We are celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday this week in our groups! We have a wonderful book featuring several of our students dressed up as characters from varying Dr. Seuss books. We have the Lorax, Daisy-Head Mayzie, the Grinch, and of course, the Cat in the Hat, just to name a few. You’ll have to check out the book to see the other characters that are featured!
Here is a link to the book: we-introduce-dr-seuss
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! We celebrated his birthday this week for Read Across America! Our sensory groups explored colorful boxes inspired by Dr. Seuss books. The fine motor groups made Seuss inspired art projects and the language group made a yummy snack to finish off the week. It was tons of fun and everyone LOVED the book we made to go with this unit—–be sure to check it out!
SENSORY GROUP
This box was filled with lots of Seuss (or Seuss like) items including the ABC book and a fabulous hat! The base of the box was shredded paper—-because Dr. Seuss wrote books back when they were all paper!
The language access point attend to familiar literary forms (ex. picture books) can be addressed here.
The Grinch is one of our favorite characters! The students used green float to form their own Grinch figures using a plastic ornament and some hands from a play dough set. Ok so the Grinch didn’t have purple hands in the original story but we still think they worked pretty well 🙂
The science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed here.
We used some sawdust as the base of our Zoo box. There were a variety of animals and a little zookeeper to help take care of them. In addition, we put a picture of a lion at the bottom of the box and asked the students to find the animal that was the same as the picture.
Match animals based on a given shared characteristic is a science access point that can be addressed here.
We thought our shaker pom poms kind of looked like the tops of Truffula trees! Colorful, eye catching and so much fun to shake! We haven’t brought these out for a while and the students were pretty excited to see them again!
The science access point distinguish between objects in motion and at rest can be addressed here.
The students also got a little goofy and had fun pretending to be Truffle trees by putting the pom poms on their heads.
Pretty fun stuff 🙂
The students found the letters A B and C in colorful pasta. We put in 2 of each letter so the students could match them. Of course, it was also fun to just put hands in too!
Match objects by on observable property, such as shape is a science access point.
With a Dr. Seuss unit, you HAVE to have oobleck! Gooey, drippy, always fun!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move, is a science access point.
There were 2 blue fish to find in our bubble filled water play. These fish were especially fun since they squirted water when squeezed—-there were lots of giggles with this 🙂
Recognize two objects that are the same size or color is a math access point.
We used Bath and BodyWorks apple scented bath gel in our water play and again for our lotion this week. This was a perfect scent to help us remember all the fun we had this week and was a hit with the students.
The science access point recognize one or more external body parts is addressed here.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday, the students made their own puff balls and became little Who’s to dance on them!
After discussing the circle shape of the puff ball and identifying it using communication symbols we mixed together shaving cream and glue.
The math access point recognize when an object or material is addressed here.
The students painted the mixture onto a purple circle. This thick gooey mixture dries like puffy paint—-so cool!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
We added a little glitter and then each student put a cutout pictures of themselves to the puffball.
The math access point recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down, is addressed here.
Ta Da———- super cute!!!!!!
On Wednesday the students made a Horton inspired elephant!
First we discussed the shapes we were using and asked them to identify a circle using communication symbols.
Recognize objects with two-dimensional shapes is a math access point.
The students cut their circles in half using a paper cutter addressing the science access point recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.
Then we looked at how the 2 half circles could be put back together to make a circle.
The math access point recognize parts of common objects can be addressed here.
The elephant’s trunk started as a RECTANGLE which the students then folded an crumpled to give it some dimension!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
Then the students began assembling their elephants—-a big circle face, 2 half circle ears, a rectangle trunk AND 2 big, round googlie eyes!
Recognize when an object is added to a situation is a math access point.
TA Da!
Some of Horton’s cute relatives!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made an apple treat today in honor of the book 10 Apples up on Top. Here is the recipe that we used: lets-make-an-apple-delicious-dessert
We used Pixon communication boards throughout that had fringe vocabulary focusing on cooking.
We also used super large symbols such as the symbol “turn” when it was time to turn the page of our recipe book.
We started out by crushing up graham crackers using a rolling pin. We broke this part up between a couple of students, so after the first student crushed them a bit our students had to indicate that we needed to crush them up MORE.
Once the graham crackers were finished, we put them in a bowl and POURed melted butter on top. Our students helped STIR the ingredients together then we PRESSed them into a baking pan.
Next, we combined some whipped cream and cream cheese. Again, our students helped STIR the ingredients together. When finished, we SPREAD half of the mix over the graham crackers in the pan.
