Special Education Valentine Facebook Hop

Are you as excited as me about the month long blog hop from 28 special education bloggers?  I will be posting on February 20, but you can start today by heading over to The Bender Bunch.  Just click envelope number 1 on the graphic below.  Make sure to come back everyday to follow the map to a new surprise!

Work box Wednesday.... A few days late

            

It is time for the monthly linkup at Autism Classroom news for workboxes..... I am just running a few days late.  I made a work box for one of my students this week.  He has not started it yet, so I am hoping it goes ok!  

I will fill you in later this week.  My students have been working on sorting by size, but only two sizes: big & little.  I want to add to their vocabulary and challenge them a bit.  I came up with this work box to sort these bears by size.  I have no idea where these bears came from as they were in the room when I moved in.   The sorting container came with a train set my son got for his birthday.  I saved it just knowing I would use it someday.   I made the labels in board maker, laminated them, and just taped them down.  I did not make them showing pictures of the Bears so that I could easily change out then manipulative.  I wrote the word, small, medium, and large instead of using boardmaker because I wanted it in color and I didn't have a color printer to access. To do the task the student simply sorts by size in the appropriate section of the tray.  I honestly do not expect them to stand the Bears up all neatly like I did, but you never know!   I can't wait to see how this goes tomorrow!  

To find more great ideas head over to the Linky to see what else has been shared.  You can also find more work boxes I have made by clicking here!

 

My favorite things

Hello!!! Welcome all of the new shipmates to Learning Ahoy!! Are you enjoying the blog hop?  So many great things up for grabs and lots of great products 50% off!!! (Be sure to search for #myfavoritethings2014 in TPT to easily find everything)  So now it is my turn to share my favorite things.(Make sure you go all the way to the bottom so you can enter the giveaways!)

One of my favorite ways to start the holiday season is to visit my family Christmas tree farm.  My grandfather started this farm when I was just a baby and I grew up helping him.  My boys have grown to love the farm just as much as I do!  This picture of B was taken at Thanksgiving when we made our annual trip to start off our Christmas season.

So my next favorite thing to share is my favorite restaurant.  Now, I am not sure if it counts as a restaurant, but I big puffy heart Dunkin' Doughnuts.  I love their coffee and their doughnuts.  I think it goes back to being younger and my dad always stopping at DD when we went to "The Shore" to visit family.  I am working on passing this love onto my children. (I promise there was no coffee in that cup and he had a pacifier in his mouth. )

So
my third favorite thing to share is an It Works! Body Wrap.  I love this for the holidays because it helps with all of the holiday extras you eat!  And to help one of you out with those extras, a wrap is what I donated to the giveaways.









If you want to check out what I have marked down head over to my TPT store .  If you have had your eye on Oh snow! or Where is the Gingerbread man? now is your chance to get them at 50% off!

Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:

7 winners for 7 prize packs!

Come and enter the giveaway and check out my bloggy friends' favorite things:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Gingerbread Man!!! (Freebie)

I am linking up with Carla over at Comprehension Connections for her Thematic Thursday (Yes, I know it is only Wednesday!, I am getting a head start.)!

I have posted about my Gingerbread stuff before, but I wanted to share again for all of our new shipmates!


I love doing a week of Gingerbread man and all of the activities that go with it. One of my favorite activities (which I cant find a picture of right now) is making Gingerbread man ornaments.  Then one day just before break while the kids are out of the room, the ginger bread men all run away.  We go on a hunt for them throughout the building by following clues that are left behind. This works on so many skills, communication, social skills, reading, gross motor and it is just plain old fun!!!  I found the clues pre-made somewhere, again not sure where. (I think finals has my brain a bit foggy!)

Another activity I do is use this  interactive book featuring cute little gingerbread men (and women) during circle time. These gingerbread people are dreaming of being put in the correct spot such as over the house or between the elves.  My students have loved this book!

Last, but not least  is this gingerbread themed practice sheet works on time to the nearest 5 minutes.  I made this for a group I had a few years ago.  You can get it by going to this link!

I would love to know what Gingerbread themed activities you do in your room.  Leave a comment or link up over at Carla's blog!

Blog Hoppin' Scavenger Hunt

If you follow me on Instagram you may notice that I have posted a lot of pictures with the hashtag #bloghoppin2014.  The crew over at Blog Hoppin'  have put on a scavenger hunt that has a lot of teachers searching high and low.  I have been able to get my kids and friends involved also.  I may have also tried to get a sneak picture of someone wearing a fanny pack but was not quick enough to chase them down.....  You can join in the fun by going to this blog hoppin' post to find out all the details.  If you are not following me on Instagram you can find me at caorsborne.

Here are some of my highlights! B has been a real sport in trying to help me get all of my pictures.

This is where I tried to get the guy in the fanny pack

B and I made play dough so we could spell out my name and Blog Hoppin'!

B wanted to pretend he was holding up the bus.

