Tag Archives: FAMU

Apr10

How We Make Money

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How We Make Money

IMG_1290This week our theme compliments the April Unique Curriculum unit for our students. They are learning about money and what we do with it. Our focus is on how we earn it! The sensory groups explored boxes related to specific jobs. The fine motor groups painted job related art projects and the language group got real time job experience—–they made a dessert 🙂

 

 

 

 

SENSORY GROUP

IMG_1681IMG_1244Helping people get an education as the President of a University would be a pretty important job to have! If you were the president of FAMU you would cheer on the Rattlers. Our box featured the team colors of ORANGE and GREEN and the little egg shaker we included made rattling sounds when shaken.

The science access point recognize objects that create sounds can be addressed here.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1685IMG_1456Paleontologists study dinosaur bones—–how cool is that! There were four little bones to find buried in our sand and we included a small scoop so they could be buried again.  Of course it was also really fun to watch the sand sift through fingers. This box was lots of fun 🙂

IMG_1292Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1480IMG_1674Veterinarians take care of our pets. There were lots of “medical” supplies in this box for fun pretend play. There were soft cotton balls and gauze as well as a fun stethoscope to try out. Our little vets took good care of their patient!

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

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1268IMG_1506One really cool way to earn money would be as a Rock Star! In addition to finger drums and a tiny toy guitar, there were some star worthy sunglasses and feather boas in this box.

IMG_1679The science access points recognize objects that create sounds and the science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed with this activity.

IMG_1697IMG_1236Everyone got in on the fun……..

IMG_1256…..looks like we have some future superstars in the making 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1525IMG_1299We brought out our underwater umbrella for our budding Marine Biologists. To add to the experience there were orca and humpback whale sounds recorded on a voice output device. Everyone found it fascinating!

IMG_1668Match living things with their habitats is a science access point that can be addressed here.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1220IMG_1631Our little Chefs had fun icing the play food cupcake with whipped (shaving) cream. Great messy fun!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1454IMG_1281Our students got to play Lifeguard by scooping swim rings (made out of water noodle slices) and a little toy figure out of the water. This activity is great for counting and eye hand coordination practice!

IMG_1693Recognize 2 dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1723IMG_1720We chose Bath and BodyWorks vanilla sugar scent for our water play and lotion this week because the aroma reminded us of some of the yummy treats that Chefs might make! This is always a popular scent with our students 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we talked about Beekeeping and our students made some bees using this: honey bee template  We used yellow poster board for the base so it was a little sturdier and just regular white paper for the wings.

IMG_1322IMG_1323We started by discussing the shape of the bees body—-an oval—-and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.

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

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1326IMG_1331Next the students painted black stripes on their bee.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1342Then they used a glue stick to apply glue to the wing and put it on their bee. We encouraged them to put the wing DOWN onto the bee’s body.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1350With a little help they added a googlie eye by placing in ON a glue spot.

The math access point match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is addressed here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1346IMG_1353Ta Da!

IMG_1337                                                                 BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday like Paleontologists, we discovered some dinosaur fossils! To prep this an adult traced this: dinosaur bones template  Instead of making copies of our template, we took another piece of paper to trace over it with a pencil and made copies of that. By doing it that way the outline was very light. One of our fantastic volunteers then filled in each template with glue—-all 7 of them! She used a paint brush and it actually went really fast!

IMG_1561IMG_1562The students identified the shape of the paper using communication symbols—-they did a really great job and we were SO proud 🙂

Recognize 2-dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1563IMG_1577Then they dipped their sponge brushes into VERY watery brown paint. You need your paint to be pretty translucent for this project to turn out correctly. As the students brushed the paint over the paper, their fossils appeared—–this was super cool!!!

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

 

 

 

 

IMG_1574IMG_1566Ta Dino DA

IMG_1580                                                            Fabulous fossil finds!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE GROUP

We tied in a couple of the jobs we talked about in our book because we made an edible treat (chef) with honey (beekeepers)!

