Sorting By Color - Free Download!

Hi Friends!
Over the 3 day weekend, I made some time to create a color sorting activity. Using the beloved Google Images, I found pictures of both cartoon and real objects for the kids to sort. I made them all into flashcards for you to download and use with your students! There are 90 cards, 10 pictures for each color. The colors included are yellow, orange, blue, green, red, brown, black, purple, and pink. (After creating them, I realized it would have been helpful to add "white" objects for sorting. Check back later for those!)

There are numerous ways to use these cards: 

Receptive ID (identification) - "touch the red car" or "which one is the yellow banana?"

Expressive ID - "what is this?" "what color is this?" 

Matching - print two sets of each card

Feature Function Class - have the kids identify items by FFC (ex. "which one do you eat?")

Sort by Category - food, color, clothes, etc

Get creative and have the kids match the cards to buckets with a color card on the outside of each one or have the kids find the cards in a scavenger hunt game around the classroom, etc.

I hope you enjoy! DOWNLOAD HERE!

Emotion Sorting Activity - Free Download!

I made this sorting activity to go into the new independent binders that I am in the process of putting together for my students. I think this is fun because it is working on sorting skills, recognizing facial expressions, can be done independently, and could also be used as a matching activity (print 2 copies of the last page). I color coded it and used Boardmaker symbols since they are so widely used in special education classrooms and my students are likely to see them again - therefore they should have exposure to them when appropriate!

Along with the sorting board are a set of 15 pictures, 5 for each emotion. 

And yes... it was awkward using search words like "crying man" and "angry child" to look up pictures to sort! BUT my favorite find was a crying Dean from the show Supernatural. (And yes, I used the image!) Never heard of it? Oh - you mean you don't have a nerdy husband who makes you watch silly sci fi shows? Well, I do :) If you're in the mood for a corny show about brothers who chase ghosts and goblins, check it out on Netflix. 

I hope you guys enjoy the latest download... let me know how it works for your students!

HERE IS THE DOWNLOAD!

List of amazing prompts and questions - could be used for FFC!

Hello friends!

I came across this AWESOME free download on Teachers Pay Teachers that would be oh so helpful for the classroom! You can use these for ideas for feature/function/class, answering wh- questions, fill-in sentences, and more! She has them sized to print large strips and put them in pocket charts for circle activities, journal starters, etc. 
There are 180 of them. 180!

I have perused this lady's blog over at The Autism Helper and she has some fantastic ideas and freebies. 

Also, join Teachers Pay Teachers - I have found some really great things over there!

sample page!

Weather and Seasons Printable!

There are plenty of weather and season printables out there but I just conjured up a simple one to go inside an independent work binder. What's the independent work binder you say? Well, I have two guys in my class who are really beyond sitting at a table, one on one with staff, going through discreet trials. They have graduated to some pretty awesome things like simple cut and paste activities, file folder games, puzzles, etc. with little to no assistance. Yesterday I realized they absolutely need some sort of preschool journal or work binder of sorts that the kids could be responsible for, use independently, and work on typical preschool academic skills. I have a lot of fun ideas for this binder and I will be adding to it and switching things out by the week. Some of the ideas are sorting activities, tracing pages, name practice, ABC and 123 sheets, and tons more!

Right now, my morning circle is simplified and void of a lot of "typical" circle activities like weather, what you wear in said weather, day of the week, month, and whatnot. A lot of my guys are working on things like staying seated during circle, choosing the correct picture to sign in with, following simple directions, and even responding to their name. The work binders will give my guys exposure to what we might be missing out on in circle.

I laminated the following sheet and hole punched it for the binder. I'm keeping a dry erase marker in each binder so the kids can circle the right answers and cross off the ones that aren't. You could also cut each picture out and have them velcro the right ones if you made a blank sheet for them to go with it. OPTIONS ARE ENDLESS. (not really. but still.) 

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Also, check out this cool lap journal I came across. I love the idea of my guys making a journal that chronicles their learning! I might have to make a summer learning journal for each of my students now!

