Tag Archives: voice output device

Italian Heritage Month book

Italian Heritage Month book

This month is Italian Heritage Month!  This weeks book is a little bit different than the previous books in that the repetitive line is the first line on each page.  We asked the students, “what do you do?” to which the repetitive line says, “I celebrate Italian Heritage Month”.  Each of the lines following the repetitive line says something people can do to celebrate Italian Heritage Month such as eating pizza and wearing red, white and green (the colors of Italy’s flag).  It was really interesting in the fine motor group when one of the students waited to hear the line leading up to the repetitive line like we typically do since he wasn’t used to presenting the repetitive line first!

imagesHere is a link to the book:  I Celebrate Italian Heritage month

Italian Heritage Month and the Letter G

Italian Heritage Month and the Letter G

It was all about red, white, and green—the colors of the Italian flag— in our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups! In our Language Group we looked at words that start with the letter G.

Sensory Group—Italian Heritage

imagesCara’s book helped us learn about Italian heritage. Our students did such a great job activating the voice output device to read the repetitive line. With the switch we are working on timing of the hit and activating it just one time.

This addresses the access point of responding to familiar print media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOur color boxes were filled with assorted red things Joy collected around the OT room.

We included beads (large ones to avoid choking hazards, of course), chenille stems, pom poms, a big bow from a valentine wreath, package ties, finger puppets etc.

You name it—if it was the right color, it went into the box 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

imagesHmmm—-this looks interesting 🙂

The main idea of these boxes is to encourage exploration to compare and contrast the differing properties of materials and our students were definitely intrigued!

Most students dove into every box exploring the contents with equal enthusiasm. A few students, however, either did not engage or became overly excited with one of the color boxes. It appeared that the particular color was either over or under stimulating to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesBeads are always a favorite……and, of course, if beads are in a box—you have to put them on!

These boxes address a number of science access points, including identifying objects by one observable property and recognizing objects as the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe practiced scooping with our mix of red, white, and green beans. They were so pretty and colorful.

As the cup is filled, the math access point of recognizing the differences in the capacity of containers is addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesA large letter I was placed in our rice mix —-more red, white, and green of course!

We also taped an Italian flag to the bottom of the box—a little

surprise to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe added red pepper flakes and green oregano to our playdough to continue our colorful theme. It also had the added bonus of adding an interesting aroma.

We used our heart shaped cookie cutter—-because we LOVE Italy 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

imagesRed and green glitter made our oobleck sparkle!

 

We practiced our pre-writing designs making

vertical strokes.

Most excellently done in

this picture, as you can see 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe rinsed our hands in grape scented lotion. They grow lots of yummy grapes in Italy!

Then we finished with some vanilla sugar lotion so we could leave the group smelling like delicious cannolis—yum yum 🙂

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

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Italian Heritage

imagesWe rode on some “gondolas” in the sensory room.

Our bolster swing is a huge favorite with our students and a really fun way to work on sitting balance!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesAfter the sensory room we returned to the classroom to read Cara’s book and begin our art project.

We counted out 8 pieces of paper and wrote our names on the back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesEach time we count out our pieces of paper we are working on the math access point of identifying quantities.

Today we are doing spaghetti (well actually string, ha ha) painting.

We asked our students to choose which color they wanted to paint with first…..

…..sometimes its hard to make that choice 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we dipped our strings into the paint

and got to work!

This activity addresses eye hand

coordination.

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTa Da!

…….Red,

……………white,

…………………and green!

Gotta love that smile 🙂

 

 

 

 

imagesOn Thursday we made some pizza pies!

We counted out our paper plates and then used red markers to color some

red pizza sauce. A variety of markers were used including these

pipsqueak markers from Crayola.

Our students are spending more time engaged with scribbling and

we are very excited about their progress!

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTime to add the cheese—-some shredded yellow paper  which looked pretty realistic so we did have to remind some of them that it was paper :).

Eye hand coordination skills are addressed during this activity. Also, strengthening is addressed while squeezing the glue onto the plate.

The math access point of indicating a desire for more of an object is addressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesCan’t forget the pepperoni!

Our circle cutters work great for making perfect pepperoni pieces and our students really like using them.

Identifying a 2-dimensional shape is a math access point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images-140Each student counted how many pieces of pepperoni they put on their pizza.

This addressed the math access point of showing one-to-one correspondence.

Time for some pizza.

YUM! YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—-Letter G

images-20We used our thumbs to Guide our dog.

