Tag Archives: repetitive line

Feb18

Valentines Day and Letter U

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jd785

Love is in the air with a Valentines Day was the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups this week. Our Language Group looked at words that start with Letter U.

Sensory Group—Valentines Day

Our first box was bursting with valentine related items including silk rose petals, beads, garland, assorted red ribbons, paper valentines, shredded paper, candy boxes AND hearts of all sizes and materials.

This box addresses the social studies access point of associating a celebration with an event. Comparing the varying textures addresses the science access point of identifying objects by observable properties.

The valentines in the box also give the students opportunities to attend to print materials by touching and looking, which is a language access point.

Red and white was the color theme of our next box. It was just SO pretty!

Shiny hard beads to compare to soft pom poms ( identifying objects by observable properties).

Also the opportunity to match items of similar shape (spheres) (the math access point of recognizing common three-dimensional objects ) or color ( the math access point of recognizing two objects that are identical to each other).

The beads, of course, are always fun to wear and shake around 🙂

Our discovery bottles filled with glitter, assorted small hearts, and beads were so colorful and eye catching! Lots of fun to shake and look at.

These bottles address the science access points of tracking the movement of objects that are pushed or pulled.

These bottles are a lot of fun to make (and a way to recycle juice and water bottles). We hot glue the lids shut for safety but still keep a close eye on the students as they are playing with them.

Our pretty pink cloud dough was so pretty and fun with our hearts and kisses cookie cutters.

Also included was a heart shaped scoop—we had a lot of fun finding items for this week’s theme 🙂

Recognizing common objects with a two-dimensional shape (hearts) is a math access point.

We used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of cooking oil to make our cloud dough. Then we added some glitter and a couple of packages of kool-aide to get the pretty pink color. If you haven’t yet, you HAVE to make this stuff, it’s just SO COOL!!

Messy—–yes

BUT oh so worth it 🙂

Our pink and white rice is perfect for Valentines day. We put in some big glittery letters spelling the word of the day—-L O V E.

Again, an opportunity for our students to attend to print materials.

The students had so much fun either sifting their fingers through the rice (building tactile discrimination skills) or using the small spoon—–heart shaped, of course—-when we pick a theme we go all out 🙂

We mixed shaving cream and cake mix to make “chocolate mousse”. Our students were not quite sure what to make of this at first but then dived in and started exploring it. It had a nice aroma but for the most part the students refrained from sampling it.

This was a great medium to practice scribbling and prewriting patterns.

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

Messy hands were rinsed in “red hot cinnamon” scented water. We used body wash found at a clearance sale a couple of years ago and it really does smell like cinnamon scented candy!

With two different sized heart shaped measuring cups our students had so much fun scooping and pouring the liquid.

The different size cups helps address the science access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers that hold liquids.

We finished with strawberry scented lotion—- a lovely reminder of our valentines celebrations.

As lotion is rubbed on arms its a great opportunity to provide some deep touch pressure which is calming and helps build body awareness. Additionally, it encourages social interaction.

Fine Motor Group—Valentines Day

On Tuesday we started by reading all about Valentines Day in Cara’s latest book using the voice output device to read the repetitive line. Our students have been practicing giving the voice output device to their neighbor and some of them are getting quite good!

Sharing objects with a partner is a science access point.

For our art project we made some beautiful hearts using paints in Valentines colors of red, purple, and pink. By chance, 3 of the adults wore matching shirts—-so of course we worked on some color identification!

Identifying objects by one observable property is a science access point 🙂

We counted out paper hearts (discussing the shape, of course, to address the math access point of recognizing a two-dimensional shape) and after the students had written their names on them, put them into a box.

Then using a spoon, we scooped a marble out of the paint and dropped it into the box.

Scooping up those marbles and dropping them into the box was a great eye hand coordination activity!

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

The lid was closed and it was time to shake, rattle and roll.

This clear box works perfectly for the activity because you can see, as well as hear, the marbles rolling around!

We are talking major fun and excitement here 🙂

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

Using both hands to push or pick up the box addresses bilateral coordination.

TA DA!!

Pretty cool looking!

On Thursday we continued with our heart theme. We discussed the color and counted out hearts cut from red poster board.

We proceeded to decorate them with a variety of glittery craft foam stickers. Great for practicing pincer grasp skills and eye hand coordination.

If you also count the stickers—-more math,

and we love that!

TA Da!

So cute!!!!

We finished with a Valentines Party with LOTS yummy sweet cookies and cupcakes! Mealtime activities are wonderful opportunities to address social and self care skills as well as indicating a desire for “more” or “no more” which are math access points.

Of course with cupcakes and cookies, you are guaranteed lots of practice indicating a a desire for “more” 🙂

Language Group—Letter U

We started, as Usual, with Cara’s sound game.

Recognizing and responding to common sounds is a science access point.

Then we discussed different things that could be found in the Universe. We tossed around these planetary balls from our science closet and had fun trying to identify which planet they represented—and of course, got into a discussion on whether Pluto was a planet or not 🙂

Recognizing a model of a real object is a science access point.

Catching and throwing the balls addresses eye hand coordination.

We lifted Up a funnel and found some Ugly bugs!

UGH!!!

Recognizing objects related to science by name (such as animal) is a science access point.

We also Undulated around while singing along to the Ugly bug ball song 🙂

We finished by coloring an Unusual Unicorn (we found this by googling “free unicorn coloring pages”). For some of our students this is a perfect time for practicing using switches. For others who use standard coloring Utensils, it is an opportunity to practice coloring in a designated area.

Here are some of the U words we found today.

It was an Utterly (thanks to Joia, the OT intern for coming up with the activities) fun week.