IMG_1767IMG_1773We started by going around the room and letting our students look at and smell some real honey comb that Joy brought it.  We talked about how it smelled SWEET.  We also talked a lot about looking with our eyes and smelling with our noses, not with our hands!

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

 

 

 

 

IMG_1777IMG_1780Next, we counted out cups for all of our friends.  Each of our students got to indicate how many spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt they wanted by pointing to the numbers 3, 4, or 5.  When scooping out the yogurt, we counted out loud to make sure that we put in the correct amount.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1800IMG_1807Our students then got to indicate if they wanted strawberries on top by verbalizing yes/no or by nodding/shaking their heads.

Once the strawberries were in, our students helped SQUEEZE the honey onto their yogurt and strawberries.  Finally, we topped the mix with some granola.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1838IMG_1815We think this job was a successful one for our students!

IMG_1822They thought it was a pretty a delicious one as well 🙂

 

We had an absolute blast this week! Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!

Apr10

How We Make Money

Posted on by
How We Make Money

IMG_1290This week our theme compliments the April Unique Curriculum unit for our students. They are learning about money and what we do with it. Our focus is on how we earn it! The sensory groups explored boxes related to specific jobs. The fine motor groups painted job related art projects and the language group got real time job experience—–they made a dessert 🙂

 

 

 

 

SENSORY GROUP

IMG_1681IMG_1244Helping people get an education as the President of a University would be a pretty important job to have! If you were the president of FAMU you would cheer on the Rattlers. Our box featured the team colors of ORANGE and GREEN and the little egg shaker we included made rattling sounds when shaken.

The science access point recognize objects that create sounds can be addressed here.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1685IMG_1456Paleontologists study dinosaur bones—–how cool is that! There were four little bones to find buried in our sand and we included a small scoop so they could be buried again.  Of course it was also really fun to watch the sand sift through fingers. This box was lots of fun 🙂

IMG_1292Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1480IMG_1674Veterinarians take care of our pets. There were lots of “medical” supplies in this box for fun pretend play. There were soft cotton balls and gauze as well as a fun stethoscope to try out. Our little vets took good care of their patient!

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

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1268IMG_1506One really cool way to earn money would be as a Rock Star! In addition to finger drums and a tiny toy guitar, there were some star worthy sunglasses and feather boas in this box.

IMG_1679The science access points recognize objects that create sounds and the science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed with this activity.

IMG_1697IMG_1236Everyone got in on the fun……..

IMG_1256…..looks like we have some future superstars in the making 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1525IMG_1299We brought out our underwater umbrella for our budding Marine Biologists. To add to the experience there were orca and humpback whale sounds recorded on a voice output device. Everyone found it fascinating!

IMG_1668Match living things with their habitats is a science access point that can be addressed here.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1220IMG_1631Our little Chefs had fun icing the play food cupcake with whipped (shaving) cream. Great messy fun!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1454IMG_1281Our students got to play Lifeguard by scooping swim rings (made out of water noodle slices) and a little toy figure out of the water. This activity is great for counting and eye hand coordination practice!

IMG_1693Recognize 2 dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1723IMG_1720We chose Bath and BodyWorks vanilla sugar scent for our water play and lotion this week because the aroma reminded us of some of the yummy treats that Chefs might make! This is always a popular scent with our students 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we talked about Beekeeping and our students made some bees using this: honey bee template  We used yellow poster board for the base so it was a little sturdier and just regular white paper for the wings.

IMG_1322IMG_1323We started by discussing the shape of the bees body—-an oval—-and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.

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

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1326IMG_1331Next the students painted black stripes on their bee.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1342Then they used a glue stick to apply glue to the wing and put it on their bee. We encouraged them to put the wing DOWN onto the bee’s body.

Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1350With a little help they added a googlie eye by placing in ON a glue spot.

The math access point match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is addressed here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1346IMG_1353Ta Da!

IMG_1337                                                                 BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday like Paleontologists, we discovered some dinosaur fossils! To prep this an adult traced this: dinosaur bones template  Instead of making copies of our template, we took another piece of paper to trace over it with a pencil and made copies of that. By doing it that way the outline was very light. One of our fantastic volunteers then filled in each template with glue—-all 7 of them! She used a paint brush and it actually went really fast!

