Intervention Binders

Last year I bought a Math intervention binder off of TpT.  While it is totally awesome, it did not suit all of my needs or my students' needs.  So, I came up with my own.  These were super easy to put together once I came up with what I was going to do.  I simply decide on the topic of the binder, then add various practice sheets and games about that topic.

I have several binders set up: alphabet, shapes, math, numbers, comprehension, number tracing, and letter tracing.  You have seen pictures of the number and letter binders before when I talked about my inclusion box.  Some pages I have made myself (such as the letter and number tracing pages), but  I use a lot of pages by the Moffat Girls and then other various sheets I have.  I like the Moffat girls because it is more than just tracing or writing.  Annie Moffat includes a lot of games and activities in her No Prep packs.  I put each sheet in a page protector so the sheets can be re-used.  Each binder is organized a bit differently.  The alphabet binder is more of a mix, where the shapes binder is organized by shape.  I also add a zipper pouch or resealable bag (just put duct tape on the edge to make it durable before you hole punch it) to the front that I can store dry erase markers, an eraser, dice for games, game markers, etc in.

 Now, we just grab a binder and use it to practice these skill at any time.  I find this great for when we have an extra 5 minutes or I end up with an extra person that can work with someone individually.   The kids think it is neat because they can write on the page protector and it just wipes off.

Just an extra note that the Learning Ahoy caddy next to all the binders holds clipboards, extra markers, erasers, etc.

Embedded Learning

Working with students with special needs we need to make sure we give every opportunity to learn that we can.   This means we need to embed learning and instruction into daily routines and activities.  We need to make conscious decisions that we are going to address a certain skill during a certain time period.  In order to do this we need to go through a few simple steps.

1. Determine what IEP goals or skills you are addressing for an individual student. 
 For example ,right now one of my student's (A) goals is to identify numbers 1 -3. Another student, (B) is working greeting adults and peers appropriately.

2.  Determine what routines/activities these goals can be embedded into.
This is where the planning part comes in.  Depending on the type of classroom you have, this can be done in various ways.  If you have a self-contained room where all your kids are on the same schedule, you can develop a matrix of your schedule.  There would be a column for each student and their goal.  You then go through the schedule and see where you can work on the goals.  You can do something similar if you have students in various classes or  go between buildings.  Your matrix, just might look a bit different.  Using the matrix also enables you an easy way to collect data on the goal.

To work on B greeting adults, I prompt him in the hallway on the way to class when an adult greets him.  I have planned with one of the paraprofessionals that she will greet him daily.  I am working on fading my prompts so that he can become independent in this task.

If I was in preschool and focusing on building vocabulary with my students, I may make sure that my snack includes various farm animals such as having animal crackers.  This way we can talk about the animals as we eat them!

In this post you can see how I used our science lesson to work on sight words.

3. Use your matrix!
Now that you have determined where your teaching and instruction is happening, get to it!  This part should be easy.  If you can, take data on your matrix show that you can demonstrate progress and note what you need to change.

4. Change your matrix as needed.
 You will need to update your matrix when a student masters a skill, a unit changes, your schedule changes, or for a variety of other reasons.  I keep a template on my computer so that I can easily change it.

If you are interested in learning more about embedded instruction, I originally learned about it from Sharon Raver.  I took a few classes that she taught while working towards my Master's degree.  She has written many professional articles and books that include using a matrix and embedded learning.

Clothes Pin Color Match Work Task

I was working on another literacy box similar to the ones I made when I developed the pirate hand puppet and the pirate rhyming  and made this activity to go with it.  The box I was working on was focusing on Planes and Trains with a particular focus on color words.  I dug out some of my kids Popsicle sticks (I couldn't find the colored one!  They are buried in a box somewhere.) and used  markers to color one of each.  I then made another stick that had the same color words on them.  I used the small clothespins that I found at A.C. Moore and colored three for each color.

  

I had both my 3 year old and my 6 year old try it out.  The loved it and both were able to complete the task.  This task works on fine motor skills, matching, and reading color words.  You could differentiate a bit more by using larger clothes pins and Popsicle sticks. 

Pirate box & a freebie

I spent some time this week working with our local TTAC working on developing literacy kits that teachers can check out of the library. The library is really a neat thing to have access to.  All we do is browse online, click check out and it it is mailed to us at school with an envelope to mail it back.  The library has curriculum materials, testing kits, teacher books for professional development, and best of all assistive technology.  It is great to be able to trial something with a student before we buy it and this gives us just that opportunity.

