Leveled Puzzle Work Tasks

Chris over at Autism Classroom News had me worried with all her recent website changes, I was concerned Workbasket Wednesday was a thing of the past. . but lucky for us it is still going and on even better platform than before!  After you check out my leveled puzzle work tasks, be sure to head over to Autism Classroom Resources (formally known as Autism Classroom News) to see all the amazing things Chris has going on as she never fails to impress!

Let's get started...
Puzzles can be excellent workbasket items and with a little bit of tweaking they can even be leveled!  For example, I purchased four wooden alphabet puzzles from Target (for $1.00 each) several years ago and made four different tasks!

For level 1, I glued the puzzle pieces for rows one through three into the puzzle so the students would only have to put in the last row of pieces to complete the puzzle.  Then for level 2, I glued in rows one and two, for level 3 I glued in row one and for level four I didn't glue any rows in.  NOTE: I glued from the top down starting with the letter A rather than gluing from the bottom up starting with Z so student could see themselves complete the puzzle as they put the last few pieces in instead of putting the beginning few pieces in. 

If you look closely you will see Velcro on each of the pieces the children are asked to put in.  Velcro, you ask, but why the pieces are already inset into the puzzle? The truth is, I Velcro the puzzle pieces into almost all of my puzzles. If I am using them as a work task it makes them more permanent. When the students are finished with the work task and slide or dump it into the all done basket the pieces stay and the work is in tact.  Also I am less likely to loose the pieces and my students who are fiddlers or stimmers can be more successful.

Don't have the alphabet puzzles I purchased from Target five plus years ago... NO WORRY!  I picked up these alphabet puzzles (one upper case and one lower case) at the Dollar Tree just last week.   

They can be leveled work tasks without any glue or Velcro! 

To make the foam lowercase puzzle into a work task, I simply hot glued the base to a piece of cardboard and a bowl to the left hand side of the base.  Because the pieces are inset and they fit so snug to the base, I can simply take out the ones you want the child to put in depending on their individual level and ability.

The uppercase space puzzle is even easier!  It has it's own cardboard backing so I can simply take out the pieces I want the child to put in and I have it leveled to the child's needs.

NOTE:  A lot of students learn the letters in their name first, you can use these puzzles to support students in learning the letters of their name by simply taking only those letters out of the puzzle for the students to work on.

You can also take a photo of the completed puzzle and use it for a visual of what the finished puzzle looks like.  I packing taped my visual to the edge of the puzzle and folded it under the puzzle so if a student is struggling I can simply flip the visual up for additional support and even point to it as needed!

Need more. . . I also found these two puzzles at the Dollar Tree.

These also fit snug to the base and have a cardboard backing making them easily leveled!  However I took these puzzles one step further by purchasing two of each, one to keep whole and the other to cut apart into mini puzzles. 

 

For some students even when you only have a few pieces out for them to put in it is overwhelming.  Visually they are not ready for a puzzle of this size regardless of the number of pieces they are expected to put in.  By cutting a puzzle apart into smaller parts students can experience the puzzle in a successful way and then you can build up from there by presenting them different levels of puzzles as they gain skill. 

That is it for now!  Happy puzzle leveling until next time,
Lindy

Work Baskets and Fun Actvities for Boys!

I'm Back!  Sorry for my absence, I have been busy with my 'real job' lately.   That being said we have some great things in store for Early Childhood Educators in Kansas for the 2015-2016 school year be watching the TASN-ATBS Facebook page for more details Kansans!

Now on with today's post, what better way to start back up then with some Dollar Tree inspired work tasks and fun activities for boys!  All you need is to purchase the Dollar Tree items in the photo below: an Ultimate Spiderman board book and piggy bank, toy skateboards, 2 3 packs of match box cars, Easter egg cars and black ponytail holders.

Task 1: Spiderman Put In

 

 

For this one I used the play money that was used in the previous work task post about play money. 

Task 2: Spiderman Put On

 

 

We like to pretend that the black ponytail holders are spider webs.
A great activity for strengthening little hands:)

Task 3: Car Assembly

 

 

This tasks might be hard to come by the cars are actually Easter eggs. 

Write yourself a note to pick them up next spring. 

Task 4: Superhero Colors

 

 

Print page nine from this free Teachers Pay Teachers product and use scissors, packing tape, cardboard and Velcro to make this work task book.

And now for the activities! 

Activity 1: Skateboard Prepositions

 

 

Print page three and four from this free Teachers Pay Teachers product and place page three in a cardboard box lid. 

Have students push the skateboard across the sheet and then use the aided language board below to help them describe where the skateboard landed.  For example: "The red skateboardstopped behind the pig."  For similar activities for sports lovers click here!

 

Activity 2: Color Car Listening Activity

 

Print the cards on pages five through eight from this Teachers Pay Teachers product. 

Then use a Velveeta cheese box, scissors, a marker, and black duct tape to make a brown and black garage. 

 

 

Next use the cards shown in the examples below as a listening activity.  Read the text on each card without showing the student, then after they put the colored cars in the garage show them the card you read and let them lift the cardboard garage up to see if they listened correctly. 

(This game is played similar to the princess puzzle memory game from the girlie work basket post.)

 

You can do cards with both the black and brown garages to make it more difficult for higher students or even call out the numbers on the cars rather than the colors.

 

  

That's it for now!  But if you need a few more oldies but goodies that little boys with love click here:  Sports Sorting and Wiffle Ball Fun!

