Tag Archives: book

Nov4

Things That Go Bump in the Night book

Posted on November 4, 2013 by jd785

It’s a spooooky week this week at school. The book takes a look at some different things that go bump in the night. While reading the book, we asked the students, “what are these things?” which the repetitive line replied, “things that go bump in the night”. For the powerpoint, we added some sounds found in the powerpoint clipart files on to some of the pages. Unfortunately, the sound does not work if you’re using the book with Slideshark. If you look at it straight from powerpoint, though, the sound is there. It’s a fun addition!

Here is a link to the book: Things That Go Bump in the Night

Nov4

Things that go Bump in the Night

Posted on November 4, 2013 by jd785

Things that go Bump in the Night

This week we explored things we imagine might be out there to scare us when its dark at night! It seemed an appropriate topic for this time of year 🙂 Our sensory items had a really high contrast of light and dark which was very visually appealing to our students. The fine motor group had a great time making some spooky art projects. The language group students used adjectives to compare items. We also made it fun by turning off the lights while reading our book in all our groups.

SENSORY GROUP

This first box was filled with black paper shred and assorted creepy crawlies! Some of the critters were black so they were hidden really well. Others were brightly colored and could be easily spotted. We also threw in some fun fur for an added textural component.

Our students explored the box in different ways, some sifted through the paper while others……..

had a different approach…….. 🙂

The most popular item in the box was the little vibrating spider toy. Pulling it’s string was perfect for addressing bilateral coordination!

Visual and tactile discrimination skills are also addressed here.

The science access point of recognizing common objects related to science by name was addressed.

Battery operated orange lights (found at Walmart) made for perfect glowing eyes peeking out from garland. We kept these in the box to add to the effect—our students were fascinated!

Recognizing sources of light is the science access point addressed here.

We used our green Floam and some Mr. Potato Head features to make our own aliens. This purchased Floam has a wonderful easily moldable texture that made it perfect for making silly alien creatures while working on bilateral coordination and hand intrinsic functions!

The science access point recognizing external body parts is addressed with this activity.

The letters B O O could be found in our black bean and orange rice box. This is one of our favorite rice boxes—-so colorful and eye catching! So much fun to sift and run fingers through.

For added interest, we taped a picture of a jack o lantern to the bottom of the box.

Visual and tactile discrimination is again addressed as well as literacy skills.

Black shadows can certainly make you jump! We made ours by bringing back our pirate playdough from a few weeks ago along with bat and cat cookie cutters. The black glitter we added to the playdough gave it an added shimmer which we loved and it really contrasted with the bright orange cookie cutters. Again, a terrific substance to squish and pound.

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

Glowing purple ooze (oobleck with purple tinted tonic water) looked pretty fabulous under our black light!

We added some pop rocks candy (we were inspired by the folks on the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog who added it to finger paint) and our ooze became pretty spectacular—-think rice krispie cereal on steroids! Not sure who was more impressed, the students or the adults 🙂

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

We used Bath and Bodyworks Twilight woods scent to finish. In our water play we had 2 different size measuring cups for scooping and pouring fun—-and addressing the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

The lotion has a light soft scent—not scary at all 🙂 and our students really liked it.

The science access point recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is addressed with both these activities.

FINE MOTOR

On Tuesday we made some mummies! We started by talking about the color of out mummy (black) and the color of our paint (white). All of our students correctly picked the colors we asked them to identify. Oh yes we were proud!!

The science access point recognizing common objects by one observable property, such as color is addressed here.

The language access point communicating information about objects using non-verbal expressions, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is also addressed.

To begin our art activity we put our mummy IN a clear lidded box. Then we scooped out marbles covered in white paint, counting as we dropped them 1 at a time into the box.

This is a fun way to work on eye hand coordination and scooping skills!

This also addresses the math access points of associating quantities with number names AND recognizing common three-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres).

Then we closed the lid and…..shake shake shake!

Totally fun way to address the science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and tracking objects in motion.

We opened the lid and took our mummy OUT of the box and added 2 googlie eyes—giving us a chance to practice pincer grasp skills.

This activity addresses the math access point associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names.

