Successful Large Group Sessions in an Early Childhood Classroom

Thank you to all who participated in my kansasasd webinar, "Leveling Large Group". (The recording of this session is now available!)  And a big thank you toTASN for allowing me the opportunity to share strategies for large group.  Today's post is a continuation of the information shared during the webinar. 

Let’s jump right in! Over the years, I have done group differently depending on the level of my students & what my overall goal is.  This first video clip is an example of how I did group at the beginning of this year and last year.  For both years my goal was to have each student participating at his/her individual level.  I was able to assess if each child was following along by watching how the student responded to each individual slide.  I used the responses to ascertain each child's level with letters, shapes, colors, numbers, days of the week, as well as each child's feelings.

Classroom Confession: Group does not always go as seamless as it does in this example. The students in this video are typically developing kindergartners acting as preschool students with varying needs.  However, you would be surprised at how well each student in my classroom attends because every child is working at a level that breeds individual success.  Also note, I did not prep these ‘actors’ at all and they know exactly what to do, which goes to show what work systems and visual structure can do to support students in being independent and successful.   (A special thank you goes out to Miss Molly, Maci, Oaklye, Olivia, Emmitt and the student's families for allowing me to use them to create large group video examples.)

So let's take a closer look, each student took a turn coming up to the Smartboard. The students knew which Smartboard page they were assigned by watching this large group job chart.   

The job chart serves as a visual that indicates to the entire class how much work we have to do.  It also helps our kids (who are highly engaged in the Smartboard) know when it is their turn as it serves as a visual reminder to stay in their seat until their name and page come up.

Along with the whole group visual, each student has his/her own lapbook.  The lapbooks serve as visual systems that allow each students to independently follow along during large group.

Here is a sneak peek inside the student's lapbook system.

System One is using a shape sorter to follow along with the activities at group.  By having the shape sorter at the independent work table, I was able to give the student the movement she needed while layering her time so she could practice transitioning to and from group.  

The student this system was originally created for had a very short attention span.  He would get up & leave group, walk up to the smartboard when it was not his turn, and/or cry or whine because he didn’t want to come to group or continue to attend to group. By creating a system that shaped his leaving behavior in an appropriate way, we were able to support his short attention span and make group easier for his peers to attend to.  As he gained skills, we had him leave group less frequently to work toward System Two.

System Two is simply following along at group by putting the shape on the color page that is up on the Smartboard.  This is an errorless system that trains the child to pay attention to the Smartboard pages.

System Two

System Three is the next step up from System Two. (Note: This system is not shown in the video clip.)  It's the same concept as System Two without being errorless.  The student must watch what color page we are using on the Smartboard and match that shape to the page in their lapbook at their seat.  

System Three

When I first introduced lapbooks, I used pictures of items of interest rather than shapes on each page. For example, I used pictures of cars, trucks or preferred characters like Thomas the Train and Dora.  This taught the students to look at the Smartboard as it was highly motivating and reinforcing.
    

System Four is a step up from System Three. In this system, the student has to put the shape seen on the Smartboard slide on the correct number, letter, day of the week, etc within a field of three.  Note: I laminate the pages in System Four with three boxes on each page and then use a Vis-a-vis marker to write three letter choices on the page each week.

System Four

System Five is the most difficult system we use in our classroom. The student has numbers 1 through 20 & all the letters of the alphabet and must identify the letter and number of the day.  If you have older/higher-level students in your setting, you could create a system where the student follows along by writing the answers to each slide.  If a student has trouble following the system we have designed for them, we have the option of moving to a lower system or backing up and teaching the system during direct instruction. 

System Five

Whew...that was a lot of information!  Please let me know if you have questions or comments regarding this form of large group.  If you are interested in making leveled lapbooks for your classroom, you can access my leveled lapbooks on Boardmaker Share or by sending me an email. As always, I'm happy to share! :)  

Lastly, I know the Smartboard pages are not very clear in the video so here's a closer look at each page.

