Tag Archives: Pixon

Oct27

Seasons

Posted on October 27, 2013 by jd785

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.

Sep22

Pirate Day

Posted on September 22, 2013 by jd785

Pirate Day

Avast ye land lubbers—-we celebrated Talk like a Pirate Day this week.

Cara had written such a great book last year that we used it again. Repetition is always good for our students and helps reinforce concepts and language learned. We kept some of the same sensory boxes but did add a few new ones. Our fine motor and language group activities were different from last years celebration.

Shiver me timbers, we do have the cutest pirates to ever sail the seven seas! Read along to see all the fun we had and be prepared to smile 🙂

SENSORY GROUP

We filled this box with some basket filler in a pretty light ocean blue. Then added some cool pirate stuff like a shipwreck (from an old aquarium), black beads and pom poms, an eye patch, and “parrot” feathers. Rubber duck and action figure pirates completed the box.

Lots of things to make you go argg 🙂

Visual discrimination skills are targeted as students look through the box and decide which items to pick up and examine.

The language access point responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly, is addressed in this activity.

Pirates are always looking for buried treasure on deserted islands and X marks the spot!

Our students were able to stamp an X in the sand with their cookie cutter. Shifting the sand aside reveals a treasure map and some gold coins taped the bottom of the box.

Math skills are addressed as the hidden coins or stamped X’s are counted.

In addition, applying a push or pull to move an object, such as stamping an X or pushing the sand aside, addresses science access point.

If you find the right spot you can dig up a treasure chest filled with GOLD. Our students just couldn’t resist grabbing these gold beads by the handfuls!

Of course, adding a pirate hat really helps one get into character 🙂

Exploring, observing, and recognizing objects in the natural world is a science access point.

More treasure was contained in our discovery bottle. Filled with plastic jewels, gold glitter, water and corn syrup—-the bottle swirled and glittered as it was shaken. This was a really one of the prettiest bottles we have made—-very, very eye catching!

Picking up and grasping the bottle addresses eye hand coordination and gross grasp skills.

Recognizing that pushing or pulling an object makes it move and tracking objects as they move are science access points.

We made some super cool black pirate playdough this week—and added some black glitter to it for additional sparkle! Did we mention this stuff was SUPER COOL 🙂

Our students could roll the playdough into cannon balls or use the bone shaped cookie cutter to make shapes.

Squeezing, pushing, pulling and otherwise manipulating playdough is great for strengthening hand intrinsics.

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed.

Then we turned off the lights and turned on our black light to help us explore our pirate swamp! We mixed up our oobleck using tonic water, which contains quinine, instead of ordinary water to help give it even more glow.

Our students practiced making prewriting strokes and the letter X in the oobleck and really had fun watching it drip and flow down hands!

Using the senses—-in this case vision and touch—to explore objects is a science access point. Tracking the oobleck as it flows also addresses a science access point.

We finished by rinsing hands in Bath and Bodyworks Ocean scented bath gel with an added element—–ocean spray (from our mister)! Some of our students got quite giggly as they felt the mist come down around them 🙂

A large measuring cup and measuring spoon were available in the water bowl for scooping fun.

The science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli is addressed as the water spray comes down. The math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids while scooping.

As usual, we also used the companion lotion to help our students learn external body parts and address the math access point of indicating a desire for more of an action or object.

This also addresses the science access point of recognizing external body parts.

FINE MOTOR GROUP

Every pirate needs a pet so on Tuesday we made a paper plate parrot for our art project!

We counted out a circle shaped paper plate for each student then gave them a choice of 3 colors to paint their parrot. Since the Florida Alternate Assessment has an array of 3 format, we like to give our students lots of practice making choices out of sets of 3.

Our students are getting to be such good painters!

Recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape is a math access point.

Effectively communicate wants and needs to a familiar person using referent objects, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words is a language access point.

Then we used our circle cutter to cut out 2 small circles. We glued these onto the paper plate and added 2 googlie eyes on top.

We also added a precut beak and some fluffy feathers.

Picking up and placing the smaller pieces promotes pincer grasp and finger isolation skills in addition to eye hand coordination.

Recognizing differences in size of objects and associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names are math access points.

TA DA!!!!!!!

Looks like Polly parrot is ready to set sail!

On Thursday our little pirates made some telescopes—–all the better to see those treasure filled islands 🙂

We used paper towel and toilet paper rolls that fit inside each other—-to get telescoping action, way cool! They were decorated with paper strips. We started by using our paper cutters to cut rectangle shaped strips of paper and taped them to the rolls. The electric scissors attached to a switch were used for our students with physical impairments.

Recognizing a change in an object ( as the paper is cut) and recognizing a model of a real object are science access points.

Recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape (the rectangular paper) is a math access point.

The strips of paper were taped around each roll. We discussed the fact that one roll was large and one was small—-addressing the math access point of recognizing the differences in size of objects.

Bilateral coordination and eye hand coordination are addressed as the paper is taped around the roll and as one roll is inserted into the other!

Land Ho!!!!

ARGHH 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

A pirate came by and left clues to his buried treasure in our language group. Our students had to use the clues to find the hidden treasure. Each of the clues incorporated a preposition, like “up”, “next to”, “under” and “on”. They also had a rhyming word to help figure out what to look for. For example, “this thing rhymes with carrot. Is it parrot or car?” The students did such a grrrrrreat job figuring out the rhyming words and finding the things associated with pirates.

Using pictures, symbols, gestures/signs, or words to communicate meaning.

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

Hidden around the room and also outside were a parrot, a pirate vest, a hook, a pirate hat, and of course, the hidden treasure on the X.

Recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities is a math access point.

Associating information with referent objects is a language access point.