Go dog Go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we Gathered some Green Grapes using our tongs to

Grab them.

Got to count them as well, to address math access

points:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext we Glued 2 black foam circle eyes and 1 black oval mouth on a paper plate.

The texture of the foam was very helpful for our student with a visual impairment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images-2Then we tore some paper streamers,

Glued them on to the back of the plate to make a……

Ghost!

Good job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe played Cara’s sound game and listened for some G sounds.

Great fun!

And we finished by looking at some of the

G words we found today.

What an awesome week! Please come

back again, Group by Group.

Habitat book

Habitat book

The Unique theme this month is habitats, so we decided to base our sensory and fine motor groups on different kinds of animal habitats.  After “reading” the title of the book with a voice output device, we went through some of the different animals in varying habitats.  We asked the question “where are habitats?” before the students answered “habitats are everywhere” using the voice output.  It was so neat to look at the pictures and then have the habitats to explore in our sensory group and the students really enjoyed themselves.

Here is a link to the book: Habitats Are Everywhere

(Here is an extra book that I had written last year but does not have a repetitive line.  It’s a rhyming book that also goes over animals and their habitats: Habitat Sweet Habitat )

Animal Habitats and the Letter F

Animal Habitats and the Letter F

This week our Language Group looked at words that start with the letter F. Our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups learned about animal habitats which tied into this month’s Unique Curriculum theme.

Sensory Group—Animal Habitats

UnknownWe started out in the rainforest. Joy twist tied some green garland, curling ribbon, and twisted paper strips to a black umbrella to make the rainforest “canopy”. We added jungle sounds to a voice output device, a water mister, and a stuffed monkey.

Simple idea but very effective—our students were enchanted! We prompted them to activate the voice output device then brought the rainforest over their heads. They got soooo excited when it was their turn!

Pressing the voice output device after cessation of the sounds addresses the math access point of indicating a desire for more of an action or object.

images-200Had to put another picture in…. our students are just so cute!

We couldn’t get the shot but she was using the monkey to

activate the voice output device—could that be any

more adorable 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesFrom the rainforest to the arctic tundra!

We used about 5 boxes of instant tapioca granules which look just like snow crystals. They have an interesting, slightly coarse feel. We put in a polar bear and some white felt bunnies which blended into the background—just like they do in the arctic! Our letter A’s being different colors really contrasted well.

This box addresses visual discrimination skills. It also addresses the math access point of one to one correspondence—counting 2 bunnies and 1 polar bear.

 

 

 

 

 

images-204Our desert box had the letter D, sand, rocks, snakes,

scorpions, and lizards.

Again lots of opportunities to count things and to

compare the different properties of the

soft sand and hard rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThe forest/woodland box was filled with pine cones,leaves and moss. Since it was a larger box we put in a large letters F and W, along with a variety of little animals to find hidden in it.

Using the finger puppets addresses bilateral coordination as the student places them on their fingers and also finger individuation as they animate the animals.

Comparing the differing colors of the leaves and differing textures the other materials addresses the science access point of comparing objects by observable properties.

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe looked at a soil habitat next (using our coffee grounds for the dirt).

Its strong aroma immediately engages the students! It contained

some spiders, bugs, worms, and centipedes.

Our students loved running their fingers through the soil

and glimpsing the word “soil” taped to the bottom of the box.

Of course, it was also so much fun to pick up and examine all the different bugs to be found hidden in the soil.

Pincer grasps are promoted when picking up the small animals and math access points are addressed when counting them.

 

 

 

 

Unknown-6Green jello made an excellent swamp habitat for our frogs

and gators!

The cold jello added another sensory dimension and

allowed us to discuss the science access point of

recognizing materials as warm or cold and also the

science access point of recognizing objects that are

identical to each other when counting the frogs.

 

 

 

 

imagesSome students were a little hesitant to touch this cold and wet material….

…..but others dived right in 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesHands were rinsed in our pond habitat. We used

“Into the Wild” body wash from Bath and

Bodyworks—it seemed perfect for our habitat

theme!

Grasping skills were promoted while

reaching for the floating fish or ducks.

In addition, one to one correspondence and the

concepts of large and small which are math

access points.

 

 

 

imagesWe finished with some banana scented lotion (yes banana scented lotion, can you believe it!) we found at World Market.

Our students loved the aroma and feeling it rubbed on their arms—or back of the neck, for students who do a lot of hand exploration.

