When I moved to Pre-K, I completely changed how I ran my classroom. I went to a more center based, student led system, as opposed to a teacher led classroom. The biggest thing I had to adjust to, was I let the STUDENTS CHOOSE what center they go to, I let STUDENTS CHOOSE when they change centers. And do you know what? It was NOT mad chaos like I expected! Once we set expectations and taught them the appropriate social skills to communicate, it was so easy! This post does contain links, both affiliate and regular. Use them to find some great centers for your classroom, and help keep this blog running J Center Management Each of my centers has a card on it with two Velcro dots, and each of my children has a name tag, with a Velcro dot on the back. When my kids aren’t at centers, on the wall is a list of all our names and another Velcro dot. So, if we transition to centers after a whole group lesson, it is easy to call names and they go get their names and pick a center. If we are working in small groups, half of my kids can go grab their names. Another way I managed changing centers, was using clothes pins. If there were two dots open, that meant there is room for two kids. If both dots are full, the kiddos must wait until someone leaves. At first there were lots of tears and begging to get into a specific center (usually it was Magnatiles!) But all we had to do what teach them Social Skills. Being patient is a big skill we must learn. I also, don’t make friends leave a center because they have been there too long. Once we get past the bumps that come along with any center time, it is smooth sailing. Center Options So, a big question I get asked frequently is “What center options do you have in your classroom?” So, a quick reminder, I teach Pre-K, so my centers are free play centers. The first set of centers, that are a must have in our room, are building centers. Our number one pick, that is always full is our block center. They love seeing how tall of a wall they can build! They also love using these houses and cars from Lakeshore Learning. When they are by my desk I can hear them making sirens and pretending to be Officer Hofficer! (In which he is usually arresting someone for some silly crime, like not picking up their mess!) Another one of their favorite building centers is Legos. They LOVE to make things with Legos. I am adding little Legos this year to our centers. I really want them working those fine motor skills. I just love this table I made! I asked on my Facebook if anyone had an old two leveled side table, and a wonderful friend just happened to be getting rid of TWO! So, she gave them to me, I painted them, and added a Lego brick plate. This gives them a place to be stationed. A place for our Legos to live, so they aren’t spread all out across the classroom! Right now, our Magnetic Center is looking a little weak. Since it is the beginning of the year, they are exploring our center. We have magnetic letters, name with their picture, and those cute magnetic numbers and shapes that I found at the Target Dollar Spot! Eventually I put STEM activities in the magnetic center! They love playing with gears and funnels! Another one of the centers that is always full, is my train table! This table is the best thing since sliced bread let me tell you! Again, it gives the center a place to live. The train tracks are not running all around the room. However; it does give it a better ramp for them to go flying across the room (no matter how many times I tell the kiddos that trains stay on tracks and airplanes fly through the air!) I bought the train tracks and trains from Ikea, and they are super durable! I inherited this big sturdy storage system (again, from Ikea!) I use as our main center storage system. I bought these great containers from Sterilite, you can get a 6 pack for about $31 from Amazon, and they fit perfect in them. In these center tubs, they put their name on the center cards, pull the tubs out, and find a place in the room to work. In these tubs I have Pattern Blocks, Lite Brites, Bristle Blocks, Unifix Cubes, Mr. Potato Head, and Mega Blocks. Also in this station, I have all my puzzles. The puzzle center card is on the side of the storage system. You can read about what I use to store my puzzles HERE. I also got tired of searching for the “lost pieces”. As a result, I bought ANOTHER Sterilite container with a snap lid, added some vinyl, and the kids now know if they find an extra piece to put in the lost pieces container. Also, if they are missing a piece, they know exactly where to look. One of my favorite centers in my classroom, is our library. I store my books thematically. I put only a few books out at a time. They also have a tub of puppets to act out what they are “reading”. You can read HERE all about my classroom library. Another popular center is the Art Center. Yes. There is paint. We are going to try something new this year! But our art center typically has construction paper, crayons, stickers, markers, daubers, and pencils. We also added composition books to our Art Center this year. They will be labeled with a name, so each child has an art portfolio to take home at the end of the year. We are testing out a type of light table this year. I found an old overhead projector in our surplus pile. I took off the arm, and will be placing some contact paper over the screen to dim the light just a little bit. Now we have a light table, that didn’t cost me an arm and a leg. This is also one of my found treasures. The same table as my Lego center. Underneath the second level, is a basket of light table goodies. They will change as the year progresses. Right now, they have stacking cups, refreezeable ice cubs, and our Magnatiles. And last but certainly not least, is our dramatic play center. Right now, it is set up as a kitchen. We have baby dolls, baby beds, vests, community helper hats, pots and pans, food, plates, silver wear, and most important of all, the actual kitchen. This is right next to our sensory table. As the year progresses it will turn into an auto shop, grocery store, doctors office, and flower shop! I hope you found something that can help you with your classroom and centers! Make sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram, where I share ideas all the time! You can make the center cards yourself, but to save you the time and energy, I have these listen at TpT. They are editable too! So you can call the centers whatever you want.
Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...
This year we have six paraprofessionals that we truly could not live without! This summer my teaching team and I worked hard to come up with a paraprofessional handbook to streamline our classroom procedures and communicate our expectations to our paras (old and new!). To go with our handbooks, I made these Paraprofessional Survival Kits. They include lots of the essential items (mostly office supplies) that our paras will need this year. It was a great, practical back to school gift and it also aligned with our handbook. For instance, one thing we want paras to do this year is share their thoughts or concerns on a Concern Clipboard in a central team communication area in the classroom so we included post-it notes in the bag. Also, we have paras leading groups so we want them to record student progress and take notes to let us know how things are going. Therefore, we provided each para with a notebook. What else did we include? Click on the links below for amazon links to each item (or just raid your school's storage closet if you are blessed enough to have one!) Paraprofessional Handbook Handbook We used my Editable Paraprofessional Role Sheets which can be found by clicking the images below Paraprofessional Survival Kit Supplies Notebook: You can certainly get a basic notebook but are tons of adorable options out there specific to paras too for a little something extra. Mechanical Pencils: Can you ever have too many mechanical pencils?! Pink Eraser: Ok I love mechanical pencils but the erasers never seem to last long enough. Post-It Notes: Another obsession that I cannot help! You could certainly go with the tried and true Post-It brand post its (none seem to stick quite as good am I right?!). But I am a sucker for cute post-its too! Star Stickers: A classic! Lifesavers: We are often all up in each other's bubbles in the special education classroom so anything to keep our breath fresh is a bonus... especially when you have that one autistic student who isn't afraid to call out your coffee breath LOL! Rubber Bands: Does anyone else have a baggie full of rubber bands at the bottom of their desk drawer?? Or is that just me?? An added bonus of plenty of rubber bands is they are a great tool for taking frequency data... comment below if you want more details! Paper Clips: Again, you can certainly use the basic paperclips from your supply closet but I am a sucker for cute school supplies. It's the simple things right?! Puzzle Piece: We got enough blank jumbo puzzle pieces for all of the staff and students in our program to make a bulletin board. Paraprofessional Survival Kit Gift Tags I made up cute cards to attach to each survival kit which you can grab for FREE by joining my SpEd Spot Snippets weekly newsletter by signing up through this LINK! Enjoy! Welcome visitors from Classroom Freebies! I hope you enjoy this Manic Monday treat! Download my FREE Para Survival Kit Gift Tags! I look forward to connecting with you and sharing SpEd Spot tips and FREEBIES! Download the Gift Bag Tag We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at anytime. Built with ConvertKit
How to teach sequencing in speech therapy and the classroom! Sequencing is a foundational skill for many communication and life skills.
All year, ever since the beginning, I noticed that the students enjoyed creating things such as inclined planes, wheel and axels, and levers in the forms of ramps, catapults and creatve vehicles. I told them these were called simple machines and that I had noticed they were very interested in them! When I asked if they would like to dig deeper and inquire about simple machines, they were very excited! We already have a good supply of materials for engineering, but I set out some different materials for them to explore. They were very excited to explore and see what they noticed! I cannot tell you how many times these kids failed, problem solved, failed again, collaborated, failed and persisted as they explored ways to create and use simple machines! They truly learned to look at failure as a positive learning experience in order to help them figure out why something didn't work and how they could change it and try again! Look at the excitement at the end of the video below of the children when one of their friends was finally successful after many design changes! During an investigation of Inclined planes we created a challenge. They had to create an inclined plane that would roll the cylinder right to the end of the ribbon. They observed each other and used what they noticed to adjust the board and see if they could do it. Look at how excited they got when a friend finally did it! They noticed that the cylinder went faster or slower depending on the angle of the inclined plane! This brought up a question. We have been discussing the terms "effort," "force" and "load." They learned that simple machines helped us use less effort. They learned effort was force and there were two kinds of force: push and pull...but no one pushed or pulled the cylinder down the ramp! This brought up the discussion of gravity being a force that pulls! They applied this knowledge and commented often about it as they created and played with lego and geoboard marble mazes. They also explored the force of gravity and inclined planes by creating marble paintings and drip paintings! I love combining art and science! They developed an interest in Rube Goldburg Machines! They noticed when observing videos that sometimes the balls went up ramps and wondered how since they felt gravity wouldn't allow that! They explored this concept and took it as a challenge. They created new ramps to figure it out and found out that the force of push could be stronger than the pulling force of gravity on the ball. They tried creating Rube Goldburg Machines. These machines are a chain of events that do something for you. They really had to problem solve to make these work! The video below shows one one of many that were created. It was supposed to knock over the blocks at the end, but she still had some problem solving to do! The amount of dedication, problem solving, persistence, collaboration, and grit that these kids have shown during this inquiry has amazed me! These kids have these 21st Century Skills and are using them constantly! The kids have picked a simple machine to become an expert in and are hunting for simple machines around our school. Their next steps are to organize their data and then create their simple machine! We are hoping to do an open house or presentation to show our simple machines to other classes and parents, but with Spring Break and conferences coming up I know that will be difficult! We will try our best!