When the students found the treasure, they opened it up to find a little treat wrapped in gold wrapping paper. Excitement galore!

It was fun fer all 🙂

Arrrgg, be sure to ship out with us next week for more fun and learning, Group by Group!

Sep15

Friends Live in Different Places

Posted on September 15, 2013 by jd785

Friends Live in Different Places

Our groups complimented the Unique Curriculum theme that our students are studying this month. As usual, we address math, language and science access points but with this unit we also address social studies access points such as recognizing differences in climates or vegetation.

Cara wrote a fantastic book with such cute pictures of children around the world—-it was a real hit with our students in each of the groups.

We had so much fun exploring the different continents. Read along to see all the fun we had!

Sensory Group

We started our world tour in a South American tropical rainforest! Our umbrella was decorated with plastic leaves and christmas garland, bead, and yarn vines. Foam butterflies, toy snakes and frogs were attached with more yarn. A huggable monkey and jungle sounds recorded on a voice output device completed the experience.

Our students always get excited when we have an umbrella experience and this one was no different. So much fun to see their smiling faces!

Lots of access points can be addressed with this box, including the science access point of distinguishing between a plant and an animal and the language access points of communicating recognition of familiar persons or objects and responding to a technology resource.

Next came North America where we explored the colors of the Canadian flag—red and white! Our box contained soft pom poms and hard beads to compare and contrast.

Beads are always a favorite—fun to shake AND fun to wear!

The math access points of recognizing two objects that are the same size or color and recognizing 3 dimensional objects are addressed here.

Other countries have flags that are red, white and blue like ours. In Europe, two of them are France and the United Kingdom. Our colorful rice had the letters U and F to find in addition to the French and UK flags hidden at the bottom of the box.

Rice is always a wonderful tactile experience. Our students love running their fingers through it—-and grabbing handfuls to toss in the air which we try to discourage. Although, tracking objects in motion IS a science access point 🙂

Tactile and visual discrimination skills are promoted with this activity.

On to Asia where flowers are a highlight of many festivals. This box contained pink petals and 3 sunflowers for sorting, counting—–or tossing into the air to watch as they drift down 🙂

The math access points of comparing quantities to 3 using language, such as more, less, or the same and or solving simple problems joining or separating sets of objects to 3 can be addressed here.

How exciting would it be to visit the African savannah! We filled this box with rafia and green easter grass so it looked like the different grasses you might see while on safari.

We also included some zebra striped pom poms and a variety of toy animals. Some of the animals had a button that made noise when pressed—-perfect for working on finger isolation.

The science access point of recognizing and responding to common sounds and distinguishing between a plant and an animal are addressed here.

As the students push the animals button, they also are addressing the science access point of applying a push to move an object.

What continent is covered with snow? Antarctica!!! We made a batch of our fake snow and put it in the fridge. Cold AND wet, some of our students thought it was pretty neat—–others not so much 🙂

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing objects or materials as warm or cold.

We used eucalyptus scented water and lotion to remind us of the leaves that Australian koala bears like to eat! It was a pretty strong scent which all our students seemed to like.

As the lotion is rubbed on arms, hands or back of neck (for those students who engage in hand mouthing behaviors) we talk about the different body parts—-addressing the science access point of recognizing one or more external body parts.

This activity also addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli and the math access point of requesting “more” of an action or activity.

Fine Motor Group

On Tuesday for out art project, we cut out and colored the seven continents. Joy drew a gross outline of each continent on a rectangular piece of construction paper (each a different color). Each student chose their favorite…..

…..and proceeded to color it!

Discussing the shape of the paper addresses the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes.

This also addresses the science access point of identifying objects by one observable property.

Since the outlines were too complex for our adaptive scissors or paper cutters, we used our electric scissors to cut them out——what fun! The students really had a blast and were so fascinated by the action 🙂

This was a great activity for practicing switch usage and learning to keep your hand on the switch to keep the scissors cutting.

This activity addresses the math access point of solving problems involving actions using language such as enough, too much, or more.

Then we glued the continents down on a blue background to make our world map—-addressing the social studies access point of associating a picture with a place.

TA DA!!!!

On Thursday, before we started our next art project, we told the students we were going to paint with green paint, showing them the color on a communication symbol. Then we asked them to show us “green” from a choice of two by either touching the symbol or using eye gaze to make their choice.

This addresses the language access point of responding accurately and consistently to referent objects, pictures, or symbols used in routines.

Then it was time to paint a large circle that was cut from blue poster board——we’re making a global map! These sponge brushes are perfect for the job.

Discussing the shape of the poster board addresses the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional objects.

It also addresses the social studies access point of recognizing a picture of land or water.

Of course, its also a great activity for practicing prewriting skills!

The words “Friends Around The World” were glued onto the circle.

The language access point of responding to new vocabulary as it is taught is addressed here.

Also eye hand coordination is practiced as the students place the paper on top of the glue.

Joy made some paper dolls in traditional costumes from around the world, and added the student’s photos to them. They took turns gluing them to the map—-quite fascinated by their photos!

This activity addresses the social studies access point of recognizing differences in clothing from other cultures.

Our finished product looks so cute hanging in the hallway outside Jeannie’s classroom….

too cute!!!!!

Language Group

While reading Cara’s book, each time we read about a continent we would hand the student who “read” the repetitive line an animal native to that continent.

Here is a breakdown of the animals we used with each continent: Africa–lion, Europe–bird, Asia–tiger, North America–black bear, South America–lizard, Australia–platypus, and Antarctica–penguin. We have found that our students really enjoy holding objects and using props throughout our group seems to bring more meaning to what we are talking about.

Matching common living things with their habitats is a science access point.