A lovely scent to help us remember all the wonderful animal habitats we visited today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Animal Habitats

images

We started as usual by reading Cara’s book and using the voice output device to help read the repetitive line.

On Tuesday we jumped like rainforest monkeys in the sensory room.

What a fun way to get some proprioceptive and vestibular input which is so important for our students to help build body awareness and gross motor skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we came back to the classroom and began our

art project—-paper plate fish!

We counted out our plates as they were handed out

and we discussed the plates color (white) and

circular shape.

Then we cut out a triangle shape using our adaptive

scissors. Discussing the different shapes addresses

the math access point of recognizing

two-dimensional shapes.

 

 

 

images-7Joy twist tied some bubble wrap to handled pot scrubbers (these things make the best adaptive art tools) and we stamped our fish—lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we added one great big googlie eye!

Pincer grasp, finger isolation skills are

addressed here in addition to visual

spatial relations and math concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTA DA! Ok, we realize you don’t really see the fish but this was such a great picture we had to put it in. Their TA DA moment if very important to our students as you can see 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOn Thursday we made some turtles.

We started by counting out our poster board turtles and then our

egg carton shells—working on the math access point of rote

counting yet again 🙂

We asked our students to put the shells ON TOP of the turtles,

addressing spatial concepts and eye hand

coordination.

 

 

 

While the adults hot glued the shells to the bodies, our students put on their paint shirts—working on dressing skills.

 

 

imagesThen we painted the little turtles. Using the brushes

gives our students practice with writing tools and

addresses eye hand coordination.

They really got into this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesIsn’t this awesome, our own little pond habitat—

we LOVE it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter F

imagesFirst we used our Fingers to operate the Fan—-

which blew air into our Faces.

Can you see that dimple, just too cute 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we Found Five Fish with different Features.

YIKES, we didn’t get a picture of all the fish but to give you an idea: a Fantail one from a Fishing game, a Fat ball shaped one, a Felt one, a water squirter that blew Fresh air.

We dropped them into a Fishbowl, addressing eye hand coordination and the math access point of rote counting.

Our Favorite was the Fidgity Fish —it vibrated!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesLots of sounds were Found while playing

Cara’s latest sound game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe had a Fiesta to say Farewell to

Ms. Robin’s Fabulous intern Julie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesAnd Finished by using a Funnel to help

get the salsa back in the jar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesSome of the F words we Found today!

Join us again for more fun and learning next week, Group by Group.

Hispanic Heritage Month Book

Hispanic Heritage Month Book

This week we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by looking at different people and things which have been created by people in the Hispanic culture.  While reading the book, the question “what should we do?” was asked to the students to which they responded with the voice output device, “celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month”.  We had a fun time looking at all of the different colorful pictures, especially the food picture.  Ironically, on one of the days of our group, the cafetoria had quesadillas!  Muy bien!

Here is a link to the book: Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage and Letter E

Hispanic Heritage and Letter E

UnknownHola, everyone! This week our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups celebrated hispanic heritage month. Our Language Group looked at words that start with letter E.

Sensory Group—Hispanic Heritage

Cara’s book focused on many aspects of hispanic culture including famous people with hispanic heritage. Our students loved it!

UnknownHispanic culture is so colorful and so was our

first box! We filled it with flowers and paper

streamers just like a fiesta. We also put some

plastic fruit to remind us of Cesar Chavez

who fought for farm workers rights. We

put in Dora the Explorer stickers, magnets

from places with hispanic names, a gavel for

Sonia Sotomayer a supreme court judge, and a voice output device with a snippet of one of Selena Gomez songs. So many cool things to talk about. In addition to the wonderful opportunities to increase language this box addresses the social studies access point of recognizing people from diverse backgrounds make contributions.

 

 

 

 

imagesSevero Ochoa won the Nobel prize for synthesizing RNA (riboneucleic acid). These springs (found at the junk store) looked similar to its shape.

As these springs move around they are very eye catching and look at this smile—beautiful 🙂

This box addresses the science access point of tracking objects up and down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOur next box contained cornmeal which reminded

us of yummy foods  like tacos and tortilla chips.

This stuff is so much fun to sift and run fingers

through and discover  the letter H for hispanic

heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownAnother nod to hispanic cuisine with our box of dried pinto beans. This box gives our students a wonderful opportunity to practice their scooping skills…..

images….and develop tactile discrimination as the

individual beans touch their fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOscar de la Renta uses fabric to make beautiful clothes. This box had lots of different textures to compare and contrast. Some of our students used them to make their own fashion statements 🙂

We placed pairs of fabrics in the box to address the access point of recognizing objects that are identical to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownSome dried lentils in a water bottle made a wonderful

noisy maraca.

