LINK TO THE BOOK: Let’s Learn About Jack And The Beanstalk
We had so much fun reading the book for this week! The book gives a short synopsis of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We have several of our students posing as the different characters in the story, like Jack, his mother, and even their cow.
Check out this super cute book and happy National Fairy Tale Day!
We chose a fun theme this week and did our own take on the classic fairy tale! The sensory group explored boxes with a variety of textures. The fine motor groups crafted art projects based on characters in the story and the language group made a recipe————-using beans, of course 🙂
SENSORY GROUP
Our colorful box of “magic beans” contained letter B’s—-both upper and lower case.
The students loved running their hands through the beans and the colors were so eye catching.
Science access point: match objects by an observable property, such as size, shape, or color.
There were all sorts of cows roaming in this field of green rice. We even included magnets that spelled the word COW!
There was also a picture of a cow to find at the bottom of the box.
Science access point: recognize a model of a real object.
An umbrella was turned into a beanstalk—-complete with a giant peeking out!
We were pretty happy with the effect we achieved.
Science access point: recognize objects related to science by name such as animal, and plant.
There were 5 golden eggs and lots of golden beads along with a cute plush goose in this box!
So cute!
Math access point: associate quantities with number names.
We wanted to reinforce the concepts of BIG and SMALL so in this box we added some big fluffy ball and some small spiked balls.
The different textures were really intriguing to the students.
Math access point: recognize differences in size of objects.
We put a green accordion tube and some silk leaves into a cloud of shaving cream so students could make their own bean stalks.
They had a blast!
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
There was a small cup and big watering can in the water play.
The students loved watching the water stream from the spout of the watering can!
Science access point: track objects in motion.
Bath and Body Works rain kissed leaves seemed a good choice for our scent this week.
Whether rubbed on arms or behind ears, the students loved the aroma.
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday the students stamped some golden eggs using this template: goose
First, the students identified an oval.
They did a really great job!
Math access point: recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape.
Next, they glued their goose on to the back ground paper.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
Then, they stamped some golden eggs!
We made the stamp by cutting ovals from extra thick craft foam and sticking the shapes to kitchen scrubbers.
Math access point: recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.
TA—we are rich—- Da!
We found the goose that lays the golden eggs!
On Wednesday, we made bean stalks! This template was used in the project: castle
First, the students identified the color of the yarn. Everyone picked the correct color!!!!
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Then, the students wrapped the yarn around a paper towel tube.
Science access point: recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.
Next, they added leaves to their bean stalks.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
The beanstalk was topped off by a castle in the clouds—made by gluing polyfil and paper castle to a poster board circle.
TA—fie fi fo fum— DA!!!
Looks like our magic beans worked!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We made some bean dip that we think Jack would really enjoy! Here’s the recipe: Let’s Make Jack’s Bean Dip
We started out by mixing together sour cream and a dry ranch packet. The student who WANTED to HELP was given the unopened packet of dry ranch. Since she wasn’t able to open it by herself, she was prompted to ask for HELP.
Students located the STIR communication symbol on their boards and HELPED to STIR the ingredients together.
Each student requested their own bowl to put their dip together in. They were given some refried beans and were told to SPREAD them out on the bottom of their bowls.
Then, each student had to request the sour cream/ranch dip. Again, they had to SPREAD it ON TOP of the beans.
Next, they PUT diced tomatoes ON TOP of the ranch dip. Some students were given just a few pieces. If that was not enough to their liking, they had to request MORE.
We PUT some black olives ON TOP of the tomatoes. Again, if it was not enough, students had to indicate they WANTED MORE.
When asked if there were any ingredients that they saw on the communication boards that had not been used yet, students had to LOOK at their boards and locate the picture of cheese.
Once the bean dip was all layered and ready, students had to request chips.
Students were prompted to SCOOP the dip with the chips; however, lots of them chose to eat the dip with their spoon instead 🙂
We really had so much fun this week! Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
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We had a lot of fun with this week’s theme. Our book is just fantastic and we have to thank Ms. Lois, Ms. Jen, and Ms. Kim who were a huge help with costumes for our students. Be sure to check it out!