Slide One:  Day of the Week

The Day of the Week song used on this page is by Dr. Jean.  It is to the tune of the Adaam’s Family.  Later in the year, we use the actual music from the CD.  I have found early on it is best to sing it versus use a CD so I can speed it up or slow it down based on my students’ needs. As awful as my voice is, it just seems to be a better fit for learning songs and actions initially.

Slide Two: Our Class Schedule
This page is blank.  I refer to our magnetic/wipe-off schedule that is posted to the left of the Smartboard during this page. You can see pictures of our schedule below. 

AM Class Schedule

PM Class Schedule

I then draw a visual of any changes to our schedule on the Smartboard page.  I do this to prepare the kids for any schedule changes during that day.  Because the schedule is on the bulletin board rather than the Smartboard, students & staff can refer to it all day even when the Smartboard is not in use.
  

Slide Three: Attendance

I use pictures of the students and strategically have the attendance helper dress them in the color they are wearing.  There are two reasons for this: 1.) To work on colors and 2.) The students learn to look at each other to take attendance. Many of our students are not aware of their peers.  Some know exactly who is at school without having to actually look around to check, while others do not know who is who.  This activity forces the student to look at each other to do attendance. After dressing each student, we are able to use one-to-one correspondence to see who is at school that day.

Slide Four: Breathing

This page gives students the opportunity to practice different breathing strategies to self-regulate.  The breathing icons and techniques we use are based on Dr. Becky Bailey’s Conscious Discipline Program. 

Slide Five:  Checking In

This page is strategically placed after page four so the students can first take a deep breath, and then assess how their bodies are feeling using the Incredible Five Point Scale by Kari Dunn Buron.  During this page, the "check-in helper" has the opportunity to assess himself/herself, as well as asking their classmates how they feel.  This same scale is posted in our "Safe Place" as a tool for students to understand their feelings and emotions.  

A similar visual is posted underneath our Smartboard and used at the end of the day as we check out.

 

Slide 6: Song of the Day 

(Note:  In an effort to save time, this page is not included in the provided video model clip.)
This page was placed in the middle of our morning  Smartboard activities to give students a stand-up break before starting the more academic pages.  Instructor's Insight: Just by standing up, students get 10% more oxygen to the brain!! :-)  

Slide 7: Letter of the Week  

The letter on this page is updated each week.  We start the page by writing the capital letter of the week using Handwriting without Tears techniques and then follow up by singing the alphabet song using the letter line to identify that the letter.  See other ways to use a letter and number line here.  We also often sing the corresponding letter song to go with the letter based off of Heidi’s Songs.
   

Slide 8:  Number of the Week

The number on this page also changes weekly.  I try to use items of interest or items that go with the theme/holiday to count out.  For example, we use pumpkins for Halloween or hearts for Valentines.
 

Slide 9:  Rule of the Day

Here we review our class rules.  Then we watch a video model that demonstrates how to follow the rules.  The video model clip is usually based on something our students need to work on.  In the video clip provided in this post, it was on how to transition to a non-preferred activity in an appropriate manner.  It can be anything from how to walk to the break area, how to request a break, how to use the pretend play area, or how to walk in the hallway or line up after recess.  The video models are usually simple 1 to 2 minute videos of my son and/or his friends participating appropriately.

Slide 10- Our Buddy Bear Song 

This page ties it all together with a class song that is sung at the beginning of each day.  The song gives students the opportunity to imitate group actions and be a part of the group. 

A special thank you goes out to Nona Mason of Goodland Public Schools for teaching me all her Smartboard tricks & tips.  She was the one who really got me started using the Smartboard to it's fullest potential.  Thank you Nona!  You are the best!  Your kindergarteners are so lucky to have you!  

Also a big thank you to Mr. Matt for helping me learn more about Smartboard Technology with the presentation he gave for our school district through Infintec. 

