April 10 was National Sibling Day and we thought it would be a fun way for staff and students to participate in a unit. The sensory groups explored boxes related to siblings of some of our staff members. The fine motor groups made some fun art projects to share with their siblings. The language group performed science experiments!
SENSORY GROUP
Ms. Cara has a sister who lives in South Africa. This box was filled with a variety of animals found in Africa including large, medium, and small zebras! There was also a purple lei with flowers that resembled jacaranda which are grown in South Africa.
Recognize differences in size of objects is a math access point.
Ms. Jane’s brother works for NASA so we made a space themed box for him. In the black kinetic sand were an astronaut, star, and planet to find.
The science access point recognize a space related object can be addressed here.
Both of Ms. Thea’s siblings graduated from the University of Florida. Our Go Gators box had orange and blue play dough along with a little gator cookie cutter!
Apply a push to move an object is a science access point.
Ms. Caressa and Ms. Elaine both have sisters who are involved in music. This box was filled with some fun music instruments as well as some colorful scarves to wave around.
The students had fun with this one!
Recognize objects that create sounds is a science access point.
Ms. Jen and her brother are from Iowa which is famous for its corn. We put 3 colorful letter I’s to find in this box of corn kernels.
The science access point match objects by an observable property, such as size, shape, and color can be addressed here.
Ms. Vicki and her sisters like to get facials together. We put some food coloring into our shaving cream so the students could give our cartoon Ms. Vicki a facial. This was silly, messy, and LOTS of fun!
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Ms. Joi and her sisters are from Miami. We put some colorful flashing lights and a letter M to fish out of the warm blue water.
The science access point recognize sources of light can be addressed here.
Since apple blossoms are the state flower of Arkansas—where Ms. Robin’s sister lives—-we chose Bath and Body Works country apple for our scent this week!
Recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli is a science access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday the students made door hanger presents for THEIR siblings!
First they identified the circle shape that was cut out from the top of the door hanger.
Recognize an object with a two-dimensional shape is a math access point.
Then they got to choose which door hanger to decorate!
Next they used paint brushes to apply glue.
Recognize that pushing and pulling makes an object move, is a science access point.
Time for glitter—-lots of it!
The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed here.
Ta Da—-we love how these turned out!
Our students are going to have some very happy siblings 🙂
On Wednesday the students made picture frames for their siblings!
First they identified the color of our paint—-sunshine yellow!
Identify objects by one observable property, such as size or color is a science access point.
Then they applied the paint to their frames and added a cute smiley sun craft foam sticker!
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
Ta DA—–so colorful!!!!
There are going to be some more happy siblings!
LANGUAGE GROUP
We thought it was really neat that Mr. Noah’s sister is a scientist, so we decided to do some experiments ourselves since we haven’t done them lately. To make it EXTRA awesome, though, we used a black light so that we could have glowing experiments!
Here are the experiments that we did: Glowing Experiments. These experiments were found on www.growingajeweledrose.com website.
We started off by doing our Glowing Oil and Water experiment. Our students got to HELP squeeze some glow in the dark paint into 3 small cups of water. They had to STIR it all up so that it was completely MIXED.
They were so cool looking when they were placed by the black light!
Next, we put vegetable oil in a pie pan so that it completely covered the bottom of the pan. Then, our students took turns SQUEEZING the paint water into the pie pan. We observed how the oil and water never mixed.
Really neat!
The next experiment, Glowing Volcano, was even more neat! Our students helped POUR some baking soda into a plastic container. 
They got to SQUEEZE some paint in and also just a bit of dish soap.
Once the vinegar was POURED into the container was when the magic started. We did this experiment with each of the colors so by the end it was a mix-up of pink, yellow, and orange.
All of the colors were so COOL! It looked like a galaxy!
What a great week! Join us next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
National Siblings Day is April 10 so our theme is all about siblings! We have some of our own students in the book, but instead of it being focused around our students, we found out some pretty neat things about some of the staff’s siblings. One of our staff members has a sister who is a scientist, another staff member has a sister who is a music therapist, and our very own principal has a brother who works for NASA! Find out more about our siblings in our book and make sure to celebrate your own siblings 🙂
Here is a link to the book: We Celebrate National Siblings Day!
