Tag Archives: pincer grasp

Mar9

The Oscars

Posted on March 9, 2014 by jd785

With the Academy Awards all over the news these past couple of weeks, the Oscars seemed like a perfect theme for us! Cara’s book was a huge hit and as usual, our groups were tons of fun! In our sensory group each of our sensory boxes represented a different Oscar winning movie. In the fine motor group our students made some movie star art themed art projects. For our language group it was all about the red carpet experience! Read along to see all the fun we had.

SENSORY GROUP

Popcorn—-gotta have some at the movies! Our first box was filled with popcorn kernels and items related to our theme including: Disney princess figures, a pirate ship wreck, pirate beads, and an Indiana Jones duck! There was a “Music Man” maraca to shake and an Alice in Wonderland cupcake that squeaked. Since the Academy Awards take place in California, we tossed in a state magnet and finally—–a mini Oscar statue (thanks Ms. Caressa!) This was a great box—-something for everyone!

In addition to lots of opportunities for vocabulary building, science concepts of forces and changes in motion were explored with some of the items. Specifically the science access point recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move is addressed.

The world in spatial terms is also explored and the social studies access point associate an object, picture, or symbol with a location is addressed.

The students got to make their own Shrek ogres using our green Floam, some potato head features and 2 plastic pegboard pegs—–perfect ogre ears :). Floam has an interesting texture and while you can mold it, it doesn’t “feel” sticky. Pretty cool stuff!

It’s great for working on bilateral coordination as it is squished and molded into roundish heads.

We explored organization and development of living organisms addressing the science access point recognize one or more external body parts.

We loved the way our Wizard of Oz discovery bottle turned out! We mixed some green tinted hair gel with water and green glitter. Then we put in 3 red Barbie shoes—–they looked just like ruby slippers!

The Unique Curriculum intermediate unit this month explores the theme of movement so this bottle, along with other items in our boxes compliments it.

Science concepts of forces and motion are explored. In addition motion of objects is explored with the science access point track objects in motion.

Our Wizard of Oz box also included a slinky rainbow and this was a HUGE hit with our students! Some of them loved SLOWLY pulling it apart. Others pulled it as wide as they could make it and then shook it to see it vibrate. Either way——–fun was had!

Of course forces and changes in motion were explored with the science access point recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move. Forms of energy are explored with the access point recognize the change in motion of an object.

The students had so much fun with our Pirates of the Caribbean box! Along with tons of sparkly gold beads were an eye patch and hook so they could get into character if they wanted.

Again the science access point recognize external body parts is explored. In addition tool use is practiced as the hook plunders for beads—-arrgg!

The number 3 and 3 plastic snakes were buried in the sand of our Indiana Jones box—–guess he probably wouldn’t like this box very much 🙂

The science access point match animals that are the same can be addressed with this activity. This access point is related to the concept of diversity and evolution of living organisms.

Recognizing when 1 or 2 items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 3 is a math access point addressed. This access point is related to developing understandings of multiplication and division and strategies for basic multiplication facts and related division facts.

Blue “genie” oobleck——for Aladdin of course!!!! We sprinkled blue raspberry Koolaid onto our oobleck observing as it changed from white to blue!

As usual, fun was had as our little scientists pushed, pulled, and grabbed handfuls of this gloppy goo 🙂

Recognizing that the appearance of a material has changed is a science access point related to the concept of changes in matter.

For our nod to Snow White we washed the oobleck off hands and arms using an apple sponge. The water was scented with lavender vanilla scented bath gel from Bath and Bodyworks chosen because when Snow White ate the apple she fell asleep…….and lavender makes you feel relaxed…… Ok, kind of a stretch but we went with it 🙂

Properties of matter are addressed with the science access point recognize water as a liquid.

The matching lotion was used to send our students off with memories of all the things they learned. Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is the science access point addressed and is related to the organization and development of living organisms concepts.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Our Tuesday art project had the students putting their own stars on the Hollywood walk of fame! The students counted the sides of our grey rectangular piece of paper—-and then we counted out one for each student. After they “wrote” their names, we painted their hands with dark grey paint and stamped them onto the paper.

Using appropriate vocabulary to compare shapes according to attributes and properties is promoted as the math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes is addressed in this activity.

The students chose which glittery star they wanted and then glued a picture of their face onto the star.

Squeezing the glue is great for hand strengthening of course! Pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination are promoted when placing the picture.

Effectively communicating wants and needs to a familiar person using gestures is a language access point.

The star was then glued down onto the paper and——–

TA DA!!!!!

A few new stars on the Hollywood walk of fame!

On Thursday we made our own little Oscar statues!

Joy drew an outline of an Oscar onto gold colored paper. You can print out the outline here: oscar award. It was then glued onto a toilet roll so it could stand up.

Glue was diluted with water and the students used a paint brush to apply it to the paper.

Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point addressed as the students paint with their brushes.

Gold glitter was then added for that authentic look 🙂

While some of our students were able to able the glitter independently, most of them needed a little help.

We stopped periodically to ask them “do we need more?”. They used a Go Talk to communicate whether they needed to add more glitter or if they were all done.

Solving problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language such as enough, too much, or more is a math access point related to understandings of addition and subtraction.

Using technology resources to support learning is a language access point.

The finished product looked fabulous!

We’d like to thank the Academy………..

LANGUAGE GROUP

We’ve talked about some movies that have won Oscars. We’ve earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received an Oscar. Now it’s time to walk down the red carpet! But of course, before getting near the red carpet, we need to be dressed for the occasion.

We printed out pictures of all of the different things we could wear and bring to the red carpet, such as sunglasses, sports coats, feather boas, top hats, and earrings. The pictures were put on an All-Turn-It Spinner which was activated using a switch.

Our students took turns activating the switch and seeing what they would be wearing. A couple of our students were able to verbalize what they landed on.

Using an input device, such as a switch to interact with a technology resource is a language access point.

We talked about putting the clothes/objects ON. It was neat to see how many of our students got so excited to dress up! Such a fun way to practice dressing skills!

But really, who doesn’t get a LITTLE excited about getting all fancy 🙂

Communicating recognition of familiar objects and communicating about a selected object are language access points.

Time for a quick interview with Entertainment News…….

then off to the red carpet!

We had taped down some red paper to act as our red carpet. One by one our little movie stars walked the red carpet and were photographed in their fancy attire. They had fun with that!

After the red carpet they were treated to a movie on the smart board. Our version of the Oscars was a success! So much so that a couple of our students didn’t want to give back their costumes 🙂 Sadly, they had to and we talked about taking things OFF.

Hope you enjoyed seeing all the fun we had with the Oscars. Be sure and come back next week—–there will be more fun and learning Group by Group!

Feb16

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 16, 2014 by jd785

Valentine’s Day

Love was in the air this week as we celebrated Valentine’s Day. It was all hearts, flowers, and chocolate in our sensory group! Our fine motor group made valentines and a box to put them in. A MadLib valentine was a fun project in the language group.

Throughout our groups we addressed the social studies access point associate an object with an event. Read along to see all activities.

SENSORY GROUP

Our first box was filled with a variety of red and white valentine themed objects. We had red paper shred, paper valentines, ribbons, garland, teddy bears, and a variety of hearts of all different textures and sizes. There were even some little valentine rubber duckies—-so cute!

Lots of things to look at, feel, and explore—-it was hard to pick a favorite item!

The science access point recognize common objects in the natural world through observation is addressed here.

Hearts are EVERYWHERE this time of year and we had a whole string of them! Ms. Kim found these fabulous felt hearts at Target and they were an instant hit with the students. They were so pretty and colorful. The hearts were strung on the string in such a fashion that they could be slid back and forth, which was pretty cool.

The science access point track the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is addressed here in addition to the science access point identify objects by one observable property, such as color.

