Literacy/ Academic Center What Do We Do?

I had someone ask what I do at my literacy/ academic center and thought I would share with you what has worked for me.  Each day of the week I have something that we work on.  Mondays- vocabulary.  All of my students have language goals so this is something we do weekly.  With the AM class we usually do flip it, say it, stamp it At this point I have made these for each theme we do. This is great for my students that have limited language skills because they can attempt to repeat the word or the beginning sound. For my students that are nonverbal this is great because they are able to become more exposed to a variety of words.   With the pm class I use emergent readers. Usually just simple ones that are I see, I like, etc. This is great to work on saying simple sentences.  Tuesdays- Math I usually do a matching game, roll the dice game, counting, colors, or shapes. I try to use games that can be easily differentiated.  Wednesdays- Letter of the Week This year I will be using items from my ABC Mega Pack to complete with the kids. The am will be completing the I can read letter words and bingo stamping the letters. The pm class will be stamping upper vs. lower case letters, doing letter sorts, and working on writing the letter.  You can find the packet here and all of the items are available separately too. I have a post about that here.  Thursdays- Themed activity abc or number activity All of these games I have gotten as freebies from other blogs or use the games and activities from the packets I have created.  Friday- Game Day and/ or Smartboard
I try to play games like Candy Land or do sorting or do smartboard activities that go with our theme. This is great for building turn taking skills and learning to wait.  I was asked if I use a lot of worksheets and when I first started I did use a lot more of that. At the charter school I was at that was what we were expected to do and we were monitored closely. However, when I got into ECSE things changed a lot! I got to pick and choose what I wanted to do and was not monitored to make sure I was certain page number.  So I am moving away from worksheets and they weren't working anyway. They were not engaging the students,  not meeting IEP goals, and the students were not able to do them independently.  I try to do a lot more hands on activities (some with recording sheets) and games. This keeps the kids engaged, learning more, and decreases behavior problems because it's fun!  I am going to also share what we do at our fine motor center and what I do with early finishers soon too. :) 

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Kate

Monday Made It

1. I made Ethan a Name Book so he knows how to spell different important people's names. Something you could definitely do with your students. 

2. I made my new Nursery Rhyme Interactive Book. You can find that here.  Can't wait to use that this year!

I am linking up with Fourth Grade Frolics. Check out her blog for more fun Monday Made Its. 

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Kate

Sensory Bin

This past year when our ASD consultant was visiting she was watching my kiddos in the sensory bin and there was some arguing going on. My one student with ASD was also VERY possessive of everything in the bin so she suggested having cards instructing the students with what they should look for and collect. She said giving them a purpose and more specific instructions will decrease the arguing. So here are a few of the cards I made.

Some abc mathcing popsicle sensory bin cards.  

I also made some generic color ones that can be put in any bin and just focuses on colors. These are available here. 

The Halloween cards are part of my new Halloween Games pack available here. 

Do you give your students a purpose when using your sensory bin?

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Kate

Week 3: Make Your Masterpiece

I am linking up with Third in Hollywood to show my masterpiece. This is something I have been working on for awhile and literally just finished. It is my Nursery Rhyme Mega Pack. Every other year I do a whole week or two of Nursery Rhymes and I have been wanting to get some better activities together for them so this is what I created. 

There are also some bonus activities and pocket charts words for each as well. Until next Thursday it is $6 off. You can find it here. You can buy the nursery rhymes separately too if that is easier for you. 

Make sure to check out Third in Hollywood for other fun, new products. 

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Kate

Misc. Binder

Being in special ed. I feel like there are different scenarios for everything and you can NEVER assume that what was said once is correct for something similar. So I have all these random pieces of paper on my desk and no where to put them, but I want to keep them but I am not sure where. 
So I decided to start a Misc. Binder where I will keep all of these random pieces of paper. 

Then, I am going to tab them with different color stickies and if something else goes with that I will file it behind there. 

Do you have a great organization system for those misc. notes and papers? If you do and it works great I would love to hear it!

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Kate

Currently

Listening to Fox 2 news and the kids are still sleeping! One decided not to sleep great last night so let's hope she sleeps a little more!

Loving simmer break! Last summer was challenging with Madi being a newborn because she wasn't on a schedule and Ethan was trying to get my attention in not so great ways, but this summer I am actually able to take them places and it is fun! The kids love being about and about and are much more manageable! 

Thinking about adding a backsplash to our kitchen. I have wanted one for a LONG time and it hasn't happened but at Home Depot I found these Smart Tiles that you peel and stick and I think I could manage that! I need to do a little more research and you have to order them online. 

Wanting to be more handy around the house. I think I watch too much HGTV because there are some small things I would love to be able to do but that requires power tools and measurements...not my strong suit. I need to learn how to do all the fun things I want too. 

Needing nothing! I am really content and enjoying break! 

All Star listener. I am usually the one that people come to when they need someone to listen and not always say anything. I will definitely give you my thoughts if you want, but you need to ask for it.

What are you up to currently?! Link up with Farley to share! 

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Kate