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.

Alphabet Fun!: Part 2

I am knee deep in the alphabet right now and I wanted to share some of the activities that we are working on.  My students have moved on from learning the uppercase letters to now focusing on the lowercase letters and matching upper to lowercase letters.

Letter Match:

I introduced this activity last week and my student caught on really well.  I start by only giving him 3 choices.  As students become more confident I give more choices.  I put the cards that need to do cards in one basket and as the student matches the letter they then move to the card to the other basket.   To make this activity I made the board out of cardboard, styrofoam containers, and Velcro.  I then printed out and laminated the cards and then added velcro.   You can find a few more details and the cards (a freebie) for this activity by going to this blog post.

Alphabet Sensory Bag:

I made this bag using my Food Saver, hair gel, food coloring, and letter beads (You can find out more about how I make these in my http://www.learningahoy.com/2016/11/multi-sensory-learning.html.  I put one of each letter in the bag.  The student then needs to find a letter and color in the matching letter (upper or lowercase) in the same color as the letter is (if they are ready for this, otherwise, they just color the letter).  I use various sheets for the matching part that I get from Make Learning Fun.  

Erasers and the Alphabet:

This activity I learned about from one of my fabulous co-teachers.  To play, use seasonal or fun erasers (in this picture we are using snowflakes) and then a fun alphabet board.  Again, I get these from Make Learning Fun.  I vary the board by time of year, do upper or lowercase, and change the order the letters are in.  The teacher can call out a letter, letter sound, or show a letter and students have to find the matching letter.  Students can also play this in pairs.  My students love to be the "teacher" during this activity.     

Trace Letters:

I shared in my inclusion box post about my binder and dry erase markers that students use to practice tracing letters.  This is great to work on proper pencil grasp, letter formation, and fine motor skills.  I printed out the letters one to page and then put them in page protectors.  I then just use a zipper pouch in the front to add a few markers to choose from and an eraser. 

You can find other alphabet ideas by checking out all of my blog posts about the ABCs or checking out my Alphabet Activities Pinterest board.  

SPED Tricks & Treats blog hop

Hello!!  I hope you are enjoying the SPED tricks and treats blog hop!  I can't wait to see the goodies everyone can collect.  Special educators always have to have their bag of tricks handy and you can never have too many. 

My trick is all about metallic sharpies (and this will lead right into my treat)!  I love metallic sharpies.  They show up great on dark paper (especially black) and look so much better than a white crayon or colored pencil.  I have been able to get them  almost anywhere sharpies are sold and they come in gold, silver, and bronze. I used these twice this past week to make the activity I am about to show you and also to make dots on a black circle (that activity went with my letter F week, I will share it it soon). 

Last weekend, The Printable Princess  posted about some activities she made for her kindergarten classroom.  I just loved the spider webs!  However all I could find at the dollar store was black plates, which I ended up loving even more.

 I used the silver sharpie to draw the webs.

1.  I started by adding the targeted skill in the middle, for example the letter Y. 

2.  I then drew a circle around the Y 

3. Next, I added lines going out from the A to the sides of the plate (I usually did 4 or 5 lines on each one). 

4/5/6.  Last I connected the lines to make  spider webs.  I found it easier to start on the outside of the plate and work my way in.   

I made these adorable spiders to go with the webs.  I used graphics from My Cute Graphics and added letters, shapes, and numbers to the back to make a matching game.  I also picked up some spiders at the grocery store that my kiddos who are practicing 1:1 correspondence can count out the number of spiders to match the web.  This week with one of my kiddos we matched the letter spiders to their webs.  She loved it!  I told her the spiders were sad and needed to go back to their homes.  This worked like a charm (sometimes she is tough to get started )!  She was practicing identifying upper and lowercase letters, I was able to sneak some letter sounds in and we even practiced counting by counting how many spiders we had matched to their webs.  I can't wait to do this with her again this week.  

So this leads me to my freebie!!!  I am sharing the cute spiders I made to go with these webs.  I have included all of the lowercase letters (you would write uppercase on the web), shapes, and numbers.

 You can get them by clicking on the graphic below!

I would love to hear how you use these spiders or any of the tricks I shared with you.  Please leave a comment below!

If you are not already, make sure you follow me on Facebook, on my blog, and on TpT so you never miss another freebie!

Now hop on over to Breezy Special Ed to see what tricks and treats Brie has in store for you!!

