We went all green this week for our theme. Our book is so cute and contains a student on each page with something that is green. We found lots of things around our school that are green, so check it out and see what we found!
Here is a link to the book: I See Green!
Between the first day of spring and St. Patrick’s day, March is all about GREEN! Our sensory groups explored monochromatic boxes with lots of different textures. Our fine motor groups used green paint to complete their art projects and the language group made a tasty green treat!
SENSORY GROUP
This first box contained a variety of green objects including beads, a shaker pompom, plastic leaves, a toy lizard, shamrocks, and a cute green frog puppet.
There were lots of different things to explore!
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
Our green rice included some colorful contrasting beans. It was a very eye catching box with a real springtime feel! There were two different sized spoons for scooping fun.
There were also both upper and lower case letter G’s to find.
Science access point: match objects by one observable property, such as shape.
Using a cookie cutter, the students stamped letter G into bright green kinetic sand.
We also put in a fun dinosaur figure to find.
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
The students loved squeezing and crumbling this green Bubber.
We also included another cookie cutter——this time a shamrock!
Science access point: recognize a change in an object.
Our light box was very eye catching and a hit with the students.
We used a cut up green plastic file folder and hot glued it to the sides of a clear shoebox. The battery packs are attached to the lid with velcro.
Science access point: recognize sources of light.
Green oobleck was super fun to explore. The green food coloring did tint fingers a little——- but Hulk hands are pretty cool 🙂
We love messy fun!
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Two different sized green scoops and a toy tugboat added to the fun of our water play. We scented the water with Bath and Body Works rain kissed leaves bath gel.
The scent seemed a perfect choice for this week!
Math access point: recognize difference in sizes of containers that hold liquids.
The rain kissed leaves lotion had a light scent that the students really liked…..
…..whether rubbed on hands, arms, behind ears, or under chins!
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Wednesday, the students used an adapted stamper to paint some green grass.
First, the students identified the shape of their paper and the color of their paint.
Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
Next, the students stamped UP and DOWN.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
Then, they chose a colorful butterfly to add to the scene.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
Welcome spring and……
……everything GREEN!!!!
On Thursday, the students painted this green bug: bug template
First, they identified the color of the paint.
Science access point: identify an object by one observable property, such as color.
The bug template was put in a clear box and the students added 3 paint colored marbles.
Time to shake, shake, shake that box!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
We pulled the bug out and glued it DOWN on the background paper.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
Next, the students added some chenille stem “legs”.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!
Beautiful green bugs!
LANGUAGE GROUP
Of course, we are making a GREEN treat for the language group. This week we made green milkshakes using this recipe: Let’s Make A Green Milkshake
We started by TURNing the page to see the first step of the recipe. Since it was ice cream, we let each student touch the container first and indicate that it felt COLD. We talked about why it was cold as well and located the freezer.
Science access point: recognize objects or materials as warm or cold.
Then we measured out 2 cups of ice cream and PUT it in the BLENDER.
We measured out a cup of milk and PUT that in the BLENDER as well. We observed that there is one cup of milk in a container of school milk.
Next, we added some green food coloring. Our students HELPed count out 10 drops.
Then we TURNed on the blender. After each student, we asked if the milk shake was ALL DONE or if we needed to blend it some MORE.
Once it was all finished, we poured the milk shake into cups. Our students got to have some whipped cream and green sprinkles too.
Shake, shake, shake your sprinkles 🙂
Green milkshakes—–YUM!!!!!
We are so happy to be back with more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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We had a pretty colorful week—–literally 🙂 We have been wanting to do a color theme for a while and were inspired by our friend @teachezwell.me who has been posting a series of colorful photos. So with spring on the way, this seemed like the perfect time! Our sensory group boxes were filled with a feast of colors. The fine motor group painted with colorful ice cubes and the language group conducted experiments of the colorful sort.
Let’s explore some of the rainbow of colors that make up our world!
SENSORY GROUP
The BLUE box was filled with a variety of items and textures for our students to explore—–all in a base of bright blue basket filler.
It was a lot of fun to put together and LOTS of fun for the students to explore.
Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
Just like the blue box, our ORANGE was filled different objects and textures. Fake “spaghetti” strands made the base of this box then we added pumpkins, balls, —–and a great big shaker pompom that was a totally favorite!
Identify common objects by one observable property, such as size or color is a science access point.
The students were fascinated by the PINK sand in this box. It was pretty mesmerizing to watch as it was sifted through the strainer.
Track objects in motion is a science access point.
This PURPLE slime had a pretty weird jello-like texture and while some of the students were a little hesitant to touch it, others dove right in! We made this using a non-borax recipe found on the internet.
Pretty cool stuff!
The science access point recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move can be addressed here.
We cut up portfolio covers and other pieces of translucent plastic to make our GREEN light box. Light boxes are always a hit with our students and this one was no exception!
Recognize sources of light is a science access point.
Our giant RED ladybug cushion was a big hit. Not only did it feel soft but when hugged it VIBRATED——how fun is that!
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Color surprise was theme of our water play this week. Bath tablets (from Crayola) dropped into the water turned it into a different color for each group.
The science access point recognize a change in an object can be addressed here.
We finished with some WHITE lotion—–sea island cotton from Bath and Body Works. The students really liked the aroma and the feeling of the lotion rubbed on their different body parts such as arm or neck.
Recognize one or more external body parts is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
Ms. Maria gave us the idea for this week’s art project—–painting with ice cubes!
We started by discussing the shape of our paper and the students used communication symbols to identify a rectangle.
Recognize a common object with a two-dimensional shape is a math access point.
Then we started painting with the colorful ice cube “brushes”. The students really enjoyed this activity.
Recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed is a science access point.
The switch operated massager helped one of our students move his ice cubes around the paper.
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Ta DA!!!!
Just fabulous!
LANGUGAGE GROUP
We found some cool experiments that used COLOR for our language group this week.
The first one we did was Fireworks in a Jar. Our students helped pour some WARM water into a small vase, filling it up about 3/4 of the way.
The math access point solve problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more can be addressed in this activity.
We put about 2 tablespoons of oil in a small dish and squeezed some different colored drops of food coloring into the oil. We passed it around so our students could see that the food coloring did not spread all around but looked like little dots in the oil—-pretty cool!
Then, we stirred up the oil/food coloring so that the bigger dots broke off into even smaller little dots.
Finally, we poured the oil SLOWLY into the water. After a couple of seconds, the food coloring started to spread down into the water, resembling fireworks!
WOW!
The next experiment we learned how mixing 2 colors creates a new color. For our first try, we put some blue food coloring on one corner of a gallon bag and then squirted some clear hair gel onto it. On the other corner of the bag, we put some red food coloring and gel.
We turned off the lights, taped the bag onto a light box, and our students squished the gel all around. It was pretty fascinating to watch the colors change and even cooler to see it on the light box!
We did the same with yellow and red and our students watched as the colors changed into orange. VERY eye catching!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
What a fantastic week——–join us again next time for more fun and learning Group by Group!