It also addresses the science access point recognizing a change in the appearance of an object or material.

Hmm, lets check this out——-

—yep, he’s pretty cool!

For our art activity on Thursday we made great big eyeballs! We started by comparing the different size circles and asked our students to show us the big one.

Recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes, such as a circle is a math access point.

Recognizing the larger of two objects is a science access point.

We used assorted markers to color red veins on the big circle (dessert size paper plates). Of course we counted the plates and discussed their size and color as we passed them out.

Our students then chose which color they wanted their eye to be using our communication symbols. Some of our students touch the symbols, while others used eye gaze.

Using body movement or nonverbal expression to communicate desires or preferences is the language access point addressed here.

Next we used a circle punch to cut out a small black circle.

The science access point applying a push or pull to move an object is addressed here.

We compared the different sized circles again and began assembling our eyeballs.

This activity works on eye hand coordination and graded motor control—you don’t want to crumple up your circles!

The math access point of recognizing the next step in a sequence of activities is also addressed.

Somebody is watching you….

…..spooky!

LANGUAGE GROUP

After we finished Cara’s book we stayed with the spooky theme using the iPad app Spooky Box (it was free)—just for fun! Our students enjoyed listening to the different sounds and we had fun watching their reactions 🙂 We do need to note that some of the sounds are a little intense, so be sure to prescreen them!

For our ACTUAL learning activity—– we focused on using adjectives to describe two different objects. The students used Boardmaker pictures and put the adjectives in the appropriate column to describe the objects. They did need a little bit of help with this, but over all, they did well.

Communicating information about familiar objects using pictures or symbols is a language access point.

The first object we explored was some mystery green play dough that Joy had made using a recipe from the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog (this is a great site filled with all sorts of ideas and recipes, we love it!).

The other object was a yellow and blue ball with fringes all over it.

Identifying objects by one observable property and recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli are science access points addressed with this activity.

Some of the adjectives used were: hard/soft, heavy/light, cold/warm. Mrs. Robin got out a scale for us to use when working on heavy/light so the students could see which one was heavier.

So neat!

Recognizing objects as warm or cold and sorting objects by weight (heavy and light) are science access points.

We also used vinegar and sprayed each of the objects. We smelled the vinegar first.

Some of students found the aroma intriguing—-others let us know by their gestures, not so much 🙂

Communicating preferences for objects is a language access point.

The play dough reacted with the vinegar because of the baking soda in it and that made it bubble up, while the vinegar made the ball wet (and STINKY!). We then asked the students to choose an adjective (bubbly/wet) to describe the objects after vinegar had been sprayed on them.

Recognizing a change in an object and assisting with investigations with a partner are science access points addressed here.

Hope your week was as great as ours—- filled with treats not tricks 🙂

Join us again next week for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!

Oct27

Seasons book

Posted on October 27, 2013 by jd785

Seasons book

We decided to make the theme “Seasons” since that is the upper elementary Unique theme for this month. The book had changed back to the students answering a question after a line is read. We would ask them, “how many seasons are there?” The preprogrammed voice output device had “there are four seasons” programmed for the children to answer with. The pictures in the book were all found on google images and are nature scenes. The students seemed really captivated by them and it was easy to see the change between seasons. The second to the last page is a little different than the other books we’ve read. We asked our students what their favorite season was and they were able to point to the picture or vocalize their answer.

Here is a link to the book: There Are Four Seasons

Oct27

Seasons

Posted on October 27, 2013 by jd785

Seasons

This week our theme followed the Unique Curriculum unit some of our classes were learning about this month. Lets dive right in and explore all our fun activities……

SENSORY GROUP

We started with winter—and a wish for snow! We don’t get a lot of that stuff down here in Florida but we can still dream…..

Assorted snowflakes (paper, ornaments, etc), white pompom yarn, white and silver beads along with twist ties and clear packing tape turned a clear umbrella into a winter wonderland—-pretty darn magical, if we do say so ourselves 🙂

This really was a great experience for our students, they really loved it!

Exploring, observing, and recognizing objects in the natural world is the science access point addressed in this activity.