Join Us again…….we will be just chilling Until next time

Group by Group!

Dec16

Winter Holidays part 2 and the Letter O

Posted on December 16, 2012 by jd785

Winter Holidays part 2 and the Letter O

Winter holidays are so much fun that we had to spend another week learning about them! We kept our same book but added different sensory boxes for and art activities for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. Our Language Group looked at words that start with the letter O.

Sensory Group—Winter Holidays Around the World

Our first box was filled with all things Christmas. We included jingle bells, Santa and Nutcracker figures, reindeer, christmas trees (felt and plastic), stars, garland, a doll sweater, and the word “HOME” all in some red paper shred …..to remind us of all those exciting packages !

Some of the items made noise, like the jingle bells and squeaky toys. The squeaky toys were VERY popular!

The students were able to explore different ways to apply force either by shaking or squeezing the items to make noise. This addresses the science access point of identifying objects that create specific sounds.

In Mexico, they celebrate Las Posadas as part of their Christmas celebrations with processions, carols, and PINATAS! At the bottom of our red, white and green rice we placed a picture of a pinata which could be uncovered as the rice was moved aside.

It was so pretty and festive looking…..

quite irresistible 🙂

Visual discrimination skills are addressed when differentiating the hidden picture from the colored rice.

We also put in 2 different sizes of measuring spoons. While playing with them our students have the opportunity to learn about capacity—differences in sizes of containers which is a math access point.

Lights, lights lights—–Hanukkah, Diwali, Las Posadas all festivals of light.

We can’t get enough of them! This week we put them in a box which reminded us of the luminaries used during Las Posadas.

This addresses the science access point of recognizing sources of light.

Straw mats, and fruits of the harvest are part of the Kwanza celebration. We used raffia in place of straw and included some ribbon printed with fruit in addition to our play food.

The ribbon was soft as compared to the rough feel of the raffia. Finding the pieces of fruit hidden amongst the ribbon and raffia addresses visual and tactile discrimination skills.

Comparing the texture of the ribbon and raffia addresses the science access point of comparing the different properties of materials.

Dropping the raffia onto the floor allowed them to address the science access point of tracking objects that fall to the ground.

If they let us know what they did…..

it addresses the science access point of indicating that an object has fallen 🙂

Bodhi celebrations often involve decorating trees with colorful beads. In this box we added lots of colorful beads and pompoms.

Sorting these objects addresses the science access point of recognizing objects by one observable property.

…….NAILED IT 🙂

Our students are just so

awesome!!!!

Our last box was filled with winter snow—at least our Florida version 🙂

We mixed some cornstarch, shaving cream and fake snow. Its about 2 boxes of cornstarch to 1 can of shaving cream. We found the idea at this website http://growingajeweledrose.com.

This stuff was so much fun, similar to cloud dough but with a little wetter feel. Totally cool— the students just loved running their fingers through it, squishing it, pushing a letter W for winter into it, or watching it as it fell down (addressing the science access point of tracking a falling object).

When molded into little “snow balls”, the math access point of recognizing a common three dimensional object.

Hands were rinsed in twisted peppermint scented body wash from Bath and Body Works. It has a really strong scent which really draws our students attention.

Measuring cups allow our students to practice scooping while addressing the math access point addressing capacity.

This student is addressing the math access point of indicating a desire for more of an action by reaching out his hands as the water is poured on them.

As this student is cupping his hands, he is also working on developing his palmer arches—nice!

The matching lotion was rubbed on hands, arms—-or the back of the neck for students who engage in a lot of oral exploration.

We present the lotion and give the students an opportunity to indicate their desire for more by facial expression, gestures, body movements or vocalizations.

Our students left the group smelling like delicious peppermint candies to help them remember all the different winter celebrations we have learned about the last 2 weeks.

Fine Motor Group—Winter Holidays Around the World

On Tuesday we started by reading Cara’s book again before starting our art project—–turning into Christmas Santa’s!

First we used our paper cutter to turn a red rectangle into a triangle. This addresses the science access point recognizing a change in an object. It also addresses the math access point of recognizing an object with a 2 dimensional shape.

To do this we had to make 2 cuts with our paper cutter. We counted the cuts—-addressing math access points again!

Then we passed out some white plates—-they were circles with the center cut out. Again, addressing the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape.

We glued the triangle hats onto the circle.

We pulled apart some fiber fill and glued a big piece onto the circle and then a smaller piece at the top of the hat.

This activity addresses spatial relationships as pieces are placed down. In addition, fine motor skills are addressed as the pieces of fiber fill are pulled apart.

Merry Christmas

HO HO HO

On Thursday we celebrated Hanukkah by making menorahs.

First we chose yellow paper for the flames.

As our students point to the color and word “yellow”, they are addressing the language access point of attending to print materials by touching, looking, or listening.

By picking up the card and handing it to an adult, they are building communication skills.

Then we tore the yellow paper into small pieces and placed them in a bowl.

Tearing the paper helps build bilateral coordination and pincer grasp skills. It also addresses the science access point of recognizing a change in an object.

Placing the pieces into the bowl addresses eye hand coordination. Deciding when we have enough addressed the math access point of solving problems involving small quantities of objects using language, such as enough, too much, or more.

We colored 8 popsicle sticks. We adapted this activity for our students by taping the sticks to a piece of cardboard (a cut up cereal box). Taping the sticks down helps to stabilize them and is easy to remove when done.

The sticks were counted……

……….Of Course!

We also used some rounded animal markers from Roseart which are easy for our students to grasp.

This activity addresses math as the sticks are counted and helps our students practice with writing tools.

We removed the tape and glued our little yellow flames to the top of our candles and placed them in our base.

