Friday Reflections!

The end to another wonderful week is here! Not to mention, it's a long weekend :) We had a lot of fun this week and are starting to get back into the routine of things.

What Worked: Student group setup
I currently only have 7 kiddo's in my class. We are actucally getting a new student next Tuesday. Last year I played around with how to group my students and I have found what works best for me, my assistants, and of course my students. I group my students based on academic level. This way I know they are all getting the material they need at their own pace and in a way that is differentiated for each of them. My A group has 2 students currently and they are working on a 1st-2nd grade reading level and are working on double digit addition and subtraction (one of my kiddo's in this group is even on multiplication!) My B group has 3 students who are reading pre-primer and primer sight words. My C group are students working on pre-academic skills and letter and number recognition. There are currently 2 students in this group. Well to get to the point, these groups of students have been working out great! I feel that they are all learning and participating at their own pace and level.

What Didn't Work: Scheduling this week
Next week is when we start pulling out for ABLLS, specials, and therapies. So since this week we didn't use our schedules, transitioning was a bit difficult. We had a few meltdowns when transitioning from playtime to work. I tried to use a temporary schedule but since there arn't unlimited hours in the day I didnt have time to make one for each student. Next week our schedules will start and I will post abut our daily routine.

Highlight of the Week: Apple Edible
Since we were doing activities relating to apples this week we did an edible activity, of course incorporating apples! Here is our finished product! Looks silly, but its supposed to be a mouth. There are 2 apple slices and peanut butter in the middle to hold the marshmallow teeth.

I try to do edible activities at least once or twice a month. They go with a topic we are working on in class or a holiday. I like these activities because not only are they fun but they also teach following direction skills. I will also incorporate social skills and have students in charge of an ingredient so the other students have to ask for it.

Well that's how our week went! How was yours?

Chelsea

Day 2 and 3 of Apple Week!

Here are the activities that we did Tuesday and Wednesday!

On Tuesday at the u-table where the students work with me, we sorted apples based on color and then graphed them. Graphing is a 5th grade standard for us so I figured it would be good to incorporate for this activity. I bought a few different apples in each color; red, green, and yellow. On Wednesday the students were able to taste each apple and pick which was their favorite. This proved to be a fun activity and a healthy snack!

Also yesterday, one of my assistants played an "I Have, Who Has" game with an apple theme with my students. This is the first time I have used this game and since it was also probably the first time the students played I wanted to use somthing simple, so we played it using upper case letters. I got this game from TPT for free :) Click Here.

Wednesday, one of my assistants played apple bingo with the students that I created. I will be putting it up on TPT once I create some more cards.

 

My other assistant made apple trees with the students out of small pieces of ripped paper. I love these types of crafts because it also works on fine motor skills. Here they are up in the hallway. I love them!

Apple Week!

This whole week we are going to be doing fun activities with apples! Since it is only the second week of school and we are not starting our ABLLS pullout or our specials until next week, I decided to do some creative projects, games, and lessons relating to apples. (Since apples and the beginning of school go hand in hand!)

Today we did a great interactive read aloud using the book "10 Apples Up on Top" by Dr. Seuss. One of my fabulous and artistic assistants drew the tiger, lion, and dog from the book on a poster board. We then laminated the board and stuck 10 pieces of soft side Velcro above each animal. I printed and laminate 30 apples and stuck a piece of hard side Velcro to the back. As we read the story, the kiddos were able to stick apples on top of the animals heads. They loved it!!!! It turned out great!

At another center run by an assistant, the students made an apple painting. I cut some apples in half and the students painted the apple and stamped it onto a piece of paper. Aren't they cute?

At yet another center, one of my assistants worked on apple booklets with the kids. There are three levels of the books. In one level, students only trace the word apple, in the next level they trace the entire sentence and in the last level they write out the sentence independently. Of course we needed some educational activities amidst all of the fun we were having!

Friday Reflections!

Every Friday I want to reflect on how the week at school went and share it with all of you! This week was the first week of school. Hooray! Among all of the first week paperwork and meetings were some great times in my classroom. This week is all about getting to know our new students and what they like and of course don't like. We also have a lot of fun times with the kiddos without any classwork or demands being placed on them. This ensures that our students will bond with us and will want to work with us in the future. In ABA terms, it is called pairing.

What worked: Last year my students hung their backpacks on command strip hooks. This proved to be a bad idea! At least once a month a hook fell off or broke. Those hooks are not cheap! So this year I decided to buy crates to be used as cubbies in my classroom. At most, we have nine students in our class so I bought nine crates. (Right now I only have 7 kiddos but I'm sure I'll get more soon!) I stacked the crates 3x3 and zipped tied them with the help of one of my assistants from last year. Inside the crates are the students individual binder schedules, their change of clothes, and their backpacks. When the students enter the room they put their lunchboxes on top of the crates, take out their schedules and put away their backpacks. I love this system and I plan on using it again!