Then, we put some apple pie filling on top of the whipped cream mix! We ended up pureeing the apples since some of our students have special diets.
We finished it up by SPREADing the rest of the whipped cream mix on top of the apples and sprinkling some graham crackers on top.
Our delicious apple dessert was a hit——–YUM!!!!!
We all had a blast this week! Join us again next time for more fun——– Group by Group!
Dr. Seuss’ Birthday was last week so we’re a little late to the party, but better late than never, right? We had written a book last year which we loved, so we decided to use it again this year (repetition is always a good thing!). The book takes a look at some of the different books Dr. Seuss has written along with some of the staff at our school enjoying them. Cara formatted it to be a rhyming book so it seemed more Seuss like. We hope you enjoy it!
Here is a link to the book: Let Me Take a Closer Look,I Would Like to Read That Book
We were a little belated with our Seuss celebrations but had a blast anyway! The book Cara wrote last year was so much fun that we decided to use it again and our sensory group also did many of the same activities. Our fine motor group made some Truffula trees and a Lorax. The language group played a fishing game with rhyming words. Silly and seussical—–read along to see all the fun we had!
SENSORY GROUP
This box represents our very favorite cat—-that ONE with a hat! There were red, white, and black pompoms and chenille stems. Both the pompoms and chenille stems were so soft and fluffy but with different colors and shapes—-great for sorting! Our students had a great time with the box, especially enjoying waving the chenille stems around like cat tails. Others creatively joined the chenille stems together to make circles.
The science access point recognize common objects as the same is related to the practice of science.
The math access point recognize 3 dimensional objects, such as spheres is also addressed.
The “ABC “book is one of our favorites so we put lots of alphabet letters to find in our blue and white rice. A picture of the cat in the hat was also taped to the bottom of the box for more fun.
We just love that cat in the hat!
Finding the letters promotes visual and tactile discrimination.
There were a lot of fun animals included in the “If I ran the Zoo” box. It was also a noisy box since some of the animals roared or neighed when a button on their tummies was pushed——great for finger isolation! We found them in the dollar section at Target. We also included some play food for the animals and a little Duplo zoo keeper. The students also had a great time with the binoculars that were included in the box.
The science access points recognize common objects related to science by name, such as an animal and recognize a model of a real object are addressed here. These access points are related to learning the terms that describe examples of scientific knowledge.
We used these cool fabric balls to represent Trufulla trees and our students LOVED them! They were great to run fingers through or to wave and shake. Since we included 3 balls, they could be shared with friends for even MORE fun!
The math access point recognize when 1 or 2 items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 3 is addressed.
Sharing objects with a partner is a science access point also addressed 🙂
Around here we LIKE green eggs! Our play dough came out a really beautiful shade of green, perfect for making green eggs with the cookie cutter.
Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is the science access point related to forces and changes in motion.
The math access point recognize 2 objects that are identical to each other can also be addressed.
Well it just wouldn’t be a Dr. Seuss unit without oobleck and we LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff! It really is amazing how cool a mixture of plain cornstarch and water can be.
Besides the science access point recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move the motion of objects is explored in the science access point track objects in motion.
Again, always more fun when shared with a friend 🙂
We searched for 1 red fish and 2 blue fish in our water play bowl. The blue fish squirted water when squeezed making for a fun way to rinse the oobleck off hands—–or squirt friends across the table 🙂
Properties of matter are explored in the science access point identify common classroom objects by one observable property, such as color.
Math access points are also addressed including recognize 2 objects that are identical to each other and recognize differences in size of objects.
We finished with our 10 apples on top Bath and Bodyworks country apple scented lotion. It was a nice, light fruity scent—–perfect for remembering all the fun we had in group.
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we made some super cute Truffula trees. We adapted an idea we got from the PreK and K Sharing pin on Pinterest and loved how it turned out!
First our students chose which color background they wanted using communication symbols. We discussed the shape of the paper and then counted how many were passed out.
The language access point effectively communicate wants, with prompting, to a familiar person is addressed.
The science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color and the math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes are also addressed.
Then the students tore green paper to make “hills” and glued them down onto their papers. Both of these are great activities for promoting bilateral coordination!
The students really enjoyed the paper tearing step 🙂
It also addresses the science access point recognize a change in an object which promotes understanding that matter can undergo a variety of changes.
Changes in matter and bilateral coordination are again explored in the next step! Tissue paper—-as always, collected from presents past—–was squished and crumpled into balls.
The tissue balls were then dipped into glue and glued onto the paper.