The base was made from a section of a pool noodle cut in half. We also cut a slit across the top to make it easier to insert the popsicle sticks.

Fine motor skills such as eye hand coordination and pincer grasp are addressed as the “candles” are placed into the menorah.

We then added our 9th candle (pre-made by gluing 2 popsicle sticks together). This addresses the math access point recognizing when 1 item has been added to a set.

Happy Hanukkah 🙂

Language Group—Letter O

First we played Cara’s sound game and listened for some Cool O words!

Then we put put the blocks On top of each other.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship. Counting the blocks also addresses math concepts.

Eye hand coordination is also addressed in this activity.

Then we knocked the tower Over!

……Of course!

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

Needless to say, some of our students REALLY enjoyed this part of the

activity 🙂

Next we Opened a jar….

….and pulled Out One Orange pom pom.

We used a plastic peanut butter jar because it has a nice wide opening making it easier for our students hands to fit.

We adapted this activity for some of our students by pulling out the pom pom for them and then encouraging them to visually track the pom pom, addressing the science access point of tracking a moving object.

We also adapted this activity for our students who have visual impairments by encouraging them to explore the pom pom with their hands.

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

We finished by making a creature found in the Ocean!

To start, we crumpled 5 pieces of scrap paper and put them into a bag which we closed it with a rubber band. We found these blue lunch bags at Target.

We noted that the number 5 is an ODD number.

Bilateral coordination skills are addressed when crumpling the paper and placing it in the bag.

We used decorative scissors to cut some strips at the bottom of the bag.

A couple of googlie eyes added….great for working on pincer grasp skills,

and a happy smile drawn with a marker!

Ta Da—-a cute little Octopus

On a cute little student’s head 🙂

Wow, we found a lot of O words today

in our Language group.

Hope you enjoyed learning about all these winter holidays and whichever one you celebrate…

……it is filled with light and laughter.

Dec2

Native American Heritage and Letter M

Posted on December 2, 2012 by jd785

Native American Heritage and Letter M

October is Native American Heritage month and we enjoyed learning about a lot of different tribes in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. Our Language Group looked at words starting with the letter M.

Sensory Group—Native American Heritage

We started by reading Cara’s book and used the voice output device for the repetitive line. Our students really enjoyed all the pictures she found this week and they are getting so good at activating the voice output device.

This activity addresses the language access points of attending to familiar print forms and responding to a technology resource.

…..perfectly illustrated in this awesome picture—don’t you think!

Our Native American unit addresses the American History access point of recognizing characteristics of early native americans.

Different kinds of beans were a part of the diet of

the Apalachee, Cheyenne, and Cherokee tribes.

We used our mixed beans to represent some of

the different beans they ate.

We also put in the letters N and A.

Some of our students spent time examining

the letters—others dived in with both hands 🙂

Tactile discrimination skills are addressed

when sifting through the beans.

We learned that not all native american tribes wore feathers but the Sioux, Omaha, Comanchee, and Arapaho tribes are known for wearing them.

This box of colorful feathers was great fun to sift through. Our students also enjoyed picking them up and watching them drift down. Some also loved the feel of them stroking their face.

We had so much fun with this box….how can you go wrong with a box full of feathers after all! We have to admit they were a little messy and we did manage to leave a bunch of little pieces behind in each class 🙂

This box addresses the science access point of tracking a falling object. It also addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to sensory stimuli.

Animals were very important for many native

americans. The Comanchee tribe hunted

buffalo. The Navaho raised sheep.

The Arapaho wore buckskin clothing.

We used our pieces of fake fur, sheepskin

and deerskin to represent these animals.

This addresses American History access

point of identifying practices of Native

Americans. It also addresses the

science access point of using senses

(touch) to recognize objects.

Lots of different tribes were represented in our next box. We put in some corn and play food squash which the Apalachee and Ponca ate. A piece of turquoise like Zuni jewelry was also included.

Some raffia became our “swamp grass” like baskets made by the Chinook. We put in some picture cards of sheep that the Navaho raised and horses that the Comanche rode.

There was a toy buffalo–they were hunted by the Blackfoot and Cheyenne tribes. We found a little tipi like the ones the Sioux and Arapaho used (and we learned that not all native americans lived in tipis). The Seminoles are known for their beautiful patchwork so we had to include a piece of patchwork fabric that resembled their work.

We loved watching our students reactions and

preferences to the different items. We were

really excited when the student in the above

picture correctly oriented the word “family”

demonstrating his awareness of the concept

of print and how it is organized.

Other students, such as the one on the right

loved the native american music we

recorded on a voice output device placed in

the box.

Our red playdough (made using cherry koolaid) looked just like the adobe that the Pueblo made into houses. There were some cookie cutters available but a lot of our students just loved to feel the playdough squish between their fingers 🙂

Playing with the playdough is great for strengthening hand intrinsics.

As we discuss the adobe houses of the Pueblo we are addressing the american history access point of recognizing that people live together in the same location (settlement).

The discovery bottles were filled with acorn

(eaten by the Yokuts) and beads (used by

the Wampanoag, Cherokee, and Kiowa

tribes).

Of course these were fun to shake and

roll around!

By comparing the different sounds the

bottles made when shaken we

addressed the science access point of

recognizing and responding to

common sounds.

Native americans have rich oral tradition and many of their tales are still told around campfires. By adding red and yellow food coloring to our shaving cream we made colors that looked like the flames in a campfire.

So much fun to squish around!

Looking at how the shaving cream changed as the colors are mixed addresses the science access point of recognizing that the appearance of an object or material has changed.

