Calling 911

We practice calling 911 many times during the year.  My students LOVE acting out scenes of an emergency.  They literally will lay on the floor and look unconscious while the "call" is happening.  I have a student in my class who is verbal but very hard to understand.  We practice just getting out one or two words (mom sick, dad hurt) and than answer yes or no to the dispatcher (me) questions. 

Here is a worksheet that can be used before role play. 





http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Calling-911

Calling in Sick

Since my students are adults, I think it is important for them to learn to call in their own absences instead of mom or dad.  Here is a quick worksheet on calling in an absence.  We have a practice telephone in class that we will use to role play after we do the worksheet.


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Calling-in-Sick-247478

Using a Digital Scale

 In the last month I have been working on putting together some containers with a variety of fun activities for my students to work on in their free time, or when they are done with their classwork.  I have found some great ideas on Pinterest to get me started, and so far have activities that  use Dominoes, dice, Dice in Dice and money.  I had an idea this morning to do one about weighing items.  Seems I can buy the digital scale at Walmart for around twenty dollars, and I think my kids will have a blast weighing things around the classroom.  I plan to laminate the sheet on the left and make copies of the answer sheets to have available inside the container.  I left three blank spots on the answer sheet so the kids can pick some items themselves to weigh.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvSU9uR3hOaUJlYUU/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvdEJOOUs2cFc3UGs/edit

Joining a Group

Social skills, social skills, social skills!   Social skills are taught continuously in my classroom, mainly because we can't seem to go 15 minutes without a learning moment, but also crucial for my autistic students.  This year, in particular, I have a very special group of students who require a little extra in this field. 

Thursday afternoons I do a full class on one particular social skills subject.  Here is one on joining a group I plan to do today.  Role play is a must when working on social skills IMO.  Get them up out of their chairs and act out scenarios. My kids love doing this.



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Skills-Joining-a-Group

Taxes

Here is a worksheet on taxes.  We live in California so I used the taxes that apply to us.  I also used a minimum amount of income tax.  The majority of my students will never work.  The couple that will, will most likely work part time. 


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Paying-Taxes

Poisons

Here is an information sheet on poisons.  I will post a worksheet to go with it in the next couple of days!

Enjoy





https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvUjJKMG04ZTN2aW8/edit

Calendar Skills

The first day of each month my students  fill in a blank calendar.  They write in the month, days of the week, and the dates.  Any field trips we have, birthdays and holidays are added as well.  Around the middle of the month, in their morning books I add another calendar skills worksheet for practice.  Here is the one for May. 


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monthly-Calendar-Skills-20132014-School-Year-255818

Dining Etiquette

IIt is very important to me to make sure my students have more skills when they leave my classroom than they did when they arrived.  I do not teach academics per say, unless it pertains to adult living (money, measuring, time).  My main goal is to teach independent living skills, social skills and vocational training.  I may not be able to teach Johnny to count to a hundred or to know that two quarters make a dollar by the end of the year, but I would like him to be more respectful, have better manners, be more responsible and treat others more kindly.  That makes me happy.  Here is a worksheet on dining etiquette.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvek9lYXRHUlJCVFk/edit

Puppy Chow Recipe

           Who doesn't
           love 
     Puppy Chow?








http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Puppy-Chow-Recipe-with-visuals

Public Restroom Etiquette

I went to an autism conference this week and loved one of the speakers!  His name was Peter Gerhardt Ed.D and I could have listened to him ALL day! I got the idea for this worksheet on "Public Restrooms" from a story and powerpoint he was presenting during his speech.  The majority of my students are not autistic, but I think that this worksheet will be great for my LD students as well. 


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bathroom-Etiquette

Dental Care

As an independent living skills teacher, I teach quite a few classes on personal hygiene. I love the book, Personal Hygiene, What's that Got to Do ith me?  by Pat Crissey.  It is the main hygiene book I use at the beginning of the year.  When you live in an area that stays in the hundreds the first month of school, it is important to teach hygiene right away.  Here is a worksheet that I can use later in the year to reinforce the need to brush! 