After reading the book, we unrolled a big map of the world. On an All-Turn-It Spinner, we taped each of the 7 continents. We asked the students “where” they were going to go while holding up the PIXON symbol for “where”. The students took turns activating the All-Turn-It Spinner to see which continent they were going to visit.

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

Responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught is also a language access point.

We had print outs of the students’ faces and would tape their face to the continent they landed on.

When they were through, we used PIXON symbols and the students had to verbalize or point out, “I go here”.

They had so much fun with this activity and so did we!

Matching objects, pictures, gestures/signs, or symbols to tasks in routines is a language access point.

Completing a pictorial map using pictures or symbols for designated areas is a social studies access points.

We loved exploring our wonderful world this past week and hope we gave you some inspiration for your own explorations! Come back next week where more surprises await—-Group by Group!

Sep8

Jobs At School

Posted on September 8, 2013 by jd785

Jobs At School

We celebrated labor day this week by talking about what different jobs there are at our school. There were a lot of familiar faces in Cara’s book and the students in all our groups got so excited when they recognized someone. One of our students was able to verbalize what the music and art teacher did right when seeing their picture!

SENSORY GROUP

One of the most important jobs at school is “teacher”—the person who helps us learn to read and count! We have some pretty fabulous ones at our school 🙂 and for their box we used our blue moonsand—-one of our school colors is blue! Our students had the choice of pressing A B C or 1 2 3 cookie cutters into the sand.

Pushing the cookie cutters helps strengthen hand intrinsics as well as working on letter and number identification.

Our students really love music and we had such fun with our “music teacher” box. We brought out our shakers—lentils in one bottle and acorns in another—-and recorded some lively music on the voice output device.

It was so cute to see little heads start bobbing as soon as the button was pressed—-even Ms. Joi started rocking out to the beat 🙂

This activity addresses the language access point of responding to rhythm in familiar songs.

By pressing the voice output device, students address the math access point of indicating a desire for more.

Who doesn’t love art—-especially when it involves finger painting! Our sensory group version was shaving cream with food coloring. Messy fun, always a favorite with us. It’s a great tactile experience but also an opportunity to practice prewriting designs and letters.

This activity also addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

As the food coloring is mixed with the shaving cream, the science access point of recognizing a change in an object is addressed.

Water play is always fun, whether in the swimming pool during PE or our little splash pool!

As hands—both little and big—splash the water, the science access point of applying a push to move an object is addressed.

We used SOFT cotton balls and HARD tongue depressors for our “nurse” box. Some of our students enjoyed sorting the items by texture, practicing counting or even imitating some letters!

Of course, just exploring the items was a popular activity also 🙂

The science access point of recognizing common objects as identical to each other can be addressed here.

This also addresses the math access point of recognizing two objects that are the same size or color.

LUNCH—everyone’s favorite part of the day 🙂 Our lunchroom staff serve us lots of choices of yummy food!

We filled our box with some green paper shred “lettuce” and a variety of play food. Eating utensils, an identification card and a mini lunch tray.

Hmm………a burger or chicken, decisions decisions……

The math access point of recognizing common activities that occur every day can be addressed with this box.

In addition, the science access points of recognizing models of real objects and recognizing that people need food can be addressed here.

One of the most exciting jobs at school has to be “school bus driver”. Our students love their big yellow buses and drivers! Our yellow rice was wonderfully bright and perfect for driving a little bus around in. A picture of the bus was also taped to the bottom of the box.

The science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and recognizing models of real objects are both addressed in this box.

We finished with Bath and Bodyworks Country Apple scent—-apples for teacher, naturally 🙂

Our students are always given the opportunity to communicate their preferences for the week’s scent and this one was pretty much a favorite of everyone.

Fine Motor Group

On Tuesday we stamped with an assortment of fruit and vegetables—-on rectangle shaped paper.

just like those we get at lunch!

This was a great art activity, our students really had a great time and were fascinated by the impressions they made. And……nobody took samples 🙂

The math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is addressed here.

TA DA—-didn’t these turn out so cute and colorful!

On Thursday we made paper plate tambourines. We started by counting out our circle plates and then decorated them with markers.

The math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is addressed here.

You may notice our students don’t always have a perfect “tripod grasp” of their writing utensil but we feel that active involvement is more important than perfect grasps.

Then we attached 3 jingle bells which were pre-threaded with small chenille stems. Our students did need help pushing and pulling the chenille stems through the holes but what a great opportunity to work on pincer grasp skills —–Joy really likes that, one of those OT things 🙂

We counted the bells as they were strung, asking our students to find the number on the communication board—–they did an awesome job, we were so proud!!!!!

Time to rock out, our students LOVED shaking their tambourines……

TA sha la la DA 🙂

Language Group

We used the same pictures of the people used in our book and Boardmaker symbols for pictures of what each person could be associated with at school. We taped the people on the left side and the picture symbols on the right side of a piece of board.

Using black yarn that was connected to each of the pictures of people, the students had to figure out what picture symbol went with which person.

This activity addresses the language access point of recognizing familiar persons and objects associated with routines.

For our students who needed more support to understand the concept, we used auditory scanning and had them answer yes or no or eye gaze to indicate their choice, for example “Does the music teacher use a bandaid? Does she use a paintbrush? Does she use musical instruments?”).

After finding the correct picture symbol, Cara modeled the PIXON symbols “she uses this” and had the students verbalize if they were able to or point in the correct order if they were unable to vocalize.

This addresses the language access point of communicating information about familiar persons, objects, or actions, using non-verbal expressions, gestures, signs, pictures, symbols, or words.

For some of our students with visual impairments and also for the students that do not have a great understanding of pictures yet, we used real objects, including: paintbrush for the art teacher, maraca for the music teacher, ball for PE teacher, stethoscope for nurse, play food for lunch lady, and a recording of bus sounds for bus driver.