Nature is so important to Native American culture

that we thought the Juniper Breeze scent from

Bath and Body Works was the appropriate

scent in which to rinse our hands.

As students wash the shaving cream from

their hands and apply the lotion, they are building body

awareness and improving bilateral functions.

Fine Motor Group—Native American Heritage

On Tuesday, after reading Cara’s book and learning about Native American heritage, we discussed how drums are often used in native american music. So today, for our art project, we are going to make our own drums.

First we counted out 6 tan rectangles. We ran fingers down and counted each side to help reinforce the concept of the 4 sides of the rectangle.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing the sides of a rectangle.

Then we stamped a variety of animals and plants onto our rectangles, addressing eye hand coordination.

The paper was then taped, with help, around an

oatmeal container.

Hand intrinsic functions are addressed when

applying tape to the paper.

When the project was finished, Cara placed a short video of a native american drum circle—the students LOVED it!!! They couldn’t wait to start drumming their own drums!

So cute!

This was a GREAT activity!

On Thursday, after reading Cara’s book again we made totem poles, like the Tlinglit tribe.

We had a selection of prewrapped empty cereal boxes and

students made their choice from a selection 3 colors.

Our picture cards are so helpful for reinforcing color

concepts and also for building communication

of preferences.

After the boxes were passed around (and counted, of course, to address math access points) we decorated them with a variety of markers.

This is great for practicing manipulating writing utensils by scribbling or drawing (depending on skill level) with markers.

Then we began attaching premade eyes, noses, mouths and wings. We emphasized the placement of the different parts ex. the eyes go on top, the mouth at the bottom.

We helped our students squeeze the glue and encouraged them to place their pieces on the glue. This activity addresses eye hand coordination and spatial relations.

It also addresses the math access point of matching objects to a designated space to show one to one correspondence.

Ta Da!! Our students were so proud of their

totems.

We think they look awesome 🙂

And here is our totem all put together—doesn’t it just look amazing!!!

We had so much fun counting the boxes as we stacked them (using double stick tape). Everyone got excited as it got higher and

higher!

It really looks great outside of Jeannie’s classroom.

Language Group—Letter M

We started by playing with this cute little Monkey. He laughed and rolled around when our students made noise so it was perfect for everyone including our students with physical or visual impairments.

We loved seeing our students reactions, everyone ended up with a smile on their face 🙂

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

Then we put some Money in our piggy bank.

Eye hand coordination is addressed as

the students place the coins in the slot.

Math concepts are addressed as the

coins are counted.

Next we played Cara’s sound game.

Lots of cool sounds starting with the letter M!

We finished by having a party to say goodbye to

Ms. Thea who has finished her internship

in Robins room.

Of course we Munched on some yummy food,

including these crackers that have letters

of the alphabet—-so cool!

Goodbye Ms. Thea!

We will really Miss you 🙁

We had so Much fun today!

Join us again next time,

for lots more fun

Group by Group 🙂

Nov19

Thanksgiving book

Posted on November 19, 2012 by jd785

Thanksgiving book

It’s that time of year. The turkey is in the oven, family is all around, and we show our thanks to our loved ones. After the first line is read on each page, we asked the students “when does this happen?” and they answered, using a voice output device, “on Thanksgiving day”. Of course, the book ends talking about taking a nap because after all that food, what else are you able to do?! On the “the end” page there is a little bit of animation if the book is opened up in Slideshark on the ipad. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is a link to the book: On Thanksgiving Day

Nov19

Thanksgiving and Letter L

Posted on November 19, 2012 by jd785

Thanksgiving and Letter L

It was all about Thanksgiving in our Fine and Sensory Groups this week. In our Language Group we looked at words that started with Letter L.

Sensory Group—Thanksgiving

We filled this box with play food (squash and other vegetables), turkeys and corn (popcorn kernels)—things you might find at your Thanksgiving feast. We also put in some crochet squares—like the blanket you might snuggle under after the feast!

Of course there is always a game on TV, so we had to put in a small football!

Some pilgrim and native american stickers, and feathers to remind us of the first Thanksgiving. A gift card and small box reminded us of all the shopping we might do after the big day 🙂

And finally, the words Home and Family to remind us what the holiday is all about.

We just loved the different ways our students interacted with the items in the box. In this picture, this little girl is making her turkey eat the corn—-so CUTE!!!

This student, after examining the other items,

became really intrigued by the words

—-working on his literacy, gotta love it 🙂

This box addresses a variety of access

points related to language including

attending to print materials by looking

and touching, and

communicating recognition of familiar

objects.

Our brown feather boa looked just like turkey feathers. As we discuss the fact that birds (like turkeys) have feathers, we address the science access point related to sorting animals by observable characteristics.

Of course, we are also addressing the science access point of responding to sensory stimuli! Our students love to touch and rub the feathers or watch them move about.

Draping the feathers around your neck is kind of fun also 🙂

We thought of pilgrims with our black and white box.

Big soft pompoms and small, hard beads gave us

materials to contrast, compare and count.

This addresses the science access point of

identifying objects by observable properties.

It also addresses the math access points of

recognizing a three-dimensional object (sphere),

differences in size of objects, recognizing two

objects that are the same size and/or color and

as seen in this picture—comparing quantities to 3.

The two discovery bottles reminded us of the first Thanksgiving participants. Beads for the native americans (Wampanoag) and a blue one like the ocean the pilgrims sailed across.

As the students interact with the bottles they are exploring the science access points of applying a push or pull to move an object and tracking objects as they move.

Some of our students loved shaking the bead bottle really hard to hear them rattle, others (as seen in this picture) turned them slowly, watching the beads move around.

Wrist rotation is addressed while turning the bottles in this manner.