These 80's themed classroom posters are like so totally awesome and will be sure to bring some 80's fun to your classroom and/or school! Fun graphic backgrounds and 80's themed clipart bring these posters to life.... gnarly bro. There are 8 posters included in this product!
Animals are a common special interest in my classroom so I have taken full advantage over the years of using animals to teach a variety of skills. For my TPT store, I divided all of my animal activities into thematic units by narrowing down the topic including: Animals & Habitats We had so much fun exploring books and videos about different animal habitats! I also incorporated learning about living and non-living animals. 🦉 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🐮 Visual Recipes for Crunchy Birds Nests and Sea Turtle Snacks 🐈 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🐻 Reading Communication Board for Pond Circle, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and Welcome Home, Bear 🐍 Living vs. Non-Living Sort 🦆 Pet Habitats Base 10 Task Cards 🦀 Crab Shape Matching 🐧 Habitat Sorting Activity Animal Traits & Food Chains I admit that some of the higher-level biology standards like animal habitats, food chains, and animal traits were a bit tricky for me to teach in my elementary self-contained special education classroom. It was important to me to address these standards while also making the content accessible to my students. 🪶 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🪶 Visual Recipes for Animal Mix 🪶 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🪶 Reading Communication Board for I'm Going to Eat You and Who Am I? 🪶 Animal Traits Sort 🪶 Skip Counting by 10s Sequencing 🪶 Comparing Sets Cut and Paste Worksheet 🪶 Food Chain Sequencing 🪶 Animal Yoga 🪶 Animal BINGO Zoo Animals The zoo theme is definitely a favorite for my students! 🦁 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🦁 Visual Recipes for Lion Crackers and Animal Face Pizzas 🦁 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🦁 Reading Communication Board for Dear Zoo and The View at the Zoo 🦁 Zoo Board Game 🦁 Zoo Cage Animal Cookie Counting Task Cards 🦁 Lion Shape Matching 🦁 Comparing Sets Cut and Paste Worksheet 🦁 Dear Zoo Class Book Writing Activity Farm Animals We have several farms in our region so it was always fun to plan a farm field trip as a culminating activity for this fun thematic unit! 🐮 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🐮 Visual Recipes for Pigs in a Blanket and Haystacks 🐮 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🐮 Reading Communication Board for The Big Red Barn and Mrs. Wishy Washy's Farm 🐮 Egg Additon Sentences 🐮 Piggy Bank Coin Counting 🐮 Farm Following Directions Cut and Paste Activity 🐮 Farm BINGO 🐮 Farm Animal Charades Ocean Animals This is another favorite unit for my students. We love watching live feeds at the National Aquarium and even watching Finding Nemo! 🦀 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🦀 Visual Recipes for Tortilla Crab Sandwich, Peanut Butter Banana Fish Toast, Sand Dollar Cookies 🦀 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🦀 Reading Communication Board for Way Down Deep on the Deep Blue Sea 🦀 Goldfish Cracker Counting Task Cards 🦀 Ocean Counting Worksheet 🦀 Fill-in-the-Blank Ocean Writing 🦀 Ocean Bingo 🦀 Vocabulary Fishing Forest Animals One of the most relatable habitats for my students was the forest because we have the metroparks and several wooded areas close to our school. Students loved going into the forest to look for the thematic vocabulary... especially the animals! 🐻 Vocabulary Word and Picture Cards 🐻 Visual Recipes for Pine Cone Bird Feeders and Brown Bear French Toast 🐻 Weekend Reports for home communication (2) 🐻 Reading Communication Board for Bear Wants More and Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? 🐻 Bear Wants More Sequencing 🐻 Bear Wants More True vs. False Game 🐻 Base 10 Forest Animal Habitat Matching Task Cards 🐻 Hiding Foxes Subtraction Worksheet 🐻 Forest Animal Memory Across these thematic units, I have created over 70 different activities for reading, math, cooking, science, communication, games, writing, and more! Here are some of the common features you can find across all of my thematic units: Every single activity has a corresponding lesson plan with ideas for implementing the activity for different group sizes and differentiation tips for accommodating or extending each lesson. Also included in each unit there are reading communication boards for popular picture books (12 books total across all 6 units), but I decided to dive deeper into two of my favorites, Dear Zoo and Bear Wants More and created comprehensive Picture Book Communication and Comprehension resources which have picture-supported supports, progress monitoring, and IEP goals for a variety of elementary communication and comprehension skills! Just like my thematic units, every single activity in my picture book units has a corresponding lesson plan with ideas for implementing the activity for different group sizes and differentiation tips for accommodating or extending each lesson. I also included IEP goal ideas that can be used across picture book units and are easily monitored with the included progress monitoring data sheets. Don't worry, if your students love animals too and you can't decide which unit to start with, you can find everything bundled and save some money too! You can get the Animal Thematic Unit Bundle or the Mega Bundle with the Picture Book units too! Still not sure? See what other customers have said... I hope these resources help you in your classroom as much as they helped me in mine!