Some people give their valentines roses and jewelry. Our next box was filled with red silk rose petals and beads of gold, silver, and pearls. Of course the beads were popular but we had great fun picking up handfuls of petals and watching them drop to the ground.

The science access points recognizing two objects that are identical to each other and track objects that fall to the ground are both addressed here.

Other people like to give their valentines chocolate! Our chocolate scented play dough looked and smelled like the real thing—–VERY tempting not only for our students but also the adults 🙂

Fortunately most of our “tasters” have learned all that salt in the recipe makes for a particularly yucky morsel!

We included some hugs and kisses cookie cutters which gave the students the opportunity to recognize differences in the shapes of objects and also to recognize objects as the same which are science access points.

Of course, the shapes can also be counted addressing math access points.

This box was filled with red and white beans. It was a really pretty box with a nice contrast between the colors, the photo doesn’t really do it justice! We included two fun heart shaped spoons in different sizes. As scooping skills were practiced the math access points recognize when an object is added to a situation and associate quantities with language, such as many, a lot, or a little are addressed.

Putting your whole arm in instead, addresses the science access point apply a push to move an object 🙂

We used a package of red velvet cake mix to make one ingredient cloud dough and it works quite well. There were 2 different sized heart cookie cutters with which to stamp impressions and to address the math access point recognize differences in size of objects.

Of course what our students really enjoyed doing was grabbing handfuls and squeezing—-it is kind of irresistible 🙂

In case you were wondering, YES that powder IS messy—–fortunately we had some cinnamon candy scented water with which to rinse it off! We got this scented bath gel at Target a couple of years ago and it is a great scent that smells just like cinnamon red hots!

Recognizing when something has been taken away from a situation—–in this case, the red powder—-is a math access point.

We used 2 discovery bottles with our group this week. One was filled with gold glitter and jewels and the other with a collection of hearts and beads in valentine colors.

Some of our students were able to turn the bottles around themselves—-addressing the science access point recognize that pushing or pulling an object makes it move.

Others enjoyed just watching the contents swirl around—- addressing the science access point track objects in motion.

We finished our session with a yummy chocolate scent to remember all the fun things we learned about Valentines Day. We used a chocolate scented lip balm (thanks for the donation Ms. Elaine )to apply the scent to wrists and hands—-letting the students smell the sweet aroma. For obvious reasons, it was not applied to lips 🙂

Some visitors from E.H.Miller school gave us the idea to use lip balm because it comes in such a variety of flavors—-genius!

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

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made some fabulous valentines. This project has been all over Pinterest and we knew it would be perfect for our students.

We started by talking about the heart shape of our paper and its color. Then we asked our students to show us the color “red” using our communication symbols.

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

Then we glued puzzle pieces onto the heart—-a great way to work on pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination!

We also glued a sentence strip with the words “I love you to pieces” onto the heart.

This addresses the science access point recognize a change in an object.

It also addresses the math access point recognize quantities 1 to 3 using sets of objects.

TA DA!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

On Thursday the students decorated coffee containers to hold all the valentines they received from their friends. We started by giving the students a choice of 3 paper colors. After they had chosen their paper, we asked them to identify the color using communication symbols.

Identifying an object by one observable property, in this case color, is a science access point.

We used our paper cutters to trim the strips of paper to fit the container. After the paper was trimmed we noted that we had turned the strip into a rectangle and a square. The students were asked to show us the “square” and they did a pretty good job!

Recognizing a change in an object (as the paper is cut) is a science access point.

Recognizing objects with 2 dimensional shapes is a math access point.

The rectangle was taped to the coffee container and then decorated with all sorts of heart shaped foam stickers. Holding onto those stickers is a great activity for promoting pincer grasp skills!

Before given another sticker, the students were asked if they wanted “more”. Indicating a desire for “more” or “no more” of an object is a math access point.

The students really loved their boxes!

We are ready for the big day 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

Since we were celebrating Valentine’s day, we decided to make make a Valentine for someone we love. To make it even more personal, we did them in a Mad Libs fashion!

Cara created a letter with some words missing. Here is the document: My Valentine mad lib. For each word missing, the students had the option of using 2 or 3 different words in place. Here are the words from which the students chose: My Valentine mad lib 2. Our students chose a piece of construction paper and then glued their letter template down.

Communicating a preference for an object is a language access point.

We then started choosing words to put in our Valentines. When going through the letter, we talked about what an adjective is, what a verb is, what kind of feelings people have.

Our students were given a choice of 3 words which we read to them and then asked to indicate which word they wanted. The students have a variety of ways they communicate, including eye gaze, pointing, and vocalizing. Our student with a visual impairment made his choice by pressing a voice output device to say “that’s the one I want” as we read his choices.

Using pictures, symbols, gestures/signs, or words to communicate meaning is a language access point.

Using technology resources to support learning is also a language access point.

The students then cut their chosen words using tabletop scissors and glued them onto their papers. It may be a language focused group but we never pass up an opportunity to incorporate some fine motor skill building 🙂

Using pictures, symbols, gestures/signs, or words to communicate meaning is a language access point.

Using the scissors addresses the science access point recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.

When the students completed their Valentine, they each signed their name at the bottom.

For privacy we blurred this students signature but take it from us, he did an excellent job!

They were so proud——and rightly so 🙂

We loved all our activities this week and hope your Valentine’s Day was just as fun filled as ours was! Join us again next week for more smiles, fun, and learning.

Hugs and kisses from Group by Group xoxoxo

Feb9

Winter Olympics

Posted on February 9, 2014 by jd785

Winter Olympics

It was all about the Sochi Winter Olympic Games this week! We learned about the Winter Olympics, the country of Russia, and had fun competing in some games of our own.

Our students are learning about maps as part of their Unique Curriculum unit this month so our theme reinforced some of the concepts they were learning about. Read along to see all our activities.

SENSORY GROUP

We looked at a map and traced the way east from the USA to Russia. It is a long way and to get there you have to ride on an airplane. We used a vibrating massager to get the feeling of the engine vibrations. The massager had 2 different speeds which made for a lot of fun—-higher speed if you are flying on a super jet! Most of our students really liked the massager but for those who were more tactile averse, we turned it off completely and let them just touch the soft velvety covering.

Recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is a science access point.

Recognizing a map is a social studies access point.

The colors of the Russian flag are red, white and blue—-just like ours! Hidden underneath our rice was a map of Russia and the letter S to find (we hid 3 in the rice).

We really enjoy watching the progress of our students as we see some of them begin to realize that there is something to discover as they brush the rice aside.

Associating a picture with a place is a social studies access point.

The Olympic flag has 5 colorful rings. Our next box had big, fluffy chenille stems in the colors of the rings. Our students practiced making circles and linking them together. Most of our students needed help forming the circles but they ALL had fun trying 🙂

The social studies access point recognizing important events in artifacts is a social studies access point.

Recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is a math access point.

Identifying objects by one observable property such a color is a science access point.

One of the most popular olympic sports is ice hockey. Our students used a circle cutter to cut hockey pucks out of the black play dough. This is the same play dough we made for our pirate unit. It was kept in the fridge and has lasted quite nicely!

Recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is a math access point.

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

Ice skating is another super popular sport. Our discovery bottle was filled with sparkly glitter, beads and sequins—-like the costumes the athletes wear. The familiar Olympic fanfare theme could be heard when the voice output device was pressed. Our students really enjoyed both of these items!

The science access point of tracking objects in motion is addressed here.

Apply a push to move an object is another science access point addressed.

The next box was filled with leaves and flowers like the bouquets winners receive. Our students loved picking them up, tossing them into the air and watching them drop back down. They also loved finding the medals and quickly putting them around their necks……… BUT the most popular item was the little Sochi bear. He came all the way from Russia and was donated by one of our followers, Gena—-thanks so much!

Indicating that an object has fallen is a science access point.

Explore, observe, and recognize common objects in the natural world is another science access point addressed.