Don’t have a Smartboard?!?! No worries!  I used to do all the same things with a low tech poster board version. Stay tuned for those examples in a future post by Mrs. Lisa Holt.   One other option that I will get into in a future uses an iPad and projector to do the same thing.

Until next time...Best wishes modifying and differentiating large group instruction so all students can learn & participate at their individual level!! :-)

Preparing for the Holidays in an Early Childhood Special Education Classroom

I feel like I turned the calendar page to October and got blindsided by the Holidays!! Ready or not....here they are and the time is perfect to share a newsletter I wrote for kansasasd.com titled "A Teacher's Guide to Holiday Happiness".

The purpose of this publication is to remind teachers that successful holiday celebrations begin with socially prepared students.  The social components of traditions & holiday festivities can be practiced and prepared for prior to the big day. 

If you would like the pdf versions of the Boardmaker files (social narrative for holiday mealtimes & greeting card deliveries) that were shared in the newsletter, just send me an email.  If you have Boardmaker and would like to modify these narratives, you can do so by logging on to Boardmaker Share and searching for "Considerate Classroom". 

Best wishes as you plan special holiday activities for your students and children!!  Family and classroom traditions can be a great way to build social connections and classroom togetherness.  Remember practice to achieve holiday success!  

When I count my blessings this Thanksgiving, I will be thinking of all the great teachers, school administrators, and parents who I have met this year as a result of this blog.  Thank you for listening and responding. Your kind words mean more than you'll ever know! :)

Happy Holidays to the Considerate Classroom Community!!

--Lindy

Presentation: Embedding Functional Learning Tasks Throughout the School Day

I had the great opportunity to present at Ocalicon 2013 this morning. 

Fortunately, it was a topic near & dear to my heart..."Embedding Functional Learning Tasks Throughout the School Day".  A very special thank you to those who attended. I loved your engagement and feedback!  I hope I got everyone's questions answered, but if not, I welcome the continued discussion via email or Facebook.  

Best wishes to all, 
Lindy

Number & Letter Identification Aid

To support students in naming letters and numbers, I created a number and letter stick.   It's simply a long paint stick with different colors painted on each side.  After the paint dried, using a permanent marker I wrote the alphabet on one side and numbers on the other.  

My students use it as an aid to identify letters and numbers.  Depending on what we are learning, they will either draw a flash card with a number or letter on it.  If they know the letter or number they  will say & find it on the paint stick.  If they cannot label the letter or number, they match it visually to the same letter or number on the identification stick. My paras or myself will then cover up the letters or numbers past that letter or number.  Then, the student counts to the number by pointing to each number as they go or by singing the alphabet song until they reach that letter.  This sounds confusing but is actually quite simple!  Click on these video clips for clarification. 





(A big thank you goes out Miss Oaklye, our speech pathologists' daughter, for modeling the technique.)  

Instructor's Insight: One modification I would make if I made the sticks again is to have a letter stick with upper case letters on one side and lower case on the other.  Then, have another stick to use as a number stick.   On it, one side would have numbers with Velcro to work on one-to-one correspondence.  The other side would have numbers without Velcro.  Currently, I have a different stick for one-to-one correspondence.  (This is actually the paint stick used in the number line video clip above.)

The students simply Velcro items like tokens or counting bears to the stick to work on counting using one-to-one correspondence.

Using Visual Supports During Large Group

Large group learning activities can be very challenging for both students and staff. It can be difficult to keep the attention of students, especially when they are at varying levels & abilities, and/or they struggle with social activities & experiences. It can be helpful to have visual cues to show students how long the group activity will be. It gives them an understanding of how much work needs to be completed and how long they must be in attendance. 

To support all students I started using more visual cues in my classroom last year, I developed a three box work system.   When the children arrive at large group, we work through three fabric boxes. The boxes are stored in a ClosetMaid bench seat I bought at Target. 

Each box contains a game, activity, or children’s book specific to that group session. When all three boxes are completed the children know we are finished. Some children need a little additional support in sitting through group so we add a paint stick with three color-coded cubes on it. After completing each box, the children put their cube in the corresponding container. This serves as an individual group schedule to support children in attending. 