Highlight of the week: As the students were having free time and getting to know the classroom and the teachers earlier this week I played a little kids bop! I started using kids bop as a reinforcer for one of students last year and also to have him dance out some of his energy throughout the day. All of the students enjoyed the music and it got them moving! Anyways.... as kids bop is playing, one of my girls is playing at the sand table. Then the song, "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night" by the Black Eyed Peas starts playing. Well, my little girl loved that song! She began singing and dancing and having her very own dance party! It was defininetly very cute and made myself and my assistants smile. :)

Back to School Vocabulary Unit

My Back to School Vocabulary Unit is great for any classroom and is differentiated for the majority of levels! There are 79 pages of fun activities and worksheets.

Here are the vocabulary words up on my board! Included in the unit are picture cards for the words to use as a matching game or to use for a receptive identification task.

Adapted Story: What's the Word? Back to School! I have one of these stories for each of my vocabulary units. The students choose the correct word/picture to go with the description in the story.

Bingo! Two levels of bingo games included.

Also included in the unit are two levels of file folder games and many different worksheets on different levels.

Chelsea

Back to School Crafts

The first day of school was Monday and I wanted to share the craft we did! I wanted to give the parents something cute since I know it is hard for them to send their children back to school after being with them for the majority of the summer. Or maybe not that hard :) The kids love getting their hands painted and they were excited to give it to their parents after the first day. All of my parents thought the little gift was sweet!

Classroom Reveal!

After three weeks of arranging, rearranging, labeling, velcroing, etc. I have finally completed my room! I love color and a bright and cheerful setting! But of course my room is functional and organized. My principal likes us to use themes for our rooms so this year I have chosen birds.  I will go into certain areas of the room a little deeper in later posts. I hope you like my home away from home! :)

 

Welcome to my classroom! (Classroom door of course)

Found this idea on pinterest! One of our classroom jobs is to change our location.

 I got these clip boards from the dollar store! This is where student work will be displayed

 

Back to school bulletin board!

 

Here is the door from the inside of the room. Important student info is at the top. Student check in and out which will have student pictures on popsicle sticks. Those will also be used when the student goes to speech or OT/PT. And some important visuals which are included in my visuals pack on TPT!

 

 

 

 

View from the door. Yes, the classroom is very small. But we make do!

 

 

Here is my desk. The curtain is up to hide some of the clutter!

 

 

Here is the right side of my room.

 

 

Crate cubbies! I love how they turned out and I am super excited to use them this year :) Above the crates is the birthday wall!

 

 

Another view of the right side of the room. There is a "computer closed" sign on the computers. They are included in my visuals pack on TPT!

 

 

The bulletin board above the computers. The birds have the students names on them.

 

 

Here is my orange center!

 

 

Another view of the orange center.

 

 

Here are the tubs that hold flash cards for each student on his/her level at the orange center. An assistant will do the cards with them and take data.

 

 

Here are the fine motor tasks that students will complete when it is not their turn to practice their flash cards. Each student will do 2 fine motor tasks while waiting for their turn to do flash cards.

 

 

Visuals at the orange center!

 

 

Here is my u-table that I am so excited about this year! At this table, we do morning meeting every morning. I also work with students on IEP goals and take data in groups of 2 or 3. This is also where reading, math, science, and social studies takes place in groups of 2 or 3.

 

 

Here is a close up of my morning meeting board. This board was made with the help of my dad and is on wheels! The other side includes vocabulary words and math, science, and social studies topics that we are working on.

 

 

Here is our break/ play time area.

 

 

A close up of my crate bench!

 

 

Here are the toys. Stored in this shelf from Aldi's (a great price)

 

   

 

Magnet board next to the break area.

 

 

Here is my super cute weather boy! I love how interactive this is! I used Velcro to stick on all the pieces.

 

 

Here is the yellow center! It is my sensory center that will be strategically placed in students schedules when they need a little work break. Included at this center are a sand table (donated from donors choose!) and a three drawer bin with shaving cream, lotion, sensory bottles, bubbles, and playdoh. An assistant monitors this center of course!

 

 

A view of the entire left side of the room. The alphabet at the top of the board goes with the bird theme. They can be purchased on my TPT store!

 

 

Purple Center!

 

 

Here are the labeled tasks for this center. Each student has to complete three tasks at this center.

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my room!

 

Chelsea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open House/Meet the Teacher

Today we had open house at my school when parents can come and meet the teacher and receive a plethora of information for the upcoming year! My first year teaching (last year), I had a garden classroom theme and I made super cute potted plants for my students with a little sign that said "Let's Grow Together." The parents really seemed to like them. :) So since I am doing a bird theme this year I decided to make these cute little goodies!

I ordered some clear box containers from amazon for about $5. I then cut different shades of brown paper into tiny strips (I know, a lot of work, but it saved me a few bucks!). I also bought little birds from the dollar store to glue on top and put jelly beans in the box to represent eggs. I then added a little note that said "Watch us spread our wings". My parents thought they were adorable!


Chelsea