Memorial Day Freebie

Memorial Day Freebie!

Pick up your copy today!







http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Memorial-Day-Freebie-702772

Child Care

Sometimes I just draw a blank when it comes to deciding what kind of worksheets I want to do.  A lot of my ideas come from fellow workers who have a particular situation that they need help with or maybe I am at a conference and someone describes a problem and "bing" my light bulb goes off.  A lot of my worksheets are written with a particular student in mind.  If Johnny has a hard time keeping his hands to himself than waa laa we get a worksheet out on how to keep our hands to ourselves!  If Brook is getting ready to open a bank account and will need to know how to use an ATM machine, we get on that right away!  (actually working on that one right now) 

I got this idea here from a teacher who asked me on TPT if I had a worksheet on Child Care.  I did not at the time, BUT... wait...wait.... NOW WE DO!  This will be a great lesson to use in my classroom too.  I can't wait!  

The suggestions are greatly appreciated, so keep them coming!            http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Child-Care-701479

Summer Variety Pack

Hi guys,

I just finished up my summer work packets for the kids and thought I would share.  They will work in these folders as they arrive in the morning and than finish up after breakfast until it is time to break for electives at 9:00 a.m.  Besides these worksheets I have added a few of the color by code pages I get from TPT.  The kids really love those!  There is a big variety of activities here and plenty of review of things we have worked on all year.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Fun-Pack

TPT Sale!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Karen-Covington

Ice Cream Baggie Recipe

If you haven't tried this yet I highly recommend doing it with your kids. We have made it every year and the kids really have a great time making their own little creations! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ice-Cream-Recipe-with-Visuals

Banking Your Money

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Banking-Your-Money

Here is a fun little packet on basic banking skills.  I talk a little bit about using an ATM but would highly recommend this web site here http://www.gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife/atm,  This web site has great tutorials featuring basic life skills.

Recreation and Leisure

This afternoon in class we worked on a worksheet about Recreation and Leisure.  This is very important in the clientele I work with. Our hopes are that when they do end up leaving us at 22, they continue to spend time in the community doing things that they enjoy.  
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Recreation-and-Leisure

Balloon Greenhouses

 We had a fun day today, but boy did I come home dirty!  Probably wasn't a good day to wear a white shirt to school. 

I found this cute idea on Pinterest a few months ago for building greenhouses inside balloons.  I was able to purchase the clear balloons from a local party store to do the project.  I had the kids blow up the balloons a few times to make them more pliable.  Then we used a funnel to add the soil, seeds and water into the balloons. Removing the balloon from the funnel occasionally splattered mud (which apparently is funny).  The kids then blew up the balloons and we tied them.  We planted radishes that should sprout in 3 - 5 days.  We also planted 2 seeds in each balloon, so hopefully at least one will grow!  I will post a picture of our results.

Sorting Activity Boxes

I wanted to post some pictures of some of the activity boxes we use in my room.  Box 1 - This box seems to be one that everyone enjoys.  I even have students from other rooms come borrow this box.  It is VERY easy for most of my kids, but some have to try harder.  Basically it is just putting the right token into the correct color bowl.

Box 2 - This is a new box that I put together a few weeks ago.  A friend gave me these cute first aide boxes.  I emptied the contents of each box, took a picture of each item and have the students refill each box.  They have a laminated guide that shows each item, how many of each item to put in each kit and in what order.  So far only two kids have tried it, but both did very well.  (the contents are all different kinds of bandages)

Box 3 - My grandfather recently passed away and when I went to his house to help clean it out I found all these great nuts and bolts.  There are 10 of each size and 6 different sizes.  The kids have to find the proper nut and screw, put them together, and separate them into sizes in the bins.  One of my autistic students has picked it as his activity two days in a row!  I will try to post more soon.

Self-Control

Self-control is a big issue with some of my students.  They can go from 0 - 60 in no time.  This worksheet talks about what happens to us when we lose control.  It also gives examples of what we can do instead or before we lose control.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Self-Control-Worksheet

Citizenship Skills

 Here is a new worksheet I put together over the weekend for my kids.  I have felt so "un" creative lately for some reason, and actually haven't put together a worksheet in a couple weeks.  I set myself a goal of covering 4 areas this weekend and finished 3 of them, so not that bad.  This one is on citizenship.  I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Citizenship-Skills-Worksheet

Morning Work April Folders

Here are some of the practice worksheets that are in our morning folders this month.   I put the 10 of these into one packet!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Work-April

Classroom Schedule

Here is a picture of my classrooms weekly schedule I have posted on one side of my white board.  I used electrical tape to section off the times and days. The activities are attached with velcro so they can be changed to new activities each week.  We go over the weekly schedule each Monday so the students know what is going on for the whole week.  We also go over the daily schedule each morning when the students arrive.  