This worked out SO great and made it more meaningful for ALL the students.

It was another great week and we had so much fun, join us next time…….Group by Group 🙂

May20

Earth Science

Posted on May 20, 2013 by jd785

Earth Science

The theme for the Unique Curriculum is earth science this month so we tied our groups to go along with the theme. Cara wrote another great book and found some great pictures to go along with it.

Our students were AMAZED 🙂

When we got to the page about rain, we used our spray bottle to mist water up into the air to then fall gently down on the students. They LOVED this part and needless to say there were lots of giggles AND lots of opportunities for them to request “more”—-one of their math access and language points!!!

Do we make learning FUN or what???!!!! 🙂

Sensory Group—

The surface of our earth is covered by a variety of plant life. In this box we put in silk leaves, easter grass, plastic trees, flowers to represent all the different plants to be found. We loved these bright and colorful sunflowers!

We included yarn pieces and beads in the colors of green and brown. The sun and moon affect our planet so we also put in a moon shaped cookie cutter and little wooden sun.

Finally a little globe was included—our earth!

This box addresses the science access point of recognizing common objects related to science by name, such as a plant. It also addresses the science access point of recognizing a model of a real object.

Noting that the globe is a sphere addresses the math access point of recognizing a 3 dimensional shape!

Wind is one of the forces that affects the surface of our earth. We created our own windstorm using our little battery operated fans.

We had some different reactions to the tactile feel of the blowing air—-some of our students loved it and couldn’t wait to push the buttons themselves—-others had to think about it for a while 🙂

They were also pretty fascinated by the soft spinning blades!

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

Underneath all the plants and trees is soil.

We buried 3 circular puzzle pieces for our students to find and they loved pushing aside the coffee ground soil to find them—-and then pushing the grounds back to cover them back up 🙂

This box addresses the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape.

Digging down deep enough into the earth’s crust and you will find layers and layers of different rocks—-just like our mixed beans!

E is for Earth! We put in some letter E’s to find and match—-and then bury again!

We included a measuring spoon for some scooping fun, although most students prefer to run their hands through the beans for that wonderful tactile feel that they have.

Now we do try to keep a close eye on students when they have the bean box—to make sure there is no “sampling” but also to watch for our little scientists who want to see if gravity REALLY works with handfuls of beans 🙂

We used this grey floam to represent our earths mantle which is one of the many layers that form our planet. By squishing it together, our students could form it into a hard ball, kind of like the hard rock that makes up the mantle.

This floam is pretty cool stuff and everyone, adults included, is pretty fascinated by it.

Forming the ball is great for building hand strength, bilateral coordination, and palmer arches.

Of course our ball of floam can also be called a “sphere” and recognizing 3 dimensional shapes is one of our math access points!

Digging down still deeper we will get to earth’s liquid core! We mixed yellow and red food coloring with our shaving cream to make our lava. What fun to mix it all together and come out with this fabulous orange lava!

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

Its also a great opportunity to practice prewriting skills with a wonderful tactile experience.

The earth has a magnetic field. We used a magnet discovery bottle to help our students learn about magnetism……it really is pretty fascinating to watch the magnetic wand “capture” the little metal pieces inside the bottle!

Its also a great activity for bilateral coordination.

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

Finally we rinsed our hands in Ocean scented water from Bath and Bodyworks and then used the matching lotion to help us remember all the cool things we learned about our planet today!

Our little ocean had 2 different sized measuring cups to address the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

Exploring the aroma of the lotion addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

Fine Motor—

On Tuesday we thought making a volcano would be a great art project for our students. We started by turning our brown rectangle into a triangle by using our paper cutter to cut the 3 sides—counting each side as we cut.

Then we glued in onto our blue rectangle paper.

Recognizing 2 dimensional shapes is a math access point.

Now for the really fun bit—the lava! We mixed glue, shaving cream, and orange paint to make our lava. We wanted a three dimensional tactile texture and this stuff turns out just like puffy paint when it dries—-if you haven’t tried this concoction you really should!

Our students did a great job using their brushes to spread the mixture. They are spending more time painting and visually attending to their projects—we are so proud 🙂

This activity addresses spatial relations and eye hand coordination.

We had lots of Ta Da’s as usual.

Don’t these volcanos look SO COOL!!!!!!

Some of them were so proud of themselves they asked for hugs also—

needless to say we obliged 🙂

On Thursday we continued our explorations of earth science with our next art project. We started with a blue circle—addressing the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape again! We are going to make a picture of our earth.

Tissue paper was then torn and crumpled and glued onto the blue circle—to make some continents.

Tearing and crumpling the paper promotes bilateral coordination and addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.

We asked the students to identify the colors of the paper we used today. Identifying an object by one observable property (in this case color) is a science access point.

Are students are just so smart!!!!

TA DA!!!!

Language Group—

We decided to make a visual of the Earth’s different layers. We found this idea on www.birdandlittlebird.com and thought it would be PERFECT, as well as lots of fun. The students had to follow the directions which consisted of PIXON symbols, Boardmaker symbols, and real pictures.

Since the pictures depicting the Earth’s layers are color coded, we decided to base our visual support off of some of the pictures we found. We started with 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap. The dish soap was pink and we added a little red food coloring to it to show how hot the Earth’s inner core is.

Graded motor control and eye hand coordination are needed to pour the liquid from the measuring cup into the jar.

Recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities is a math access point.

Throughout this activity we are also addressing the math access point of solving problems involving small quantities of objects or actions using language, such as enough, too much, or more.

For the next layer, the outer core, we used 1/4 cup of water. We dropped red and yellow food coloring in the water in order to make orange. Since our visually impaired students could not see the color changes they participated by being in charge of shaking the liquid (we used a lidded juice bottle).