For our very first art project of the 2012/13 school year, we learned about VINCENT VAN GOGH. He was a dutch artist who lived long ago and painted many pictures which now hang in museums all over the world. Some of his favorite subjects were sunflowers and night skies like the one above titled The Starry Night. (please excuse the glare in this photo) Our challenge was to work as a group to re-create this famous painting as a large mural. All of the kindergarten classes worked on this project during our art time. We used small strips of colored paper to repressent Van Gogh's brush strokes. Glue was applied to the back of each strip using our "handy dandy tool" (aka pointer finger). Each strip was then placed on the mural in a spot where each particular color was needed. We had to pay close attention to the direction of his brush strokes. We found that some were horizontal, vertical, diagonal and wavy. This is a close up of our finished mural. And this photo will give you an idea of just how large our mural is! It is currently hanging in the Kindergarten wing. We love it and hope you will stop by to see it for yourself!
Hello, all you rockin' teachers! I'm here again with another cool theme you could do in your classrooms this year! Grab your guitars and p...
Practice your Navajo introduction! Attach your own photo and write in your child's name and clans! This is a 2 page PDF download. Includes blank spaces to fill in individual's name, 4 clans, age, where they are from, and parents name. No refunds on digital downloads. This set is intended for personal and for classroom use (classroom lessons, activities, presentations, homeschool) and should not be redistributed or resold. Copyright for all images belongs to The Allison Exchange. Thank you for respecting my art, my products, and terms of use! Ahxe'heé.
Data collection on IEP goals is one of the most important tasks a special education teacher takes on because it helps us plan for interventions and monitor student progress. But it is also one of the most tedious tasks we do! Over the years, I have created a system for organizing my IEP goal progress monitoring that has made it easier to set up, implement, and even delegate! The first step is designating a binder for each student on your caseload. I prefer using colored binders because I color-code each of my students' materials each year. In the very front of the binder, I include an IEP at a Glance. We use IEP Anywhere so they luckily create this for us! I also include any essential medical or behavior plans for that student. Then, I get pocket dividers for each subject I will be monitoring. This is a great way to organize the different subjects but my favorite part is the pocket. This is where I store all of my work samples. Then, at the end of each quarter when I send home my progress report, I attach the work samples to back up the data. Then, behind each divider, I include progress monitoring sheets specific to that student's goals. My sheets are detailed and user-friendly so that all members of our team (paraprofessionals, related service, and general education staff, etc) can take data in a consistent way. It even helps me if I get confused by all the different goals on my diverse caseload! Over 100 of my progress monitoring sheets can be found in my TPT store. You can get individual subjects (Math, Reading, Communication & Vocabulary, and Fine Motor, Daily Routines, & Writing) or a bundle to cover all of your needs (and save 20%)! During progress report time, I collect all of the completed progress monitoring sheets and organize them by stapling them to these Progress Report Form graphic organizers from my Special Education Teacher IEP Organization Kit which becomes a nice tool for me to reference when making additional copies, updating my paraprofessionals on skills to target, as well as just organizing the overall progress report process! Find it here: Finally, on the back cover, I include a "cheatsheet" all about that student. With IEP goals, behavior and medical plans, and this cheatsheet all contained in one place, my progress monitoring binders truly become an amazing, organized resource for all members of that student's educational team! Once I developed this system, it made progress monitoring organization so easy every fall. I would look at a student's IEP at a glance, print off the corresponding progress monitoring sheets, and get their binder organized. Then I was all set for the rest of the year!