I took the information from a couple childrens dental health websites.  I also highlighted the answers in the lesson to make it easier for my students to find them.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Dental-Care

Measuring Devices

There definitely needs to be dialog that goes with this worksheet.  Some of the ingredients, depending on amount needed, would use both the spoons and the cups. 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8NVsf6Y1KIvbUlYNklnYVh6OTA

Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Here is another recipe with visual supports.  This comes from a recipe I found on Pinterest www.bunsinmyoven.com.  We do not have an oven or stove at my school site, so you won't find any recipes that require them here.  We DO have a skillet, microwave and one single burner though! 

                                      Bon appetit!


https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8NVsf6Y1KIvUUg2Z1oyTUV2VlE

No Bake Peanut Butter Squares

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Peanut-Butter-Bar-Recipe

Here is a simple no bake recipe I found on cookiesonfridays.blogspot.com.  I plan on making these soon with my morning life skills class.  Since most of this particular class are non readers,  I added visual supports.  I'll let you know how this format works, I may have to tweak it for the other recipes I plan to type up.  For some reason the conversion of the page is kind of grainy.  If you would like a clear pdf version email me at itszalllgoood@aol.com

Fast Food Worksheet 1

Last week I posted a picture menu "Eating Out" featuring items my students frequently order when we walk to McD's.   Here is the menu again along with a worksheet to get you started. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Menu-Math-Binder-443329

Classroom Scavenger Hunt

This worksheet is great counting practice.  I have students who can count to 100 with no difficulty and some who have difficulty getting to 10.  For this activity I put my kids into groups of two,  making sure I have a students who is good with counting with a student who may need extra help.  This is a great activity for restless kids to get up out of their seats and move around!     https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8NVsf6Y1KIvdThHZDQ2dEhfaXc               Enjoy!

Sorting Laundry

We work on sorting laundry numerous times of the year.  Here is a cut and paste worksheet for practice!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvVGdTSERJMTc4OEE/edit

Food Storage / Morning Folders

My students all arrive at different times in the morning, which makes it very difficult to teach a class before their breakfast is served.  For the past 2 year I have been having the students write a morning message, since it can be done in their own time as they arrive.  It contains the date, the weather, what we plan to do that day and than a note on what we will be doing tomorrow.  I am not sure how much my students are really gaining from this, so I have decided to put together morning notebooks for next year.  Now that I have started I see that this will be more work than I had anticipated.  Each morning should start out with the students logging the weather and temperature than doing a worksheet/activity from the folder.  Mondays they will have to log the weekly schedule into the monthly calendar which will be placed in the front of their folders.  I hope to have a quarters worth of pages ready at a time.  So far I am thinking, Mondays - newspaper skills, Wednesdays -morning warm up, (which I posted a week ago), and Fridays - money math. Now to fill in the other two days!  I will be posting things as I create!

Here is one on food storage.  I tried to pick common grocery items that our kids would have knowledge of.  Maybe Tuesdays will be food/health/nutrition?

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8NVsf6Y1KIvMm9vZTFOdUxlN2c

Occupation Crossword Puzzle

Here is an occupation crossword puzzle I made for my students.  I have to read the questions to most of my students or sit a non reader with a reader.  After locating the answer, they are able to write the correct answer from the picture/word bank. 

Enjoy!


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Occupation-Crossword-Puzzle

Measuring with liquid measuring cups

My kids love measuring!  We practice with liquid measuring cups, dry measuring cups and measuring spoons.  Here is a quick worksheet on liquid measures.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Measuring-Cups

Eating Out

Every Friday I have a handful of students who bring money to school to go out to lunch.  I have students who bring 2 dollars and some who bring 10, so it's great to be able to go over a menu with them about what they will and won't be able to afford BEFORE we head out.

 I plan on making one for each of the establishments we frequent.  I also want to make worksheets for fun lessons on money and budgeting to go along with the menus.   Not sure if prices vary from town to town, but these were the prices at my local McD's.

Don't forget to add the tax!


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mc-Ds-Menu

Safety Sign Bingo

           My students LOVE playing Bingo. 

I have a safety sign bingo game, but this is so much more fun!  Have the students cut out all the signs and glue them randomly onto the blank bingo card.  (They will not use all the signs). I have a larger version of these cards that I use to call out and discuss as we play.