They really enjoyed this bit 🙂

The science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and recognizing a change in an object are addressed here.

Now, as scientists conducting experiments, sometimes things don’t go QUITE like you had planned——- after putting the water in, we did not see any distinct layers! We couldn’t figure out what we did wrong—- so we decided to start over and use karo syrup at the bottom instead of the dish soap.

Although the colors were very similar in appearance when in the jar, you could see a little more layering than before.

The third layer, or the mantle, consisted of 1/4 cup vegetable oil. We did not add any coloring since it was already yellow.

On an added note, it is important to pour the liquids SLOWLY—a funnel helps.

For the last layer which is the crust, we used 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol which we colored blue. The students seemed to LOVE watching the liquids separate into different layers, and the adults enjoyed it too!

All in all, the experiment was a success AND we learned some new words!

We turned off the lights and held a flashlight behind the jar to really see the layers.

Science experiments are just so FUN!!!

Join us again next week for our final groups of this school year—

Its going to be filled with more fun things to learn and discover—–Group by Group 🙂

May12

Mother Goose

Posted on May 12, 2013 by jd785

Mother Goose

It’s Children’s Book Week and we decided to go with the classic Mother Goose as our theme—-everyone loves a good rhyme after all 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading about all our activities.

Sensory Group—

The Mother Goose box was filled with a variety of items representing different nursery rhymes.

There were some white feathers—-lost by Mother Goose herself no doubt—– Contrary Mary silk flower petals (as well as a cockle shell and silver jingle bell), Rock a Bye Baby leaves, London Bridge bricks (duplos), Jack and Jill’s pail, a mouse to run up a clock, a craft foam moon and….. a cow to jump over it.

The cow made a mooing sound when a button was pressed making it quite popular. Other students enjoyed filling up the little pail with the feathers and leaves. With all the different objects and textures, there was something for everyone!

The language access point of recognizing and responding to familiar objects is one of the access points addressed here.

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was WHITE as snow! This box was filled with an assortment of items all colored white.

We put in beads, pompoms, a plush seal, plastic dog, pearls, a snowflake ornament, faux lambswool, hair scrunchies, and a dusting mitt—this was especially popular. Our students loved putting it on their hands.

In addition to lots of textures to compare and contrast, this box addresses the science access point of recognizing common objects in the natural world.

Our Little Boy BLUE box was filled with all things blue—blocks, beads, dusters, shakers, pompoms etc.

Like our white box this was filled with a variety of textures and shapes to explore. Especially popular were the shakers and the accordion tube.

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

Students had fun using our dog and bone cookie cutters with the “Cow jumped over the Moon” sand.

Our students used the cookie cutters in different ways. Some of them pressed them into the sand to make impressions, while others used them like mini little shovels. Moon sand is a lot denser than regular sand so either way—–a great activity for hand strengthening!

As the moon sand gets dug up or smashed down into the cookie cutter the science access point of recognizing a change in an object is addressed.

In addition the language access point of communicating recognition of familiar objects is addressed when discussing the cookie cutter shapes.

Our Itsy Bitsy Spider bottle was also a huge hit, our students were really fascinated by it. We made the discovery bottle by putting some toy spiders in a bottle with water, cornsyrup, and some green glitter.

The students loved watching the little spiders scuttle back and forth as the bottle was tilted.

A totally fun bottle, one of our best ever!

This addresses the science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and tracking objects in motion.

You can also count the spiders and discuss their colors for additional learning fun 🙂

Peas Porridge hot? Cold?…..Ok we were not sure what exactly “peas porridge” was but lentils are a type of “pea” so figured they would work for this box 🙂

They really have a wonderful soft texture as you run your hands through them, very relaxing—this box was a hit with the students AND the adults!

Hidden amongst the lentils were 2 sets of Mother Goose’s initials for our students to find.

Matching the letters addresses the math access point of recognizing 2 objects that are identical to each other—-in addition to letter recognition of course!

We also including 2 different sized measuring spoons for scooping practice and to address the math access point of recognizing similarities and differences in the size of common objects.

Poor Humpty Dumpty 🙂 We put a little yellow toy flying saucer in our oobleck and it looked just like an egg—pretty cool!

This addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to different types of sensory stimuli—exploring the tactile aspects of the oobleck while observing the visual aspect of the yellow disc.

Of course, oobleck is always just flat FUN 🙂

After rinsing our hands in water from Jack and Jill’s well, we rubbed Ring Round the Rosies rose scented lotion on hands and arms to help us remember all the fun and learning of todays group.

This rose lotion had a pretty strong aroma—it brought back a lot of memories for the adults—-and our students loved it!

Rubbing the lotion on various body parts helps address the science access point of recognizing external body parts.

Fine Motor Group—

On Tuesday we made a picture of Humpty Dumpty. After writing our names on our BIG, rectangular piece of paper……we stamped LITTLE, red rectangles to make a wall. The stamp was made using thick craft foam attached to a kitchen scrubber using double stick tape.

We counted the paper as we passed it out and also counted as the students stamped their small rectangles. We also encouraged our students to stamp from left to right across the page—the same direction you take when reading or writing.

This activity addresses the math access points of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape and recognizing the differences in size of objects.

We cut oval eggs out of craft foam and let our students choose their color using picture cards.

Then we used our circle cutter to make Humpty’s face. Some of our students drew their own faces while others needed some help.

The circle was glued onto the oval and then Humpty was glued onto the wall.

Again, we are addressing the math access point of recognizing 2 dimensional shapes but we are also addressing the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

The language access point of effectively communicating wants to a familiar person using symbols is also addressed.

Eye hand coordination is addressed as the various pieces are assembled to make the final product.