No winter wonderland is complete without snow! We made ours using cornstarch and shaving cream. Adding the cornstarch gave the shaving cream some texture and allowed it to be shaped into small “snowballs” if desired.

This was totally fun messy play, with MESSY being the operative word—–our students dived in and this stuff got everywhere 🙂

Bilateral coordination is addressed when making snowballs.

Applying a push to move an object and recognizing and responding to different stimuli are the science access points addressed with this activity.

Spring is such a colorful time of year with plants growing and flowers blooming. In this box, we sprinkled some dried bean “seeds” into our colorful green rice—and taped a hidden surprise of pictures of colorful plants just waiting to bloom as the rice was swept away. The picture was actually a piece of wallpaper from one of those wallpaper sample books that someone always seems to be giving away

We also put in the letters W (winter), F (fall), and S (spring, summer)

This box helps address visual and tactile discrimination as well as fine motor skills for picking up the little “seeds”.

Recognizing that pushing or pulling an object to make it move is a science access point addressed here. In addition, the science access points of recognizing the leaf and flower of a plant and recognizing that plants grow can be addressed.

Our second box was filled with our caterpillar and butterfly pasta—-now this is one COLORFUL box! It’s also a wonderful box for sorting concepts of same/different and counting activities—-lots of math access points covered, including:

Solving problems involving small quantities of objects using language such as “more”, recognizing objects that are identical to each other, recognizing when an object is added to (addition) or taken away (subtraction) from a situation, recognizing two objects that are the same size or color……

It’s amazing all the learning you can fit into one little box!

Fall has so many pretty colors with the changing leaves and colorful gourds and pumpkins that are seen everywhere.

Our students loved picking up and shaking the leaves as well as watching handfuls of them drift down. Others found a couple of scarecrow friends.

This was another great box for visual and tactile discrimination, so many things to explore!

The science access point of exploring, observing, and recognizing common objects in the natural world is addressed here.

Recognizing models of real objects is another science access point addressed.

Fall also means colorful warm sweaters and blankets—at least to look at in the stores, NO WAY is it cold enough to need them here yet 🙂

This soft pompom yarn has such pretty fall colors and is just so touchable—-wouldn’t it make a fabulous blanket or poncho!?

Our students had a great time with this yarn, draping it around themselves or just shaking it. Pulling it apart is a great way to work on bilateral coordination!

Recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is a science access point addressed here.

The science access point of recognizing clothing worn by humans in different seasons can also be addressed.

In the same box, we also included a shaker bottle filled with acorns. Our students love shaker bottles—-it’s always fun to make noise!

The science access points recognizing and responding to common sounds, recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli AND applying a push to move an object are all addressed here.

Discussing that acorns turn into oak trees also helps relate to the science access point recognizing that plants grow.

That’s a lot of science in one bottle!!!

Summer means going to the beach! We put in 3 seashells and 1 starfish for our students to find in our summer fun sand box. We used fine soft play sand that our students really loved touching.

Whether addressing the science access point of tracking objects in motion or the math access point of associating quantities with number names—–this is a great box!

Other access points addressed include for math: recognizing objects that are the same size or color and for science: recognizing common objects related to science by name.

Finishing up summer, our scent this week was Bath and Bodyworks aruba coconut. It was a wonderful summer aroma for our warm water play which included 2 colorful squirter fish. You would be hard pressed to find a more fun way to work on strengthening grip skills 🙂

Identifying objects by one observable property such as color and recognizing materials as warm or cold are science access points addressed here.

We finished with a little lotion, addressing the science access point of recognizing external body parts. This scent was a real favorite with the students and they left smelling like they had spent a day at the beach!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

For our art activity this week we made seasonal trees using torn tissue paper (our usual stash from presents past). Our tree trunk came from a reproducible in the book Apples, Apples Everywhere by Peggy Hundley Spitz OTR which can be purchased from Flaghouse.

On Tuesday we made our spring and summer trees. We used pink and purple paper for spring and green paper for our summer trees. On Thursday we used brown and orange for the fall trees and white paper with silver swirls for the winter trees.

We started by asking the students to match the communication symbols with the different paper colors. You may have observed that the literacy component for this student might have been improved if we had actually presented the words right side up 🙂

Recognizing two objects that are the same color is a science access point.