We are learning about the WINTER games so we had to include some snow—-the shaving cream version this week! It was perfect for tracing the letter S for snow and SOCHI!

Apply a push or pull to move an object is the science access point addressed here.

Hands were rinsed in Bath and Bodyworks Candy Apple scent. We got it on clearance and decided it worked for our unit—-who wouldn’t want to eat candy apples and watch the Olympics!

Measuring cups were included for scooping fun and to address the math access point recognizing differences is sizes of containers that hold liquids.

Recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli is another science access point addressed.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday for our art project we made bobsleds. In preparation, toilet paper rolls were pinched and one end stapled together. For safety, we put masking tape over the staples.

Then we gave our students the option of painting their sled red, white, or blue. They used the communication symbols to choose their color and then pointed to the paint that matched the color they chose—-they did a really good job!

The science access point identify objects by one observable property is addressed here.

The language access point communicating a preference for familiar objects is also addressed.

The students then painted their bobsleds, addressing the science access point recognizing that the appearance of an object has changed.

After they bobsleds were painted, adults hot glued popsicle sticks to the bottom.

With the addition of some USA flag stickers—-our bobsleds are ready for competition.

Go Team USA!

On Thursday we made a Russian flag. We started by counting the sides of a white rectangle and also counting the rectangles as they were passed out. The math access points recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes and recognizing the sides of a square or rectangle are addressed here.

Then we used our paper cutter to cut strips of red and blue paper—–making 2 more rectangles!

The science access point apply a push or pull to move an object is addressed when using the paper cutter. It is also excellent for promoting a pincer grasp!

The blue strip was glued to the bottom of the white paper and the red strip on top of that. Sochi 2014 was then glued into the middle.

Recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship is a math access point addressed.

Another math access point is recognize when an object is added to a situation.

Ta Da……. a fabulous Russian Flag!

Hurray for Sochi 2014!!!

LANGUAGE GROUP

We decided to have a Winter Olympics event during our language group this week. It’s always so nice to be able to reiterate something we have talked about before, and since we had recently gone over FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD, having an event just seemed appropriate. Recognizing the next step in a simple sequence is a math access point.

We made our bobsleds from some toy boats we found on the give away table—–they were perfect! There were even slots so we could add little people. We cut out some cardboard and made each of our students a bobsled teammate by adhering their picture to a small piece of cardboard. They always love to see their picture and it makes the activity so much more personal.

Identify picture of self is a language access point.

We placed the teammates face down and our students got to pick 3 teammates to race each other randomly. Putting the racers in their bobsled was a great fine motor activity!

Once the racers were placed in their bobsled, it was time to race. A long, skinny cardboard box covered in white paper made a perfect bobsled run—-very authentic looking 🙂

On your mark…get set…GO!

The students had to wait until they heard “go!” which appeared to be harder than it sounds, but they did a great job. They had so much fun watching the bobsleds go down, cheering for their friends, and seeing who won FIRST, SECOND, and THIRD place.

Tracking moving objects is a science access point.

After a few races, we had the awards ceremony. We used a voice out device to play the Olympic fanfare as we handed out the medals—-donated by Jimmy the intern. Thanks Jimmy!

Obviously the medals were a huge hit 🙂

We had a great time learning about the Winter Olympics this week. Join us again next week for more fun and learning Group by Group!

Jan27

Winter

Posted on January 27, 2014 by jd785

Winter

It is pretty chilly out there—-even in our part of the country 🙂 Perfect timing for this weeks winter theme! We explored a variety of wintery textures and scents in our sensory group. Our art projects were all about snowmen in our fine motor group, and in the language group we explored the concepts of warm and cold.

We also brought back our snowflake umbrella which was a hit in all the groups.

SENSORY GROUP

We made our snowflake umbrella by using packing tape to attach a variety of dollar store snowflakes to a clear umbrella. Then we strung silver and white beads, snowflake ornaments and white pompom yarn from the spokes and around the edge. It looks pretty fabulous—–if we do say so ourselves 🙂

Our students were quite entranced and loved watching the dancing snowflakes when the umbrella was slowly twisted back and forth.

The science access point tracking objects in motion is addressed here.

This artificial snow (a purchased powder with added water) is pretty fantastic, it looks and feels like the real thing—-especially when put into the fridge for a few minutes! It certainly had our students quite fascinated, they were not quite sure what to make of this interesting texture.

Just like the real thing, we were able to make small snowballs by grabbing a handful and squeezing it together—-FUN!

The science access point explore, observe, and recognize common objects in the natural world is addressed here.

We made more snowballs with our white Floam. This stuff with its’ slightly tacky texture is perfect for making snowballs because it molds and sticks together easily.

Of course, some of our students got even more creative 🙂

The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed and the math access point recognize 3 dimensional shapes (sphere) are addressed in this activity.

More snow fun with our shaving cream and cornstarch mixture—-equal parts of both. This stuff is really just so COOL! It is squishy but can be molded and has such an interesting texture.

Recognizing that pushing an pulling an object makes it move is the science access point addressed here.

All that snow sure looks like fun BUT we don’t get many white winters around here. So as a nod to our Florida winters we HAD to include a box with sand!

We used our moonsand for this box. It is more dense than sandbox sand and more like the sand you would find on a beach. A round cookie cutter was included. Our students had fun using the cookie cutter to make circles in the sand. Some of them also went ahead and made some Florida “snowballs” 🙂

The science access point recognize a change in an object is addressed here. The math access points recognize a 2 and 3 dimensional objects is also addressed.

Brrr—-time to warm up by the fire! We made our “fire” by attaching colorful shiny ribbon strips to our switch operated fan. It was fun watching the smiles and giggles of our students as the ribbons fluttered and the breeze hit their faces.

Indicating awareness of air moving is the science access point addressed here.

We used the “chimney” scent from our Follow Your Nose Game to add to the sensory experience of this activity. We started by holding it near our students noses but then got the idea (thanks to Jimmy our new OT intern) to hold it behind the fan so the aroma really wafted around the room!

Recognize and respond to different types of sensory stimuli is another science access point addressed in this activity.

This pompom yarn would make a wonderful warm afghan to snuggle under on a cold winters day! Our students love its’ soft texture. Some of them like to drape it around their shoulders or heads while others just love to pull it apart or shake it around.

Then you have those who like to do BOTH 🙂

The science access points addressed here are use senses to recognize objects and recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes if move.

We made this discovery bottle by mixing a little bit of glitter glue, glitter, and snowflake confetti—-we were really pleased with the way it turned out. The snowflakes looked so pretty as they swirled and drifted around with the glitter.

Tracking objects in motion is the science access point addressed with this bottle.

Twisted peppermint from Bath and Bodyworks was our scent this week. Whether scooping water with our measuring cups (and addressing the math access point recognize differences in containers that hold liquids) or indicating which body part to rub the lotion on (addressing the science access point recognize external body parts)——it was the perfect cool aroma to help us remember our winter theme!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we started our group by talking about snow globes. We brought out our snowflake umbrella so our students could experience what it felt like to be in a snow globe.

They really got so excited when it was their turn to be under the umbrella and were very good about just touching (rather than pulling at) the dangling items.

Our students got to work on the art project by using a small circle punch to cut out pictures of their faces. This was a little tricky and they did need some help with alignment. To make it easier to use the punch, we had the students push down on the lever rather than try to pinch it. Either the way, it is still a great hand strengthening activity.

After punching out their faces, they glued them onto a snowman. The snowman was made using heavy card stock and glued to a card stock circle—–thanks again to Jimmy the intern!

In addition to eye hand coordination, the math access point recognize a 2 dimensional shape (in this case circle) is addressed.

Then we instructed the students to scoop 3 spoonfuls of artificial snow into a small clear plastic cup. We used our number chart to help our students identify the number 3. Most of our students still need help in this area.