Ta DA!!!

A very happy Humpty Dumpty on his wall before his fall—-hey its Mother Goose time and we are ready to rhyme 🙂

On Thursday in preparation for our art project Ms Barrett’s class had watched a video of nursery rhymes including Hickory Dickory Dock in preparation for our second art project which is all about shapes again!

We started our activity by counting the sides of our BIG rectangular piece of paper and then practiced writing our names on it. A LITTLE rectangle was glued to the BOTTOM.

This addresses a lot of math access points including recognizing a 2 dimensional shape, recognizing the sides of a square or rectangle, and recognizing the length of real objects, such as big, little etc.

Then we glued a circle clock face onto a square piece of paper—that was then glued to the top of our little rectangle.

This addresses the math access points of recognizing 2 dimensional shape and recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

Next we used our paper cutter to change our square into 2 triangles—addressing the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.

We glued the square onto the rectangle at the top and put the triangle on top.

Pat pat pat!

Again addressing the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

Add one cute little pink craft foam mouse (complete with purple yarn tail) and our clocks are complete——

TA! DA!

Language Group—

Our language group especially enjoyed Cara’s book this week because 2 of the models in the book are instructional assistants in the class! The students had so much fun pointing them out.

One of the things we focused on today was sequencing. We picked 4 different nursery rhymes; Jack and Jill, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Humpty Dumpty, and Little Miss Muffet, and printed out sequencing cards found on EnchantedLearning.com. Using the PIXON picture symbols for “first”, “second” and “last”, we had our students put the cards into order.

We said the nursery rhymes line by line so the students could find the card that matched with the line read. They would then have to place the card under the correct PIXON to show first, second, and last.

This activity addresses the language access point of effectively communicating information using referent objects, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words.

It also addresses the math access point of recognizing the next step in a simple pattern or sequence of activities.

For our students with visual impairments, we adapted the activity by using a voice output device. The phrase “that’s the one” was recorded on it for our students to press as we read the choices aloud.

After completing this task, we turned off the lights and brought out our light up moon—-so cool, we love it!

We then presented 3 different cows to our students. One was plush, another was a large inset puzzle piece, the third was a small plastic model. We deliberately chose these to make them very easy for our students with visual impairments to differentiate. The students got to pick which cow they wanted and practiced having the cow jump over the moon.

The students again used their Pixon symbols to say “I want” and then pointed to the desired cow. Addressing the language access point of effectively communicating wants using referent objects, gestures/signs, pictures, symbols, or words.

This activity is great for promoting shoulder stability and crossing midline as the cow jumps from one side of the moon to the other.

It also addresses the science access point of recognizing a model of a real object and the language access point of listening for informative purposes.

This was such a great week, all our groups were so fun and our students are making so much progress—-we are so proud! Join us again next time—-Group by Group!

Apr28

Safari

Posted on April 28, 2013 by jd785

Safari

Our groups went on Safari this week! Cara’s sister, who lives in Africa, sent us her actual safari pictures for our book—-how cool is that!

Sensory Group

If you are going on safari you are probably going to have to ride on an airplane to get there and when you ride on an airplane you can hear engine sounds and feel the engine vibrate.

Our vibrating tube gave us those same sensations. The tube is bendable and soft—-nice to cuddle with or wrap around your neck!

Our students loved it!

This addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

When you are on safari you want to SEE the animals, not have them see you—-that’s why you might want to wear camo clothing!

We mixed brown, green, red and white dried beans and peas to make our camo box. It turned out pretty cool! Beans are always popular with our students, they particularly like burying and uncovering things in them. This week we put in a large letter S for “safari” for them to find.

2 different sized scoops were also included to add to the fun.

This activity helps build tactile discrimination and visual figure ground skills. It also addresses the math access point of recognizing differences in the sizes of containers.

It is especially fun if you are also wearing a camo hat 🙂

Our jungle box was filled with green shredded paper, raffia, chenille yarn vines, and green silk leaves. We put in a globe, wooden sun cut out, a little jeep, a variety of toy zoo animals you might see on safari and an old camera—-perfect for taking pictures of all those cool animals.

So much to talk about and vocabulary to learn!

Speaking of animals, some of them had buttons that when pushed made the animals growl. We have used these before and they are always very popular—-great for promoting finger individuation!

For our students who have significant physical disabilities—its always great to have a friend help you out 🙂

This activity addresses the language access point of responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly.

It also addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to common sounds AND the science access point of sharing objects with a partner—-so sweet!

Our tiger pom poms are so bright and so very eye catching. Different colors and sizes—perfect for comparing and contrasting!

Lots of access points can be addressed with these colorful spheres including the science access point of recognizing 2 objects that are identical to each other …..and the math access points recognizing a common 3 dimensional objects and recognizing similarities and differences in the size of objects.

Is this a great box or what!!!!!

Colorful feathered birds are always a part of any safari! This box contained a variety of feather boas—-perfect for wrapping around you or shaking—-so soft and fluffy! We got these at the dollar store around halloween and totally got our money’s worth of fun out of them 🙂

The science access point of identifying common objects by one observable property—in this case color.

Uh oh—-beware of quick sand!!!!!

We added water to some cornmeal mix to make our quick sand and were pretty happy with the results.

As you can tell by our students expressions, this was some weird feeling concoction but they couldn’t resist sticking their hands right back in again and again—trying to figure it out—what inquisitive little scientists we have!

This activity addresses the science access point of exploring, observing and recognizing objects in the natural world.

The language access point of using body movement or nonverbal expressions to communicate preferences—-NAILED 🙂

We finished by rinsing our hands using Into the Wild by Bath and Body Works scented water—it had a really nice aroma but we suspect nothing like what the “wild” actually smells like ha ha.