Pat, pat, pat!
We used these super cool striped paper straws (thanks Courtney!) for tree trunks! They were a little tricky to glue down and while some of our students were able to do it independently, most needed some help aligning them along the glue line.
Ta Da—–soooooo SEUSSICAL!
Our Thursday art project was a Lorax! We started by asking our students to identify the color orange using our communication symbols. Most of our students needed a little help find the correct color but that’s ok—-we just will continue to have fun practicing!
The science access point identify objects by one observable property is addressed in addition to the language access point communicate information about familiar objects using non-verbal expressions, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words.
Then we counted out small paper plates—–discussing the circle shape to address the math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes.
It’s so much fun to paint and our students are getting so good at using painting utensils! For our students with physical challenges, we taped a brush to a paint stick to make it easier for them to manage—-it works great! As they move their paintbrushes around the plate they are learning about changes in matter and addressing the science access point recognize a change in an object.
After we finished painting, it was time to add the features to the Lorax’s face. We discussed each body part before gluing it down and asked the students to find the same body part on themselves. Since our students do not have mustaches 🙂 we said it was supposed to go UNDER the eyes.
We used googlie eyes and an orange pompom nose. Joy drew the eyebrows and mustache (here is the pattern: lorax )which were cut out prior to the art activity.
This activity addresses the science access point recognize one or more external body parts.
It also addresses the science access point recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
Ta Da—-so cute!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Because we are talking about Dr. Seuss this week, what would be more appropriate than targeting rhyming words during our language group!
Our students got to play a fishing game to go with the Dr. Seuss book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The game has different colored fish that can be “caught” with a Velcro fishing pole.
Each student had a turn to catch a fish—–a great way to work on eye hand coordination!
Whatever color fish they caught, they had to identify a word that rhymed with it!
The students were given a choice of 2 different words to choose from. For example, if they caught the red fish, they would have to choose what “red” rhymed with: “bed” or “clean”.
Our students did pretty well with this task! If they were unable to figure out the correct rhyming word, the rest of the class helped them out.
Responding to patterns of language in read-aloud rhymes is a language access point.
For our students with a visual impairment students, Joy brought in a big fish that vibrates when it’s squeezed. This vibrating fish was just so much fun—–everyone wanted a chance to play with it 🙂
The science access point recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is addressed here.
At the end of the game, we practiced putting all the fish back IN the fish bowl.
Well that is that for the cat in the hat! We are off for spring break next week——oh the places we are going to go 🙂
See you soon for more fun…..Group by Group!
We are celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday this week by looking at a few of his books. Since the previous book that had some of our staff in the pictures went over so well with our students, we decided to do it again! Dr. Seuss is so great at rhyming so I gave it a try myself. I hope while reading the book you’re able to get into the rhythm of the rhymes! The students LOVED looking at the pictures with the familiar faces and some of our students would identify the staff who were in the room while the book was being read. This book is geared more towards turn taking with the voice output device rather than answering a question with a repetitive line. Each of the pages in the book relates to an item in used in the sensory and fine motor groups.
So, put on your red and white striped hat and celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday with us!
Here is a link to the book: Let Me Take a Closer Look,I Would Like to Read That Book
This week we celebrated Dr. Seuss in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. We looked at words that started with letter X in our Language Group.
Sensory Group—Dr. Seuss
We started with Cara’s latest book which was a pretty special one. We got the idea to make our own illustrations from Sharon (one of our followers)—-thanks so much! It was so much fun to see our students faces as they recognized some of the models!
The theme of our first box was “The Cat in the Hat”. It was filled with soft red, white, and black pom poms and chenille stems. We really liked these black and white ones! This was such a fun colorful box that was very eye catching for our students!
We asked our students to find pom poms that were the same, discussing their colors.
The math access points of recognizing a common 3 dimensional object and recognizing two objects that are identical to each other.
We filled our “If I Ran the Zoo” box with straw and a variety of animals you might find at the zoo—including our cool sound producing elephant and tiger found in the dollar section at Target last year. There was also a little duplo zoo keeper, fences, play food for the animals and houses. Our students enjoyed the animals and had a lot of fun waving and shaking the straw.
Pressing the buttons on the sound producing animals was an opportunity to address finger individuation skills as well as addressing the science access point of recognizing and responding to common sounds.
This box also gave the students an opportunity to respond to new vocabulary which is a language access point.
Everybody loves “Green Eggs and Ham” don’t they?! We brought back our green playdough and used our egg shaped cookie cutter to make some of our own green eggs—what could be more fun than that? 🙂
Playdough is such a great tactile medium and great for building fine motor skills as it is squeezed and pressed into shapes.
