Inclusion Box

I have talked before about what I carry around in my inclusion bag, but I also keep an inclusion box in some of the classrooms I work in.  This box is usually for students who are working below grade level, have 1:1 adult support, and in larger districts may be in a self-contained classroom.

The contents of the box are various activities that the student can work on while in the inclusion classroom,  when the work being done by the class may be too much or when the class has some free choice or independent centers.  The items are often review and activities that I have already provided direct instruction with.  The box I currently have set up is for a Kindergarten student so that activities I am going to share are based around that particular students needs.

The Essentials:

The first thing I always include is a pencil box (or a zipper pouch) with dry erase markers, an eraser, a die, and sometimes pencils/crayons. I also may include fun erasers or counters.   I try to make sure that everything needed to complete the tasks is in the box.   This makes it easier for the adult working with the student and the student to stay on task.

Math activities:

The first thing I have is a number puzzle.  This is just a basic puzzle that I bought at the dollar store.  Sometimes my student does this for fun, sometimes to practice their number identification. 

The next activity is self-correcting puzzles that I found on the giveaway table a few year ago.  The student has to count the dots and match with the correct number.  At this time, we do hand over hand to help the student count the dots. 

Another number activity is simply the numbers 1 - 10 that can be traced with dry erase markers.  The numbers are printed 1 to a page and put into sleeve protectors.  I then put all of the pages into a binder. 

Other times during the year I may include shapes, count a clip cards, and simple addition activities.

Language Arts Activities: 

This particular student is still working on letter recognition so they have a letter puzzle, again from the dollar store. 

There is also 2 sets of uppercase letter cards that allow the student to match letter to letter. 

Another activity is the prewriting pages.  I have various levels of difficulty of these and I have ones for different themes and times of the year.  

The last thing includes is another binder.  This one has all of the letters of the alphabet for the student to practice tracing.

Extras:

I also include a folder that has simple worksheets in it that can be used as needed.  These include tracing practice, cutting practice, number identification, letter identification or anything else that I may add in there. 

Do you keep anything particular in classes where your students are in the inclusion setting?

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. 

Count and match hearts

I made this task for one of my kiddos who is working on 1:1 correspondence.  I am hoping that being able to feel what he is counting will help with the input and make it easier for him.

To make the hearts:

I used foam sheets and heart die cut.  I have also seen heart foam shapes at Target and the Dollar store.  I then cut the hearts in half using various craft scissors (just like these ). Next, I took some left over puffy/fabric paint that we had from another project and started making dots on the left side of the heart.  I then wrote the corresponding number on the matching right side of the heart.

To use:

The student counts the dots and finds the matching number.  The student then needs to try to match the heart halves together to see if they fit.

My student was able to count up to 5 dots independently, but needed hand over hand assistance to count the higher dots.

This was a well-liked task in my classroom and I am planning to make a few more just like it using different die cuts to fit into our various themes.

I am linking this task up with Christine over at Autism Classroom News for her monthly Workbasket Wednesday. I am just a few weeks late. Oops!!!

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!

Also, don't forget to see what freebie is in store for you today through the Special Education Secret Valentine hop!

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!

 

Work box: money sort

So what did you think of the alphabet matching task?  Easy to make right?  Well this one is even easier!

I found these great 3 section trays at the Dollar Tree and they are perfect for sorting.  I use them for all types of things, but this one is sorting coins.  To make it I used clear packing tape to adhere a coin to each section.  

The kids do great sorting these and after they sort we count the number of coins(we are not ready to to count the actual amount of money yet).  I will have more ideas for this in the next few days.  I jut forgot to take a picture and pictures are always better!

New work boxes/tasks!: Letter Match

I have 3 new work tasks to share, but  spreading them out over 3 posts so I can build suspense (dun, dun, dun!).

The first one is a new uppercase and lowercase match I made.  What I love about this is I can use the same "Velcro board"  for different tasks.  For example I also made cards with various amounts of objects and students have to match the number. Of course I forgot to take pictures of that on!

So to make this, first I made the cards.  (If you would like them, leave me a comment! go to this link! ) then I took a side off of a box.  I used glue dots to attach 2 styrofoam containers to the end of the cardboard.  I then added Velcro strips.   

The student I am using this with picked up on it really quickly.  I am looking forward to figuring out other ways to use this board. Any suggestions appreciated!**Update:  The use of this board has been fantastic!! I have made additional cards to work on numbers, shapes, etc.  I ended up making a board for each of my students and then color coding cards so that it would be easy to identify the skill being work on**

I am linking this post up with Autism Classroom News and Work Basket Wednesday.  I am super excited about this linky and hoping to get a lot of new ideas!!  Head over and check it out!!

Sorting task

This simple sorting task has been a big hit with two of my students.  We simply have the students sort a collection of counting bears into the  bowl that matches.   We  started with two colors and then worked our way up to 3 colors.  One of my students responds well to verbal praise so each time he put one in the correct  bowl I cheered.  Now when he does it, if I don't cheer he will look at me and say "yay!?".

If you are looking for more tasks I have a pinterest board dedicated to them or check out the others I have posted on the blog by going here!

Guest Post from Autism Tank: Work Tasks

  I am super excited to be doing my first guest blog post for Learning Ahoy!  When I sat down to think about what topic I should cover, I instantly thought about work tasks.  Both Caitlin and I seem to have a slight obsession with coming up with fun, new tasks to keep our kiddos busy.   When I was cleaning up my classroom in the last weeks of school, I found some tasks that I had totally forgotten about!