Our next box reminded us of more yummy Thanksgiving

food! We filled it with some potato flakes.

A turkey was taped to the bottom of our next box and

could be seen when the potato flakes were

pushed aside.

We also put in the letter T for Thanksgiving—

and turkeys!

The potato flakes have an interesting texture—

soft yet slightly crunchy—-very intriguing.

Locating the letters amongst the flakes

addresses tactile discrimination.

We pushed a turkey cookie cutter into ooey gooey cranberry sauce in our next box.

And just like the response “what is this stuff” given at the Thanksgiving table to canned cranberry sauce—our students weren’t quite sure what to make of it 🙂

Interacting with the cranberry sauce addresses the science access point of responding to sensory stimuli.

Handling and manipulating the cookie cutter addresses grasp skills.

Hands were cleaned in Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin

from Bath and Body Works.

And then we rubbed the lotion on our hands to

leave the group smelling like delicious

pumpkin pies.

Rubbing the lotion on the different extremities

helps build body awareness. Of course, the

lovely aroma is there to help them build

memories of all the wonderful things we

learned today!

Fine Motor Group—Thanksgiving

On Tuesday, after reading Cara’s awesome book, we passed out these cute craft foam turkeys we found in the dollar section at target—10 for a dollar, thats a pretty good deal!

We counted our turkeys as we passed them out, addressing math access points.

Then our students picked out “gobble” sticker from a choice of 3 colors. It will be alternate assessment time before we know it so we are really trying to get as much practice as we can, choosing from an array of 3.

We decorated the turkeys with foam stickers.

Foam stickers are a little thicker than

paper ones, making them easier to grasp

for our students.

We further adapted the activity by

partially peeling off the backing. This

allowed them to work on their pincer

grasp skills.

A few feathers and a fun googlie eye completes a rather fabulous turkey….

TA DA!!!

These turkeys are almost as cute as our students 🙂

On Thursday, for our art activity we made

some pilgrim hats!

We started by cutting a small rectangle

off a strip of paper using our

adaptive scissors.

This addresses the math access point of

recognizing a 2 dimensional shape.

Then we cut out a yellow rectangle—bigger than the white one!

We glued the small rectangle onto the large rectangle.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing similarities and differences in size of common objects.

It also addresses grasp and release skills in addition to spatial relationships.

This was then glued onto the white paper strip.

Placing the pieces addresses spatial

relationships and eye hand coordination.

It always helpful to get a second opinion on

placement—to make sure you got it just

right 🙂

We set aside our paper strips and then counted out our paper plates and after writing our names, turned them over and painted them black.

The shape of the paper plates was discussed addressing the math access point of recognizing a 2 dimensional shape.

While the students were painting, their paper strips

were taped to some black cups (found in a

Halloween clearance section).

An adult made a circle of colored glue on the

plate and asked the students to put the cup on

“top” of it.

This addresses spatial concepts and eye hand

coordination.

This cute little pilgrim hat deserves a pretty big…..

TA DA!!!!!!

Language Group—Letter L

We started by Listening for L words in Cara’s sound game.

It was Lots of fun.

Then we Listened to a Little Lion roar. This toy was found

in Target’s dollar section—our favorite part of

the store 🙂

It has a button on the stomach that you push so

it is also great for addressing finger individuation

skills.

Then we strung some Large beads…a great activity for promoting bilateral skills.

For our students who are more physically impaired, we adapted the activity by putting the bead on the string and letting them pull the string “up”—-addressing spatial concepts.

After the beads were all strung we counted them, targeting math skills.

Of course we also talked about the different colors of the beads—so much learning in one little activity 🙂

Next we Lit some Lights using our Powerlink and a

switch to enable all our students to participate.

We Loved Looking at the Lights!

This activity addresses the science access

point of recognizing and responding to

sensory stimuli and the access point of

recognizing a change in an object—the lights

come on when the switch is pressed.

After Listening and Looking, we moved to smell and touch with some Lavender Lotion.

Most of our students really Loved it!

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

We finished by stamping some spots on a Leopard!

Our stamper was made by wrapping a dish

scrubber with bubble wrap (using a twist tie to

secure it).

This activity addresses eye hand coordination

and visual discrimination as students stamp

on the leopard—not the table 🙂

He’s so cute you just have to roar—Loudly!

That was our Last activity, we did a Lot more than usual today!

There was a Lot of fun and Laughter in our Language group today! Here are some of

the L words we found.

We had a great week and hope you join us again after Thanksgiving for more fun, Group by Group!

Gobble gobble 🙂

Nov5

Fall book

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jd785

Fall book

The leaves are changing colors, the temperature is getting a little cooler, and fall is here! (Unless you live in Florida where the leaves don’t quite turn a different color 🙂 ) The repetitive line for this book is actually a question that is the first line on each page. The students took turns asking the question, “What do we see during fall?” Although we don’t necessarily have the typical autumn, the students enjoyed looking at the pictures of the seasonal change. They also enjoyed feeling the cool breeze from a hair dryer set on cool as well as the plastic fall leaves we had them hold.

Here is a link to the book: What Do We See During Fall

Nov5

Fall and Letter J

Posted on November 5, 2012 by jd785

Fall and Letter J

It got a little chilly this week, perfect for talking about Fall in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups! In our Language Group we learned about words starting with Ms. Joy’s favorite letter—J. We hope you are enjoying seeing our students—we think they are awfully cute 🙂 One of our teachers, Ms. Bennett, has been projecting the blog onto a big screen and her students have been having so much fun looking for their pictures.

Sensory Group—Fall

Jumping into a pile of leaves…….AKA the sensory room ball pit!

Is this fun or what!