Bilateral functions are addressed as

the students move the bottle from hand to hand.

We have found that hot glueing the lid prevents

accidents 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownWe made some finger paint to honor painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

We used a free coloring page and let our students explore the interesting texture. So much fun to squish around! The difference between the dry paper and the wet finger paint helps our students with the access point related to distinguishing between objects that are wet and objects that are dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we rinsed our hands in grape scented water—

remembering  Delores Huerta who co-founded

the National Farm Workers Association.  We

used some inexpensive bubble bath from the

dollar store and it had a really strong scent to

which our students really responded.

 

 

 

 

UnknownWe finished with some orange scented lotion and discussed Spain where many hispanic ancestors came from. As we rubbed the lotion on their hands, our students were given the opportunity to indicate a desire for more or no more addressing math access points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Hispanic Heritage

imagesOn Tuesday we practiced hitting the pinata (hanging bolster)  in the sensory room—what a great activity for bilateral coordination and crossing midline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe had  so much fun with the maraca in our

sensory group and we had to make more!

We started by picking out ONE egg—

addressing one to one correspondence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we scooped ONE scoop of dried beans into our egg. Holding the egg with one hand and scooping with the other addresses bilateral functions.

What a nice job shown in this picture, although most of our students needed some help….. And in case you are wondering, not all our students stopped at one—a couple dove in with both hands and beans went flying everywhere 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThe adults placed masking tape around the egg then

taped on two plastic spoons—which we counted

out, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext we colored the eggs with markers to make them bright and colorful.

TaDa—these were a HUGE hit. The students loved

shaking them and laughing as we tried singing

La Cucaracha.

We had the best time 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we made some ponchos out of grocery bags (we saw this on the Family Fun website). We precut the opening for the head and the slits up the sides and then had our students practice writing their names on the back.

imagesThen we flipped them over and began decorating the ponchos. We used Crayola’s pipsqueak markers which are easy for our little hands to hold.

We used our adaptive scissors to make fringe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesMaking multiple cuts addresses the math access

point of recognizing the next step in a sequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images-302Completely awesome poncho,

don’t you think!

Can our students possibly get any cuter 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter E

imagesWe brought back our Edible cornmeal and had fun tracing the letter E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we strung some Enormous beads—-two beads

for Each student!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext we Explored the contents of this bag…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images…..and Extracted an

Elephant!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTime to decorate an Egg. We used Eggplant colored Elbow macaroni—giving us an Excellent opportunity to work on our pincer grasp.

And here it is …….

an Elegant Egg!

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesEverybody got an opportunity to play Cara’s sound game….so Exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe finished as usual by looking at some of the wonderful

E words we found today.

Adios for now, join us next week Group by Group!

Pirates and the Letter D

Pirates and the Letter D

Our theme was Pirates for our Sensory and Fine Motor groups and our Language Group looked at the letter D. We had so much fun with the pirate theme and everyone got into the action—even Jeannie

UnknownOur own pirate queen 🙂

Sensory Group—Pirates

Unknown-2Ahoy matey’s there be pirates, arrgg 🙂 After reading Cara’s book we looked at our first box. It was filled with so much fun pirate stuff. We put in a bunch of “parrot” feathers,

an eye patch, hook, black pompoms, a shipwreck……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown-7(left from a long gone aquarium), spanish moss,

and a variety of pirate figures including

Winnie the Pooh!

And one more super cute picture

—-how could we possibly resist 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

pirate xX marks the spot in our moon sand!

The moon sand is quite dense and you have to press fairly hard to get an impression, work on hand intrinsic strengthening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images-10A weighted ball made a great stand in for a cannon

ball (and was fairly close to life size). Lots of rope

on pirate ships so we had to add some of course!

Concepts of heavy and light were explored in this

box. This addresses math access points including

recognizing common 3 dimensional objects

(spheres) and comparing the weight of objects.

 

 

 

 

images-11We taped a treasure map and some gold coins to the bottom of this box then filled it with some black beans. This addresses cause/effect—as the beans are moved, the coins appear.

In addition, numeric concepts are addressed as the coins are counted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe continued to talk about the color black with our

pirate playdough. We used lots of black food

coloring to get the color right, then added some

sparkly pirate gold glitter. It was just so COOL

looking! Pressing the bone shaped cookie cutter

addresses hand strengthening.

