Tis the season! Our theme this week is A Christmas Carol. Each page features one of our students dressed as a character from the book. The background on each page was painted in art with our art teacher Judy and some of her students. It’s so great and we love it! Joy put together some pretty terrific costumes also that you don’t want to miss!
Here is a link to the book: Who Are The Characters In A Christmas Carol?
International Ninja Day is December 5, so we learned all about ninjas this week! We learned so many things that we never knew about ninjas. Although they have many tools, their most important tool was actually an insect! They also were able to tell time in a very unique way. You’ll have to read the book to find out how 🙂 We have 2 of our very own ninjas on the front and back of the book too. Check it out!
Here is a link to the book: Let_s Learn About Ninjas
Black Friday…Cyber Monday…holidays…There is a lot to shop for around this time of year, so we are talking all about shopping this week! We got some of our teachers to take pictures of our students doing some shopping of their own. 
The book talks about how our students get to the store and things they do while in a store. We love shopping 🙂
Here is a link to the book: Let_s Go Shopping.
This time of year, there is a lot of shopping going on so we thought it would be a fun theme to pick for this week. Our sensory groups explored shopping themed boxes. The fine motor groups decorated shopping bags and the language group got to go shopping at our very own Owl Mart!
SENSORY GROUP
Blue and yellow rice (our school colors) contained some the letter S—–for shopping, of course!
We also included some different sized spoons for scooping fun.
Science access point: recognize two objects that are identical to each other.
Our students ride buses when they go out into the community to shop.
There were two different school buses to drive along a black bean road.
Science access point: recognize the larger of two objects.
When going shopping you have to have money! We put paper money, play coins, a purse, a money clip, and dollar sign mardi gras beads.
We also put in a money themed discovery bottle which was lots of fun to shake. There were even some “credit/debit” cards.
Social studies access point: recognize coins as money.
Shopping for clothes is always fun! The students used cookie cutters shaped like a t-shirt, hat, and 2 different sized boots to cut clothes out of yellow moonsand.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Our food court box was filled with lots of play food—-such as soda, cookies, burgers, and french fries!
The students loved the squeaky cupcake and pizza oven mitt!
The students had a lot of fun with the play food, but the green paper shred was pretty popular also!
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Cinnabons, another food court staple, inspired our messy play this week.
We thought our oobleck looked just like the frosting on those yummy treats!
Science access point: track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled.
As usual, the students had so much fun exploring one of our favorite substances—-it’s amazing what you can make with a little cornstarch and water 🙂
Staying with the food court theme, hands were rinsed in Bath and Body Works cinnabon scented water. There were a variety of different sized scoops and spoon for some splashy fun.
Math access point: recognize differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
Vanilla sugar scented lotion was a hit with the students this week!
Our students left the group with a sweet reminder of all the fun we had 🙂
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday the students used foam stamps to decorate canvas shopping bags.
First, we identified the shape of the shopping bags.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
Then the students chose stamps to decorate their bags. We glued plastic thread spools to the stamps to make them easier to hold. The students had to lift the stamps UP and DOWN.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
TA DA!
We are ready to go shopping!
On Thursday the students decorated their shopping bags using textured rollers!
First, they identified the shape of their bags.
Math access point: recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes.
After paint was applied to the rollers, the students began rolling them across the canvas. We had a variety of cool textures to choose from!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
TA DA!!!!!!!!
We’re going to shop til we drop!!!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Our school has a little student run store called the Owl Mart that our language group got to go to this week. As a reward for good behavior, our students are able to earn “owl bucks”. They can then use those owl bucks to buy different things at the Owl Mart.
We all walked over to the Owl Mart after reading the book, making sure to grab the bags that we had made during the fine motor group earlier in the week.
We worked on staying together while we walked.
When we got to the Owl Mart, students walked around with the staff to find something they wanted to buy.
They could choose from toys, clothes, jewelry, books, stuffed animals, and Christmas objects.
Just like in the book, they had to make choices based on how many owl bucks they had.
Once they decided what they wanted, they had to go and pay for their item. Students worked on counting out their money. We had sentence strips for them to use if they needed HELP.
Once their items were bought, they put their new treasures in their bags.
Everybody was happy with their purchases.
It was a successful trip 🙂
What a fun, fabulous week. Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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To celebrate National Take A Hike Day (November 17) we are learning about Wyoming. Wyoming has lots of cool places to take a hike like Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. We learned about some common animals that are seen in Wyoming and also found out that the national food is pinto beans. Our own Joy took a trip to Wyoming this summer with her family so we featured some of her pictures in the book as well. Take a look to learn about this beautiful state!
Here is a link to the book: Let_s Learn About Wyoming
We’re celebrating Veteran’s Day this week by learning about all of the different brances of the military: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. There are a couple of facts about each of the branches in the book and we have students that are dressed up like a soldier from each branch as well. It’s pretty cute, if we say so ourselves…and we do 🙂 Check it out and help us celebrate all those in the military.
Here is a link to the book: We Salute The Troops-
We’re talking all about the game, Candy Land, this week during our groups and it has been so much fun! The book features some of our students dressed up as characters from the game such as Gramma Nutt, King Kandy, and Princess Frostine. The background of the book was painted with Ms. Judy during art and it’s so colorful and pretty to look at!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Play Candy Land
This week, we are learning all about some of the animals that live in Florida. This goes hand-in-hand with the Unique theme for the month which is all about animal habitats. We have lots of really neat animals here–from alligators and manatees to black bears and panthers. The front cover features one of our students as a black bear while the 2 students on the The End page are dressed as a flamingo and alligator. Take a look to learn about some of our awesome animals!
Here is a link to the book: Look At The Animals In Florida
We are traveling all the way to Italy to learn a little bit about it for Italian-American Heritage month. Our guidance counselor, Mrs. Lori, was lucky enough to take a trip to Italy this summer and she has graciously allowed us to use some of her beautiful pictures for our book. You’ll have to read it to find out some really neat facts about Italy.
Take a look and celebrate Italian-American Heritage month!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn All About Italy
Here is the link for the book: Lights Camera Action
This week our book features our students as characters in some popular kids action movies. The students really enjoyed seeing their friends in costume—-ready for lights! camera! action!