Making slime! This was our science experiment

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B hold a teacher bag full of books!

 

You can check out other pictures by going to the link up over at Blog Hoppin!

Pirate Week part 2!

Well the boys finished up Pirate Camp last week with a demonstration.  They were a ship and the parents pretended to be a Merchant ship.  When we went to exchange our candy for their chocolate chip cookies they attacked!  They boys learned so much last week about being pirates and some of the marine biology and history from our area were snuck in also.  They made some really cool things also that I now will  put into my back pocket for my next pirate week such as a boat and a bandana. (The sword was really cool also, but I don't think I can get away with making that in school).

So anyway, on to my pirate week at school.  We made pirate spy glasses.  I think these were my favorite and the most of the kids favorite.  To make them we first talked about how pirates use a spy glass to see off of their ship.  Then we got to work making out own.  We used paper towel rolls (Upcycling!!) and decorated them with markers and ocean themed foam stickers.  Then I took a piece of clear saran wrap and attached it to the end of the spy glass with a rubber band.  That was it!  Simple and the kids had a ball during free play making up pirate stories and going on treasure hunts.

When we went outside, I told the kids they would have to walk the plank before they could go to the playground.  If they made it through the sharks they would be ok.  I wish I took a picture of the look on their faces when I told them this.  It was hysterical!  As you can see from the picture our plank was simply a ramp that they walked across, but they loved it.












In honor of my pirate week, I decided to link up with Teaching Tribune again (They are having some great linkys this summer!) and discount two of my products 50%.   The first product is Shipwrecked.  This is a sight word game featuring cute pirates!  The other one is Where is the Turkey? bundle (Yes, I know it is not a pirate theme, but go with it!!).  This is an interactive book that has a classroom edition and a student edition. It works on positional words.

Throwback Thursday Pirate Style!

Picture Credit: David Willbanks

It is time for another Throwback Thursday over at The Teaching Tribune.  Keeping with the pirate theme for this week, I am reposting a game I made when I first began blogging.  This game continues to be a class favorite.  Of course, I do not have any pictures of the kids playing it!  I put the sticks in a sand bucket to help fit the theme. 

**This post originally appeared on Learning Ahoy!! on June 12, 2011**

Ship Wrecked! (math & sight word game!)

After seeing a game called Don't Get Zapped on Swap Frog First Graders (I love this blog by the way) I decided to add my own spin to the game to make it fit the pirate theme. The name of the game is Shipped Wrecked. Students pick a stick and read the work or solve the problem. If they get it correct they get to keep the stick, if they get it wrong they put it back. If they pick a stick that says Ship Wrecked then they need to put all of their sticks back. If they pull a stick that says trade with another player, then they need to give their sticks to another player and the other player takes the first players sticks. I think lose a turn is self explanatory :o)

To make this game, print out the game sheet on to address labels. Then cut in half and place on craft sticks.


Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other ideas on how this game can be adapted. Also, please check out Swamp Frog First Graders if you haven't already by clicking on the button.

Ship Wrecked Addition to 20

Ship Wrecked Sight Words

**End of post**

Monday Meet Up

I am just loving these weekly linkys over at The Teaching Tribune!!  I have found some new blogs to check out and some new idea to try out!  Today is Monday Meet Up.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to share 3 things about me that you might not know.


Also, just in case you haven't see it, I have a chance to win an item from my store going on on my Learning Ahoy Fan page.  Check out the post here!!

So, what are you waiting for?  Go check out the other teacher bloggers over at The Teaching Tribune!!

Deck the Halls(freebie)

**Check out this post for an update on my Gingerbread man stuff!!!**

Have you started your wish list for the TPT cyber Monday sale?  You will be able to save up to 28% at my store and a lot of other stores. I have joined some of my blogging buddies in a links party to showcase some of our favorite products to the tune of some of our favorite Christmas Carols.

Let's get this party started with I'm Dreaming of a Christmas Product.  This is my latest interactive book featuring cute little gingerbread men (and women).  These gingerbread people are dreaming of being put in the correct spot such as over the house or between the elves.  My students have loved doing the different versions of these book.  Be on the look out for the student edition sometime this week!  

Next on our playlist is It's Beginning to look a lot like Reading.  This sight word game, Oh Snow, will have your students rocking and rolling into the new year with sight word confidence.  Put all of snowman cards in a fun winter container.  Students take turns pulling cards and reading the word.  If they pull Oh Snow!   The students needs to out all if his/her cards back.

And the last song on my playlist is Walking in a math Wonderland. This gingerbread themed practice sheet works on time to the nearest 5 minutes.  Best of all, it is FREE!

There are lots of other song on the playlist! Remember to use the code to save at TPT on 12/2 & 12/3!

Head over to Buntings, a Books, and Bainbridge and sing your way into Christmas break.

http://bainbridgeclass.blogspot.com/2013/12/deck-halls-with-tpt-linky-party.html