This past week I spent two days working on a pirate literacy box. I included lots of fun stuff in this box such as Shipwrecked to work on sight words, Communication boards for a Go Talk 9+, Beginning Sounds cards and a wheel, Pirate alphabet cards, a rhyming pirate file folder game and activities to go with the books Shiver me letters and How I became a Pirate.

I, of course, forgot to take a picture of the whole
box all put together, but I did take pictures of two activities that I want to share. The one I am going to share today is Pirate rhyming.

I made this to go with some of the other books included in that kit that had a rhyming theme to them. My thought process was that they rhyming activities could be used as a follow up to the book.   It is really easy to put together.  Simply print the pages.  Glue one page of cards to the right side of open folder and glue the directions to the font of the folder.  Laminate the folder and other set of cards.  Cut out cards and use velcro to adhere the cards to the folder to store.  Add velcro to the set already glued down so the student can put the match on top.

You can get your own copy of this activity by going here!  Please leave a comment on this post if you download.  Make sure you come back tomorrow to check out another activity that I put together.  Also click here to check out my previous pirate freebies and classroom activities and here for my pinterest board to see some of the other activities I included in the box.

Experience books

Experience books are books made to remember something you did in class such as go on a scavenger hunt or items you collected on a field trip.  They enable students to re-live the experience with the actual objects to look at and feel.

To start collect your items.  Put one item  ( or a collection depending on the type of book you are making) in a bag.  Close the bag, making sure to get the air out.  The opening of the bag will be on the right side (to act as the spine of the book).  Be sure to close each bag tightly.  Make sure to include a title page!  I got the idea for this book and title page from Pre-Kinders.

Once you have all of your bags filled put them in order and add one or two staples to the spine.  I put my staple in the middle of the bag openings(spine).  I actually did two sets of bags with this book so that not to many were together.  

Next add tape to the "spine" to bind all of the pages together.  I use fun Duct tape to make it a little bit more interesting. Make sure you add a few pieces and it is secured well. Also, make sure you have the staples covered so they don't poke anyone! 

Last, let your students enjoy reading the book!

Coffee Filter Butterflies

We are knee deep in our insect unit.  Last week we made coffee filter butterflies and they came out super cute.  The best part is that they are an easy, fun craft that works on fine motor skills,

To make these cute butterflies you will need a coffee filter, washable markers, black pipe cleaners (really any color will work) and a spray bottle and water.  We also had a tray (old cafeteria trays) to put our coffee filters on to contain the water.

First the students colored on the filters with the markers.  I stressed to them just to use different colors and not worry about drawing specific designs.  That was so hard foursome of them!  After they finished decorating I used a permanent marker to write their names on the filter.  Next we put it on the tray and the kids used the spray bottle to wet it download. We then left our butterflies to dry,the next day, I took a black pipecleaners, bundled up the coffee filter in the middle and hooked the pipe cleaner around them.  These butterflies were the perfect addition to our window and hopefully will help spring show up!  

Dinosaur unit (Freebie!!)

We did so many cool things during our dinosaur unit!  The kids really loved reading  all of the dinosaur books,  playing with plastic dinosaurs in the block area, walking like dinosaurs, and learning our dinosaur song.  We used this dinosaur song to practice pointing to words, identifying our letters (we circled them with a dry erase marker) and to introduce a craft we did with a baby dinosaur hatching out of an egg.  

I had the egg project from a few years ago , but it was hand drawn.  I decided to redraw it (Yes, I drew it all by myself!!! That is so exciting to me!!) on the computer. My kids loved singing the song that goes to the tune of "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee".  One of my students has never been a tracker or reader (just not there developmentally yet) and he jumped right in with the song and was the best at tracking.  I could have been more proud!


Since I took all of the time to create this craftivity, I though it would be a great thing to share!  So here you go!  Click on the picture or here to download this craftivity for free!!  I would love to know if you have any cool activities that you do for a dinosaur unit.

I am linking this post up over at Teaching Blog Addict's Freebie Friday!!

Pin Party

Hailey (Autism Tank), one of my go to blogging buddies for when I need some new ideas, is having a Back to School Pin Party.  I thought this would be something great to join in on since I am lacking in posts (If you follow me on Facebook then you have seen pictures and know why!  I do not think I have made a dent in that disaster area.).