In early intervention settings, Structured Play Groups are a perfect, developmentally-appropriate evidence-based practice for autistic students and can be a valuable support for developing friendships and communication skills. In my experience, the benefit of these groups certainly stretches beyond just my autistic students but those with other developmental disabilities and even their neurotypical peers! Especially in these unique post-pandemic lockdown times when all students have had gaps in their opportunities for social engagement. To facilitate communication during structured play groups, I created communication boards with common play phrases in predictable locations and fringe words specific to the play activity including related labels, actions, and even descriptive words. Each board was easy to implement because all I needed to do was print and laminate and they were ready to go! In my opinion, sometimes low-tech options are all you need! Students can simply point to the word they want to use or for some they may use the board as a word bank to facilitate their verbal communication. To make these even easier to use in my classroom, I created lesson plans for each board that could easily be implemented by my paraprofessionals or subs. These lesson plans were differentiated for early, intermediate, and advanced learners. Often, I would have a paraprofessional introduce some of the vocabulary and concepts on the board using the lesson plans during 1:1 instruction, and then I would help with the application during our structured play groups. Then, once we had practiced a bit with a board I would add it to my free play area so that students always had them accessible during play times. And as an added bonus, when I added these boards to my TPT store I also added differentiated IEP goal ideas that aligned with the lesson plans. In addition to being a big hit with my students, these communication boards have been a big hit with my TPT customers too! Ready to check these out for youself? Head over to my TPT store!
Data collection on IEP goals is one of the most important tasks a special education teacher takes on because it helps us plan for interventions and monitor student progress. But it is also one of the most tedious tasks we do! Over the years, I have created a system for organizing my IEP goal progress monitoring that has made it easier to set up, implement, and even delegate! The first step is designating a binder for each student on your caseload. I prefer using colored binders because I color-code each of my students' materials each year. In the very front of the binder, I include an IEP at a Glance. We use IEP Anywhere so they luckily create this for us! I also include any essential medical or behavior plans for that student. Then, I get pocket dividers for each subject I will be monitoring. This is a great way to organize the different subjects but my favorite part is the pocket. This is where I store all of my work samples. Then, at the end of each quarter when I send home my progress report, I attach the work samples to back up the data. Then, behind each divider, I include progress monitoring sheets specific to that student's goals. My sheets are detailed and user-friendly so that all members of our team (paraprofessionals, related service, and general education staff, etc) can take data in a consistent way. It even helps me if I get confused by all the different goals on my diverse caseload! Over 100 of my progress monitoring sheets can be found in my TPT store. You can get individual subjects (Math, Reading, Communication & Vocabulary, and Fine Motor, Daily Routines, & Writing) or a bundle to cover all of your needs (and save 20%)! During progress report time, I collect all of the completed progress monitoring sheets and organize them by stapling them to these Progress Report Form graphic organizers from my Special Education Teacher IEP Organization Kit which becomes a nice tool for me to reference when making additional copies, updating my paraprofessionals on skills to target, as well as just organizing the overall progress report process! Find it here: Finally, on the back cover, I include a "cheatsheet" all about that student. With IEP goals, behavior and medical plans, and this cheatsheet all contained in one place, my progress monitoring binders truly become an amazing, organized resource for all members of that student's educational team! Once I developed this system, it made progress monitoring organization so easy every fall. I would look at a student's IEP at a glance, print off the corresponding progress monitoring sheets, and get their binder organized. Then I was all set for the rest of the year!