Happy November (freebie!!!)

Can you believe it is November 1st already?!?  This school year is flying by.....

Yesterday, my son's kindergarten teacher asked me if I have a recording sheet for one of my Thanksgiving Hidden Letters. That in turn prompted me to update that particular product.  So here it is, still a freebie, but now with a recording sheet and updated directions.

To use this, students simply use a magnifying glass to find the letters hidden in the picture.  They then use a highlighter to mark off the letters on their recording sheet.


I hope you can use Thanksgiving Hidden Letters this month in centers!  Please leave a comment here if you download.  I love to know how you use it or your thoughts about it.

I originally posted this product back in 2011 at this blog post.  Shhh!!! You can find some more freebies on that post.

Guest Post from Grade School Giggles: Hands on Academics with Play-dough

Play-dough can take any number of academic lessons from ordinary to extraordinary and it only takes a few minutes to make inexpensive dough. Just combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup water, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1/3 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and food coloring in a pot over low heat. Stir for a few minutes until it makes a clump around your spoon. Store it in a sealed container when you're not using it.

Once you've made your dough you are ready to start using it in your lessons. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Spelling- Make letter mats and let the students build them. You could even do the same with cursive letters for older students. It would be a good early finisher activity. Older students can also roll the dough out and use stamps or toothpicks to spell their words or write examples of compound words or contractions.

Math- Make number mats and let the students build them. Have them use the play-dough to model basic addition or subtraction problems. Students can use play-dough to act out word problems. When studying measurement, play-dough can be used to create ropes in different lengths. It's also great for building 2 and 3D shapes.

Science- Younger students can explore color mixing. Older students can use play-dough to build a model of the Earth, make land forms, or build models of animals, plants, or cells.

Social Studies- Play-dough can be used to model using an assembly line and making goods as part of an economics unit. It could also be used to outline continents, states, countries, or rivers on a map. Older students could even use it to create a topographical map.

Have you used play-dough in your room before? How do you use it? Do you have any new ideas?

Please stop by Grade School Giggles and check out more of my classroom ideas. Thanks!

Social Skills and Academics using board games

Social Skills seems to be a topic that in special education we always need to work on.  I love using board games or other types of games to work on social skills in my classroom.  With these games we can address turn taking, sharing, conversation, fine motor skills, color recognition, sight words, numbers, and the list goes on and on.  I often buy my games at the thrift store instead of paying full price.  For example, yesterday, I picked up Spiderman Monopoly for my boys for only $2.50.   When we opened it, the only problem (which really is not a problem at all) was that it had some extra money from a Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly game.  I do recommend if you can, check the pieces before you buy a game.  I have bought a game before to get home and find the pieces are missing.

Some of the games I use weekly include Candyland and Trouble.  In Candyland you can play by the normal rules and work on color recognition and counting or you can add some sight words to the cards and add another level of learning.   You can sometimes find extra cards for Candyland at the thrift store and you can then adapt those.  You can also find premade cards on teachers pay teachers.   This set by Deana from Primary Punch works on tons of math skills with lots of room for differentiation.
 

Trouble allows us to work on number recognition, counting, and fine motor (pushing down on the dome thing).  We play only using one piece per player.  This makes the game go much quicker.

Do you use board games in the classroom?  I would love to hear what you use and if you adapt it at all.

work box: Flower Power

 This is my newest work box for my students.  This box may need to be more teacher directed depending on the student level.  The original intent was a beginning sounds activity, but then when I was putting it together I realized that there is so much more I can do with it.  This is what I came up with:  

Ask the student to find the picture of the...

Have the student pick out a flower and identify the object

Have the student pick out a flower and verbally identify the beginning sound

Ask the student to find a flower that begins with a ...

If you are interested, you can purchase this activity at my Teacher's Pay Teacher's store or my Teacher's Notebook store.

Oh no freebie!!

I had a special request from the wonderful paraprofessionals that I work with to make a version of oh no! that is not seasonal and that has both the upper and lowercase letters on the cards. So this is what I came up with. What do you think?

 To get your own copy head on over to my TPT store and download it. Please please leave feedback and a rating. I love feedback because it lets me know if there is something I can improve on.

I linked this post up with Worksheet Wednesday for the Summer Bloggin' series over at the Teaching Tribune.  Check out this link for lots of great ideas!!