Tag Archives: book

Nov5

Fall book

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jd785

The leaves are changing colors, the temperature is getting a little cooler, and fall is here! (Unless you live in Florida where the leaves don’t quite turn a different color 🙂 ) The repetitive line for this book is actually a question that is the first line on each page. The students took turns asking the question, “What do we see during fall?” Although we don’t necessarily have the typical autumn, the students enjoyed looking at the pictures of the seasonal change. They also enjoyed feeling the cool breeze from a hair dryer set on cool as well as the plastic fall leaves we had them hold.

Here is a link to the book: What Do We See During Fall

Nov5

Fall and Letter J

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jd785

Fall and Letter J

It got a little chilly this week, perfect for talking about Fall in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups! In our Language Group we learned about words starting with Ms. Joy’s favorite letter—J. We hope you are enjoying seeing our students—we think they are awfully cute 🙂 One of our teachers, Ms. Bennett, has been projecting the blog onto a big screen and her students have been having so much fun looking for their pictures.

Sensory Group—Fall

Jumping into a pile of leaves…….AKA the sensory room ball pit!

Is this fun or what!

Our students love both jumping into and burying themselves in the colorful balls. So much wonderful vestibular and proprioceptive input to help build body awareness!

This also helps address the science access point of recognizing one or more external body parts as we discuss which parts of their body are covered by the balls.

Now, back to the classroom…..

We started with Cara’s book, as usual, and

when we got to the page about the wind

blowing the leaves we turned on the hair

dryer (on “cool” setting of course). Each

student got a chance to hold the leaves

and feel the “wind”. They all loved it!

Lots of smiles all around 🙂

This activity addresses the science

access point of indicating awareness of

air moving.

More leaves in our next box, along with a variety of fall related items. We put in a small football, scarecrows, squirrels, playfood apples and hamburgers (for tailgating at those football games), pine cones, pieces of yarn in fall colors, and LOTS of silk leaves. A lovely assortment of textures to feel and examine.

Finding objects in the box involves both visual and tactile discrimination skills.

This box also addresses the science access point of recognizing that plants have leaves.

Our colorful pom pom yarn was so much fun.

It reminds us of nice warm sweaters that we

wear when it starts to get chilly outside!

We found this yarn at Michaels.

Its wonderfully soft and fun to pull apart

addressing bilateral skills.

It also addresses the science access point

of recognizing clothing worn by humans

in different weather (seasons)

Of course, its so great for draping over

and around you like a scarf or hat.

This, of course, addresses the access point of giggling at least once daily 🙂

A box of assorted dried beans made us think

of some yummy warm soup on a cool

autumn evening. Our students love to bury

their hands into the beans as well as

empty and fill the different containers.

You have to love the two fisted approach

shown here 🙂

This addresses the math access point of

recognizing differences in sizes of

containers (capacity).

Here in the south, fall means FOOTBALL! We put in some pom poms, mardi gras beads and shakers in the colors of our favorite teams. Our students LOVED the shakers—they were a huge hit.

Most of them even ignored the mardi gras beads in favor of the the shakers—and the beads are usually a favorite!

This box addresses the science access point of recognizing an action as fast or slow.

Our cornflakes sounded just like dried leaves.

Wonderfully noisy, our students had a great

time with this box.

A few did try to sample

the “leaves’ but for the most part they just

enjoyed smashing and crunching them.

This activity addresses the science access

point of recognizing and responding to

common sounds.

Cool weather means warm breakfasts…like oatmeal!

We searched for the letter F as we sifted through it. A delightful tactile experience.

You can’t really see it in this picture, but a piece of paper with leaves was taped to the bottom of the box to be found as the oatmeal is cleared away. With these boxes being clear, we can tape pictures to the bottom of the box thus being seen without getting torn up as students explore the contents.

Our own little genius moment 🙂

Fall means camping and campfires—and

that means s’mores! Yum Yum!

Our oobleck looks

just like melted marshmallow don’t

you think?

As the oobleck changes from a solid

to a liquid this addresses the science

access point of recognizing that the

appearance of an object or material

has changed.

Always fascinating!

Fall is also apple picking time and our Country Apple scent from Bath, and Body Works was the perfect scent to help us remember all the wonderful things we did today.

Smell is an important memory trigger, so we always end our group with some aromatic water and lotion activities.

Fine Motor Group—Fall

Fall is our theme so OF COURSE on Tuesday

we had to make a colorful tree! First we

passed our our rectangular pieces of paper

and practiced writing our names on the

back. Then we used our assorted

adaptive scissors to snip colorful pieces

of paper. What a great way to practice our

emergent cutting skills.