Our students love both jumping into and burying themselves in the colorful balls. So much wonderful vestibular and proprioceptive input to help build body awareness!

This also helps address the science access point of recognizing one or more external body parts as we discuss which parts of their body are covered by the balls.

Now, back to the classroom…..

We started with Cara’s book, as usual, and

when we got to the page about the wind

blowing the leaves we turned on the hair

dryer (on “cool” setting of course). Each

student got a chance to hold the leaves

and feel the “wind”. They all loved it!

Lots of smiles all around 🙂

This activity addresses the science

access point of indicating awareness of

air moving.

More leaves in our next box, along with a variety of fall related items. We put in a small football, scarecrows, squirrels, playfood apples and hamburgers (for tailgating at those football games), pine cones, pieces of yarn in fall colors, and LOTS of silk leaves. A lovely assortment of textures to feel and examine.

Finding objects in the box involves both visual and tactile discrimination skills.

This box also addresses the science access point of recognizing that plants have leaves.

Our colorful pom pom yarn was so much fun.

It reminds us of nice warm sweaters that we

wear when it starts to get chilly outside!

We found this yarn at Michaels.

Its wonderfully soft and fun to pull apart

addressing bilateral skills.

It also addresses the science access point

of recognizing clothing worn by humans

in different weather (seasons)

Of course, its so great for draping over

and around you like a scarf or hat.

This, of course, addresses the access point of giggling at least once daily 🙂

A box of assorted dried beans made us think

of some yummy warm soup on a cool

autumn evening. Our students love to bury

their hands into the beans as well as

empty and fill the different containers.

You have to love the two fisted approach

shown here 🙂

This addresses the math access point of

recognizing differences in sizes of

containers (capacity).

Here in the south, fall means FOOTBALL! We put in some pom poms, mardi gras beads and shakers in the colors of our favorite teams. Our students LOVED the shakers—they were a huge hit.

Most of them even ignored the mardi gras beads in favor of the the shakers—and the beads are usually a favorite!

This box addresses the science access point of recognizing an action as fast or slow.

Our cornflakes sounded just like dried leaves.

Wonderfully noisy, our students had a great

time with this box.

A few did try to sample

the “leaves’ but for the most part they just

enjoyed smashing and crunching them.

This activity addresses the science access

point of recognizing and responding to

common sounds.

Cool weather means warm breakfasts…like oatmeal!

We searched for the letter F as we sifted through it. A delightful tactile experience.

You can’t really see it in this picture, but a piece of paper with leaves was taped to the bottom of the box to be found as the oatmeal is cleared away. With these boxes being clear, we can tape pictures to the bottom of the box thus being seen without getting torn up as students explore the contents.

Our own little genius moment 🙂

Fall means camping and campfires—and

that means s’mores! Yum Yum!

Our oobleck looks

just like melted marshmallow don’t

you think?

As the oobleck changes from a solid

to a liquid this addresses the science

access point of recognizing that the

appearance of an object or material

has changed.

Always fascinating!

Fall is also apple picking time and our Country Apple scent from Bath, and Body Works was the perfect scent to help us remember all the wonderful things we did today.

Smell is an important memory trigger, so we always end our group with some aromatic water and lotion activities.

Fine Motor Group—Fall

Fall is our theme so OF COURSE on Tuesday

we had to make a colorful tree! First we

passed our our rectangular pieces of paper

and practiced writing our names on the

back. Then we used our assorted

adaptive scissors to snip colorful pieces

of paper. What a great way to practice our

emergent cutting skills.

This also addresses the math access point

of recognizing a common object with a

two-dimensional shape.

The colorful paper pieces were dipped into glue and placed onto the tree.

Those tiny pieces of paper are just perfect for facilitating a pincer grasp. In addition, eye hand coordination and spatial relationships are addressed in this activity.

What a fabulous colorful fall tree!

TA DA!!!

Love how the artist added his

own touch by crumpling

some of the pieces to add

more dimension.

Pure genius!

On Thursday, after reading Cara’s book again, we made some cute little scarecrows.

First we used our adaptive scissors or paper cutters to cut 4 strips of yellow paper.

This addresses the math access point of using quantities to 4.

As the paper cutters are shared with classmates, the students address the science access point of sharing objects with a partner—-sharing and taking turns is a very important skill!

We said we needed 4 strips…

Here is 1!

They need to look just

like this 🙂

The science access

point of recognizing a

change in an object is

addressed here.

We glued them to a round white paper plate and……

…..added a precut brown hat.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing common objects with two-dimensional shapes.

Next came an orange triangle nose and 2 googlie eyes!

More math access points!

TA DA—done without any assistance…..

pure AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!

These little scarecrows are ready for duty….

…..you crows out there better watch out 🙂

Language Group—-Letter J

We started with Cara’s sound game.

It had some really cute sounds this week.

This activity addresses the science access point of recognizing and responding to common sounds.

We helped Tigger…..

Jump!

This addresses the

math access point of

recognizing a

movement that reflects

a spatial relationship.

Then we unscrewed a Jar…….

……to find a Jungle animal.

Unscrewing the jar addresses bilateral coordination and wrist rotation.

We finished by making Jingle bell Jewelry!

Threading the pipe cleaner through the bell addresses bilateral skills.

Counting the bells also allows for the opportunity to address more math access points—-and we love that.

Jazzy and Jingly….totally fun don’t you think! These were a total hit with our students, they really loved shaking their arms and listening to the bells.

We loved finding all those cool J words today!