We put the schedule on their cube chair. 

Cube chairs create a great boundary for students during small and large groups. They can also be flipped on their sides as mini-desk areas. Speaking from experience here....they work like magic!!

Sometimes the 1, 2, 3 system is not enough support for students who must sit and wait their turn, especially when activities are highly preferred. As you all know, this is when ants creep into their pants!!  They jump out of their seat insisting on going first. To shape better behavior in waiting for a turn, we have added a wait your turn stick.   It's simply a paint stick with soft Velcro on both sides. Then, we add tokens with pictures or the students' names on them (depending on the students level). Students use it as a visual to know who goes first and when it's his/her turn. They follow the tokens from left to right. As their friends take turns, they place the tokens on the under side of the paint stick to show that friend is finished.

For more circle time tips, tune into my webinar at kansasasd.com on Wednesday, November 13th at 3:30pm CST. Register for the webinar here.  I will be sharing ways to engage students through differentiated instruction, as well as setting up functional errands and movement activities to support students who cannot endure the entire duration of large group. 

Hope to connect with you virtually on the 13th!

 

The Super Friend Cape - A Special Guest Post from Ms. Cris Wilson of Joyful Noise Preschool

I have started to get emails from teachers who are doing fabulous work.  As teachers, we all know that there's not always a lot of recognition for the long hours, personal funding, and creative ingenuity that goes into our classrooms.  So in the coming weeks, I'd like to share some of brilliant ideas and folks I've come across recently.  Consider it Considerate Classroom's Consideration for Considerate Classrooms! :)

Today's guest blogger and recipient of "Thumbs Up Thursday" is Ms. Cris Wilson of Joyful Noise Preschool in Goodland, KS.  Ms. Cris was referred to me by a colleague, Dixie Teeter. Here's what Dixie has to say.

"One of my preschool teachers Ms. Cris does this awesome social skill reinforcement that I thought I would share with you. It's called "Super Friend". When students show these skills spontaneously they get to wear a "SUPER CAPE". 

I asked her to type up her thoughts behind the cape.  I also took some pictures. Didn't know if this is something to share on Considerate Classroom? Reinforcing social skills is difficult. Let alone having a regular education teacher decide to do this on her own. I thought it was amazing."

Well, Dixie, I do too!  I am delighted to share the idea here.  Here is Ms. Cris Wilson's explanation of "Super Capes".

Here is my "thinking" behind the super friend capes I am using this year at Joyful Noise Preschool. 

To be a super friend, a child must go beyond the typical expectation of responsibility.  My example of responsibility is taking care of your own self.....you get toys out, you put them away.    You make a mess, you clean it up. Being a super friend is when you have taken care of your own responsibilities and then you go and take care of someone else's because they made a poor choice and the job still needs to be done.      

I say, "You are being a SUPER FRIEND because you ...".   I also have them tell others why they are wearing the cape. Some of my non-observant children ask, "What's she got that on for?".  I have the child tell them "I am a SUPER FRIEND because...".  They are excited when parents arrive at pick-up time to tell Mommy "I got to be a SUPER FRIEND today and I chose the Hello Kitty cape". Then, Mommy can engage in language and find out why!!!!

Examples of when capes have been "earned" are picking up someone else's mess, helping a friend get things into their cubbie, doing something to help Ms. Cris when I needed "extra hands", acts of kindness when not being asked to do so, and comforting a sad friend.

When the bell rings and everyone is expected to be picking up all toys, none are eligible to earn a cape.   The room has to be ready for circle time and all of us have to help.   The capes are given at all other times.

To be a super friend, a child must show concern, care, and compassion for another.  In essence, they "earn" the right to wear the cape when they have exhibited behaviors that are non-typical.   My thinking is that if everyone acted as a super friend every day, the world would be a better place and there would not be a need for cape rewards!!! However, we are not there yet, so I am using this as a motivator for good choice behavior.