The science access point of recognizing a change in an object is addressed here. Also, the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape (oval) is addressed.
Dr. Seuss’s “A B C’s” is another one of our favorite books. Our students sifted through blue and white rice to find letters A B C.
We used our large alphabet cookie cutters and they really stood out in contrast to the rice.
Tactile and visual discrimination skills in addition to letter identification are addressed in this box.
We couldn’t forget “Bartholomew and the Oobleck”! Oobleck—only our most favorite substance EVER! We used neon green food coloring which made the perfect color.
These are such a great pictures, the student really enjoyed having it dripped on his hand—so much so that he used his PIXON communication board to request more.
He effectively communicated his needs using picture symbols which is a language access point—this made Cara VERY happy 🙂
Our Lorax box was filled with pom pom shakers (we got ours from the Oriental Trading catalog)—we thought they looked like truffula trees.
These were totally fun and the students had a blast shaking them—applying a push or pull to move an object is a science access point.
There were a lot of different colors helping address the science access point of identifying objects by one observable property.
“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” was the theme for our water play. The math access point of associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names in addition to the science access point of identifying objects by one observable property, such as color.
Our little blue fish squirts water when squeezed helping strengthen hands.
We finished with Country Apple scented lotion from Bath and Body works in honor of the book “10 Apples Up On Top”, to help us remember all the fun we had today.
Our students let us know whether they liked our choice by body gestures, vocalizations or in the case of the student pictured—facial expressions.
Guess you can’t please everyone 🙂
Fine Motor Skills—Dr. Seuss
On Tuesday we were lucky enough to have 3 of our “models” while we read our book and our students really enjoyed pointing them out—communicating recognition of familiar persons is a language access point!
For our art project we made Cat in the Hat masks, so much fun! We started by cutting a red rectangle into two pieces—cutting it in half.
Recognizing a change in an object is a science access point. Identifying 2 dimensional shapes, another math access point, is also addressed.
Then we took the 2 red pieces along with a precut white strip and glued them to the top, middle and bottom of a a white rectangle. It was actually 2 pieces of white cardstock stapled together to make it firmer—since we didn’t have any poster board 🙂
Matching 1 object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence and associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names are math access points.
These were then stapled to paper plates (circles!) with a smaller circle cut out of the middle. We practiced counting as we passed them out and some of our students are getting REALLY good at it!
TaDa!
How about that—-
a cat in a hat 🙂
On Thursday we continued with our seussical theme by reading Cara’s book again. We also showed the students the book One Fish Two Fish in preparation for our next art project which we found on Pinterest!
We started by painting construction paper fish bowls with a mixture of corn syrup and blue food coloring. This stuff is pretty sticky so paint shirts are a MUST.
Painting gives our students practice using writing tools and while we encourage “proper” grip patterns, it is more important to us that our students are actively INVOLVED in the process.
Then each student added 1 red fish and 1 blue fish precut from construction paper. Since the corn syrup is sticky already—you don’t need glue!
This activity addresses spatial relations and eye hand coordination.
Recognizing when an object is added to a situation is a math access point. Identifying objects by one observable property ( such as color) is a math access point
We finished by glueing our fish bowl to a rectangular piece of paper. One of our students was able to identify the two dimensional shape—-nailing another math access point 🙂
Ta Da!
Doesn’t it look great—you can’t really tell in the picture but the syrup dries shiny so it looks just like water. Totally cool!!!!
Language Group—Letter X
We started by playing Cara’s sound game. There aren’t many words that start with X so she used ones that have X in them—but still working on identifying common sounds.
Then we put siX eXtra-large beads on a string—working on bilateral coordination and counting skills! In addition, indicating the next step in a sequence can be addressed in this activity.
When all the beads were on the string we helped the students count them.
Then we found 2 foXes and 1 oX in a boX!
Our students had so much fun opening up the box and looking inside 🙂
Fine motor skills are addressed as the box is opened and the plush animals are pulled out.
Counting 1-3 objects is a math access point.
Next we glued 2 craft sticks together to make an X. We made it eXtraordinary by sprinkling on some glitter. This activity works on letter identification and prewriting skills in addition to fine motor skills.
The students had fun choosing which color glitter to choose. We gave them 3 choices—to practice for their alternate assessment.
We think they look eXtremely pretty around all the X words we found today!
That wraps up another really fun week, hope you will join us next time….. Group by Group.