We all need lots of easy and inexpensive task boxes, here are 5 math task boxes you can make with everyday materials.
It is very important to teach students how to read and follow instructions. Only in this way will they be able to solve tasks independently and feel that they can do it. This Independent Tasks Solving pack is designed to help students with autism and special education needs understand the instructions and solve tasks independently. It is recommended for younger students, but older students with intellectual disability can find it helpful as well. When students learn to solve these types of tasks, they will find it easier to solve more complex tasks later on.
Social Skills for autism task cards are perfect for working on social skills for middle and lower high school students who struggle with what's appropriate or inappropriate and solving social problems. Do you have middle school students who struggle with social skills? They are easily bullied and influenced by others? Social situations are confusing for them? Then you need this resource! Students at the middle school level need a lot of guidance in regards to social skills with peers. This resource would be perfect for social skills groups! DOWNLOAD the FREE PREVIEW to try! Try the money saving BUNDLE Social Skills Money Saving Bundle This resource includes: 50 original social scenarios task cards with 50 multiple choice answer cards Answer key 14 Vocabulary cards of social terms definitions Easily printed in black and white or with a colorful option using Astrobrights! BONUS! I have included the matching Boom Card Social Skills Scenarios for you to use in Boom Learning! Enjoy! Warning: Many of these scenarios can be too mature for some kids and too juvenile for others—know your audience! I made them into task cards so that I can pick and choose the ones that are appropriate for the students during that session. I also separated the corresponding answer cards from the question cards so that older or higher functioning students do not have the crutch of answer choices and must respond “off the cuff” for those critical thinking/problem solving skills they so desperately need! This is also great to differentiate the lesson for different abilities. The vocabulary cards are for students who struggle with words like hygiene and what they mean. Students hear these terms a lot but do they really understand what monopolizing the conversation means? If you like this activity you will like: Pragmatic Checklist and IEP Objectives for Middle School Comic Strip Social Stories Social Skills Money Saving Bundle Sequencing Temporal Concepts Multiple Meaning Words Unit Inferencing for Beginners When Critical Details are Omitted Social Skills Interpreting Facial Expressions How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: • Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺
Grab these free task box templates and create a great packaging task for your independent work systems with the video tutorial in this post.
Work tasks system are a crucial part of a self-contained autism classroom. They teach our students how to work independently, which we hope to eventually transfer to a work setting. However, it is important to make sure your students' work tasks system is challenging and helping them move towards indepedence.
Grab these free task box templates and create a great packaging task for your independent work systems with the video tutorial in this post.
Work Boxes: As mentioned multiple times in the past, I have a TON of work boxes. Here are a few more: Reading office supply sort: Random items from around the classroom are put into the container. Students read the label at the bottom of the sorting system and place the correct number of items! So easy to setup, and FREE! Filling Medicine Box: I used small candies as the "pills". Students got instructions on what "pills" were needed in AM/PM. Have to fill out weekly medicine storage. Item sort (similar shape edition): In this task, students sort random items, but many have very similar shape, (rounded vs square edges). Students sort accordingly. Another shape sorter - this came as a math kit, I just dumped it into a work box! Fine motor activity: Students take the small pegs and push them into a piece of foam. More to come in a few days!!!
Use this simple shapes file folder for independent work stations or math centers in your special education classroom. Students sort non-identical pictures into circles, triangles, squares and rectangles. While created for students with autism in mind, these can be great for any special education or early childhood classroom. Please note: This is a digital download. You will download, print, and prep as needed. No physical items will be sent to you.
I found this awesome Behavior Reflections sheet on Pinterest and I wanted to share it here. Behavior Reflections (.pdf) I found last year that when I would send my kids for a time out to another room, they wouldn't really care. I don't think they took as seriously as I hoped they would. I guess the times, they are a changin'. When I was a kid, if a teacher sent me out of the room I would have cried and begged to stay, all the while promising that I would change my behavior if only they didn't call my parents. Anyways, I think that this behavior reflection sheet is a great way for kids to reflect on why they chose to act a certain way. It is also something that we can go over together later in the day and reflect together on how their behavior can improve in the future. It's from Laura Candler, who has a great website with LOTS of free stuff! And what teacher doesn't like free stuff?? Definitely check out her website for more great stuff.