A child can lose the right to wear the super friend cape if they behave inappropriately while wearing it. (whine, aggression, poor choice, etc.)
They are allowed to choose which cape they want to wear.    The capes are two-sided, and sometimes they start with one side and flip it over during the day.   

The students have learned the language already. After 4 weeks of preschool, the student proclaims "I'm a super friend because I picked up toys when somebody didn't be responsible". Then, the child walks over to the hook where the capes are and waiting for me to put it on!!!   They can wear it as long as they want (and remain eligible) and some have taken it off after only a few minutes of wearing it.   We usually take them off before going out to the playground for safety reasons, but they can leave on under a jacket/coat if desired.    

I am really excited about this plan.  There's cooperation, responsibility, pride, self-esteem, personal worth and value, LANGUAGE, social skills, good choices, and just a whole lot of LOVE going on in the classroom.    I am using it for all four classes.  At this point, not all children have taken advantage of the opportunity, yet those who are motivated by this approach seem to "earn" a cape daily.   Some of the things they are doing may seem minute to the outsider, but within the classroom, I see those as big steps to life!!!

I have a total of 6 capes right now.    Have fabric to make more, just haven't had time to sit at the sewing machine to do so.   I know I need 12 because there could come a time when all of my class is a SUPER FRIEND!!!

Then, Ms. Cris signs off with a statement to Dixie that I wish more teachers could honestly say. 

Thanks!   You know I appreciate how you always notice change and good things in this classroom!

So on this "Thumbs Up Thursday",  two thumbs up goes to Ms. Cris Wilson and her Super Friend Cape idea!  

I'd love to make "Thumbs Up Thursday" a regular occurrence at Considerate Classroom.  If you or someone you know is doing excellent work in the classroom, just send me an email with the classroom idea, your name, and some photos. 

 

Improving Communication Skills for Non-Verbal Children Through the Use of Aided Language Boards

This week I'd like to share with you some classroom-friendly ways to incorporate aided language boards.  This tool facilitates and increases the amount of words nonverbal students have access to in the classroom setting. 

The techniques I am sharing with you derived from my attempt to use PODD communication books based on the work of Gayle Porter and Linda Burkhart. If you are unfamiliar, PODD stands for Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display. Here are two sites you can visit for more information on PODD:  Novita Children's Services and Linda J. Burkhart's website.You can also watch amazing footage of their clients using PODD communication books on YouTube.
  
I attended a workshop by Linda Burkhart and loved the technique. If you ever get a chance to go to one of Linda’s trainings... JUMP AT IT!  It will give you a whole new perspective on augmentative communication and the importance of language. After returning from the training, I couldn't wait to get started with the PODD books. Although I had the best intentions, it was difficult for me to implement the technique because of everything else that goes on in the classroom.  

I feel the books are extremely beneficial and will continue to work on my implementation style but in the meantime I really needed some simple words for my staff and students to get started with so I came up with a core word page.  My staff and I keep them in our aprons for easy access. 

Here is a video clip of my son and I modeling how to use it. We shared these video models one at a time during large group for a few weeks when we first started using the board. 

They prove to be very helpful and by last December, we realized that the kids needed more words so I created this mini language book.

Page 1:  Core Word Page w/ a Few Additions

Page 2:  Manner & Action Words

Page 3:  Greetings & Feelings

Page 4: Pictures of staff & students (Not pictured here.) 

Page 5:  Personal Hygiene (Toileting & Snack in Our Classroom.)

If you have Boardmaker, you can access this mini book from Boardmaker Online to edit it to meet your students' needs.  If you do not have Boardmaker, you can go to my TPT store to access the new version!  It is not editable but it has some new action words and play items:

Here is a clip of my sons and I modeling the use of the mini book. NOTE: My older son has had a little experience with the book and is starting to become a reader while my younger son has not seen it before. Therefore, it is more of a model of language for my two-year old. The game featured in the video is Design and Drill.