Banana scented lotion that we found at World Market was the perfect finishing touch to help us remember our safari fun!

This activity addresses the science access points of recognizing one way people use water and recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

Fine Motor Group

On Tuesday for our art activity we made tiger masks!

We started by cutting, using our adaptive scissors, 3 strips of paper in half—to make 6 tiger stripes.

Cutting the paper addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.

The stripes were glued onto our tiger mask. Prior to the activity, staff cut out eye holes in an orange paper plate (found on clearance after halloween—-score!) and glued a paint stick to the back. As we passed the masks out, we discussed their circular shape, of course 🙂

We asked the students to touch their noses and then gave them 1 black triangle nose to glue onto their masks. Then 2 orange ears were glued onto the head.

Eye hand coordination and spatial relations are addressed with this activity. Lots of math access points are addressed including recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes and associating quantities with number names.

The science access point of recognizing one or more external body parts was also addressed.

Better watch out for tigers—-

GRRRRRR!!!!

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again, practicing passing the voice output to our neighbor for their turn. This addresses the science access point of sharing objects with a partner. For our art project, we continued our safari theme by making some monkey puppets.

First we passed 1 large brown circle to each student. They used our paper cutters to cut them in half—making semi circles!

These were then glued onto a paper lunch bag.

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object. It also addresses the math access points of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape and recognizing parts of whole objects.

Of course, it also promotes eye hand coordination and spatial relations.

We used our large hole punch to cut 2 brown circles for our monkey ears, which were glued to the top of the bag.

Then the finishing touch—2 big googlie eyes!

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object (as the circles are punched) and recognizing external body parts.

It also addresses math access points including matching one object to a designated space to show one to one correspondence and associating quantities 1 and 2 with number names.

Putting on those little googlie eyes also gives our students an opportunity to practice their pincer grasp skills.

Ta Da—-what cute little monkey puppets!

Language Group

We started out this week with Cara’s book. Although reading the book is new to this group, our students have been doing an EXCELLENT job of pressing the voice output device and sharing it with their friends.

As we read the book and use the voice output device (in all our groups) we address the language access point of listening for informative purposes (ex. following prompts, cues).

The book led us into our own safari. We put 7 different animals (a combination of plush and plastic ones) on the table. We asked the students to use their binoculars to find the different animals—-while wearing a super cool safari hat!

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing a familiar objects enlarged by magnification.

It also addresses the language access point of responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly.

After finding an animal, they had to match the animal up with a picture symbol of the animal. We used the carrier phrase “I see a ___” so the students could fill in the blank with the animal that they had seen. We used the PIXON communication board symbols for “I” and “see” to work on identifying different PIXON picture symbols.

This addresses the language access point of communicating about a selected object using pictures/symbols/words.

Pretty cool!

With our safari over, it was feeding time to feed the monkeys 🙂

We gave each student 3 bananas and counted as they were put into the monkey’s mouth one at a time—physically assisting our students as needed.

The activity promotes grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

In addition the math access points of recognizing when an object is added to a situation and recognizing quantities 1 to 3 using sets of objects.

What a great week, we had so much fun going on safari! Join us again next week—-we promise to bring lots to discover plus smiles, fun and learning—-Group by Group!

Apr21

Dinosaurs

Posted on April 21, 2013 by jd785

Dinosaurs

ROAR!!!! There were some dinosaurs roaming around around campus this week—you have to check out our visitors in Cara’s latest book. Kids love dinosaurs and ours are no exception! Hope you enjoy seeing how we carried out the theme throughout all our groups this week.

SENSORY GROUP

The land the dinosaurs ruled was filled with lots of vegetation so we filled this box with moss and leaves. We put in some plastic eggs and a variety of dinosaurs. Some of them had a button you could push to make them ROAR—needless to say, this was a huge hit!

We put in a variety of play food—meat for the meat eaters and vegetables for the plant eaters. Some fossils (playdough molds), a large letter D, and a bone shaped cookie cutter.

So much language and play included in this box—don’t you just love the action going on in this picture.

In addition to lots of fine motor skills addressed as students manipulate the various objects, press buttons etc., lots of access points are addressed. These include the science access point of distinguishing between a plant and an animal—if you are trying to feed your dinosaur, you know its an animal! It also addresses the language access point of selecting a familiar object to explore.

So while it’s not totally clear if dinosaurs became oil, we decided to go ahead and make a “fossil fuel” goo bag which was tons of fun.

It was made by mixing cooking oil and black paint and putting it in a heavy duty freezer bag, We then taped the bag onto a tray—and kept a supply of packing tape handy in case of slight rips. As the week went along and multiple classes participated in our groups—we did find DOUBLE bagging and TAPING worked best 🙂

While some of our students practiced prewriting strokes or even wrote their names— others were fascinated by watching the oil and paint swirl around—-so cool!

This addresses the science access point of applying a push or pull to move an object.

Dinosaurs are reptiles so they don’t have fur like mammals!

We used our plush fabric to represent mammals and we cut up an old green leather purse to make our dino skin. Our students enjoyed running their hands over the different textures, comparing and contrasting them.

This activity addresses the science access point of using the senses to recognize objects.

We wanted to convey the idea of dinosaurs sharp teeth without the item actually BEING sharp—this pin board seemed the perfect fit. It doesn’t really have pins, just small plastic dowels with rounded ends.

Our students had a blast with it, finding it utterly fascinating. They loved the impressions as they moved their hands and pushed against the pins.

Really, really, REALLY fun!

This activity addresses the science access point of applying a push or pull to move an object.

Our discovery bottle was filled with black glitter, sequins and orange colored corn syrup and we think it looks just like molten lava—something the dinosaurs may have encountered!