The math access points recognize quantities 1 to 3 using objects, pictures, or number names and solve problems involving joining or separating sets of objects to 3 are addressed in this activity.

The adults hot glued the cup to the snow man base and VOILA—–a snow globe!

Our students were pretty fascinated with their creations and kept turning them around to watch the snow move about. Tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is the science access point addressed here.

Such cute little snowmen!

On Thursday we made melted snowman pictures. We have seen this art project all over Pinterest and thought it would be perfect for our students.

We started by discussing the colors (blue and white) in our project and asking our students to point to the color using our communication symbols.

Identify common objects by one observable property, such as color is the science access point addressed here.

Recognizing a 2 dimensional shape—-the rectangle paper—-is a math access point.

Then we used paint sponges to paint our mixture of glue, shaving cream, and fake snow onto the paper. We saw the idea for adding the fake snow on the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog—-such a great blog with so many creative ideas!

Applying a push or pull to move an object is a science access point addressed.

Recognizing a change in an object is another science access point addressed.

Next we added paper hats, scarves, triangle noses, and googlie eyes onto our mixture. The beauty of this project is that is doesn’t matter where they go as long as they are on the glue! Thanks to our volunteer Courtney for cutting out all the little pieces!

We also added the words “my melted snowman” to increase the literacy component.

The math access point recognize when an object is added to a situation is addressed in this activity.

TA DA!

These pictures are super cute—-and when dry the shaving cream and glue mixture will feel just like puffy paint!

LANGUAGE GROUP

Today our focus was on teaching the concept of cold versus warm. We had 5 different objects that were found around the room, such as metal spoons, scissors, and jars. We used 2 of each object. One of the objects was left out and the other object was put in the freezer or the refrigerator (i.e., one spoon in the freezer, one left out and so on).

We made a small board with the Boardmaker symbols for “cold” and “warm” on it. Each student got to feel an object and indicate if it was cold or warm using either their words or indicating the picture symbol.If the student had difficulty correctly indicating, we would place a warm object and a cold object on their cheeks and ask them to show which one was cold/warm. This helped them to decipher the difference a little easier.

The science access point recognize the temperature of items as cool or warm is addressed in this activity.

The language access point communicate about a selected object using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is also addressed.

After going through each object, we decided it was time to warm up with some hot chocolate—-of course for safety it will actually be “warm” chocolate! First we opened the package and let our students smell the chocolaty goodness!

This addresses the science access point recognize and respond to one type of sensory stimuli. They definitely recognized and responded to this scent 🙂

We emptied the chocolate powder into a cup and added water. This addresses the math access point recognize when an object is added to a situation.

Each of the students took turns stirring the mixture, addressing the science access points apply a push or pull to move an object and sharing objects with a partner.

And what good is warm chocolate without marshmallows! We drew out a number board with 1, 2, and 3 written on it along with dots under the numbers. The students chose how many marshmallows they wanted in their drink and we counted them out as they were put on the number line. We counted them again as they were dropped into the student’s cups.

In addition to working on pincer grasp skills, the math access point match objects to marked spaces to show one-to-one correspondence for quantities 1 to 3.

And, of course, it also addresses the language access point communicate a preference for familiar objects.

After tasting its yummy goodness, our students again used the Boardmaker symbols to indicate if the chocolate was warm or cold.

That is all for this week, join us again for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!

Jan13

New Years Around the World

Posted on January 13, 2014 by jd785

New Years Around the World

Happy New Year! We all had a wonderful and restful winter break, coming back ready to greet the new year with some exciting and new group activities. For our first week back, we thought it would be fun to look at New Years traditions around the world—-there sure are a lot of different ones 🙂 Hope you enjoy seeing all the fun we had learning about them!

SENSORY GROUP

At the stroke of midnight around the world, confetti is tossed into the air! Our first box was filled with paper confetti, a clock, crazy glasses, and noise makers. We also included a glitter tube—-we thought the glitter looked like falling confetti. The voice output device in the box contained a clip of the countdown and people singing Auld Lang Syne. A peace sign was included to remind us that world peace is one of the things people hope for in the new year.

Also in the box was a toy suitcase because in Mexico people take a piece of luggage and run around the block; round play fruit—people in the Philippines eat round fruit for luck, and a toy plate because people throw plates at doors in Denmark—-all fun new years traditions!

There were so many different items to discover! It was fun seeing which items turned out to be favorites as little hands dug in and pulled out contents—-leaving trails of confetti across the table….and laps….and floor. We like to leave memories of our visit 🙂

Our students loved trying on the glasses, grabbing handfuls of confetti, and OF COURSE the noise makers! This was a really fun box!

The social studies access point of associating a celebration with an event is addressed in this and all our other boxes.

The science access point of applying a push or pull to move an object is also addressed.

Here in the South, eating black eyed peas on New Years day is an annual tradition. Our students loved running their hands through the peas or seeing how many scoops it took to fill their hands.

In addition to practicing scooping skills, the math access point recognizing when an object is added is addressed.

The math access point of solving problems involving small quantities of objects or action using language, such as enough, too much, or more is also addressed.

Don’t you just love the intent look of concentration on this students face 🙂

Our soft, crumbly cloud dough reminded us of the Armenian bread that is baked for good luck. Now that sounds like a very yummy tradition!

Cookie cutters with the numbers 2014 were included for the students to stamp impressions into the cloud dough.

In addition to number recognition, the science access point recognizing a change in an object is addressed.

In Spain they eat 12 grapes to celebrate the new year—one for each stroke of the clock at midnight.

We filled our “grape” box with big, soft, purple pom poms and small, hard purple beads. This box was so vibrant and colorful, really quite pretty!

The science access point of recognizing 2 objects that are identical to each other can be addressed with this box—-that is if you can pull the students attention away from those fabulous purple beads 🙂

Our light up toys flashed bright colorful lights just like fireworks that light up the skies during new year celebrations. We included 2 different kinds of light toys. Some of them were activated when struck, others when a button was pushed.

Some of our students preferred one toy over the other, others like this student here demonstrated some nice bilateral coordination using both at the same time!

Applying a push to move an object and recognizing sources of light are science access points addressed in this activity.

Speaking of fireworks—what could be more fun than firecracker oobleck! We added pop rocks to our oobleck for super popping fun. Ok, this is totally cool and fascinating—-a must try!

Tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is a science access point addressed here.

The science access point recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is also addressed.

In Scotland they waft the scent of juniper around the house to rid it of any germs! Lucky for us we found some Juniper Breeze bath gel at Bath and Bodyworks! Made it pretty easy to decide the scent for this week 🙂

We included a couple of measuring cups with our water play to address the math access point recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

The Juniper Breeze scent had a nice soft aroma and our students all seemed to really like it. They all anticipated their turn to smell the lotion and the students are getting very good at indicating on which body part they want the lotion.

The science access points recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli and recognizing one or more external body parts are addressed with this activity.

We finished the group with fireworks—-of the bubble wrap kind that is! This is a great time of year to find scraps of bubble wrap and our coworkers gave us plenty of donations. We just laid pieces on the floor and had our students run, stomp, or roll over it. It really does sound like firecrackers, especially when the wheelchairs rolled over it.

The kids totally had a blast and yes——- so did the adults 🙂

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made fireworks pictures! We started by discussing the different colors of paint we were going to use and asked the students to identify the colors using the communication symbols. The students have been doing so well when given a choice of 2, that we decided to make it a little harder by giving them 3 choices. This also helps prepare them for the alternate assessment which is in a 3 answer choice format.

Identifying objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.

We counted out pieces of black paper, noting that it was a rectangle and also counting how many sides it had. Recognizing objects with 2 dimensional shapes and identifying the sides of a rectangle are math access points.

Then we began stamping our fireworks. The stamper is a toilet paper roll with slits cut into it (we saw this idea on Pinterest). The paint colors popped on the black paper and our students really got into it!

Applying a push or pull to move an object is a science access point.