IMG_1561IMG_1562The students identified the shape of the paper using communication symbols—-they did a really great job and we were SO proud 🙂

Recognize 2-dimensional shapes in the environment is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1563IMG_1577Then they dipped their sponge brushes into VERY watery brown paint. You need your paint to be pretty translucent for this project to turn out correctly. As the students brushed the paint over the paper, their fossils appeared—–this was super cool!!!

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

 

 

 

 

IMG_1574IMG_1566Ta Dino DA

IMG_1580                                                            Fabulous fossil finds!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGE GROUP

We tied in a couple of the jobs we talked about in our book because we made an edible treat (chef) with honey (beekeepers)!

IMG_1767IMG_1773We started by going around the room and letting our students look at and smell some real honey comb that Joy brought it.  We talked about how it smelled SWEET.  We also talked a lot about looking with our eyes and smelling with our noses, not with our hands!

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

 

 

 

 

IMG_1777IMG_1780Next, we counted out cups for all of our friends.  Each of our students got to indicate how many spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt they wanted by pointing to the numbers 3, 4, or 5.  When scooping out the yogurt, we counted out loud to make sure that we put in the correct amount.

Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1800IMG_1807Our students then got to indicate if they wanted strawberries on top by verbalizing yes/no or by nodding/shaking their heads.

Once the strawberries were in, our students helped SQUEEZE the honey onto their yogurt and strawberries.  Finally, we topped the mix with some granola.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1838IMG_1815We think this job was a successful one for our students!

IMG_1822They thought it was a pretty a delicious one as well 🙂

 

We had an absolute blast this week! Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!

Mar3

My Community and Letter W

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My Community and Letter W

The Unique Curriculum theme this month was My Community, so we took a trip around Tallahasse in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. The Language Group looked at words starting with the Letter W.

Sensory Group—My Community

IMG_7170Our city is built on red clay hills—the same color as our playdough! We used our  big and little star shaped cookie cutters since they always use stars to represent capitols on maps.

Squeezing the playdough between fingers or pushing one of the cutters into it helps strengthen hands. In addition, picking up the cutout stars addresses graded fine motor control.

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

Math access points are also addressed: counting the stars, recognizing two dimensional shapes, and recognizing similarities and differences in size.

 

 

 

IMG_7504Tallahassee is the capitol of our state. We searched for letter T’s and a picture of the Capitol in our red, white and blue rice.

Sifting through the rice helps build tactile discrimination skills, especially important for our students who have visual impairments.

This box also addresses the social studies access point of associating a picture with a place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7315IMG_7154Two universities make their home in Tallahassee and these boxes represent them. FAMU’s colors are orange and green while FSU’s colors are garnet and gold. Our pom poms and mardi gras beads are perfect for contrasting textures (hard and soft) and colors.

Lots of science access points can be addressed here, including recognizing objects that are identical to each other, identifying objects by one observable property, and tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled—–as you can imagine, sometimes beads and pompoms go flying all over the place 🙂

 

 

 

IMG_7284Visiting the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science is so much fun. It is especially fun to visit the farm and see all of the animals.

We put some matching sets of farm animal pictures for our students to find in the oatmeal.  Matching animals that are the same is a science access point.

Small measuring spoons were also included in this box to give our students an opportunity to practice scooping, however many of them improvised and used the animals cards to scoop instead!

Either way, they had a great time with this box 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7262IMG_7131It is also fun to visit the Challenger Learning Center to look at the stars! We made our own version of a planetarium by attaching some battery operated lights to a black umbrella. It was really easy to do using some velcro for the battery packs and twist ties to attach the lights to the spokes of the umbrella.

IMG_7470We think it turned out pretty cool and to say our students were fascinated would be an understatement!

This activity helps address the science access points of associating stars with the night sky and recognizing sources of light.