Responding accurately and consistently to referent objects or pictures used in routines is a language access point.

For each tree, we tore and crumpled up the paper. This is a great activity for addressing bilateral coordination and the students really had fun with it!

Recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.

The crumpled paper pieces were then dipped in glue………

and placed on the tree. This activity addresses pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

We also counted the pieces as they were applied—-of course!

Recognizing that the appearance of some plants in the environment changes throughout the year is a science access point.

TA DA!!!!

Our students were pretty pleased with the way their trees turned out—–can you tell 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We started off the group by reading Cara’s book and asking the students to point to the picture of their favorite season.

Communicating preferences using non-verbal gestures is a language access point.

After the students had indicated their favorite season, we used some of the boxes and objects from the sensory group as props.

For summer we used the sand, autumn we used the box of leaves, spring we used the green rice, and for winter we used the umbrella. What a hit!

This activity addresses the language access point of exploring and interacting with the functions of selected objects.

Next we played a memory game. We made cards using Boardmaker symbols and laminated them.

The pictures on the cards were: summer, autumn, winter, spring, beach, rake, mittens, and bird. They were presented with 4 pictures at a time which were turned over, face down. Each student took a turn and flipped over 2 cards at a time.

Using referent objects or pictures from a familiar read-aloud story is a language access point.

PIXON picture symbols for “same” and “different” were presented to the students and they were asked if the cards they flipped over were the same or different. Some of our students required some assistance figuring it out, but for the most part, they did pretty well.

Using pictures, symbols, gestures/signs, or words to communicate meaning is a language access point

This week turned out to be so much fun! We hope you enjoy seeing what we did as much as we enjoyed experiencing it! Please join us again, Group by Group.

Oct20

Alice in Wonderland book

Posted on October 20, 2013 by jd785

Alice in Wonderland book

We are SO excited about the book this week because the models in the book are some of our very own students—and a guest appearance by Ms. Kim’s daughter! We decided to have Alice in Wonderland as a theme this week because Mad Hatter Day occurs in October. This week, the students get to ask a question, “who did Alice see?” Each page asks and answers the question, going through 8 different characters in Alice in Wonderland. Since the pictures in the book were people familiar to the students, they were really attentive and enjoyed looking at all of the pictures of their friends. Joy did SUCH a great job posing the students and taking their picture. You definitely can’t miss this one! Enjoy!

Here is a link to the book: Who Did Alice See?

Oct20

Alice in Wonderland

Posted on October 20, 2013 by jd785

Alice in Wonderland

We had such a great time this week exploring the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. Cara’s book was wonderful and it was so exciting for our students to see themselves in her book! Hope you enjoy seeing how we made Alice’s adventures a multi-sensory learning experience!

SENSORY GROUP

Our first box was filled with paper shred since most books are made from paper—or at least they used to be 🙂

Nestled among the paper were some playing cards (hearts of course), some Mad Hatter party hats, rose petals, heart garland and ribbon, caterpillars, a variety of white rabbits…..

AND a cute fluffy “dormouse” that makes a crinkly sound when squeezed! We found it at the dollar store—-score!

We also included a play food cupcake with the label “eat me” and a plastic bottle with the word “drink me”.

It was so fun to see what the different students gravitated towards—-everyone had their favorites!

Exploring and interacting with a selected object is a language access point addressed in this box.

Visual discrimination in addition to reach and grasp skills are also addressed while exploring the fun contents of this fun box!

A is for Alice and we hid 4 letter A’s in this box of tea leaves. The tea leaves have an interesting texture, kind of crunchy and mild aroma—–a different sensory experience!

The students also had fun using the small scoop to cover them up again.

The math access point recognizing when items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 4 is addressed here.

Picking up the letters is an opportunity to work on pincer grasp skills—–most beautifully illustrated by this picture—and eye hand coordination.

Chenille stems make for great caterpillars! This box was filled with regular size and giant size ones for some size comparisons. Soft and colorful—-you just HAVE to reach out for one!

These are perfect for twisting together (and promoting bilateral coordination) to make some new creations—-sensory group meets fine motor group 🙂

This also addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in a object.