LANGUAGE GROUP

After reading Cara’s book, we worked on putting the months of the year in the correct order. The chart that we used had a picture for each month in case the student needed a visual prompt to match the word to.

Each student was given 3 different months to choose from when it was their turn. The months presented were read aloud to the student and they chose which month was the correct month. If they were unable to find the correct month with just auditory feedback, they could use the picture signifying the month as a visual prompt.

We had such a high success rate with this activity! The students in Mrs. Robin’s class know their months of the year well. Rote learning had taught them the order of the months and since Mrs. Robin goes over the months of the year each day in her class, these students were able to put the months in order with minimal prompting. So cool!

After putting the months of the year together, we got the number chart out and began the New Years countdown. We gave our students noise makers, crazy glasses, party hats and…..of course we pulled out the bubble wrap again!!!!

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This week was so much fun, keep following us, there are so many more exciting things to learn and discover—-Group by Group!

Dec15

Christmas Traditions

Posted on December 15, 2013 by jd785

Christmas Traditions

It was a busy week with a special program affecting our group schedule a little but we still had fun exploring our Christmas Traditions theme! Cara used pictures submitted by staff members for her book and our students really enjoyed looking at the pictures and labeling things they saw—-such as the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Our sensory boxes were bright and colorful with lots of Christmas related items to explore. The fine motor group had two cute projects and the language group went on a Christmas parade!

Sensory Group

Colorful lights are a Christmas tradition that we find decorating trees and houses. We put 2 sets of colorful battery operated lights and some shiny garland in this box. The garland reflected the lights and made the box even more eye catching—–and mesmerizing 🙂

This one was a favorite!

This addresses the science access point recognizing sources of light.

This box was filled with plastic pine branches and holly leaves. We also put in some red garland, shiny beads, and a little Christmas stocking. All sorts of fun textures and items to explore! Of course, we had to include a couple of Santas, a little elf, a wrapped present, a nutcracker, and some jingle bells—all traditional Christmas symbols.

We also included a voice output device with the song Jingle Bells—-it got played ALOT 🙂

Science access points addressed include recognizing common objects related to science by name, such as plant and recognizing a model of a real object.

This activity also addresses the social studies access point, associating a celebration with an event, such as a holiday.

Red and green are considered Christmas colors. We put shiny, hard beads and soft, round pom poms in this box.

Lots of opportunities to compare and contrast materials. It addresses the science access point identifying common objects by one observable property, such as color. It also addresses the science access point recognizing two objects that are identical to each other.

The math access point recognizing a 3 dimensional object (sphere) is also addressed.

Red and green are also the colors of our rice box—-red rice and green split peas! Wow, this was such a pretty box—so eye catching! Hidden in the box were 3 letter C’s to find. We also taped some Christmas tree wrapping paper to the bottom of the box—-a fun picture to find as the rice was pushed aside.

In addition to tactile and visual discrimination skills, the science access point of applying a push to move an object is addressed.

A giant Christmas tree cookie cutter was used with our peppermint scented green playdough. Although is smelled pretty yummy, our students did a really good job of refraining from tasting it!

Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point addressed in this activity.

As more than 1 tree is formed, the science access point recognizing two objects that are identical to each other is also addressed.

We swirled red food coloring into our “candy cane” oobleck. It turned out pretty cool—starting out with swirling color and ending up a delightful pink!

As usual, our students loved playing with it—oobleck is simply amazing stuff 🙂

The science access points recognizing a change in an object and recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move are addressed here.

This week, we found our scent at Joann’s—-Gingerbread!

We used the water to rinse the oobleck off our hands AND address the science access point recognizing water as a liquid.

As well as the science access point observing and recognizing that people need water —to clean off oobeck, of course 🙂

The matching lotion smelled very yummy and after the students had smelled the lotion, we asked them which body part they wanted the lotion rubbed on. This scent was a real hit, ALL our students loved it!

This activity addresses the science access point recognizing external body parts and the language access point communicating a preference for a familiar action.

Fine Motor Group

On Tuesday we made some super cool reindeer using floor puzzle pieces. We have done this before and we liked them so much, we decided to do it again! Our super volunteer, Sarah, glued the pieces together for us.

We started by using our sponge brushes to paint the reindeer brown.

Recognizing a change in a object is addressed as the white puzzle pieces become brown.

Next we asked our students to find their eyes, then put 2 round googlie eyes on their reindeer. Placing the googlie eyes helps to promote pincer grasp skills.

It also addresses the science access point recognizing external body parts.

Rudolph needs a bright shiny red nose, of course! We added a cute pompom noses after asking the students to find their own nose.

Again, this activity addresses pincer grasp skills and identifying external body parts.

Our students were thrilled with their reindeer!

Time to run, run Rudolph—-

TaDA!

On Thursday, our students turned into little elves!

We started by discussing the color of the paper we were going to use. Our students did a great job of finding the color green. We were so excited when we realized that everyone had answered correctly!

Identifying classroom objects by one observable property, such as color is a science access point addressed here.

Then we used our paper cutters and electric scissors to turn our green rectangles into triangles!

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

The math access point recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is also addressed.

Time to add some decorations—working on pincer grasp and eye hand coordination skills!

Of course, we counted each decoration as it was added to the hat.

We glued the hat onto our pre-made faces, made from paper plates (thanks again Sarah!).

Elves ready and reporting to work 🙂

HO HO HO

Language Group

After reading Cara’s book, we made Christmas cards for the other elementary classes. The students got to pick what they wanted on the front of the cards by activating the All-Turn-It spinner. The pictures on the spinner were: Christmas tree, Santa Claus, bells, angel, reindeer, snowman, and an elf.

Our students did so well watching the spinner and they are also learning not to hit the switch but to push it to activate it.

The language access point, use technology resources to support learning is addressed here.

After finishing up the cards, we dressed our students up with different Christmas props. We let them look in the mirror to see themselves which is always fun to do. The different props we had coincided with the different pictures that were on the spinner. We talked about putting things “on” and trying not to take them “off”.

Responding to specific information about familiar objects and routines is a language access point addressed here.

We also made sure everyone had some jingle bells 🙂

Time for a Christmas parade! We went over who was “first” and who was “last” then we turned on some Christmas music, rang bells, and paraded through the halls to deliver the cards. SO FUN!

Surprisingly, the props stayed on our students the entire time! The students in the other classrooms loved watching our language group parade around their room!

The math access point, recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities is addressed here.

Responding to familiar persons is a language access point addressed.

It’s been a great celebration these past 2 weeks, but now we’re all ready for a break! Since next week there are only 2 full days of school, we decided not to have groups. We’ll see you in 2014 with some more fun Group by Group!

Nov10

Jukebox

Posted on November 10, 2013 by jd785

Jukebox

This was such a great week, our students love music so this was the perfect theme for them! We had fun coming up with sensory boxes that matched the different musical genres for our sensory group. The fine motor group had fun making musical instruments and we had a dance party in the language group!

SENSORY GROUP

These wands that light up when tapped made perfect “drum sticks” (found at Target) for our rock and roll box. Way fun, the sticks were perfect for drumming and the flashing lights reminded us of light shows at a rock concert! Needless to say, these were a huge hit with our students.

Recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point. In addition, recognizing the change in the motion of an object—-when the lights stop—is another science access point.

Our classical music box was black and white just like the keys of a piano. We added black beans to white rice to get the effect. A piece of sheet music was taped to the bottom of the box and we put a large letter M inside. Most of our students used their hands to explore the box—-they love the way the rice feels and looks as it shifts around. A few, however, used the large M kind of like a scraper to move large amounts of the rice and beans around.

The science access point of recognizing that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is addressed again with this activity.

As the sheet music and letter M are covered and uncovered the math access point of recognizing when an object is added to or taken away from a situation is addressed.