That video brings up a good point. Some games, books, and activities we do in the classroom require different words than the ones in the mini book. In those instances, we create an activity specific board.  Here is and activity specific board for a game we play around Easter.

Here is a book example. The book is Baby Foods by Saxon Freymann and Joost Elffers.  It is one of our favorites. By having the PODD available the kids can tell us what animals they see and what fruits and vegetables the animals are made out of. 

Teacher's Organizational Tip: Recently, I started a binder of aided language boards for our children’s book collection. 

I keep each board in a page protector inside the binder. Then, I have the binder available for staff at the literacy center. As my staff and I need a board for a specific book, we can simply pull it out. It is definitely a work in progress because I make the boards as books come up in our lesson plans.  Hopefully by the end of the year, I will have a vast collection of them!☺ 

I also keep the activity specific boards in page protectors and store them with the activities in my thematic tubs. (My thematic tubs are a whole other topic...maybe we will open that can of worms at a later date!)

After seeing how activity specific language boards impacted our students, I realized I should make center specific boards. Instead of laminating them or putting them in page protectors, I place them in 5X7 plastic frames so they can easily set on a table top for frequent use. They are always out and available as I velcro them to the furniture in each center when they are not being used. As a result, the students have access to them for communication at all times. 

If you have Boardmaker, you can download these from Boardmaker Online and modify to meet your needs, if not check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for a new and improved version that includes extras!

The day after I put the boards up, a student who does not have many words in his vocabulary walked right over to the art center, pointed and said word approximations for “I” “want” “scissors”. Oh, the things that warm a teacher's heart!  It was so exciting!!!  If the language board was not at easy access, he would have never had the words to request what he wanted. The day he learned that his words have power. Ever since, that is the first thing he does when he arrives in the classroom. He hangs up his book bag and immediately runs to a language board to communicate where he wants to play. Leading me to a great point, if you can strategically place items of interest out of reach or in a way that students have to request your help to use them, they are more likely to use the boards and pick up on their purpose. 

For example, one of the first boards our students started using was for our sensory table as it is a highly motivating center and kids can’t open it without our help. They would go to the board and point to “I want open.”

Teacher Tip:  Another great feature about the plastic picture frames is you can use vis-a- vis markers to mark off things that are not available for the day or to emphasis something to a student visually. 

Before I say so long, I want to share one final discovery that we recently started using in our classroom. We have a student in our classroom with limited verbal and nonverbal communication skills. She is very social but tends to use only one noise to interact.  It's a grumbling sound. She has interest in the PODD books that her speech pathologist and I wear, and also the mini language books we use. But we have found she only has access to those words when in close proximity to us. We tried giving the student her own mini book. Unfortunately, she is not functional with it because she does not yet have the skills to navigate it by herself and her fine motor ability inhibits her to turn pages.  

As a result, we cut the top of a tube sock off and hot glued words she most frequently would want to communicate.  

She wears it as a wrist band and absolutely loves using it to communicate. It is not completely functional yet but we are getting a lot less of the grumbling noise and more pointing to words with some speech sounds attached like “bye-bye” and “a du” for all done. This method really speaks to her!! As we continue to model its use, I think we will start to see even more verbal and nonverbal language attempts.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE UPDATE ON THIS LITTLE GAL'S JOURNEY!

With that, I leave you with one final note that Linda Burkhart shared at her training that really spoke to me. She asked how long do we speak to a typically developing baby before we hear them speak back? Around 12 months, perhaps?  Well, that's 12 months of modeling and speaking to them and not getting anything in return. It may take 12 months or even longer (especially for students with cognitive impairments) for you to see significant growth with a student using aided language boards and PODD books.  

So I encourage you not to give up.  Model! Model! Model! The ability to communicate is a true gift that we take for granted. Being able to give nonverbal students this gift is priceless. It can change a student's whole life.  And that, folks, is what keeps this teacher going!