Activity Boxes

Here is a picture of my boxes I use during down times and free time in my classroom.  Most every idea in them came from Pinterest!  4 of the boxes contain money skills activities.  Others include making patterns, sorting, stamping, counting, number activities, dice games, shapes, time etc.    We started this year with only ten and have continued throughout the year to add the rest.  I have had to change out some of the original ones that my kids didn't find as entertaining as others.  I am sure I will keep adding as time goes by!

Domino Money Set - Coins

 I have been spending time this year putting together some manipulative boxes for the kids to use when they finish their work and have free time.  Inside of each students morning folder is a checklist which includes all of my educational activities.  If a student finishes their work early they can find an item on their list that they have not worked on. After they finish the activity they will mark it off on their list. During "free" time the students can pick any of the activities. There are about 50 items on the list, 20 of which are the boxes.  The other items include all our games, matching, tracing etc. I add to it constantly so no one has finished the complete list.  Since the kids love Dominoes, and we are constantly working on money I thought they might enjoy this Domino set. I printed them on cardstock and laminated them so they will last us.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Domino-Money-Set

Morning Messages

 My students write a brief morning message every morning as they arrive.  It goes like this:  Good morning _____. Today is _____. Today we will _____ and ______.  Tomorrow - ___________.  Most of my students finish this within about 10 minutes and than they move on to their morning folders.  The other day searching around on Pinterest, I saw this cute idea of kids writing with paint and a Qtip.  So yesterday morning before the kids arrived, I set them up with the materials they would need to try this.  They really did love it.  It took such huge concentration and they were sooooo quiet, lol.  I guess it's good to change things up every once in awhile.  Might have to think of some other new ideas!

Grocery Shopping Scavenger Hunt

Every Tuesday my class goes on a community outing.  Tomorrow we are heading to the grocery store!  I try to come up with some sort of activity for the students to do while we are at our outings.  We will have a whole hour at the store,  and I don't want anybody getting bored! The kids will be in groups of 3 with an aide or me.  Each group will have this worksheet on their clipboard ready to write down the price and to see if it is on sale.  I cheated a little and checked out the sales ad before making the worksheet. I know that about half of these items are going to be on sale tomorrow when we go.  This worksheet is very basic, but I think it will be fun for them to find the items on their own.
FREE --->  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Grocery-Scavenger-Hunt

Social Skills - Friends

Here are some social skills worksheets I put together for my class.  These are some of the issues we deal with on a daily basis.  I bought some cute social skills books that I read prior to writing each lesson.  "My Mouth is a Volcano"  "How to be a Friend" and "How to lose all your Friends".  To be honest, I had a particular student in mind when I bought each one of these books (you do not need the books to use the worksheets). I wrote the worksheets to represent some of their actual issues.  I have more books on the way "I Want to do it My Way", "The Bad Case of Tattle Tongue" and "Sorry I Forgot to Ask".  Check back for worksheets soon!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Friends-Social-Skills-Worksheets

Money Skills

 I do money skills weekly in my classroom. My students can so easily be taken advantage of when it comes to making purchases.  Here is an 18 page packet that starts very basic with counting pennies.  I have included pages on counting change and dollar bills.  There are also three pages on making purchases using the dollar up method. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Money

School Lockdown Book

Here is a small 7 page information booklet on school lockdowns.  My class will have their first practice lockdown on Friday.  We have talked a little each day about the practice drill.  I plan to do the booklets with them on Friday morning before the drill.  I tried not to make the book "scary".  I hope this will be useful in your classroom too.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/School-Lockdown-Information-Book

Thanks!

Menu Math Mexican Style

On a roll today getting ready for the big sale tomorrow on TPT! Everything in my store will be 20 percent off!  TPT will be adding an additional percentage off if you use the code SUPER! Here is another addition to my Menu Math unit your class might enjoy.  I do menu math at least twice a month in our morning folders and the kids love them.  I laminate the menus so I can use them over and over again.  Happy shopping tomorrow!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Taco-Restaurant-Menu-Math

A Visit to the Dr. & Dentist

Here is a little look at my classrooms afternoon schedule. I teach an afternoon class each day from 1 - 1:30.  Here is the schedule I follow most weeks.

Monday - Social Skills
Tuesday - Computer Lab
Wednesday - Life Skills
Thursday - $ Skills
Friday - Fun Work

I am still in the process of putting together a full years worth of curriculum!  This is my 3rd year working in the program I am in and I really hope by the end of this summer to have everything in order and ready to go for future years.  My fingers are crossed!  Here is a couple worksheets I put together this week to go in my life skills folder.  Fortunately I am a talker and can make any one page worksheet last at least a half hour.  I love getting the kids involved in in the curriculum.  They love telling stories and they love role play.  Again, they are mostly non readers, so I use these worksheets more as a guideline.  I do have them copy from the board, the answers.  Hope you can use this.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Visiting-the-Doctor-and-Dentist

Thanks!