So here are 5 things I am going to attempt this school year that I have found on Pinterest.

This looks like a really easy way to close off my centers when I don't want little hands accessing them.

I would like to use a lot more visuals. Sasha has some great ideas for these!

I am finally biting the bullet and making my own teacher's toolkit, but I am also going to one to store all of those little visual pieces I mentioned above.

 



I would like to make some kind of IEP cheat sheet to help the teachers I work with better understand student needs.

 


Last but not least, my classroom chair needs a major overhaul.Hopefully I will get to it before the end of the school year.


So what are you planning on working on this school year? I can always add to my list. Head on over to Hailey's blog and link up with us!

There was an old pirate

One of the things my kids and I have been doing this summer is going to the library to read some new books.  A really likes all of the new technology the library has such as a View that he can check out.  B and C just like to play with the toys.  The last time we were there I saw the book There Was an Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish sitting on a shelf and grabbed it to bring home to read to B.  I love all of the There was an Old Lady books so I was hoping this was would be just as entertaining. 

B loved it, I loved it and we have read it a few times now.  I am going to order a copy for my classroom.  Here is a sneak peek inside the book. The author is Jennifer Ward and the Illustrator is Steve Gray.   Have you ever read any of the other books by this author, There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog   or  There Was an Odd Princess Who Swallowed a Pea ?

Library Skills

As part of ESY/Summer School the kids take a weekly trip to the public library.  They are enable to enroll in the library’s reading program and check out books.  We often read books to our students during this time also.  Something I learned while there is that our students (my son included) have no idea how to use the online card catalog.  So, I jumped in and taught them.  I worked with one student to show him how to type in what he was looking for.  We then found the call number and he wrote it down.  Look at all of the skills we have worked on already!  Reading, spelling, typing, writing, identifying numbers, etc.   We then went and looked for the books.  I showed him how to look at the numbers on the shelves and the books.  By the following week he was doing this on his own. 

This got me thinking that this is an important skill that somehow our kids are missing.  I take my own children to the public library at least weekly during the summer.  This has provided me with the opportunity to teach A how to find the specific books he wants.  He is doing this all on his own now.








 The other great thing about checking out the library is that it is a cool place (Especially during the recent heat wave!) that has more than books!  Our local library has computer games for kids, reading/play groups, lots of comfy chairs, and a play area at the back with some toys.  B  and C love going to the play area to play with the train set.  This gives A an opportunity to look for books and me a chance to sit down.  Do you check out your local library over the summer?  Are library skills something you teach your students?














 

Liebster Award: Learn more about the captain!!

So what did you think about the guest blog posts this past week? They were great weren't they!?!


While I was gone, I was nominated for the Liebster award.  I have been nominated fa few times before, but I don’t think I have ever participated.  (Yes, I know…… teamwork, sharing, etc)  This time I was nominated by the wonderful  Mrs. Mathis who I got to know during the Autism AwarenessBlog hop.  I figured this would be a great opportunity to for my readers(especially all the new ones, Welcome!!) to know more about me. 
 
So, what exactly is the Liebster Award all about?  "Liebster" is a German word that means dearest, lovely, beloved and welcome.  To accept the nomination, I must:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me.
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers. 
3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
6. Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them.

So here are the questions that Mrs. Mathis asked of me.

1. How long have you been teaching? 
• I have am going into my 9th year of teaching.
2. Why do you teach?
• I have wanted to be a teacher since kindergarten.  I was exposed at an early age (Thanks mom!) to children and adults with disabilities which fueled my desire to teach special education. I believe every person has the ability to learn and we need to figure out how to help them learn. 
3. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be?
• Athletic trainer or physical therapist
4. What are your favorite hobbies?
• Creating things on the computer, learning new things, reading, going to garage sales & thrift stores
5. What's the last book you read?
• I am currently reading Paradise Falls.  Not a favorite, but I am into it.  I think it creeps me out a bit because it hits close to home with child abductions (something I worry about) and on of the girls abducted is named Caitlin.
6. What was your favorite book as a child?
• A book that was written just for me by one of my Dad’s friends called  The Wolf Tree.  I have recently started reading it to my kids.
7. Who is your favorite band, singer and why?
• My favorite is my Dad.  He belongs to a duo called Turngren & Young.  My dad has always sang and inspired my love of music (More about that later!). They have no recordings though so when I can’t hear them live then I like to listen to the Jack Johnston station on Pandora.  I find all of that music relaxing.
8. Do you believe in soul mates?
• Yes.
9. Do you believe in love at first sight? 
• Yes.
10. Who (or what) inspires you?
• My students and children.  Over the past 9 years (7 of them I have been a mom), I have learned so much about laughter, mistakes, and life. 
11. Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school and why?
• Wow, that is hard one.  I had a few inspiring teachers.  Mrs. Sherman, my kindergarten teachers inspired me to be a teacher and continues to inspire me to this day.   Mr. Z, my band director in middle and high school always encouraged me even though I was FAR from the best marcher or flute players. 