Data collection on IEP goals is one of the most important tasks a special education teacher takes on because it helps us plan for interventions and monitor student progress. But it is also one of the most tedious tasks we do! Over the years, I have created a system for organizing my IEP goal progress monitoring that has made it easier to set up, implement, and even delegate! The first step is designating a binder for each student on your caseload. I prefer using colored binders because I color-code each of my students' materials each year. In the very front of the binder, I include an IEP at a Glance. We use IEP Anywhere so they luckily create this for us! I also include any essential medical or behavior plans for that student. Then, I get pocket dividers for each subject I will be monitoring. This is a great way to organize the different subjects but my favorite part is the pocket. This is where I store all of my work samples. Then, at the end of each quarter when I send home my progress report, I attach the work samples to back up the data. Then, behind each divider, I include progress monitoring sheets specific to that student's goals. My sheets are detailed and user-friendly so that all members of our team (paraprofessionals, related service, and general education staff, etc) can take data in a consistent way. It even helps me if I get confused by all the different goals on my diverse caseload! Over 100 of my progress monitoring sheets can be found in my TPT store. You can get individual subjects (Math, Reading, Communication & Vocabulary, and Fine Motor, Daily Routines, & Writing) or a bundle to cover all of your needs (and save 20%)! During progress report time, I collect all of the completed progress monitoring sheets and organize them by stapling them to these Progress Report Form graphic organizers from my Special Education Teacher IEP Organization Kit which becomes a nice tool for me to reference when making additional copies, updating my paraprofessionals on skills to target, as well as just organizing the overall progress report process! Find it here: Finally, on the back cover, I include a "cheatsheet" all about that student. With IEP goals, behavior and medical plans, and this cheatsheet all contained in one place, my progress monitoring binders truly become an amazing, organized resource for all members of that student's educational team! Once I developed this system, it made progress monitoring organization so easy every fall. I would look at a student's IEP at a glance, print off the corresponding progress monitoring sheets, and get their binder organized. Then I was all set for the rest of the year!
A 2nd grade summer early finishers reading worksheet focusing on comparing and contrasting.
Every fall we do a unit on apples. There are so many awesome apple activities and it is such an easy topic to integrate across subject areas. Apple Art This year we tried two new art activities that incorporated art projects to accompany our apples unit. The first project we did was stained glass apple art using contact paper and tissue paper squares. I loved this activity because it was easily accessible for my student who struggles with fine motor control. I just had to hand him the tissue paper and point to where he should place it and then he would stick it to the contact paper. Typically if we do cutting or gluing activities, we have to work hand-over-hand so it was great to have an activity that promoted his independence. Putting the tissue paper on all by himself! The table easel helps him see his art. Our finished stained glass apples I got the idea for another fun art activity through Pinterest. We did apple rolling painting and the kids LOVED it! We used it as a language-building and direction-following activity. The kids each took a turn making their painting but their classmates gave them directions on which color to use and how to tilt the box. It was fun and since we used a box it was fairly mess-free (my hands were the only messy ones from taking the paint-covered apples in and out of the box) plus we used my classroom staple Crayola Washable Paint just in case! Getting started Using Proloquo2Go to tell a friend which color apple to paint with next Telling a friend which way to tip the box Tipping the box to make the apple roll More tipping and rolling! Looking good so far! A finished creation! Apple Math There are lots of fun math activities my class loved during our Apples Thematic Unit. We counted actual apples and apple erasers (I love these 3D apple erasers... for counting but not really erasing tbh) and used tactile 10-frames to help us complete a ten frames worksheet. I also made a fun addition sentence worksheet for students to extend their counting into addition. I also created a couple differentiated number sequencing worksheets for my students working on number ID. Apple Reading There is no shortage of apple-themed picture books available but I chose two of my favorites with predictable text to make sentence-building boards. First we read Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace and then we read a classic from my elementary school days: The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. It brought back great memories and my fantastic paraprofessional brought in personal apple pies for each student to tie in to the book so we created some great new memories too! In addition to borrowing the books from our school library, I also show each book on YouTube as a review and during independent technology times to reinforce the story. Another way I have tried to incorporate technology is through using our classroom iPad for a particularly tech-driven kiddo and it went pretty well! He liked following along on the pdf but the fact that it was on his beloved iPad made it more motivating. However, we did have to use guided access to keep him in the pdf reader! Apple Cooking Activities I was not feeling ambitious enough to make our own apple pies in class but we did makes some yummy apple-themed treats! Apple Smiles is always a favorite because my students like to "chomp, chomp, chomp!" with their smiles. And crockpot applesauce is one of my personal favorites. Once I started making it with my class annually I extended the tradition and make it each Thanksgiving for my family. I have two aunts who I always save some extra for because it is their favorite! Apple Science The apple theme also made it a great opportunity to introduce some science concepts in such an engaging way! Students learned basic apple vocabulary including the parts of the apple and then we examined our own apples, compared their similarities and differences, and completed a corresponded apple observation worksheet that I created. Apple Game Then as a cumulative review support, I created an apple board game template that we could use when practicing vocabulary or IEP goals like sight words, letter ID, or number ID. I love creating generic game boards to align with my different thematic units for these review times! I just use my stash of thematic erasers, various flashcards, and dice for each board. Now that you have seen all of the apple fun in action in my classroom you can use the same activities in your classroom without the work of creating each thing! Grab my Apples Thematic Unit and you are all set with 13 different apple-themed activities, tips for implementation, and specific differentiation ideas for every activity! Click on the image below to check it out on my TPT store.