All the different colors and sizes help address the science access point of identifying common objects by one observable property, such as size or color.

Pink and purple are the theme of this next box—-for the Cheshire Cat, of course! All that was left was his grin!

We used a Mr. Potato head mouth for the grin and hid it in the hard beads and soft pompoms 🙂

This box addresses the science access point of identifying common objects by one observable property such as size or color.

Recognizing common 3-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres) and two objects that are the same size or color are math access points addressed here.

We used black cherry kool-aid to make the perfect red for our Queen of Hearts playdough. It turned out really well, a perfect squishy texture! Not only did it look pretty but it smelled wonderful also!

We used our heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out lots of pretty hearts.

Counting how many hearts were cut out addresses math skills and one to one correspondence.

It also addresses the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes that are the same shape and size (congruent).

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

These flowers didn’t sing but our students sure had fun making them dance in the air!

Tracking objects that fall to the ground and indicating that an object has fallen are the science access points addressed here.

Continuing with our floral theme, the students had fun with our sweet pea scented water. We put 2 different size measuring cups for scooping fun…….but sometimes it’s just more fun to play with the bubbles!

Recognizing water as a liquid is the science access point addressed here.

We finished with some Crabtree and Evelyn rose scented lotion. Wow this stuff really had a strong aroma. Some of our students really like it…………

Others not so much 🙂

Either way, it made for a memorable experience—–and an opportunity to address the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made some Mad Hatter hats! These were assembled by gluing a paper bowl onto a paper plate. We cut a hole in the plate to help it fit onto our students heads.

We had one of our students decide what color to start with and began painting. Jeannie’s favorite color is purple—-hmm, I think someone is looking for extra brownie points from his teacher 🙂

The different colors were then passed around so that everyone ended up with a very colorful hat.

Adjusting nonverbal expression, referent objects to communicate wants and needs to familiar persons is a language access point.

Everybody had a great time painting their hats.

The paintbrushes were taped to paint stirring sticks to adapt them for our students with physical disabilities.

The science access points sharing objects with a partner and recognizing a change in an object are addressed with this activity.

Ta DA!

Love it!!!! This Mad Hatter is ready for the tea party!

On Thursday we made some card soldier puppets. We pulled some of the heart (of course!) cards from a deck. 4 holes were punched and a popsicle stick was glued to the back.

The rectangle shaped cards were counted as they were passed out and then we counted out 2 chenille stems for each student.

We also counted the number of hearts on each card.

Recognizing common objects with two dimensional shapes and associating quantities with number names are math access points.

Chenille stems were threaded through the holes to make the arms and legs. Pincer grasp, eye hand coordination, bilateral coordination—–a PERFECT fine motor activity!

These were a huge hit, our students loved their puppets!

Recognizing that the appearance of an object has changed and recognizing one or more external body parts are science access points addressed here.

Did we mention our students LOVED their puppets 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We placed pictures from our book on the All Turn it Spinner. With each turn, our students got to try on a costume prop that matched the character.

Using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words to responds to familiar read-aloud stories by identifying characters, objects, or events is a language access point addressed here.

Responding to a technology resource is another language access point addressed here.

Some of the props we used were the Queen of Hearts scepter, Dormouse ears, Cheshire Cat mask, Mad Hatter hat, a Singing Flower hood……………………..

AND some White Rabbit ears! This student really got into character, making sure we took a picture of his rabbit impersonation 🙂

We held up a mirror for our students to be able to see themselves, and BOY what a hit that was! The students who were verbal expressed WHAT they had on and WHO they were while the nonverbal students followed directions with prepositions such as “hold it UP”, “put it ON”.

Selecting a familiar object to explore and communicating about the selected object using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is the language access point addressed with this activity.

The students had a great time and the adults in the room definitely enjoyed themselves as well.

REALLY—–who doesn’t love to dress up!?

That’s it for this week, we had so much fun going down the rabbit hole with Alice and making a wonderland of experiences for our students!

If you are looking for some more traditional October themes—be sure to check out what we did last year—–BUT don’t forget to join us again next week for more Group by Group fun!