I have quite a few students who need level 1 task boxes this year. My go-to for many of these students are "put-in" tasks because it allows them to do the tasks with as little prompting as necessary. Check out the "put in" tasks our classroom is full of now! Poker chips! Foam blocks Ping pong balls Dominoes Clothes pins (can be placed inside the basket or clipped on the basket) Wood beads Variety of balls, blocks, and chips Wood blocks Bells I've been struggling to come up with ideas of other manipulatives to use for put tasks. I've seen a lot of people use holiday/ themed items, but I'm not sure about the idea of only using the task boxes for a few weeks out of the school year. What are your favorite objects to use?
A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.
In this episode, I talk about materials in a life skills classroom and what we should look for when we buy them, make them or find them. And I have lots of free resources and tips to make your own.
Made For Me Literacy provides special education teachers with engaging, comprehensive reading units meticulously crafted with special learners in mind covering various subject areas, including basic reading, writing, math, science, and fine motor skills.
This task is good to teach home life skills. Making weekly menus is important to help with grocery lists and learning to make balanced meals. I made a list of several main items and a list of enough vegetables for them to make 7 complete meals (1 main + 2 sides) The student chooses from the list then writes their choices on a copied weekly menu. Next they use the plate visual marked with the day of the week and place the items that they have chosen on the plate, putting a knife, fork, and spoon on the placemat.
Taskboxes are an effective instructional tool for students of all ages to work on task completion and independence. As students get older, it is important to find tasks that are engaging and age appropriate. Today's Taskbox Time features a variety of tasks that can be used for working on Vocational and Life Skills with older students. Fine Motor Tasks The tasks pictured below are some of the most basic functional fine motor tasks including a "put in" task with CDs and a CD case, crushing cans with a canpactor, and sweeping using a handheld broom and dustpan. Laurie Maravetz Schaefer Middle School, Springfield Dixie Elementary, New Lebanon Tabitha Eaton Main Elementary, Beavercreek Sorting Tasks Sorting is another basic skill that has many functional applications. Students can practice sorting household items such as laundry, recyclables, or silverware. Robbie Whorton Trotwood Madison High School, Trotwood Laurie Maravetz Schaefer Middle School, Springfield Robbie Whorton Trotwood Madison High School, Trotwood They can also practice vocational sorting using pegboard displays which offer a great deal of versatility. Laurie Maravetz Schaefer Middle School, Springfield Rebecca Lemons Miamisburg Middle School, Miamisburg Robbie Whorton Trotwood Madison High School, Trotwood You can find more information about the stocking tasks above including free visuals at Breezy Special Ed. Assembly Tasks Students who are working on following multiple steps can complete assembly tasks using visual grids and picture models for a variety of applications. Kirsten Johnson Greene INC Kirsten Johnson Greene INC Kirsten Johnson Greene INC Brittany Sword Valley Elementary, Beavercreek Laurie Maravetz Schaefer Middle School, Springfield Robbie Whorton Trotwood Madison High School, Trotwood List Tasks A great way to practice functional reading skills is through students reading lists grocery shopping, meals, stocking shelves, and getting dressed. These file folder tasks can be differentiated between using lists with picture cues and lists with only words. For more ideas on tasks to prepare students for the real world check out the fabulous book below:
What a great pre-voc activity for the classroom! This student has excellent manual dexterity and can insert the name slips into these ID badges with minimal effort. Although the corners are a little difficult to squeeze into the snug plastic holders, this student can do it without getting frustrated and bending the paper too forcefully. You could start with paper slips that are slightly smaller and work up to the correct size paper. Some students can sort the completed slips by color, alphabetize them by last name or sort by another characteristic. This teacher found these ID badges at a recycle store, but you might send a notice to parents to donate materials that are suitable for pre-voc activities.