Join us again next week for more fun and learning—–Group by Group 🙂

Oct28

It’s Pumpkin Time book

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jd785

It’s Pumpkin Time book

It’s that time again…Pumpkin time! Our book goes over October 31st and all of the things that we see and do. The students were asked “what time is it?” when it was their turn to read the repetitive line with the pre-programmed voice output device. They loved looking at the different costumes that are seen as well as all of the different jack o’lanterns.

Here is a link to the book: It’s Pumpkin Time!

Oct28

Pumpkin Time and Letter I

Posted on October 28, 2012 by jd785

Pumpkin Time and Letter I

Pumpkin Time was the theme for this weeks Sensory and Fine Motor Groups. Our Language Group learned about words starting with the letter I.

Sensory Group—Pumpkin Time

Our orange themed box was a huge hit, our students loved it!

We filled it with a variety of textures such as yarn, tulle, and fabric scraps. We also put in some play food oranges, carrots, and a variety of pumpkins including bean bag and kitchen scrubber ones.!

Shiny beads, soft pompoms and chenille stems added some more contrasting textures. Plastic stretchy tubes were fun to pull apart and added a fun auditory component. And finally some beads, puzzle pieces, toys—

——all with that lovely bright ORANGE color.

So much fun to grab and shake!

Did we say our students LOVED this box? 🙂

‘

This box addresses the Language access

point of responding to familiar objects

and the science access point of

comparing and contrasting

properties of materials.

This little fish shoots puffs of air

when squeezed—–fun 🙂

Of course if you have an orange box, you have to contrast it with a black one. Lots of textured items from headbands, toy bats and furry fabric to window screening and Mr. Potato Head pieces (like his black hat and mustache).

There were a lot of opportunities for promoting bilateral coordination with our stretchy tubes and slinky spirals.

When pulling these items, the science access point of recognizing that pushing or pulling an object makes it move is addressed.

These boxes also address the science access point of exploring, observing, and recognizing common objects in the natural world.

And, of course, if there are sunglasses and

beads in a box, they HAVE to be put on!

Our students can totally rock a

pair of glasses, don’t you think 🙂

As students place objects on and off

themselves they are building body

awareness and spatial concepts.

Continuing our orange and black theme we brought back our black playdoh for one more time!

Its just so sparkly and squishable.

Our cat cookie cutter let us make a bunch of cute black cats.

In addition to addressing the fine motor skills playing with playdough also addresses the science access point of of recognizing a change in an object.

Pumpkin pie spice was added to our orange playdough

and made it smell wonderful.

It was perfect for our pumpkin cookie cutter.

We had a few students who tried to sample the

playdough but for the most part, everyone played

with it appropriately.

The shapes cut out can also be counted as

addressing math access points.

Our orange rice with black beans is just so eye catching—you can’t help putting your hands into it! Fun to practice scooping and also to search for the letter P…..

and a little wooden pumpkin.

Scooping and filling using measuring cups and spoons helps address the math access point of recognizing differences in sizes of containers (capacity).

Fine motor skills of grasp and eye hand coordination are also addressed.

We filled our discovery bottles with karo syrup,

orange food coloring, orange beads, black

glitter and some black cat confetti. Hot

glue does a great job of making sure

they can’t be opened—-some of the

students have very busy little hands 🙂

Following the moving objects addresses

the science access point of tracking

objects in motion.

Finger painting in canned pumpkin puree (decorated with black icing)—what could be more gooey, squishy fun in which to practice prewriting patterns 🙂

Still, it was also wet and a little cold so some of our students who are more tactile defensive dove in a little more slowly.

We rinsed our hands and finished with pumpkin

scented lotion from Bath and Bodyworks.

Everybody left smelling just like yummy

pumpkin pies!

A nice strong scent to help everyone

remember all the wonderful things we

learned today.

Fine Motor Group—Pumpkin Time

Body Sox in the sensory room—-OR an alien visitor? Hmmm

The body sox are so much fun and great for getting some nice proprioceptive input from their stretchy resistance.

On Tuesday after returning to the classroom and listening to Cara’s book we let our students choose a mask. Joy found the masks in a $2 grab bag at Michaels—what a deal! Our students chose from a selection of 3 masks—giving them an opportunity to make choices out of a array of 3 which compares to the format of our state alternate assessment.

Taking the markers out of the bags gave us an opportunity to practice working with zippers. A chenille stem (sturdier than a piece of yarn) makes it easier for some of our students to pull.

Putting the markers in and out of the bag addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

We used markers to color the masks. Scribbling and coloring are important steps in the prewriting continuum. During the activity we made sure to discuss the colors students chose and the different facial features.

Then we tried them on for size….

On Thursday we read Cara’s book again. Our students had just worn costumes and gone trick or treating at our community health department so it was a real opportunity to address the language access point of communicating recognition of familiar objects.

On to our art project!

We counted out 7 pieces of rectangular, black paper and then 7 potatoes carved to look like little jack-o-lanterns. Each time we count out our materials we are helping develop one to one correspondence.

We took time to look at the potatoes and discuss the face carved into them.

This activity helps build hand grasp skills and eye hand coordination. This potatoes have a little weight to them which gives some nice additional proprioceptive feedback.

How many pumpkins did you stamp? We used our number flip chart to help our students address the math access point of one to one correspondence.

Ta-Da!

Language Group—Letter I

We listened for some I words in

Cara’s sound game.

Next we Inserted legs………Into our Insect.

We used the little bugs from the Cootie game for this activity.

This is a great activity for building bilateral coordination!

Our little Insect Isn’t Icky at all…..

Is he 🙂

We picked up Iguanas with our tongs and put them In a bowl.

Manipulating tongs helps build graded motor control which is necessary to manipulate scissors.

In addition, placing the objects into the bowl addresses eye hand coordination and spatial relationships.

Ivan helped out our students who were unable to manipulate

the tongs.