Our lava lamp discovery bottles were a HUGE hit with our students! One was filled with water, corn syrup, gold glitter, and some plastic jewels. The other was filled with water (tinted purple), green tinted corn syrup, cooking oil, glitter and some beads……

Totally groovy 🙂

The science access point tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is addressed with these bottles.

There are have been so many fabulous musicals and one of the most popular today is Wicked.

We whipped up some pretty wicked oobleck this week using green food coloring and black glitter. It was pretty thick so it slowly dripped down from fingers and took a little more effort to push aside.

In addition to color identification, the science access point tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled is addressed again.

Opera singers always get roses at the end of the performance so rose seemed the perfect scent to put into our rinsing water. We used rose scented bubble bath we found at Target.

We included 2 different sized scoops to address the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids (capacity).

Solving problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more is another math access point addressed as students pour water from one container to another.

Rap singers like gold chains AND gold records! This box contained some hard gold beads and soft fluffy gold garland. Pretty, sparkly—very eye catching.

Fun to explore, fun to wear 🙂

Sorting objects by an observable property such as texture is a science access point addressed here.

A cookie cutter shaped like a boot, along with cherry scented playdough (we made it with kool-aid) —–perfect for a country music box!

Using just one shape gave the students an opportunity to work on counting, associating quantities with number names addressing math access points.

Of course, playdough is always a great activity for promoting hand intrinsic functions—we OT’s like stuff like that 🙂

We finished the group with some rose scented lotion from Crabtree and Evelyn. This is some pretty strong smelling stuff—you can smell it across the room so it’s VERY memorable!

Recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is a science access point addressed here.

Communicating a preference for a familiar action such as holding out a hand for lotion is a language access point addressed.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday, after reading the book, Jeannie brought out a real guitar for the students to play. Everybody got a chance to strum the strings and our students loved the sounds they made!

Can you tell that the students totally had a blast 🙂

Sharing objects with a partner and recognizing common sounds are science access points explored here.

For our art project the students made their own guitars! We started by cutting out the words ROCK STAR from a piece of paper—-turning one piece of paper into 2 pieces of paper. These were taped onto our “guitars”

T0 prep the guitars, we flattened paper towel rolls and taped them to the back of these really colorful tissue boxes.

Recognizing a change in an object and applying a push or pull to move an object are the science access points addressed here.

The math access point is associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names.

The words were glued onto the box and then the students were given a choice of stickers to decorate their guitars.

These stickers were little so there were lots of opportunities to practice pincer grasp skills.

Using body movement or nonverbal expression to communicate desires or preferences is a language access point.

Then we asked the students to let us know how many strings (rubber bands) they wanted on their guitars. Putting the strings on the guitar required bilateral coordination and pincer grasp skills. Our students needed varying degrees of assistance for this step.

Again, the language access point using body movement or nonverbal expression to communicate desires or preferences is addressed.

Associating quantities with number names is the math access point addressed.

TA DA!!!

Our rock stars loved their guitars and had a great time making their own music 🙂

On Thursday we continued with our musical instrument theme by making drums! First we tried out a real drum—–so much fun!

The science access points recognizing common objects in the environment and recognizing and responding to common sounds is addressed with this activity.

We started our art project by passing out rectangular pieces of paper and helping our students to identify the colors red and purple using our communication symbols.

Identifying common objects by one observable property, such as color is a science access point.

Recognizing common objects with a two dimensional shape is a math access point.

Then we stamped stars and swirls with the paint. We made handles for the stamps by using double stick tape to affix plastic thread spools—-this worked out really well!

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

Then we taped the paper around plastic coffee containers and added some glitter——we never pass up the opportunity to add glitter to a project 🙂

As we are shaking the glitter we are working on the math access point recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down!

We discovered that we needed to let the paint dry BEFORE letting our students play with their drums lol. When they were finally dry, it was time to boogie….

Dum diddy dum diddy dum….

LANGUAGE GROUP

We started the group reading Cara’s book. We have a few students in here who were able to name their friends who were in the book. It was very exciting for them 🙂

After reading the book, we went around with the Go Talk and let the students decide the genre of music they wanted to listen to. We put the pictures that were in the book on the Go Talk to keep it consistent for our students.

Communicating recognition of familiar persons in daily activities and communicating a preference for familiar persons, objects, or actions are language access points addressed.

We then had the students press a switch to activate the All Turn It spinner to see what kind of dance moves they would have to do. The different dance moves were: clap your hands, stomp your feet, spin around, tap your knees, nod your head, wave your hands in the air. We used iTunes for the clips of music, making sure that they were appropriate before we turned them on 🙂

The language access point responding to a technology resource is addressed with this activity.

This was definitely a fun group! Although only one student would pick a genre at a time, everyone had to participate in the dance moves. Some of our students really got their groove on!

Communicating information about familiar actions using non-verbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is a language access point addressed.

Hope you enjoyed seeing all the fun we had this week. Join us again next week for more smiles, Group by Group!

Nov4

Things that go Bump in the Night

Posted on November 4, 2013 by jd785

Things that go Bump in the Night

This week we explored things we imagine might be out there to scare us when its dark at night! It seemed an appropriate topic for this time of year 🙂 Our sensory items had a really high contrast of light and dark which was very visually appealing to our students. The fine motor group had a great time making some spooky art projects. The language group students used adjectives to compare items. We also made it fun by turning off the lights while reading our book in all our groups.

SENSORY GROUP

This first box was filled with black paper shred and assorted creepy crawlies! Some of the critters were black so they were hidden really well. Others were brightly colored and could be easily spotted. We also threw in some fun fur for an added textural component.

Our students explored the box in different ways, some sifted through the paper while others……..

had a different approach…….. 🙂

The most popular item in the box was the little vibrating spider toy. Pulling it’s string was perfect for addressing bilateral coordination!

Visual and tactile discrimination skills are also addressed here.

The science access point of recognizing common objects related to science by name was addressed.

Battery operated orange lights (found at Walmart) made for perfect glowing eyes peeking out from garland. We kept these in the box to add to the effect—our students were fascinated!

Recognizing sources of light is the science access point addressed here.

We used our green Floam and some Mr. Potato Head features to make our own aliens. This purchased Floam has a wonderful easily moldable texture that made it perfect for making silly alien creatures while working on bilateral coordination and hand intrinsic functions!

The science access point recognizing external body parts is addressed with this activity.

The letters B O O could be found in our black bean and orange rice box. This is one of our favorite rice boxes—-so colorful and eye catching! So much fun to sift and run fingers through.

For added interest, we taped a picture of a jack o lantern to the bottom of the box.

Visual and tactile discrimination is again addressed as well as literacy skills.

Black shadows can certainly make you jump! We made ours by bringing back our pirate playdough from a few weeks ago along with bat and cat cookie cutters. The black glitter we added to the playdough gave it an added shimmer which we loved and it really contrasted with the bright orange cookie cutters. Again, a terrific substance to squish and pound.

Recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed is the science access point addressed here.

Glowing purple ooze (oobleck with purple tinted tonic water) looked pretty fabulous under our black light!

We added some pop rocks candy (we were inspired by the folks on the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog who added it to finger paint) and our ooze became pretty spectacular—-think rice krispie cereal on steroids! Not sure who was more impressed, the students or the adults 🙂

Recognizing that pulling or pushing an object makes it move is the science access point addressed in this activity.

We used Bath and Bodyworks Twilight woods scent to finish. In our water play we had 2 different size measuring cups for scooping and pouring fun—-and addressing the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

The lotion has a light soft scent—not scary at all 🙂 and our students really liked it.

The science access point recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is addressed with both these activities.

FINE MOTOR

On Tuesday we made some mummies! We started by talking about the color of out mummy (black) and the color of our paint (white). All of our students correctly picked the colors we asked them to identify. Oh yes we were proud!!

The science access point recognizing common objects by one observable property, such as color is addressed here.