Our sensory group explored boxes filled with color and texture. The fine motor groups made fairy tale themed art projects and the language group made a snack the Grimm brothers would love!
SENSORY GROUP
We filled this box with play figures and props representing different characters from Grimm Brothers stories. There were lots of things to explore and find but the magic wand with flashing lights was a real favorite!
The social studies access point recognize a person in a story, can be addressed with this activity.
Pink “princess” sand and letter P’s were sifted with a little sieve. The sand is such a pretty color and very enticing to the students. They really enjoyed watching it cascade down!
Track a falling object is a science access point.
Yellow rice, red and black beans, represented the colors of the German flag—-the Grimm brothers came from that country! In addition to letter “G”‘s to find, there was a picture of the actual brothers to find at the bottom of the box.
The science access point track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled, is addressed with this activity.
The students had lots of fun with our Big Bad Wolf box. The wolf mask (from Target) wasn’t TOO scary and the students had fun trying it on. We also included some grandma glasses, a little plush wolf, and some fun fake wolf fur to complete the look.
The science access point recognize one or more external body parts can be addressed with this activity.
Ok, so we had a few more photos that were too cute to leave out!
How could we resist 🙂
In the story, Jack sold his cow for those magic beans he planted.
In our box of mixed beans, there were 3 little cows for our students to find and count.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
We put some colorful confetti in our oobleck this week to make it look like the icing that decorated the gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel. As usual, it was gooey, messy fun!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
There was a little pond for our frog “prince” to play in. We also included a measuring cup for scooping and pouring.
Recognize a model of a real object is a science access point.
We scented our water with Snow White approved Bath and Body Works country apple scented lotion. The students really liked the yummy scent of the matching lotion.
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday our students made some pretty cute Cinderella carriages.
First we discussed the shape our paper punch would cut out and asked our students to identify a circle using communication symbols. The students either used eye gaze or pointed to the circle.
Recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape is a math access point.
The students glued their pumpkins down onto construction paper. Then they glued their photos onto their pumpkins.
The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed with this activity.
Next the students punched out 2 circles. Our paper punch is a difficult to press, so the students did need help with this step.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
The circle “wheels” were then glued to the bottom of the carriage.
Match one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence is a math access point.
Ta DA!
Let’s go to the ball!
On Wednesday the students made a dwarf forest using tree stamps! The dwarves were made by gluing the photos of the students faces on this: dwarf-template
First we discussed the shape and color of our poster board.
The math access point recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape, and the science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color are addressed here.
Next we asked the students to identify the number 5 on a number line.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
We glued thread spools onto our tree stamps to make them easier for our students to grasp as each stamped 5 trees onto the poster board. We emphasized stamping UP and DOWN!
Recognize a moment that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down, is a math access point.
Then the students picked out their dwarves and put them into the forest. It turned out pretty cute!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
Ta Da!
So…..kind of like herding cats but we did get a group shot 🙂
LANGUAGE GROUP
Our language group had fun making “Jack’s Magic Bean Dip” in honor of Jack and the Beanstalk. We used pixon symbols throughout the group to model how our students can use symbols during activities.
We started out by putting a can of cannellini beans that had been drained and rinsed into a food processor. Next, we passed around the 2 cloves of garlic that had been chopped up. Each of our students took turns smelling the garlic.
They had to indicate whether or not they liked it by pointing to the symbol for “I like this” or “I don’t like this”. It turned out to be about half and half for our students.
After we put the garlic in the food processor we let each of our students taste a little bit of lemon juice, which was the next ingredient to put in. We talked about how lemons are SOUR. Again, they got to convey if they liked it or not and again it was split down the middle.
We put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into the food processor.
Next, we added some fresh parsley.
We also used some dried oregano which our students got to smell and tell us if they liked or not.
Finally, our students got to use a switch to activate the food processor so the ingredients could be chopped. Our students used symbols to tell us if we needed to chop up the ingredients MORE or if we were ALL DONE.
The students really liked using the food processor 🙂
Once we were finished, we counted out bowls and put some of the magic bean dip in each of them. We sprinkled a bit of salt and pepper on the dip and added some cut up tortillas.
YUM!
Hope you enjoyed our unit on the Grimm Brothers! Join us again next time for more fun and learning Group by Group!