

Language Group—Letter W

We started by Wadding up some scrap paper.

This activity is great for encouraging bilateral coordination and palmer arching.

And its really fun!

Then We took out the hair dryer again and made some Wind!

The students had so much fun Watching the hair dryer blow the paper Wads down the table. It was also fun to Watch our post-its Wave.

Most of the students could hardly Wait for their turn with the hair dryer 🙂

This activity addresses shoulder stability and eye hand coordination.

Discussing the effects of Wind addresses science access points.

Next We Wiped out a W on the dry erase board.

Following the strokes promotes Motor Memory for letter formation and Working on a vertical surface promotes shoulder stability.

We also made it big enough to sneak in a crossing midline component.

Now We are going to make a Walrus!

For our project, some of our students cut strips of White paper using our paper cutters.

These are going to be some Walrus tusks!

Other students practiced cutting on curved lines (this is going to be the muzzle). They needed a little help but really did a nice job.

As usual, we had a variety of scissors, both adaptive and regular on hand to suit our students needs.

We used our hole punches to cut 2 large White circles and 2 small black circles using our hole punches. We love these because they make it easy for our students to cut circles and they help with hand strengthening.

Comparing the relative sizes and counting the circles addresses math access points.

We glued all the pieces onto a brown paper lunch bag.

Assembling this addresses following directions, fine motor skills and visual spatial concepts.

Wow! A Wonderful Walrus!

Isn’t he just so super cute 🙂

What fun to play Cara’s latest sound game. Lots of cool W sounds to listen for this Week.

Watch out for that Wasp!

Whew—what a lot of W words we found today. There were so many and scattered all around the table—-here are just a few of them!

It was just an awesome week, we had a blast! We hope you join us again for more fun Group by Group.

Feb25

Week 22—Mardi Gras and the Letter V

Posted on February 25, 2012 by jd785

Week 22—Mardi Gras and the Letter V

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was Mardi Gras. Letter V was the theme for our Language Group.

Sensory Group—Mardi Gras

Cara’s book “At the Mardi Gras Parade” had such bright colorful pictures that our students loved. We continue to encourage them to press the voice output device to help read the story.

Our first box focused on the Mardi Gras colors of purple, yellow, and green. We included yarn, garland, curling ribbon, feathers, beads, small toys, and crowns. We also included a little toy baby because of the Mardi Gras tradition of luck coming to the person who finds it in their piece of King Cake.

This box helps work on color identification skills. All the different textures explored properties of materials (science access point). Fine motor skills are addressed while reaching for, grasping, and releasing the different objects. And, of course, talking about all the different objects addresses language skills.

This was such a colorful box and we all loved it!

We continued exploring textures and colors

with our next box. Easter grass made a great stand-in for cotton candy that you might buy some from a street vendor while watching the Mardi Gras parade!

Its light and easy to grasp and Pulling the it apart encourages bilateral coordination.

There are lots of lights on the floats at the Mardi Gras parade so course we had to have some! We included some of our spinning light up toys as well as these battery operated lights we found at Target.

Our students had fun touching them or having them draped around their shoulders.

Looking at the lights encourages visual attending and tracking.

Our next box contained some purple“macaroons” that you might find at the French Quarter! Well, actually, its a substance called “Bubber” which can be purchased from a variety of catalogs. It has the most amazing feel—light and silky just like a macaroon! The adults loved it as much as the students —-you just can’t stop touching this stuff!

BEADS! BEADS!! BEADS!!!

Of course we had to have beads, its Mardi Gras! We filled a box with them and to say our students loved them would be an understatement. Everyone had to grab one or two or a handful 🙂

The beads are excellent for addressing color identification and size comparisons. Their shiny texture makes them very eye catching when shaken and an auditory component is included when rolling across a table.

We looked for the letter M in our Mardi Gras rice—green, yellow, and purple of course! We loved the way it turned out, reminding us of a box of confetti.

Scooping, pouring, sifting—FUN!