 

 

 

images-8Treasure found (gold mardi gras beads)!  We found this old “treasure chest” that was perfect. The gold beads were so eye catching and so much fun to grab one— or a handful, arggg 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe put some tonic water and a little green food

coloring into our oobleck to make some

swamp water.

Then we turned the lights out, brought out

the black light—-GLOWING swamp water!

This addresses the science access point of

recognizing that the appearance of an object

or material has changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we rinsed our hands in some Bath and Body Works Ocean scented water and rubbed our hands with the lotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—Pirates

imagesOn Tuesday we read Cara’s book and then made some pirate hats! We used our paper cutters to cut out white squares. We discussed that we had to cut 4 sides.

This activity addresses the math access point of recognizing a common object with a two dimensional shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownWe stamped a pirate symbol onto the square. Joy

made the stamp by cutting a skull and cross

bones out of thick craft foam. She used double

stick tape to attach it to a pot scrubber from the

dollar store. It makes a great adaptive art tool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe counted out our pre-made hats (simply drawn and cut out of craft paper then stapled together). Adults drew glue squares onto the hats and asked the students to put their pirate emblem on top of it.

This addresses eye hand coordination and the math access point of matching one object to a designated space to show one-to-one correspondence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesCADV2CCGimagesCAC7US5VTa Da—3 really cute pirates!

2Aren’t they just ADORABLE:)

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOn Thursday we practiced walking the plank in the sensory room. Our plank has a lot of different textures to increase tactile discrimination in addition to addressing gait and balance, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we took out a big poster board. We discussed its

rectangular shape and that we were going to paint

it blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we got to work! Since the poster board was so big, more than one student could paint at the same time—so much fun.

We addressed the math access point of solving problems involving quantities of action using the language “have we used ENOUGH paint?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

images-286While the paint was drying, we took some cotton batting

and tore it apart. The addresses

bilateral coordination and grasp skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext, we took each student and teachers picture and put it on a paper pirate which was then put on a pirate ship (all drawn by Joy).

We counted 10 pirates!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5Now the paint has dried its time for The Owl to

set sail. Ahoy matey’s 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—Letter D

imagesFirst we played some finger Drums—great for practicing finger isolation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext our Dog Devoured some Donuts—-Delicious!!!

We hot glued a plastic shower curtain ring  to a

plush dog  to make him easy to grasp. Velcro on

the dog and donut (actually a wooden stacking

toy ring) allows the donut to be picked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesCAM8WBSGThen we Decorated a Dinosaur! We used markers because they glide easily across the paper and have such vibrant eye catching colors. Our picture was placed on a light box for our student with a visual impairment.

We used a printable from the book Learn to Move, Move to Learn by Jenny Clark Brack (its a great book with so many great ideas for group activities).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTaDa—just Delightful!

Is this a great

picture or what 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOur students did an awesome job with Cara’s sound game—way to go!!

imagesCAB2MGBAJust a few of the great D words we found today.

Whew what a fun week!

Join us again….

Group by Group

Paralympics book

Paralympics book

We were excited that the Olympics were going on this summer because we thought it would be a good theme for our groups.  We were even MORE excited when the Paralympics were going on after school had started and decided that it would be fun to use it as a theme instead.  Joy, having traveled to London this past summer, allowed me to use a few of her photos from her trip in the book.  The question we asked the students was “what are we doing in London?” to which they answered with the voice output device, “we are going to the Paralympics”.  We even passed around a massager so the students could see what it would feel like to be on an airplane.

Here is a link to the book:   We Are Going to the Paralympics!

Paralympics and Letter C

Paralympics and Letter C

This week the theme for our Sensory and Fine Motor Groups was the London Paralympics and our Language Group looked at words starting with the letter C.

Sensory Group—London Paralympics

UnknownWe started as usual by reading Cara’s lastest book and using our voice output device to read the repetitive line.

You have to get on an airplane to travel to London!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownWhen we got to the page in Cara’s book about riding in an airplane, we all took turns with the massager to simulate the vibration you would feel on the plane. Some of our students really like the feel of vibration, others not so much.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownOur first box contained so many cool things. We included a double decker bus and british mailbox, wheelchair, a bag with the british flag, an athletic medal, strips of black fake fur (the soldiers guarding Buckingham Palace wear bearskin hats), some miniature sport balls, and a keychain with the 2012 logo among the rose petals (the british national flower).