We adapted him using velcro and a shower curtain ring!

We finished by making down lines (just like the

initial stroke of a letter I) on our Iglo0.

We used our adapted toy for our students who

needed switch access

to participate.

It wasn’t so easy finding I words today but we managed to come up with quite a few of them, didn’t we?

Join us again next week its going to be fun…..

Group by Group 🙂

Oct22

Space and Letter H

Posted on October 22, 2012 by jd785

Space and Letter H

This week we blasted off into space with our Sensory and Fine Motor groups. Our Language Group looked at the letter H. It was an extra-special week for us with visitors who came from Jackson County to tour our school and see our groups.

Sensory Group—Space

We practiced throwing and catching our planet spheres in the sensory room. These soft balls came from a science kit and were wonderful fun for throwing around as well as comparing sizes.

After coming back to the classroom we read Cara’s book about space and got started on our sensory boxes.

We brought back our black playdough with additional blue and silver glitter to make our galaxy. It was sooo cool looking. The picture just doesn’t do it justice!

We cut crescent and star shapes with our cookie cutters.

This addresses the math access point of recognizing objects with two dimensional shapes.

This box was filled with black beans which looked just like deep dark space. We put in an astronaut, spaceship puzzle piece, a strand of tinsel stars, star cookie cutters and a small globe. For some zodiac symbols we included a toy goat, little plush crab, bull puzzle piece—well ok, a cow, but it had horns 🙂

And how about the big footprint—almost like Neil Armstrong’s!

This box gave us lots of things to discuss, addressing the language arts access point of responding to new vocabulary.

These battery operated lights looked just like twinkling little stars and students were really fascinated.

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

Our galaxy in a bottle was also intriguing to our students. We borrowed it from Ms. Bennett.

She made it with karo syrup, food coloring, glitter and beads. The beads move around as the bottle is tilted back and forth giving opportunities for visual tracking, addressing the science access point of tracking objects in motion.

Planets are sphere shaped and that’s what we explored in this box. The beads are cube shaped so it gave us a chance to contrast them with our sphere shaped pom poms. Also the beads are hard and the pompoms are soft—other properties to compare and identify by one observable property.

Red and yellow food coloring was added to shaving cream to make it look just like the flames from rocket ships.

One nice benefit of the foam is that it will

stick to vertical surfaces while

practicing pre-writing patterns!

Astronaut food! Who can forget that weird dehydrated stuff in the foil packets 🙂 We thought our Bubber looked just like it. Bubber is REALLY cool stuff, crumbly but moldable but sticky.

We’re not sure who liked it better—the students or the staff 🙂

If you look closely you can see a picture of the planet Mars we taped to the bottom of our box.

We used lavender scent in our water and lotion this week. Since the best time to see space is late at night when its time for bed, we thought it was appropriate 🙂

Lavender is a fairly strong distinctive scent and was especially aromatic in the lotion.

Our students really responded to it.

Thanks Ms. Jen for the donation!

Our blue rice and green split peas represented our planet earth—- for lots of scooping and sifting fun.!

There are some number 8 (there are 8 planets in our solar system) puzzles pieces hidden in there also.

Fine Motor Group—Space

On Tuesday, after reading Cara’s book we passed out our pre-made rocket bases (made with poster board feet placed into slits in the bottom of a toilet paper roll). Besides counting them out, as we usually do, we pointed out that their shape was a cylinder addressing the math access point of recognizing a 3 dimensional shape.

Next we counted out our cones and asked our students to “put the cone on top of the cylinder”.

EVERYBODY did such a fantastic job, we were so proud of them!

This activity addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship.

We put on our paint shirts while an adult hot glued the rocket pieces together.

Then we chose which color to paint the rocket.

We gave our students 3 choices to give them practice making choices in the format of our alternate assessment.

Everyone had a great time painting their rockets, giving them practice controlling writing utensils.

As the students hold onto the rocket, bilateral skills are also addressed.

images Our rocket needs a captain! A little

glue in just the right spot…

their picture added……

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,………..

……………..Blast off!!!

To infinity and beyond 🙂

On Thursday we looked at this really

cool lighted moon while we

listened to Cara’s book and then

made our own full moon!

First we poured glue into shaving

cream ……

and took turns stirring it…….

………until it was all

mixed together.

Then we counted out a

round paper plate for

each student making sure

to point out the shape of the plate.

We used our hands to paint our mixture onto the paper plates.

Our students loved this stuff, its so wonderfully goopy!

TA DA—-our full moon.

The glue and shaving cream mixture dries just like puffy paint–

—-so COOL!

The science access point of recognizing

a change in an object is

addressed here.

Language Group—Letter H

We switched things up a bit this week and STARTED with Cara’s sound game. Lots of fun sounds to listen for!

Then we Harpooned some sea creatures.

Our Harpoon was a little Heavy, so some of our students needed Help to Hoist their catch.

We found lots of animals—- but no Hammerhead sharks.

This activity is great for building shoulder stability and eye hand coordination.

Next we used our Hands to hold some

Halloween finger puppets.

When placed on fingers, these puppets help address finger individuation.

We finished by cutting some strips

of brown construction paper.

We drew some lines as a guide

to cut along.

Some students used scissors and

others used our paper cutters.

Our strips became spikes for our

Happy Hedgehog.

Placing the strips addresses eye hand coordination in addition to spatial

relations.

A lot of fun H words!

Between our visitors and

our groups—

what a fabulous week!

Hope you come back,

Group by Group 🙂

On a final note, please take a look at our comments section. Peggy Hundley Spitz OTR has offered a discount if you mention Group by Group when you place an order at her site OTtoGo.