As the bottle is rotated or rolled, everything slowly moves around and is pretty fascinating to look at.

This addresses the science access point of tracking moving objects.

We included a variety of scents this week. From the “Follow your Nose” game we smelled pine, mushroom and fire scents which we thought would be similar to the ones dinosaurs might have smelled as they roamed around.

These were some pretty funky scents and it was fun watching the different reactions we got—-giving our students lots of opportunities to communicate preferences 🙂

This addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to one type of sensory stimuli.

Dinosaurs also roamed around in some swampy places—-so we made a green jello swamp. Totally messy fun with some dinosaurs, palm trees and a dinosaur cookie cutter.

This is a really different texture and as usual, some of our students dived right in while others were quite hesitant 🙂

Grasp skills are promoted as our students pick up the various items buried in the jello or use the cookie cutter.

Science access points are also addressed including applying a push or pull to move an object, distinguishing between a plant and animal, and identifying objects by one observable property—in this case GREEN jello.

Our play snow reminded us of how climate change may have caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. We were really excited about how well it lasted—we kept it re-fridgerated which may have helped!

Our students were really not quite sure what to make of it at first—-cold and wet, hmmmm??

So much fun to grasp and squish!

The science access points of distinguishing between items that are wet and those that are dry and recognizing objects as warm or cold are totally explored in this activity!

Finally we rinsed our messy hands in Juniper Breeze scented water and then rubbed the lotion on our hands. We added a large measuring cup and a small spoon for scooping and pouring fun.

As students play with the different scoops they are exploring the math access point of recognizing the differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

In addition, as seen in this picture, the science access point of recognizing external body parts and the math access point of indicating a desire for more of an action or object is addressed.

So much fun today and a wonderful scent to help us remember the wonderful things we learned about the dinosaurs today!

FINE MOTOR GROUP

On Tuesday we “discovered” some fossils! Ok so coloring all those dino skeletons was a little labor intensive prep but our students were so excited as they watched their fossils appear on the paper that it made it well worth it! Joy lightly sketched the skeletons and Jeannie’s assistants—she has some really nice assistants 🙂 —colored them in with a white crayon. We adapted this activity from a glue resist art activity we saw on Pinterest.

First we discussed what color paint we were going to use (showing them the container) and had them identify the color using our communication symbols.

They did a really good job!

Identifying an object by one observable property is a science access point.

Then we discussed the shape (rectangle) of our paper, counted its 4 sides…..

….and started painting! We used diluted brown paint (it needs to be watercolor like) and wide foam brushes. Our students got so excited as the bones became more visible! This was totally fun!

The math access points of recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape and recognizing the sides of a square or rectangle were addressed.

This turned out pretty cool, right!

AWESOME!!!!!

On Thursday we continued our dinosaur theme by making a shape stegosaurus.

First our students chose what color stegosaurus they wanted from a variety of colors.

We used the communication symbols to increase literacy and to promote their ability to recognize two objects that are the same color which is a math access point.

Then they chose 2 squares which we cut into 4 triangles using our paper cutter and glued these to the dinosaur’s back.

Next we used our circle punch to cut out 2 circles which were also glued onto our stegy.

1 big googlie eye and our stegy came to life!

Bilateral coordination is addressed as the students use the different cutting implements. Pincer grasp, eye hand coordination and spatial relations are promoted as the pieces are added to the dinosaur body.

As the paper is cut the science access point of recognizing a change in an object is addressed. Discussing the different shapes addresses the math access point of recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape.

Counting the various objects additionally (no pun intended ha ha) addresses math access points.

—Ta Da super cute!

Peace Love and Dinosaurs 🙂

LANGUAGE GROUP

We started group out reading Cara’s book. We are super excited to finally have all our groups totally integrated with the same theme and our students totally enjoyed her fun book—-really who can resist dinosaurs 🙂

We brought a variety of dinosaurs into the group, some of which also appeared in the book. The students got to hold them and compare them. They were especially excited when they found out that some of them made noise when squeezed!

While the book was being read, we had the students locate which dinosaurs they saw in the classroom that were also in the book.

This addresses the language access points of responding to a familiar person reading a book aloud and responding to referent objects used in routines.

It also addresses the science access points of applying a push to move an object and recognizing and responding to common sounds—-they got lots of practice with this one 🙂

After the book, we brought out a simple dinosaur puzzle. Students with fine motor difficulties took the puzzle pieces off of the board using our adapted puppy. He was made by hot gluing a shower curtain ring to his back and some velcro to his mouth. Other students took out the pieces using their hands. After taking them out, the dinosaurs were placed back on the board.

Picking up and placing the pieces back into the board addresses spatial relations and eye hand coordination.

Since the title of our book is “Dinosaurs Lived Long Ago”, we went over things that we see today versus things that were around during the age of the dinos.

The students got to pick from 2 different rows of Boardmaker symbols. Students used a communication board to request their choice by indicating “I want” and pointing to the row of pictures.

Of course, vocalizing is always encouraged as well!

Once they picked their choice, they had to cut out one of the pictures. We used adaptive scissors for the cutting.

After cutting the picture out, the students had to decide whether the picture went “here” (a picture of a neighborhood representing “now”) or “there” (a picture of a jungle representing “then”).

The “here/there” picture symbols are taken from the PIXON 50 core vocabulary communication board that we have implemented into each class at our school. For the most part, the students did really well with indicating where their picture should go.

Such smart students we have 🙂

The language access points of recognizing referent objects, pictures or symbols used in classroom activities—responding to differences in referent pictures or symbols used in routines—-and effectively communicate information using referent pictures, symbols or words. WOW!!!

And here are some of the dinosaur related words we found today—-such fun!

Join us again next week for more fun, learning and great big smiles—-Group by Group 🙂