This also addresses the math access point

of recognizing a common object with a

two-dimensional shape.

The colorful paper pieces were dipped into glue and placed onto the tree.

Those tiny pieces of paper are just perfect for facilitating a pincer grasp. In addition, eye hand coordination and spatial relationships are addressed in this activity.

What a fabulous colorful fall tree!

TA DA!!!

Love how the artist added his

own touch by crumpling

some of the pieces to add

more dimension.

Pure genius!

On Thursday, after reading Cara’s book again, we made some cute little scarecrows.

First we used our adaptive scissors or paper cutters to cut 4 strips of yellow paper.

This addresses the math access point of using quantities to 4.

As the paper cutters are shared with classmates, the students address the science access point of sharing objects with a partner—-sharing and taking turns is a very important skill!

We said we needed 4 strips…

Here is 1!

They need to look just

like this 🙂

The science access

point of recognizing a

change in an object is

addressed here.

We glued them to a round white paper plate and……

…..added a precut brown hat.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing common objects with two-dimensional shapes.

Next came an orange triangle nose and 2 googlie eyes!

More math access points!

TA DA—done without any assistance…..

pure AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!

These little scarecrows are ready for duty….

…..you crows out there better watch out 🙂

Language Group—-Letter J

We started with Cara’s sound game.

It had some really cute sounds this week.

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to common sounds.

We helped Tigger…..

Jump!

This addresses the

math access point of

recognizing a

movement that reflects

a spatial relationship.

Then we unscrewed a Jar…….

……to find a Jungle animal.

Unscrewing the jar addresses bilateral coordination and wrist rotation.

We finished by making Jingle bell Jewelry!

Threading the pipe cleaner through the bell addresses bilateral skills.

Counting the bells also allows for the opportunity to address more math access points—-and we love that.

Jazzy and Jingly….totally fun don’t you think! These were a total hit with our students, they really loved shaking their arms and listening to the bells.

We loved finding all those cool J words today!

Join us again next week for more fun and learning—–Group by Group 🙂

Oct28

It’s Pumpkin Time book

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jd785

It’s Pumpkin Time book

It’s that time again…Pumpkin time! Our book goes over October 31st and all of the things that we see and do. The students were asked “what time is it?” when it was their turn to read the repetitive line with the pre-programmed voice output device. They loved looking at the different costumes that are seen as well as all of the different jack o’lanterns.

Here is a link to the book: It’s Pumpkin Time!

Oct14

Italian Heritage Month and the Letter G

Posted on October 14, 2012 by jd785

Italian Heritage Month and the Letter G

It was all about red, white, and green—the colors of the Italian flag— in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups! In our Language Group we looked at words that start with the letter G.

Sensory Group—Italian Heritage

Cara’s book helped us learn about Italian heritage. Our students did such a great job activating the voice output device to read the repetitive line. With the switch we are working on timing of the hit and activating it just one time.

This addresses the access point of responding to familiar print media.

Our color boxes were filled with assorted red things Joy collected around the OT room.

We included beads (large ones to avoid choking hazards, of course), chenille stems, pom poms, a big bow from a valentine wreath, package ties, finger puppets etc.

You name it—if it was the right color, it went into the box 🙂

Hmmm—-this looks interesting 🙂

The main idea of these boxes is to encourage exploration to compare and contrast the differing properties of materials and our students were definitely intrigued!

Most students dove into every box exploring the contents with equal enthusiasm. A few students, however, either did not engage or became overly excited with one of the color boxes. It appeared that the particular color was either over or under stimulating to them.

Beads are always a favorite……and, of course, if beads are in a box—you have to put them on!

These boxes address a number of science access points, including identifying objects by one observable property and recognizing objects as the same.

We practiced scooping with our mix of red, white, and green beans. They were so pretty and colorful.

As the cup is filled, the math access point of recognizing the differences in the capacity of containers is addressed.

A large letter I was placed in our rice mix —-more red, white, and green of course!

We also taped an Italian flag to the bottom of the box—a little

surprise to find.

We added red pepper flakes and green oregano to our playdough to continue our colorful theme. It also had the added bonus of adding an interesting aroma.

We used our heart shaped cookie cutter—-because we LOVE Italy 🙂

This addresses the math access point of recognizing two-dimensional shapes.

Red and green glitter made our oobleck sparkle!

We practiced our pre-writing designs making

vertical strokes.

Most excellently done in

this picture, as you can see 🙂

We rinsed our hands in grape scented lotion. They grow lots of yummy grapes in Italy!

Then we finished with some vanilla sugar lotion so we could leave the group smelling like delicious cannolis—yum yum 🙂

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli.