The two tasks I will share today both have to do with counting.  This first one was super easy to make...I just used notecards, stickers, and some beads I had laying around.


I just put a different amount of stickers on each notecard.  Then I wrote multiple choice answers on the bottom of each card before laminating them.  After they were laminated, I added 3 velcro spots.  The kids have to count the stickers, then velcro the bead to the correct number.

This book does involve counting, however, it is more of a matching task.  Each page in this features different aquarium animals that we learned about before a field trip to the aquarium.  I have created a few different versions of this book on different units we have done.  It is a good way to reinforce vocabulary words in an independent task.  

For this task, the kids have to match the words, pictures, and numbers on each page.  As you can see, this task is stored in 3-ring binder and I used top-loading sheets (to help save on laminating).

Thanks to Caitlin for allowing me to post as a guest blogger!  To see more from me, come check out my blog at www.autismtank.blogspot.com!

~Hailey from Autism Tank

Latest (cheap) find!!

I love going to garage sales and thrift stores. I have been sharing this love with my boys so now they get to go with me on Saturday mornings. I was so super excited a few weeks ago when I found this cabinet. I paid $20 for it. Now it is sitting in my classroom waiting to be put in to its place for next year.

 I have also had some really good luck with the Dollar Tree lately. If you a Facebook follower then you probably saw the picture of the Birthday Chair cover. A few days ago I found these letter magnets that I plan to use with a cookie sheet for a word box.











 I have also found some cute dry erase books that the kids can have in their work drawer to practice handwriting, matching, colors, etc.
















Another cool find was the Alphabet Dominoes. I laminated them for some additional durability.  The kids have already played this game with success and enjoyment.

  My last find was practice sheet.  Sets of 30 different sheets to practice a variety of skills and get this, they are reproducible!!!   It states it right on the bottom of each sheet.  I figured for  $1, I couldn't pass this up.

If you are looking for more tasks I have a pinterest board dedicated to them or check out the others I have posted on the blog by going here!

Work Box: Counting Hearts

I made a work box similar to this one last year but used erasers instead of scatter (that is the official name for the little hearts). I think the erasers were distracting because they were different. Using the heart scatter (I found it at Dollar Tree) my kiddos were able to be much more successful with this activity.

 Each little heart container has a number on it. My students need to put that number of hearts in each container. We did this as a whole group first, then I worked with them 1:1, and then they did it independently. One of my students was able to take off with it in the 1:1 setting, but when he did it independently he had to go back and try again with a few. Overall, I liked this activity because it worked on fine motor, number recognition and 1:1 correspondence/counting.



If you are looking for more tasks I have a pinterest board dedicated to them or check out the others I have posted on the blog by going here!

Money!!!

Another one of those life skills that is difficult to grasp is money. This is a topic that we go over continually all year round. One of my students favorite songs is Honey Bunny by Teacher Tipster. If you have never heard of Teacher Tipster I highly recommend you check him out. He is hilarious, has fantastic ideas, and just fun.
 

 Wasn't that great!!! Another way we have been practicing money is with this great sheet made by Hailey from Autism Tank  (So, I thought this was made by Hailey, but maybe I got it from Boardmaker Share, once I figure it out, I will update this post). Students match the coin, coin name and value.  I use this as one of my work boxes. One student has realized the color coding (but he is still practicing matching the right things together), but the others work hard at getting everything in the correct spot.

If you are looking for more tasks I have a pinterest board dedicated to them or check out the others I have posted on the blog by going here!

Work box: gloves

Another work box I have set up, especially this time of year, is gloves.  This is not only a great fine motor skill, but an important life skill.   For this activity my students practice putting on gloves. This is a difficult skill for them and they all have their own technique. Before this was a work box I showed them many times how I put on gloves. I talked about what I was doing as I demonstrated. I also taught them to count each finger to make sure there are 5 on each hand (practice counting and 1:1 correspondence). When demonstrating, I purposely put two of my fingers in one "finger" slot. Then when I would count I would be shocked that I was missing a finger. We brainstormed on how to fix my problem. All of this work has really payed off as now my students are working hard to put on their gloves independently.

If you are looking for more tasks I have a pinterest board dedicated to them or check out the others I have posted on the blog by going here!

 

Work-boxes: sorting by color, size, shape

Sorting is one of those skills that all kids need to learn and it makes a great work box! I have a lot of sorting tasks. Here are some of the newest to our collection.


Sort by Color:  In this one we have a collection of different colored items.  Each section of the muffin tin has a different colored dot.  The student needs to then sort the items by color into the muffin tin.  I have also thought about add tweezers to up the fine motor component.








Sort by size:  In this particular sorting my student is working on various skills.  Big and little are two of his current sight words, he is working on sorting by size, and working on fine motor of picking up the paper clips.  He starts with a pile of clips (they are a variety of colors, but all of the big ones are the same size and all of little ones are the same size) and then sorts them onto the appropriate index card.  He is not doing this one independently yet, as it requires a lot of steps (pick up paperclip, identify size, being distracted by color, find the word that matched the size, put it on the correct index card).

OOPS!!! This post went out early!  There should be a post before it explaining a bit more about work boxes.  It will post in a few days.  That is what I get for trying to get organized and make sure I have posts ready to go.