The language access point communicating information about objects using non-verbal expressions, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is also addressed.

To begin our art activity we put our mummy IN a clear lidded box. Then we scooped out marbles covered in white paint, counting as we dropped them 1 at a time into the box.

This is a fun way to work on eye hand coordination and scooping skills!

This also addresses the math access points of associating quantities with number names AND recognizing common three-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres).

Then we closed the lid and…..shake shake shake!

Totally fun way to address the science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and tracking objects in motion.

We opened the lid and took our mummy OUT of the box and added 2 googlie eyes—giving us a chance to practice pincer grasp skills.

This activity addresses the math access point associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names.

It also addresses the science access point recognizing a change in the appearance of an object or material.

Hmm, lets check this out——-

—yep, he’s pretty cool!

For our art activity on Thursday we made great big eyeballs! We started by comparing the different size circles and asked our students to show us the big one.

Recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes, such as a circle is a math access point.

Recognizing the larger of two objects is a science access point.

We used assorted markers to color red veins on the big circle (dessert size paper plates). Of course we counted the plates and discussed their size and color as we passed them out.

Our students then chose which color they wanted their eye to be using our communication symbols. Some of our students touch the symbols, while others used eye gaze.

Using body movement or nonverbal expression to communicate desires or preferences is the language access point addressed here.

Next we used a circle punch to cut out a small black circle.

The science access point applying a push or pull to move an object is addressed here.

We compared the different sized circles again and began assembling our eyeballs.

This activity works on eye hand coordination and graded motor control—you don’t want to crumple up your circles!

The math access point of recognizing the next step in a sequence of activities is also addressed.

Somebody is watching you….

…..spooky!

LANGUAGE GROUP

After we finished Cara’s book we stayed with the spooky theme using the iPad app Spooky Box (it was free)—just for fun! Our students enjoyed listening to the different sounds and we had fun watching their reactions 🙂 We do need to note that some of the sounds are a little intense, so be sure to prescreen them!

For our ACTUAL learning activity—– we focused on using adjectives to describe two different objects. The students used Boardmaker pictures and put the adjectives in the appropriate column to describe the objects. They did need a little bit of help with this, but over all, they did well.

Communicating information about familiar objects using pictures or symbols is a language access point.

The first object we explored was some mystery green play dough that Joy had made using a recipe from the Growing a Jeweled Rose blog (this is a great site filled with all sorts of ideas and recipes, we love it!).

The other object was a yellow and blue ball with fringes all over it.

Identifying objects by one observable property and recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli are science access points addressed with this activity.

Some of the adjectives used were: hard/soft, heavy/light, cold/warm. Mrs. Robin got out a scale for us to use when working on heavy/light so the students could see which one was heavier.

So neat!

Recognizing objects as warm or cold and sorting objects by weight (heavy and light) are science access points.

We also used vinegar and sprayed each of the objects. We smelled the vinegar first.

Some of students found the aroma intriguing—-others let us know by their gestures, not so much 🙂

Communicating preferences for objects is a language access point.

The play dough reacted with the vinegar because of the baking soda in it and that made it bubble up, while the vinegar made the ball wet (and STINKY!). We then asked the students to choose an adjective (bubbly/wet) to describe the objects after vinegar had been sprayed on them.

Recognizing a change in an object and assisting with investigations with a partner are science access points addressed here.

Hope your week was as great as ours—- filled with treats not tricks 🙂

Join us again next week for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!

Oct27

Seasons

Posted on October 27, 2013 by jd785

Seasons

This week our theme followed the Unique Curriculum unit some of our classes were learning about this month. Lets dive right in and explore all our fun activities……

SENSORY GROUP

We started with winter—and a wish for snow! We don’t get a lot of that stuff down here in Florida but we can still dream…..

Assorted snowflakes (paper, ornaments, etc), white pompom yarn, white and silver beads along with twist ties and clear packing tape turned a clear umbrella into a winter wonderland—-pretty darn magical, if we do say so ourselves 🙂

This really was a great experience for our students, they really loved it!

Exploring, observing, and recognizing objects in the natural world is the science access point addressed in this activity.

No winter wonderland is complete without snow! We made ours using cornstarch and shaving cream. Adding the cornstarch gave the shaving cream some texture and allowed it to be shaped into small “snowballs” if desired.

This was totally fun messy play, with MESSY being the operative word—–our students dived in and this stuff got everywhere 🙂

Bilateral coordination is addressed when making snowballs.

Applying a push to move an object and recognizing and responding to different stimuli are the science access points addressed with this activity.

Spring is such a colorful time of year with plants growing and flowers blooming. In this box, we sprinkled some dried bean “seeds” into our colorful green rice—and taped a hidden surprise of pictures of colorful plants just waiting to bloom as the rice was swept away. The picture was actually a piece of wallpaper from one of those wallpaper sample books that someone always seems to be giving away

We also put in the letters W (winter), F (fall), and S (spring, summer)

This box helps address visual and tactile discrimination as well as fine motor skills for picking up the little “seeds”.

Recognizing that pushing or pulling an object to make it move is a science access point addressed here. In addition, the science access points of recognizing the leaf and flower of a plant and recognizing that plants grow can be addressed.

Our second box was filled with our caterpillar and butterfly pasta—-now this is one COLORFUL box! It’s also a wonderful box for sorting concepts of same/different and counting activities—-lots of math access points covered, including:

Solving problems involving small quantities of objects using language such as “more”, recognizing objects that are identical to each other, recognizing when an object is added to (addition) or taken away (subtraction) from a situation, recognizing two objects that are the same size or color……

It’s amazing all the learning you can fit into one little box!

Fall has so many pretty colors with the changing leaves and colorful gourds and pumpkins that are seen everywhere.

Our students loved picking up and shaking the leaves as well as watching handfuls of them drift down. Others found a couple of scarecrow friends.

This was another great box for visual and tactile discrimination, so many things to explore!

The science access point of exploring, observing, and recognizing common objects in the natural world is addressed here.

Recognizing models of real objects is another science access point addressed.

Fall also means colorful warm sweaters and blankets—at least to look at in the stores, NO WAY is it cold enough to need them here yet 🙂

This soft pompom yarn has such pretty fall colors and is just so touchable—-wouldn’t it make a fabulous blanket or poncho!?

Our students had a great time with this yarn, draping it around themselves or just shaking it. Pulling it apart is a great way to work on bilateral coordination!

Recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli is a science access point addressed here.

The science access point of recognizing clothing worn by humans in different seasons can also be addressed.

In the same box, we also included a shaker bottle filled with acorns. Our students love shaker bottles—-it’s always fun to make noise!

The science access points recognizing and responding to common sounds, recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli AND applying a push to move an object are all addressed here.

Discussing that acorns turn into oak trees also helps relate to the science access point recognizing that plants grow.

That’s a lot of science in one bottle!!!

Summer means going to the beach! We put in 3 seashells and 1 starfish for our students to find in our summer fun sand box. We used fine soft play sand that our students really loved touching.

Whether addressing the science access point of tracking objects in motion or the math access point of associating quantities with number names—–this is a great box!

Other access points addressed include for math: recognizing objects that are the same size or color and for science: recognizing common objects related to science by name.

Finishing up summer, our scent this week was Bath and Bodyworks aruba coconut. It was a wonderful summer aroma for our warm water play which included 2 colorful squirter fish. You would be hard pressed to find a more fun way to work on strengthening grip skills 🙂

Identifying objects by one observable property such as color and recognizing materials as warm or cold are science access points addressed here.

We finished with a little lotion, addressing the science access point of recognizing external body parts. This scent was a real favorite with the students and they left smelling like they had spent a day at the beach!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

For our art activity this week we made seasonal trees using torn tissue paper (our usual stash from presents past). Our tree trunk came from a reproducible in the book Apples, Apples Everywhere by Peggy Hundley Spitz OTR which can be purchased from Flaghouse.