We are addressing the access point of responding to new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly. We are also addressing the social studies access point of recognizing the cultural characteristics of a population.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownThe British flag banner was so much fun to drape around our students or to grasp and wave around. It also gave a chance to talk about the different colors.  This box also included some British coins we placed in an old spice container—-fun to shake and listen to them rattle.

Reach and grasp skills in addition to visual tracking as the objects move are addressed here. We are also targeting the science access points of pushing and pulling an object to make it move  and tracking objects in motion as well as the social studies access point of recognizing coins as money.

 

 

 

 

 

imagesMore red, white and blue with our rice but with a hidden surprise of the Olympic 2012 logo at the bottom. We also put the number 4—the Paralympics happens every 4 years!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesLook at this colorful collection— our next box filled with pompoms, yarn and ribbons in the colors of the Olympic flag. A great opportunity to work on color identification as comparing and contrasting shape, color and texture.

The pompoms have such a nice soft texture and are easy to grasp. Picking up the ribbon and yarn strands encourages pincer grasp skills.

This targets the access point of identifying objects by one observable property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThe British love their tea and our students loved exploring the aromatic tea leaves.Wonderful tactile input as hands slide around and sift through it. We put in some circular puzzle pieces, again in the Olympic colors. We are working on the access point of recognizing objects with 2 dimensional shapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownWe added red and yellow food coloring to our shaving cream—to make the olympic flame! So much fun practicing pre-writing strokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesGold medals—-thats what all the athletes want to win. We made some terrific sparkly gold playdough and used circle cookie cutters to make our own medals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe finished with some rose scented lotion to help us remember all the wonderful things we learned about the London Paralympics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Motor Group—London Paralympics

After reading Cara’s book and taking turns reading the repetitive line on our voice output device we began our art project—we’re going to make an olympic flag!

UnknownWe counted out 6 pieces of white rectangular paper addressing one to one correspondence and the math access point of recognizing common objects with 2 dimensional shapes.

Then we took a toilet paper roll and stamped a ring. We emphasized stamping just 1 time before passing to the next student.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesAfter we stamped a ring with all 5 of the olympic flag colors we glued a strip with the 2012 logo at the bottom. We helped our students place glue in an “across” fashion addressing pre-writing patterns.

This also addresses the math access point of recognizing a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownPlacing the strip onto the glue encourages bilateral skills, eye hand coordination, and graded motor control.

Perfectly done as you can see here 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesTa Da—our olympic flag

Awesome!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesOnThursday we had our own mini paralympics in the sensory room then came back to the classroom to read Cara’s book before making an Olympic torch.

We passed around 7 pieces of rectangle paper—bright neon!

We always practice writing our names.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesThen we glued on a grey rectangle.

Again working on the math access point of recognizing a common object with a 2 dimensional shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesNext we tore pieces of red, yellow, and orange tissue paper. Tearing paper is a great pre-scissor skill activity.

We dipped the pieces into glue and placed them onto the top of the triangle.

Look at that concentration—-love it 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWow look at those flames—

let the games begin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Group—letter C

UnknownFirst we Cleared the Clutter—a Comb, Card, Cup, Chip Clip, Car, Coin, Clock, Cord. The students got to Choose which item they wanted to put in the Container.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesthen we Closed the top—using both hands and squeezing

tightly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UnknownNext we Clapped to make the Crab Crawl around the table. Our students just really loved this wiggly little guy and they all had to take turns holding it 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagesWe Colored aCardboard C using Crayons. Then Continued decorating it with Cotton balls working on our pincer grasp skills.

So darn Cute

—-and Creative!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sssh—its time to listen to Cara’s sound

game.

imagesimagesWe found some really Cool C words today.

“C” you next time—Group by Group!

Labor Day book

Labor Day book

We are celebrating all of the people who work this week in celebration of Labor Day.  The book goes over some of the jobs which kids may have more recognition with, such as doctors, teachers, and police.  As always, we start by showing the front of the book and having one of the students “read” the title which is also the repetitive line throughout the book.  The question asked before the student is given the voice output device is “What do we do?” to which they answer, “we celebrate workers on Labor Day”.  On the teacher page, we asked the students to identify their teacher and on the dentist page we asked the students to show us their teeth.   Happy Labor Day to all the laborers out there!

Here is the link to the book:  We Celebrate Workers on Labor Day