Download my FREE Calming and Alerting Sensory Cheatsheet! I look forward to connecting with you and sharing SpEd Spot tips and FREEBIES! Download the Sensory Cheatsheet Built with ConvertKit Now that school is out I have been focusing my efforts on organizing my thumb drive. This is a HUGE task since my thumb drive holds pretty much every lesson, handout, and worksheet I have made over the past year. It is so important to me that I keep it attached to my school badge (this is mostly because I kept leaving it in my computer at home and my boyfriend was tired of dropping it off at school!). While organizing this summer, I plan to cute-ify a bunch of handouts and share them here. The first handout is Calming & Alerting Supports for the Classroom Cheatsheet. This year I became super interested in understanding the sensory system. Initially, I was looking to better meet the needs of my students with autism. But, the more I learned the more I realized I could better meet the needs of all of my students through tapping into their senses. Additionally, I knew that the general ed teachers in my building would also benefit from learning a bit more about the sensory system. This handout is geared towards helping all educators better regulate their students sensory system whether a student needs alerting input or calming input. I broke the strategies up by senses since the sensory system is obviously impacted by our senses! Enjoy! Sensory Supports for the Classroom
Looking for fun All About Me Activities for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On All About me Learning Activities and Crafts for Preschool or Kindergarten.
Penguin science is a unit that I absolutely love. And it's a great way to introduce research. But, conducting research projects in early childhood classrooms can seem a little intimidating. However, when you provide your learners with the correct resources, research, like this fun lapbook, can be so much fun. Even better...you are able to teach reading, writing
Data collection on IEP goals is one of the most important tasks a special education teacher takes on because it helps us plan for interventions and monitor student progress. But it is also one of the most tedious tasks we do! Over the years, I have created a system for organizing my IEP goal progress monitoring that has made it easier to set up, implement, and even delegate! The first step is designating a binder for each student on your caseload. I prefer using colored binders because I color-code each of my students' materials each year. In the very front of the binder, I include an IEP at a Glance. We use IEP Anywhere so they luckily create this for us! I also include any essential medical or behavior plans for that student. Then, I get pocket dividers for each subject I will be monitoring. This is a great way to organize the different subjects but my favorite part is the pocket. This is where I store all of my work samples. Then, at the end of each quarter when I send home my progress report, I attach the work samples to back up the data. Then, behind each divider, I include progress monitoring sheets specific to that student's goals. My sheets are detailed and user-friendly so that all members of our team (paraprofessionals, related service, and general education staff, etc) can take data in a consistent way. It even helps me if I get confused by all the different goals on my diverse caseload! Over 100 of my progress monitoring sheets can be found in my TPT store. You can get individual subjects (Math, Reading, Communication & Vocabulary, and Fine Motor, Daily Routines, & Writing) or a bundle to cover all of your needs (and save 20%)! During progress report time, I collect all of the completed progress monitoring sheets and organize them by stapling them to these Progress Report Form graphic organizers from my Special Education Teacher IEP Organization Kit which becomes a nice tool for me to reference when making additional copies, updating my paraprofessionals on skills to target, as well as just organizing the overall progress report process! Find it here: Finally, on the back cover, I include a "cheatsheet" all about that student. With IEP goals, behavior and medical plans, and this cheatsheet all contained in one place, my progress monitoring binders truly become an amazing, organized resource for all members of that student's educational team! Once I developed this system, it made progress monitoring organization so easy every fall. I would look at a student's IEP at a glance, print off the corresponding progress monitoring sheets, and get their binder organized. Then I was all set for the rest of the year!
Blog posts for SLPs and educators. Discover speech therapy ideas, activities, and more.
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Please see policies for more information.I love a good paper craft. All you need is paper and maybe some crayons or markers. This origami eye from Krokotak is fun to make, plus once you have the steps down you can make it
Allison Wienhold recently posted about using stations with Robo en la noche and it reminded me that I had created some based off of some interesting things I found from Sharon Birch. Her blog is tr…
Blog posts for SLPs and educators. Discover speech therapy ideas, activities, and more.