Oct13

Look Up in the Sky book

Posted on October 13, 2013 by jd785

Look Up in the Sky book

This week, our theme coordinates with the Unique curriculum. The book changes things up a little this week because the repetitive line is the first thing said on each page. We’ve done this before and it takes the students a little bit of time at first to get adjusted to them using the voice output before something is read. They seem to adjust pretty quickly though 🙂 The repetitive line is the start of a sentence, “when I look up in the sky…” and the following line talks about something that is seen when looking up, such as birds, clouds, and a moon. We also practiced looking UP.

Here is a link to the book: When I Look Up in the Sky

Oct13

Look Up in the Sky

Posted on October 13, 2013 by jd785

Look Up in the Sky

This week our groups complimented the Unique Curriculum theme which explores things you see when you look up in the sky.

The students really loved all our activities and we got more than the usual super cute pictures—-our students really are quite adorable 🙂

SENSORY GROUP

After reading Cara’s book, we turned off the lights and looked up into the starry sky!

We made it by using twist ties to attach battery operated lights, beads, and some glow in the dark planets to a black umbrella—— SUPER easy! The battery operated lights were from Target and are usually on the shelves around holiday time.

Our students were all quite enchanted!

Associating stars with the night sky is a science access point. This activity also helps address the science access point of recognizing sources of light.

They also enjoy exploring this lighted moon. It had a rough surface as well as this fabulous glow–very mesmerizing.

Thanks Ms. Pam for letting us borrow it!

Associating the moon with night is a science access point.

Distinguishing light and dark is also a science access point that can be addressed with this activity.

When the lights came back on we began exploring our sensory boxes. This first one was filled with blue basket filler “sky” and lots of things found in the sky to discover.

We put in feathers, toy birds, bats, and butterflies for some of the animals you see in the sky. We also put in some toy airplanes .

Of course, we also included some cookie cutter stars and a crescent moon.

Weather related items included soft white pom pom clouds, grey craft foam storm clouds….

AND…….a fabulous stretchy rainbow slinky which ended up being the big hit of this box!

Exploring, observing, and recognizing common objects in the natural world is a science access point.

Recognizing models of real objects is also a science access point.

And yet more science access points….tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled AND recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move!

Speaking of rainbows, our students really loved both looking at and touching our rainbow mat (found yet again at Target!).

As well as encouraging our students to touch the mat, we also discussed all the different colors that could be found in the rainbow.

Using senses to recognize objects is the science access point addressed here.

Our next box of Bubber reminded us of a beautiful blue sky! We love it’s soft tactile feel and it comes in so many cool colors, although we don’t have all of them—–YET 🙂

We included an airplane cookie cutter which helps build hand strength when pushed down into the Bubber. While fairly soft it does take some pressure to cut out a shape.

Recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed and applying a push to move an object are the science access points addressed in this activity.

We went from the blue daytime sky to the black night time sky with our next box. Lots of yellow craft foam stars were hidden for our students to find in the black beans.

The stars not only look different but feel different from the beans, making this a good activity for both visual and tactile discrimination.

Associating stars with the night sky is again addressed with this box.

Recognizing objects (the stars) that are identical to each other is another science access point addressed here.

We must admit the science access point of tracking objects in motion, as watching a few beans tossed into the air, was also addressed in each of our classrooms.

We have VERY understanding teachers 🙂

What’s a day without sunshine! This box was filled with sunglasses, yellow paper shred, a wooden sun, sun shaped manipulatives and yellow pom poms.

Whether shaking the paper shred, squeezing the pom poms or pushing and pulling apart the manipulatives ——-our students had a great time with this box!

The pom poms can be used to address the math access point of recognizing two objects that are identical to each other.

Applying a push to move an object and identifying objects by one observable property, such as color are the science access points addressed.

The science access point of recognizing that the sun is bright can also be addressed with this activity.

These sunglasses were the favorite item in this box. As you can see, our students had a lot of fun getting their cool on 🙂

Next we made our own fluffy clouds with shaving cream. Wonderful fun to dive into with both hands and squish around!

Using senses to recognize objects is the science access point addressed with this activity.

The language access point of communicating about a selected object using nonverbal expression is beautifully demonstrated in this picture—-pure joy!