Fine Motor Group—Italian Heritage

We rode on some “gondolas” in the sensory room.

Our bolster swing is a huge favorite with our students and a really fun way to work on sitting balance!

After the sensory room we returned to the classroom to read Cara’s book and begin our art project.

We counted out 8 pieces of paper and wrote our names on the back.

Each time we count out our pieces of paper we are working on the math access point of identifying quantities.

Today we are doing spaghetti (well actually string, ha ha) painting.

We asked our students to choose which color they wanted to paint with first…..

…..sometimes its hard to make that choice 🙂

Then we dipped our strings into the paint

and got to work!

This activity addresses eye hand

coordination.

Ta Da!

…….Red,

……………white,

…………………and green!

Gotta love that smile 🙂

On Thursday we made some pizza pies!

We counted out our paper plates and then used red markers to color some

red pizza sauce. A variety of markers were used including these

pipsqueak markers from Crayola.

Our students are spending more time engaged with scribbling and

we are very excited about their progress!

Time to add the cheese—-some shredded yellow paper which looked pretty realistic so we did have to remind some of them that it was paper :).

Eye hand coordination skills are addressed during this activity. Also, strengthening is addressed while squeezing the glue onto the plate.

The math access point of indicating a desire for more of an object is addressed.

Can’t forget the pepperoni!

Our circle cutters work great for making perfect pepperoni pieces and our students really like using them.

Identifying a 2-dimensional shape is a math access point.

Each student counted how many pieces of pepperoni they put on their pizza.

This addressed the math access point of showing one-to-one correspondence.

Time for some pizza.

YUM! YUM!

Language Group—-Letter G

We used our thumbs to Guide our dog.

Go dog Go!

Then we Gathered some Green Grapes using our tongs to

Grab them.

Got to count them as well, to address math access

points:)

Next we Glued 2 black foam circle eyes and 1 black oval mouth on a paper plate.

The texture of the foam was very helpful for our student with a visual impairment.

Then we tore some paper streamers,

Glued them on to the back of the plate to make a……

Ghost!

Good job!

We played Cara’s sound game and listened for some G sounds.

Great fun!

And we finished by looking at some of the

G words we found today.

What an awesome week! Please come

back again, Group by Group.

Oct7

Habitat book

Posted on October 7, 2012 by jd785

Habitat book

The Unique theme this month is habitats, so we decided to base our sensory and fine motor groups on different kinds of animal habitats. After “reading” the title of the book with a voice output device, we went through some of the different animals in varying habitats. We asked the question “where are habitats?” before the students answered “habitats are everywhere” using the voice output. It was so neat to look at the pictures and then have the habitats to explore in our sensory group and the students really enjoyed themselves.

Here is a link to the book: Habitats Are Everywhere

(Here is an extra book that I had written last year but does not have a repetitive line. It’s a rhyming book that also goes over animals and their habitats: Habitat Sweet Habitat )

Sep30

Hispanic Heritage Month Book

Posted on September 30, 2012 by jd785

Hispanic Heritage Month Book

This week we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by looking at different people and things which have been created by people in the Hispanic culture. While reading the book, the question “what should we do?” was asked to the students to which they responded with the voice output device, “celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month”. We had a fun time looking at all of the different colorful pictures, especially the food picture. Ironically, on one of the days of our group, the cafetoria had quesadillas! Muy bien!

Here is a link to the book: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Sep24

Pirate book

Posted on September 24, 2012 by jd785

Pirate book

Arrrrggg mateys! It’s “Talk Like a Pirate” week! The book for this week goes over different things associated with pirates such as a pirate ship, an eye patch, and a parrot. And as we know, pirates say “ahoy” so for the repetitive line we had the students say “I can talk like a pirate–ahoy!” We seem to have a lot of pirates in the making here at school 🙂

Here is a link to the book: I Can Talk Like a Pirate

Sep18

Paralympics book

Posted on September 18, 2012 by jd785

Paralympics book

We were excited that the Olympics were going on this summer because we thought it would be a good theme for our groups. We were even MORE excited when the Paralympics were going on after school had started and decided that it would be fun to use it as a theme instead. Joy, having traveled to London this past summer, allowed me to use a few of her photos from her trip in the book. The question we asked the students was “what are we doing in London?” to which they answered with the voice output device, “we are going to the Paralympics”. We even passed around a massager so the students could see what it would feel like to be on an airplane.

Here is a link to the book: We Are Going to the Paralympics!

Sep18

Paralympics and Letter C

Posted on September 18, 2012 by jd785

Paralympics and Letter C

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was the London Paralympics and our Language Group looked at words starting with the letter C.