A blog about teaching students with Autism
This week's free file folder activity is designed for any age matching colors. It is designed to be used with all ages of students.
It’s been a while since I linked up for Workbasket Wednesday, but I finally snapped some pictures of my Workbaskets and just had to share them with you all! Check out these adorable Back to School tasks with a focus on fine motor skills! This task has been a classroom favorite. Students use the ... Read More about Workbasket Wednesday!
I realize that creating task boxes/ independent work time activities can be VERY time consuming. So I wanted to share a few tips for making some really quick and easy (and cheap) tasks. 1) Find printables online and just print 2 copies! Laminate one sheet and cut the other sheet into pieces for matching. A few of my go-to google searches for printing include: "number board" or "number clipart" "Alphabet board" or "alphabet poster" "shapes clipart" "money pictures" or "money clipart" All of the below activities were made by simply googling pictures and printing 2 copies! 2) Hit the dollar bin and Home Depot! We made shape matching activities and a beginning consonant sound activity with cards from the dollar bin at Target and a color matching activity with paint chips from Home Depot. 3) Construction paper and markers go a long way! Cut out shapes and use colored markers to make shape and number matching activities. Do you have any tips that make creating independent tasks easier or cheaper?! I'm always looking for new task box ideas!
Keep you kids engaged with these functional task boxes geared for students who are older. Get a list of 25 ideas using items you have on hand.
This product can also be found in: Rescue Dog's Series Mega Bundle Social Skills Behavior Management - NO CUTE RESCUE DOGS' POWERPOINT INCLUDED IN THIS PRODUCT. This product ONLY contains the worksheets, certificates, and badges. This item is 20 pages of instructions, certificates, badges, daily data student recorded journal for meeting this social emotional goal for behavior support plans and/or daily point sheets and/or IEPs. As always, since my classes can often span over several grades. (NO EDITING on the restricted graphics pages - and there are many.) I also try to "mix-up" the age of the graphics - in this one there are barnyard animals and edgy looking older teens. Enjoy and may your students learn how to self monitor themselves and stay on task. In both ppt and pdf forms. Peggy Simpson - Rescue Dogs' Series
Hi Friends! Over the 3 day weekend, I made some time to create a color sorting activity. Using the beloved Google Images, I found pictures of both cartoon and real objects for the kids to sort. I made them all into flashcards for you to download and use with your students! There are 90 cards, 10 pictures for each color. The colors included are yellow, orange, blue, green, red, brown, black, purple, and pink. (After creating them, I realized it would have been helpful to add "white" objects for sorting. Check back later for those!) There are numerous ways to use these cards: Receptive ID (identification) - "touch the red car" or "which one is the yellow banana?" Expressive ID - "what is this?" "what color is this?" Matching - print two sets of each card Feature Function Class - have the kids identify items by FFC (ex. "which one do you eat?") Sort by Category - food, color, clothes, etc Get creative and have the kids match the cards to buckets with a color card on the outside of each one or have the kids find the cards in a scavenger hunt game around the classroom, etc. I hope you enjoy! DOWNLOAD HERE!
In February I blogged for the first time about what was actually INSIDE my work boxes. My first post focused specifically on "put in" work t...
In this episode, I talk about materials in a life skills classroom and what we should look for when we buy them, make them or find them. And I have lots of free resources and tips to make your own.
Tasks do not have to be difficult or expensive. This color matching task can be made easily and by adding chopsticks, tweezers, etc...the student will be working on their fine motor skills. Thanks to Child Care Resources for the wonderful idea! http://blog.starstraining.org/2012/12/toilet-paper-roll-color-match.html
Functional Task Boxes In our classroom we use a lot of task boxes, here are some of the box ideas we use. All of the boxes...
Overwhelmed and understaffed my first year as a special education teacher in the self-contained classroom, I discovered that implementing an effective independent workstation helped my students become more successful and independent. Click to learn how I got control using task boxes and independent workstations in my special education classroom. My students loved the differentiated math, language arts, science, and social studies curriculum with age appropriate clip art and real photographs.