Imitation Level 2 - VB-MAPP Data Sheets!

Who is excited for more data sheets?!?! You mean you aren't tired of them yet? I keep getting emails with requests for more and it makes me so excited to think that someone is waiting for me write a blog post dedicated to... a data sheet. Sometimes I think about how boring my life would have been if I was an accountant or something (spreadsheets? ew.), but people must think we are a snore, the way we ABA teachers talk when we get going on about a data sheet ("Oh girl, don't even get me STARTED!"). 

This one is another awesome resource that has floated around in my school system. It includes all objectives for Imitation in Level 2. If you are looking for Level 1 imitation, check out this post.

Imitation is a great way to start working toward increasing your student's attending and having them get the base for following instructions and increase learning skills. Most new skills are learned by imitating someone else, whether it's a new hairstyle on Youtube or watching your mom cut a pineapple. The ability to imitate others doesn't come so naturally to our guys so we need to work on it and be aware of it's importance. 

Check out the latest and greatest data sheet HERE!


*Also, just a disclaimer: I have some pretty cool, non-boring friends who are accountants. 

Mand Data Sheets: Levels 1,2, and 3 on the VB-MAPP!

This is a nice little packet for all of the Mand objectives on the VB-MAPP. I love the way this data sheet is laid out - it includes all the criteria for each objective and it gives space to write in what you observe. 

Some of those Level 3 mands are tough right?! Especially the intraverbal mands... whew. Even my most verbal guys right now aren't even close to that yet. Those are some high level expectations for our kiddos with autism. I applaud you if you are seeing your students get there! 

I got this data sheet from a colleague who got it from another teacher, and so on. It has been floating around our department so I am unsure who exactly made it but I hope it spreads far and wide for all VB-MAPP testers out there to use! 

Here is the link! - Happy Friday! :)

sample page for level 2!

Level 1 Social Behavior and Play (VB-MAPP)

My wonderful co-worker created this data sheet for the section of social behavior and play on the VB-MAPP. It is a no frills, get the job done, simple and easy data sheet! I love it because it is all on one page and you can carve out an hour to observe your student and check off what he/she is doing by simply following the data sheet. It includes the criteria so all you have to do is plug it back into your score sheet and you are DUNZO! (done-zo? um... finished!)

Hooray for super cool co-workers who do this kind of thing on their own free time and then share the goods. We need all teachers to be this way right?!?!

Here is the link!!! Get it while it's hot ;)

This social stuff is very important when you are looking at a very early learner who needs a lot of support in becoming aware of his/her peers. Teaching things like following others or even just engaging in parallel play can be difficult. Remember to always assess where the weaknesses are and target them so you know exactly how to help your little guys. 

Free Adapted Pete the Cat book!

Last week I made an adapted book for Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes. I have discussed my love for Pete in another post and I highly recommend that you introduce him to your kids if you have not done so already! 

I used this book during circle with my kids and it went better than I could have expected! I carefully chose how I would adapt it, keeping in mind the need for consistency and simplicity. One of my students was independently reading the book within a day based on the images associated with the main phrases in the book. Prior to using this adapted version, he needed verbal prompting and modeling to chime in with "Did Pete cry?", "Goodness no!", "Oh no!", and even the song part. Now, he is doing all of the parts completely independently which is very exciting! I am sending home his own copy so that he can impress his parents with those awesome skills! 

This book hits on a lot of learning points. With the same Pete image on each page, it helps the students become familiar with the character and help them recognize him. The book also teaches color identification, facial expressions, and labels/vocabulary for the items he steps in. 

Depending on the students you are using it with, you can adapt it even further by printing and laminating certain parts of the book, such as the color parts or the things he steps in and then have the students match the pictures to the book. You could also print the pictures onto cards and have the students help tell the story or even predict what happens next by selecting the corresponding card. There are many great ways to use this book and I hope that your students enjoy it as much as mine have! 

(The last page includes pictures of water to velcro onto the shoes for when he has wet shoes.)

Here is the link to the Pete the Cat book!

Here is a sample page from the book!