Pick up your copy HERE

Entertaining Guests

We do a few activities on entertaining throughout the year.   In this activity we are pretending we are having company come to our home for lunch.  The students have to make a grocery list by using the recipe cards attached.  Go to the grocery store with your list and find the items you have listed.  Add your totals when you get back to class.  Would even be fun, financing available, to put the students into groups of 5 and let them  buy the ingredients and create the meal.  We do another activity similar to this, where the students create their own menu for a pretend dinner party.  We go over all the things that would make a meal from drinks, salad, soups, main dishes and desserts.  They cut pictures from the abundance of food magazines we have and paste their menu to paper.  The menus range from mac and cheese with Hot Pockets to prime rib and brussel sprouts!  It is a lot of fun!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvY3NHOTR1a1lTeWVBdlhJYlNwOU9aQQ/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvVVl2ZnhELUJSemFPckpZejFTQnlLZw/edit

Grocery Store Activity

                                                                    

 My students enjoy this grocery store activity.  I don't recommend bombarding one grocery store with 30 kids though.  Since there is a grocery store on every corner where I live we split the kids, aides and teachers up into smaller groups and go to a variety of grocery stores.   Students may need help at first trying to find the product with the best price, but it's a great way to incorporate money into the lesson.  This is also fun because at the end, after each group adds up their total, they can tell you which store had the better prices.  It almost becomes a bit of a competition.  Pick one up free at TpT.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Grocery-Store-Hunt

Pharmacy Hunt

Life Skills......


We have a pharmacy within walking distance of our school site so why not do a class on personal hygiene products, right?  The students love getting out, and I am pretty confident they should be able to (in small groups) find all of the items on their own. 

We can add up the totals when we get back to class!http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pharmacy-Hunt

Using the Newspaper in the Classroom

Here are three examples of worksheets I use in my classroom to go along with the kids newspapers.  This one goes with the two pages that show what will be showing on TV this day.  My students are between K and 4th grade academic levels.  Even though a few of my students can do this on their own, most require help with this.  We either work on this in a large group or 4 smaller groups. 






My class has been doing this worksheet every Monday
morning.  They actually love and ask to do it.  They cut
and paste the picture from the newspaper to coincide
with each day of the week.  They all can do this sheet
indpendently.






The students enjoyed this worksheet.   I was going to try to go a little higher and have them start with a budget but thought it would be way to confusing for my lower functioning kids.  We just did this for fun!



                             Enjoy!



https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvbmY2WklNZzZUeU8ybENmek5zUWhUdw/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIveXgtYm1pRFdRbjJyMFkxSm8tWHV1Zw/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvbjIyZW15M2FTYTYtdERYalppZHh2QQ/edit

Morning Warm-ups

Here is an example page of our Wednesday morning warm-ups.  I like to change it up and do a mix of different things we are working on that week.  We are also extremely fortunate that each of my students receive a copy of our local paper delivered to their desks each morning.  I will post a lot more worksheets that teach newspaper skills when I go back to work next week!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvd0VycG11T19SMHlyM1k1SW5tRFpnQQ/edit

Tuesday Trivia

    I found these neat buzzers on the internet a few weeks ago. And now..........TUESDAY TRIVIA has been born!  These buzzers have been so much fun to use.  Even the shy, quiet kids in my class will buzz in when they know the correct answer.  My aides are great in coming up with questions that apply to the students interests, current events, calendar, time, money skills etc.   These buzzers by Learning Resources are great!  Each one makes a differerent sound and they have been so fun to use with our trivie questions.

Bin Labels

I bought a great storage contraption with plastic bins at a garage sale last weekend.  Here are the labels I made to go on the bins if anyone's interested!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bin-Labels-for-the-Classroom

Community Awareness Car Rally

I have been off on spring break so have had a little time to put together some worksheets to finish out the school year. This one I put this together to help the students locate different resources in our community. We are fortunate to have vehicles to take the students around to different places which helps out a lot. The first class we use the worksheet titled "Community Awareness Questions". We go over the list and brainstorm the answers on where to find the resources on our list.

The second day we take the students in small groups out into the community to find the resources. Each group will have the second sheet titled "Community Camera Rally". Each group will also have a camera to take pictures of each designation as we find it. We will print the pictures and go over what we found on another day.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvMDVWdXhoMEJRTHVVRXRsd2dmemRMQQ/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8NVsf6Y1KIvdlFvRHh2cm5Ub2VtbFBkdmZRMWt0dw/edit