Data collection on IEP goals is one of the most important tasks a special education teacher takes on because it helps us plan for interventions and monitor student progress. But it is also one of the most tedious tasks we do! Over the years, I have created a system for organizing my IEP goal progress monitoring that has made it easier to set up, implement, and even delegate! The first step is designating a binder for each student on your caseload. I prefer using colored binders because I color-code each of my students' materials each year. In the very front of the binder, I include an IEP at a Glance. We use IEP Anywhere so they luckily create this for us! I also include any essential medical or behavior plans for that student. Then, I get pocket dividers for each subject I will be monitoring. This is a great way to organize the different subjects but my favorite part is the pocket. This is where I store all of my work samples. Then, at the end of each quarter when I send home my progress report, I attach the work samples to back up the data. Then, behind each divider, I include progress monitoring sheets specific to that student's goals. My sheets are detailed and user-friendly so that all members of our team (paraprofessionals, related service, and general education staff, etc) can take data in a consistent way. It even helps me if I get confused by all the different goals on my diverse caseload! Over 100 of my progress monitoring sheets can be found in my TPT store. You can get individual subjects (Math, Reading, Communication & Vocabulary, and Fine Motor, Daily Routines, & Writing) or a bundle to cover all of your needs (and save 20%)! During progress report time, I collect all of the completed progress monitoring sheets and organize them by stapling them to these Progress Report Form graphic organizers from my Special Education Teacher IEP Organization Kit which becomes a nice tool for me to reference when making additional copies, updating my paraprofessionals on skills to target, as well as just organizing the overall progress report process! Find it here: Finally, on the back cover, I include a "cheatsheet" all about that student. With IEP goals, behavior and medical plans, and this cheatsheet all contained in one place, my progress monitoring binders truly become an amazing, organized resource for all members of that student's educational team! Once I developed this system, it made progress monitoring organization so easy every fall. I would look at a student's IEP at a glance, print off the corresponding progress monitoring sheets, and get their binder organized. Then I was all set for the rest of the year!
April showers bring May flowers, but what do you do during those rainy days in between? Make crafts of course! We’ve gathered some of our favorite train-themed crafts for your enjoyment! You can find more ideas on pinterest for rainy day fun! There are plenty of ways to have learn and have fun at the same time […]
Elementary teachers need this quick classroom management strategy that increases attention rate during insurrections. Revamp classroom management.
Making anchor charts has always been hard work for me. In fact, I never liked making anchor charts for the classroom. I did it because it helps the kids, but I am not a fan of my handwriting, my drawing is even worse, and let's not even talk about the time it takes to make nice looking anchor charts. As teachers, we do not possess much of that thing called, "time." I mean really, I found myself shoving down carrots and ranch dressing (because I want to be healthy) then devouring allll the chocolate (because I really don't care about healthy anymore) while making anchor charts. 30 minutes later, lunch was done, anchor chart almost complete...and oops...I misspelled the title. I mean really? Rip it off the chart paper pad, throw it in the trash, and rush out the door. Unfortunately, I didn't wise up for a long time. 8 years of teaching...and a light bulb goes off. Pre-make the anchor charts. In the comfort of my own home...I make the anchor chart...on the computer. Then print, and glue! Done, done...and done. Now...I still eat all the chocolate, but now I get lunch and I am no longer in the need of anger management courses over misspelled words. I may sound like a crazy person to you...but I know you have been there too. Honesty is the best policy. :) Now, I KNOW I am not the first one that has ever pre-made anchor charts, or printed items off of the computer for an anchor chart. I am in NO way claiming to be the first to do this. But, I have been a TpT seller for a few years now and the idea just popped into my head..."if I make all of my centers, lessons plans, etc...why not anchor charts?" And there you have it. Below are a few of the anchor charts I have made and so far I love them and other teachers are loving them. I waited to do this post until I knew others found a need for these too! And yes! I was not alone! It was confirmed I was not crazy and other teachers, in fact, DO have anger problems when it comes to making hand-made anchor charts. Many people have asked what products are needed to make these. I purchased my chart paper and Astrobrights paper from Amazon. Those two things (well, with scissors and glue) are all you need! Each Anchor Chart also comes with a student journal chart as well! The students can glue these in their journals for an easy reference later! I have also completed my Writing and Grammar Anchor Chart Bundles. And newly added, I have completed Classroom Management Anchor Charts! These are also included in the big bundle...if you have purchased that, just redownload it from the My Purchases tab on TpT. I figured these would be very beneficial to make at the beginning of the year with our students then either hang them up all year as a reminder...or just pull them out to review from time to time. Just depends on the students. :) There are many more but I won't bore you with all of the pictures. I feel like Classroom Management must be explained from the beginning and reinforced often. I know these anchor charts will help keep that process streamlined in your classroom! Making these are fun and easy! Most importantly, it saves time and SANITY. Want these for your classroom? Click Here to grab them in my shop! (affiliate links are provided for your convenience)