So now for 11 random facts about me:

1. I am a band geek.  I play 5 instruments (or I did).  Flute, piccolo, melophone, French horn, and cello.  I also attempted the trombone.  
2. On that same note I am a brother in the honors band Fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi.  I was in the marching band from 8th grade through college.  I was also in concert band, honors band, sprit band, and whatever other band i could be in.
3. I balanced all of that band with sports.  I played soccer, softball, and basketball.
4. Not all of you know this, some might, but I am a Jersey Girl.  I may live in VA, but I will always be Jersey Strong.
5. I wear a size 12 shoe and have since 6th grade.  When I was in 6th grade, a shoe salesman told my mom to take me to a store that sells women's shoes for men (yes, men) in NYC.
6. I don’t get football.  I have been watching it for over 15 years due to marching band and my husbands love for it.   (Go Redskins!) It doesn’t make sense to me.
7. Cooking and I do not work, yet, I teach cooking to my students.  That is why we stick to the basics.  Making Jell-O, mixing lemonade, nothing with real cooking involved.
8. My husband and I met on Match.com almost 7 years ago.  I thought he was too good looking to ever want to go out with me. (Shh, don’t tell him that!)
9. I grew up on a Christmas tree and pumpkin farm.  I can cut down and bail trees with the best of them.
10. As a kid I had a huge crush on Doogie Howser, M.D. aka Neil Patrick Harris.
11. Gosh, this is hard thinking of 11 things…. hmmmm… I LOVE coffee.  I never write about it, but I have coffee every morning, to the point where the office staff at school teases me.

Here are the fantastic blogs I am nominating.  You should check them out!!
Empowering Great Minds
Teaching Through Turbulence
The Autism Classroom Project
The Autism Tank
Mrs. Shelton’s Kindergarten
Fifth is Fabulous

Now for the 11 questions:

1. What do you teach?
2. Where did you go to college?
3. What is your favorite book?
4. What is you favorite place to get clipart from?
5. What do you like to do outside of school stuff?
6. Where would your dream vacation spot be?
7. If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?
8. If you were not a teacher what would you do?
9. What is your favorite blog to read (besides your own of course!)?
10. What is your favorite food?
11. What is your least favorite drink?

Whew, that was a long post.  I hope you learned some new things about me and found some new blogs to check out!

Frugal Friday: Teacher Lists

Have you tried out Teacher Lists yet?  Not only is it a super easy way to post your school supply list or a wish list online, but you can also get free school supplies for your classroom!  If you go through the link I have provided you should receive a free 12 pack of Elmer’s glue sticks.  I am not sure if you will get that if you go directly to the site.  I have created a quick tutorial to help you get through setting up your first list, but I promise you it is super easy. Click here to get started!


The first page you see will look like this.  Click on the link (The green arrows will help show you the way!) that say Create An Account.  I don’t have screen shots of this process because I have already created my account.  Sorry!!





Once you account is created and you are signed in you will see this page. lick on Create a list.







After you click on create list you will see this screen.  You need to choose Supply List or Wish List.  If you choose supply list another screen will come up asking if these are items that are mandatory for your students to bring in.

 




Next it will ask you to fill in some information about your list.  Use the drop down menus.






Now for the fun part!  Choose your items that are for your supply list or wish list.  Just click on the category you want.  I always start with most popular items.









Once you click on the item you want, you need to add how many you would like and any descriptive information.

 





As you add items they will start showing you on your list to the right.  When you are done simply click finish.







Congratulations!  Your first list is done!





See, I told you it was super easy!  So what are you waiting for?  Go make your list at Teacher Lists!