King Cake is always served at Mardi Gras. Its yummy and topped with a sweet white sugar glaze that was easy to imitate with our oobleck!

Playing with the oobleck improves tactile awareness and provides a medium for practicing prewriting strokes—or you can have fun just watching it drip off fingers.

After playing with the oobleck, our students rinsed their hands in vanilla sugar scented water and then rubbed on some hand lotion.

Everybody left smelling like sweet yummy King Cakes to remind them of all our Mardi Gras fun!

Fine Motor Group—Mardi Gras

On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book and learned about all the things we might see at the Mardi Gras parade. Then we decided to make some masks.

First we let our students choose whether they wanted a green or purple mask. We found these foam masks at Michaels on clearance after Halloween.

We counted the masks to work on one to one correspondence.

Then we added some

glue. Squeezing the

glue helps improve

hand strength

and eye hand

coordination.

Now for the fun part —decorating! We decorated the masks with feathers, glitter, sequins!

Our students had fun choosing which items to include on their masks. This student especially LOVED the glitter 🙂

A variety of fine motor skills are addressed during this activity from a pincer grasp to pick up feather to shoulder stability needed to shake the glitter.

Jeannie got some great pictures of her students holding their masks in front of their faces. They are going to look so cute in the yearbook.

Aren’t they just so bright and colorful!

Snack time comes after our fine motor activity and we just had to include a picture of this students spontaneous food art.

Isn’t it just fabulous—he was just so proud 🙂

On Thursday we read our Mardi Gras book again and then made some jester hats.

We started by letting our students choose which color to use for their hat band. After they made their choice, they practiced writing their names on their bands.

We made sure to reinforce color identification skills by naming the colors and encouraging our students to vocalize the color names when possible.

Then we used our paper cutters to cut out purple and green triangles. We really like using these paper cutters. They make it so easy for the students to cut straight lines and they really enjoy using them.

Identifying the triangle shapes addresses math access points.

We cut out yellow circles with our hole punches.

By either squeezing or pushing down on the hold punch our students are working on strengthening their hands.

Counting and identifying the circle shapes—more math access points!

Next, we taped the triangles to the band in an alternating pattern.

After 3 triangles, we asked the students to pick which color in the pattern came next.

Sequencing is another math access point. Putting the triangle beside the previous one addresses spatial relationships.

We added a yellow circle to the point of each triangle. Picking up the circle promotes a pincer grasp and placing it on the glue promotes visual spatial skills.

Its starting to come together!

Our hats are all done!

Time for the Mardi Gras parade 🙂

Language Group—Letter V

We started our group by talking about the letter of the week and we practiced forming the letter V with our fingers.

Making letters and other signs gives our students an opportunity to practice finger individuation skills.

Then we made Vertical

lines on the magna

doodle to practice

pre-writing strokes.

We Voted on

which line was the longest!

We opened the Velvety bag by pulling apart the Velcro.

Then we reached in and pulled out one of the Vehicle beads.

Reaching into the bag and pulling out a bead without seeing it helps address tactile discrimination.

We purchased the bead set at Target.

He put a vibrant Van on

the string—Vroom Vroom!

After everyone had a turn, we counted the beads, working on one to one correspondence.

We really like this bead set because the end is a wooden dowel which makes it easier for our students.

We started our next activity with a Vulture that Joy drew—thanks for the inspiration Ms. Cathie 🙂

Our students tore black paper into Very small pieces to make “feathers”.

Tearing the paper helps improve bilateral coordination and pincer grasp.

The feathers were glued onto the Vulture working on eye hand coordination and visual spatial skills.

We like this View of the Varmint 🙂

We played Cara’s latest sound game.

This game addresses listening and language skills.

We finished by looking at our V words. The post -its work so well in our group. Sometimes it hard to write down the words fast enough! Another advantage of them is that they are easy to move around and stick to different objects. They are also easy for our students to pick up and point to.

What an awesome week, we really enjoyed it! Please join us again next time for more fun Group by Group.