On Tuesday we made our spring and summer trees. We used pink and purple paper for spring and green paper for our summer trees. On Thursday we used brown and orange for the fall trees and white paper with silver swirls for the winter trees.

We started by asking the students to match the communication symbols with the different paper colors. You may have observed that the literacy component for this student might have been improved if we had actually presented the words right side up 🙂

Recognizing two objects that are the same color is a science access point.

Responding accurately and consistently to referent objects or pictures used in routines is a language access point.

For each tree, we tore and crumpled up the paper. This is a great activity for addressing bilateral coordination and the students really had fun with it!

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

The crumpled paper pieces were then dipped in glue………

and placed on the tree. This activity addresses pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

We also counted the pieces as they were applied—-of course!

Recognizing that the appearance of some plants in the environment changes throughout the year is a science access point.

TA DA!!!!

Our students were pretty pleased with the way their trees turned out—–can you tell 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We started off the group by reading Cara’s book and asking the students to point to the picture of their favorite season.

Communicating preferences using non-verbal gestures is a language access point.

After the students had indicated their favorite season, we used some of the boxes and objects from the sensory group as props.

For summer we used the sand, autumn we used the box of leaves, spring we used the green rice, and for winter we used the umbrella. What a hit!

This activity addresses the language access point of exploring and interacting with the functions of selected objects.

Next we played a memory game. We made cards using Boardmaker symbols and laminated them.

The pictures on the cards were: summer, autumn, winter, spring, beach, rake, mittens, and bird. They were presented with 4 pictures at a time which were turned over, face down. Each student took a turn and flipped over 2 cards at a time.

Using referent objects or pictures from a familiar read-aloud story is a language access point.

PIXON picture symbols for “same” and “different” were presented to the students and they were asked if the cards they flipped over were the same or different. Some of our students required some assistance figuring it out, but for the most part, they did pretty well.

Using pictures, symbols, gestures/signs, or words to communicate meaning is a language access point

This week turned out to be so much fun! We hope you enjoy seeing what we did as much as we enjoyed experiencing it! Please join us again, Group by Group.

Oct20

Alice in Wonderland

Posted on October 20, 2013 by jd785

Alice in Wonderland

We had such a great time this week exploring the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. Cara’s book was wonderful and it was so exciting for our students to see themselves in her book! Hope you enjoy seeing how we made Alice’s adventures a multi-sensory learning experience!

SENSORY GROUP

Our first box was filled with paper shred since most books are made from paper—or at least they used to be 🙂

Nestled among the paper were some playing cards (hearts of course), some Mad Hatter party hats, rose petals, heart garland and ribbon, caterpillars, a variety of white rabbits…..

AND a cute fluffy “dormouse” that makes a crinkly sound when squeezed! We found it at the dollar store—-score!

We also included a play food cupcake with the label “eat me” and a plastic bottle with the word “drink me”.

It was so fun to see what the different students gravitated towards—-everyone had their favorites!

Exploring and interacting with a selected object is a language access point addressed in this box.

Visual discrimination in addition to reach and grasp skills are also addressed while exploring the fun contents of this fun box!

A is for Alice and we hid 4 letter A’s in this box of tea leaves. The tea leaves have an interesting texture, kind of crunchy and mild aroma—–a different sensory experience!

The students also had fun using the small scoop to cover them up again.

The math access point recognizing when items have been added to or removed from sets of objects to 4 is addressed here.

Picking up the letters is an opportunity to work on pincer grasp skills—–most beautifully illustrated by this picture—and eye hand coordination.

Chenille stems make for great caterpillars! This box was filled with regular size and giant size ones for some size comparisons. Soft and colorful—-you just HAVE to reach out for one!

These are perfect for twisting together (and promoting bilateral coordination) to make some new creations—-sensory group meets fine motor group 🙂

This also addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in a object.

All the different colors and sizes help address the science access point of identifying common objects by one observable property, such as size or color.

Pink and purple are the theme of this next box—-for the Cheshire Cat, of course! All that was left was his grin!

We used a Mr. Potato head mouth for the grin and hid it in the hard beads and soft pompoms 🙂

This box addresses the science access point of identifying common objects by one observable property such as size or color.

Recognizing common 3-dimensional objects, such as balls (spheres) and two objects that are the same size or color are math access points addressed here.

We used black cherry kool-aid to make the perfect red for our Queen of Hearts playdough. It turned out really well, a perfect squishy texture! Not only did it look pretty but it smelled wonderful also!

We used our heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out lots of pretty hearts.

Counting how many hearts were cut out addresses math skills and one to one correspondence.

It also addresses the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes that are the same shape and size (congruent).

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

These flowers didn’t sing but our students sure had fun making them dance in the air!

Tracking objects that fall to the ground and indicating that an object has fallen are the science access points addressed here.

Continuing with our floral theme, the students had fun with our sweet pea scented water. We put 2 different size measuring cups for scooping fun…….but sometimes it’s just more fun to play with the bubbles!

Recognizing water as a liquid is the science access point addressed here.

We finished with some Crabtree and Evelyn rose scented lotion. Wow this stuff really had a strong aroma. Some of our students really like it…………

Others not so much 🙂

Either way, it made for a memorable experience—–and an opportunity to address the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we made some Mad Hatter hats! These were assembled by gluing a paper bowl onto a paper plate. We cut a hole in the plate to help it fit onto our students heads.

We had one of our students decide what color to start with and began painting. Jeannie’s favorite color is purple—-hmm, I think someone is looking for extra brownie points from his teacher 🙂

The different colors were then passed around so that everyone ended up with a very colorful hat.

Adjusting nonverbal expression, referent objects to communicate wants and needs to familiar persons is a language access point.

Everybody had a great time painting their hats.

The paintbrushes were taped to paint stirring sticks to adapt them for our students with physical disabilities.

The science access points sharing objects with a partner and recognizing a change in an object are addressed with this activity.

Ta DA!

Love it!!!! This Mad Hatter is ready for the tea party!

On Thursday we made some card soldier puppets. We pulled some of the heart (of course!) cards from a deck. 4 holes were punched and a popsicle stick was glued to the back.

The rectangle shaped cards were counted as they were passed out and then we counted out 2 chenille stems for each student.

We also counted the number of hearts on each card.

Recognizing common objects with two dimensional shapes and associating quantities with number names are math access points.

Chenille stems were threaded through the holes to make the arms and legs. Pincer grasp, eye hand coordination, bilateral coordination—–a PERFECT fine motor activity!

These were a huge hit, our students loved their puppets!

Recognizing that the appearance of an object has changed and recognizing one or more external body parts are science access points addressed here.

Did we mention our students LOVED their puppets 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We placed pictures from our book on the All Turn it Spinner. With each turn, our students got to try on a costume prop that matched the character.

Using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words to responds to familiar read-aloud stories by identifying characters, objects, or events is a language access point addressed here.

Responding to a technology resource is another language access point addressed here.

Some of the props we used were the Queen of Hearts scepter, Dormouse ears, Cheshire Cat mask, Mad Hatter hat, a Singing Flower hood……………………..

AND some White Rabbit ears! This student really got into character, making sure we took a picture of his rabbit impersonation 🙂

We held up a mirror for our students to be able to see themselves, and BOY what a hit that was! The students who were verbal expressed WHAT they had on and WHO they were while the nonverbal students followed directions with prepositions such as “hold it UP”, “put it ON”.

Selecting a familiar object to explore and communicating about the selected object using nonverbal expression, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is the language access point addressed with this activity.

The students had a great time and the adults in the room definitely enjoyed themselves as well.

REALLY—–who doesn’t love to dress up!?

That’s it for this week, we had so much fun going down the rabbit hole with Alice and making a wonderland of experiences for our students!

If you are looking for some more traditional October themes—be sure to check out what we did last year—–BUT don’t forget to join us again next week for more Group by Group fun!