 

 

 

IMG_7525IMG_7346Everybody loves to go to Lake Ella to see the fountains and the ducks—perfect for our water play activity! Water play is always a favorite activity for our students and they had fun finding the little rubber ducks floating around. Picking up the bobbing ducks addresses eye hand coordination. We used Bath and Body Works Dancing Waters—for the fountains, of course :)—-scent in the water and lotion.

Both of these activities are great for working on the math access point of indicating a desire for more of an action or object.

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—My Community

IMG_7396On Tuesday, we read Cara’s book and had a quick visit to the planetarium before beginning our art project.

Our planetarium was so much fun and we just loved watching our student’s reactions so much that we had to bring it out at any opportunity we got 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7205IMG_7213For our art project we made a map of Florida. We started by painting our students LEFT hands with green paint and pressing them onto blue paper (its shape discussed as it was counted and passed out 🙂 ). We made sure the thumb was abducted as we pressed hands onto the paper.

This activity really helps build awareness of the hands helping to address the science access point of recognizing one or more external body parts.

For our students that are especially aversive to touch, we allowed them to use paint brushes instead and helped them make an approximation of our state’s shape.

A star sticker was added to mark the location of Tallahassee—perfect for working on a pincer grasp and addressing the social studies access point of locating symbols on a map!

 

 

 

IMG_7234TA DA!!!!!

We always make sure each student gets their Ta Da after they finish their project—some of our students REALLY get in to it 🙂

IMG_7258After the paint dried we did a quick outline around the handprint and we have a pretty cute rendition of our state.

This activity also addresses the social studies access point of recognizing Florida as our student’s state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majestic oak trees are found all over our city and there are some beautiful ones around the capitol building. On Thursday we showcased these trees for our art project.

IMG_7369Large blue rectangular pieces of paper were counted out—-guess we were really into blue paper this week :). A sketch of the capitol building (luckily our capitol building is another rectangle so VERY easy to duplicate using a ruler) cut out by the adults was already attached.

Our students crumpled and tore pieces of green tissue paper onto the tree outline.  We had some Elmer’s glue poured into containers so the students could dip the “leaves” into the glue and put them on their tree (addressing spatial relations skills).

We are addressing the science access points of recognizing the leaf of a plant and recognizing a model of a real object with this activity.

 

 

 

 

IMG_7388IMG_7376More  Ta Da’s—-some deserving of standing ovations!

Didn’t these turn out great! They look fabulous hanging on the wall outside of Jeannie’s classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group–The letter W

IMG_7417We started out playing Cara’s sound game.  Our Wonderful students are getting so good at finding the right picture and pointing to Where it is on the paper (addressing eye hand coordination)!

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

 

 

 

IMG_7420After our sound game We got a Wiggly Water animal.  The students are able to activate it by making a sound, either with their voice, Whistling, clapping,…..Whatever!

The Wiggling crab tickled our students, producing lots of giggles 🙂

Our little crab helped us address the science access points of tracking objects in motion and recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli, in this case touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7435IMG_7444Next, We passed around a Wand that lights up when you Whack it.  This was a fun item for our students that we found in the $3 bins at Target.

Some students activated it by Whacking it on the table, While other students Whacked it on their hand.  What a blast!

Applying a push to move an object is a science access point. In addition, as the lights come on, the students can observe that the appearance of an object has changed—another science access point.

 

 

 

 

IMG_7412Next, we made Wrist Watches!  The Watch bands were made from toilet paper rolls first cut open (by the adults) lengthwise and then width wise to make 3 cuffs from each roll).

Our students decorated their cuff from  a selection of foam stickers. We presented the stickers and asked them to make a choice, addressing the language access point of communicating preferences.

Pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination are addressed as the cuffs are decorated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7462We googled “free printable watch faces” and thought they these were pretty perfect as the finishing touch to our project.

Don’t you Wish you had one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_7464As usual, we finished by looking at some of the W words found today—-Whoa, quite a lot of them!

IMG_7225We hope you join us as we share all the fun and learning we are having here at Group by Group 🙂