After rinsing our hands in “rain kissed leaves” (from Bath and Bodyworks) scented water, the students took turns smelling the lotion and showing us where they wanted it applied.

The science access points of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli and recognizing external body parts are addressed here.

This had a nice soft scent that our students really seemed to like and to help them remember all the fun things we learned about today!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday, for our art project we made a starry night time sky. We started by counting out 6 pieces of black rectangular paper. Some glue was poured onto the paper and then the students used paint brushes to spread the glue around.

The math access points of recognizing a two dimensional shape (rectangle) and recognizing differences in the length of the sides of rectangles are addressed.

Identifying objects by one observable property and applying a push to move an object are also the science access points addressed.

We added some sparkly silver glitter——our students LOVED shaking the glitter out!

What fun 🙂

Recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.

Next we let our students choose how many stars to glue onto their picture. We used these plastic glow in the dark stars we found at the dollar store.

These little stars were perfect for promoting pincer grasp skills.

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

Counting up to 5 objects is also a math access point.

Look at the milky way—-

TA DA!

These turned out really quite cool and looked striking in Jeannie’s hallway.

On Thursday we turned from night to day and constructed our wonderful sun!

We started by asking our students to show us the color orange using our communication symbols.

Then we asked the students to glue an orange circle onto their white rectangular paper.

Bulls eye—-nice eye hand coordination!

Again, the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes (rectangles and circles) is addressed.

Recognizing objects by one observable property (color) is the science access point addressed in this activity.

The rays of the sun were made by stamping hand prints using yellow ink. Fortunately none of our students have tactile sensitivity so we did not have to adapt this for anyone. All of them did a really great job of keeping their hands open so we could help them make their prints.

We counted the hand prints out loud as they were pressed onto the paper.

Recognizing the appearance of an object has changed is the science access point addressed here.

Yep, this looks pretty good 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

In this group, we talked about things that go UP in the air and things that go DOWN on the ground.

Using Boardmaker, we made 9 different pictures of objects: rainbow, sun, clouds, bird, airplane, moon and stars, person, car, and house. We had real objects to go along with the pictures as well, which seemed to be a hit with the students!

Each student was given a picture and asked if it was UP in the sky……….

or…….. DOWN on the ground.

One of our students used the arrow as a road for a car—-too cute 🙂

Effectively communicating information using referent objects, pictures is the language access point addressed in this activity.

After they told us or showed us if the object was something seen UP or DOWN, they glued the picture onto a piece of paper with grass and sky drawn on it.

Our students did so well with this activity……we were SO proud!

Communicating about selected objects using pictures is a language access point.

That is it for this week. We had so much fun and learned a lot about things that we can see when we look up!

Join us again next week, you KNOW it’s going to be fun—–Group by Group 🙂

Sep29

Mount Everest book

Posted on September 29, 2013 by jd785

Mount Everest book

This may seem like a random topic, but we found out that the first American woman to summit Mt. Everest was in September of 1988. The book has some really great pictures of this amazing mountain, emphasizing that it is the tallest mountain in the world. While passing the voice output device around, we had our students “tell us something about Mt. Everest”. Putting the pictures against a blue background really helped them to stand out. Put on your heavy jackets and enjoy being taken to Mt. Everest!

Here is a link to the book: Mt. Everest is the Tallest Mountain

Sep22

Pirate Day book

Posted on September 22, 2013 by jd785

Pirate Day book

Arg, mateys! It be pirate week at me school. Th’ book goes over th’ different thin’s seen wit’ a band ‘o pirates, like a trusty parrot, an eye patch, ‘n a ship. Each ‘o th’ students got to speak like a scurvy pirate ‘n shout “ARG!” They even got to wear some thin’s band ‘o pirates wear like a pirate hat, a scurvy pirate vest, ‘n a hook. It was a ruckas in th’ seven seas fer our wee band ‘o pirates. Heartly enjoy th’ book ‘n remember to speak like a pirate! ARG!

Here be a link to th’ book: I Can Talk Like a Pirate

(Help with translation from English to Pirate Talk was found at http://postlikeapirate.com/)