Sensory Group—London Paralympics

We started as usual by reading Cara’s lastest book and using our voice output device to read the repetitive line.

You have to get on an airplane to travel to London!

When we got to the page in Cara’s book about riding in an airplane, we all took turns with the massager to simulate the vibration you would feel on the plane. Some of our students really like the feel of vibration, others not so much.

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

Our first box contained so many cool things. We included a double decker bus and british mailbox, wheelchair, a bag with the british flag, an athletic medal, strips of black fake fur (the soldiers guarding Buckingham Palace wear bearskin hats), some miniature sport balls, and a keychain with the 2012 logo among the rose petals (the british national flower).

We are addressing the access point of responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly. We are also addressing the social studies access point of recognizing the cultural characteristics of a population.

The British flag banner was so much fun to drape around our students or to grasp and wave around. It also gave a chance to talk about the different colors. This box also included some British coins we placed in an old spice container—-fun to shake and listen to them rattle.

Reach and grasp skills in addition to visual tracking as the objects move are addressed here. We are also targeting the science access points of pushing and pulling an object to make it move and tracking objects in motion as well as the social studies access point of recognizing coins as money.

More red, white and blue with our rice but with a hidden surprise of the Olympic 2012 logo at the bottom. We also put the number 4—the Paralympics happens every 4 years!

Look at this colorful collection— our next box filled with pompoms, yarn and ribbons in the colors of the Olympic flag. A great opportunity to work on color identification as comparing and contrasting shape, color and texture.

The pompoms have such a nice soft texture and are easy to grasp. Picking up the ribbon and yarn strands encourages pincer grasp skills.

This targets the access point of identifying objects by one observable property.

The British love their tea and our students loved exploring the aromatic tea leaves.Wonderful tactile input as hands slide around and sift through it. We put in some circular puzzle pieces, again in the Olympic colors. We are working on the access point of recognizing objects with 2 dimensional shapes.

We added red and yellow food coloring to our shaving cream—to make the olympic flame! So much fun practicing pre-writing strokes.

Gold medals—-thats what all the athletes want to win. We made some terrific sparkly gold playdough and used circle cookie cutters to make our own medals.

We finished with some rose scented lotion to help us remember all the wonderful things we learned about the London Paralympics.

Fine Motor Group—London Paralympics

After reading Cara’s book and taking turns reading the repetitive line on our voice output device we began our art project—we’re going to make an olympic flag!

We counted out 6 pieces of white rectangular paper addressing one to one correspondence and the math access point of recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes.

Then we took a toilet paper roll and stamped a ring. We emphasized stamping just 1 time before passing to the next student.

After we stamped a ring with all 5 of the olympic flag colors we glued a strip with the 2012 logo at the bottom. We helped our students place glue in an “across” fashion addressing pre-writing patterns.

This also addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.

Placing the strip onto the glue encourages bilateral skills, eye hand coordination, and graded motor control.

Perfectly done as you can see here 🙂

Ta Da—our olympic flag

Awesome!!!

OnThursday we had our own mini paralympics in the sensory room then came back to the classroom to read Cara’s book before making an Olympic torch.

We passed around 7 pieces of rectangle paper—bright neon!

We always practice writing our names.

Then we glued on a grey rectangle.

Again working on the math access point of recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape.

Next we tore pieces of red, yellow, and orange tissue paper. Tearing paper is a great pre-scissor skill activity.

We dipped the pieces into glue and placed them onto the top of the triangle.

Look at that concentration—-love it 🙂

Wow look at those flames—

let the games begin!

Language Group—letter C

First we Cleared the Clutter—a Comb, Card, Cup, Chip Clip, Car, Coin, Clock, Cord. The students got to Choose which item they wanted to put in the Container.

then we Closed the top—using both hands and squeezing

tightly!

Next we Clapped to make the Crab Crawl around the table. Our students just really loved this wiggly little guy and they all had to take turns holding it 🙂

We Colored aCardboard C using Crayons. Then Continued decorating it with Cotton balls working on our pincer grasp skills.

So darn Cute

—-and Creative!

Sssh—its time to listen to Cara’s sound

game.

We found some really Cool C words today.

“C” you next time—Group by Group!

May28

Book for the Last Week

Posted on May 28, 2012 by jd785

Book for the Last Week

We decided to have ONE last group for the year. We focused on Birthday’s because they are SO much fun and they relate to everyone! For the book, we asked the question “where” after each line was read, so the students were able to answer “at the Birthday party”. The students loved looking at all the pictures of diferent things that happen on Birthdays. One student was very impressed with the Spiderman wrapping paper!

It was great to end the year with a party for all! Enjoy!

Here is a link to the book: At the Birthday Party