 

Best wishes! Until next time,

Lindy

'Tree'mendous Treasures: Sports Review Boards

I am super excited to share the second post in my 'Tree'mendous Treasures series!

 

All you need is this product from my teachers pay teachers store and these sports shooters from the party favor section at Dollar Tree for a DOLLAR of course!!

 

 

Print the review boards you wish to work on with your students.  There is a basketball court, soccer field and baseball field for colors, shapes, numbers and letters. 

 

 



Simply find a box lid or cardboard flat 9 by 12 inches or cut one down to this size, add the printable of your choice and shoot away!  Have your students take turns shooting the ball and labeling the concept they landed on. 

 

If you have students who are nonverbal or do not label concepts with consistency, you can use the aided language boards below to help students communicate what they landed on.

 

 

If you have students who are beyond colors, shapes, numbers and letters, print the blank basketball court, soccer field and baseball field, and laminate and program it for your own needs.  I use a vis-a-vis marker or permanent marker and Oops cleaner to reuse the pages for various concepts. 

 

 

 

Students can also work on prepositions with the use of this page:

 

 

and the corresponding aided language board:

 





 

Or even better they can use these review boards to work on specific concepts: in and out, inside and outside, and on and off. 

 

 

Then communicate where it landed and graph their answers.

 

 

Need a new work task?  Bonus the sports shooters can be used for an assembly task:

 

 

Or for a sorting task (either errorless with a lid for the ball tokens or without the lid for more of a challenge):

 

And there you have it, 1 party favor from the Dollar Tree with over 25 ways to play!

 

'TREE' MENDOUS for many learners!





 



'Tree'mendous Treasures: 16 Leveled Work Tasks

Everyone who knows me, knows I am a Dollar Tree fanatic!  Between the teaching tree and the many aisles of toys the possibilities are endless so I am starting a new series, 'Tree'mendous Treasures!

First up, large coins from the party section and play money from the toy section. 

Simply download my free Money Sorting Work Task from Teachers Pay Teachers and you have 16 work tasks with different levels to play. 

TASK ONE: Coin Drop (this could be done with the large coins or the small ones)

TASK TWO: Errorless Size Sorting (I purposefully used a small can and a larger can.  The large coins only fit in the larger can to support success.  Increasing the probability that the students will sort correctly provides more opportunities for success!) 

Want more?  Change the size adjectives to teach other words that mean large and small.

NOTE: To be completely errorless, simply add lids that have a slit cut for the exact size of the large and small coins.

TASK THREE: Size Sorting (without an errorless component because the cans are the same size)

Again, with the option to change the size adjectives.

TASK FOUR: Sorting By Reading Words



 And again with the option of changing the size words.

TASK FIVE: Sorting Coins and Dollars (with three levels to play)

Match pictures to money

Match number values to money



Match number words to money



And there you have 16 work tasks using 2 products from dollar tree and this printable!
Stay tune for future 'Tree'mendous Treasures:)

Learning the Pronouns: His and Her

Looking for a way to teach your students appropriate pronoun usage? Check out this leveled his/her activity:

 
All you need to do is collect boy and girl clothing and accessories such as watches, hats, necklaces, barrettes, bracelets, gloves, mittens and shoes.  (Tip: Collect baby clothing items so they fit nicely in your workbox.)

Then make a tub labeled his, him, he with a picture of a boy on it and a tub labeled hers, her, she with a picture of a girl on it.  If you would like you can download this version from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Then have your students take turns picking the accessories out of a fabric bag or tote.  I use one of my “take one” fabric bags. "Take one" fabric bag you might ask... It is simply a fabric bag that I labeled "take one" with a permanent marker.

I have several of them, and we use them for a variety of activities.  It gives my staff and I the reminder to use the same prompt "take one" as the students put their hand inside.  Many kids who are impulsive will take a handful out of the bag so it is a learning process if needed I only put one thing in the bag at a time for errorless learning.  NOTE: By using a solid colored fabric bag versus a plastic ziploc bag the students have to pick out an item randomly as they can't see inside the bag and the bag is quiet when students pick an item out.  

After the students pick out an item, I have the students tell me if it is for him or her and put it in the corresponding his or her tub.  To make the activity fun and to facilitate more language I added this simple aided language board. 

The language board provides the students with a way to say “that is his” or “that is hers” and they can also make comments such as “I like that” or “I don’t like that” we are working on core vocabulary (this, that, his, her, me, you, mine) while at the same time facilitating language.  By having the pictures available for students to point to, they have another means to make sense of language and/or communicate. Click on the video below to see this strategy in  action (NOTE: The video is with my own children, who both have language, but hopefully it will still give you an idea of how the language board works.)  You can also access the language board on teachers pay teachers.  

Another great thing about the his/her game is that I put it in tubs that match the tubs I use for my workbox storage:

This way I can store it with my other work boxes.  

And one more great thing about the task is that it can be used in a variety of ways as a fun small group activity, a direct instruction activity with a teacher, para, or speech pathologist or as an independent work activity.

NOTE: Above is an example of a very concrete activity.  The students are actually feeling, seeing and try on boy and girl accessories.  If your students are ready for a more abstract version of this activity you can access this his/her card sorting activity on teachers pay teachers.  

Print, cut out, and laminate the cards. Then simply have your students sort them into a container with two parts.  (My favorite is a Lean Cuisine dinner tray.)  

I considerate this to be level two of his or her sorting, next I give you level three, two worksheet versions of the same concept.

NOTE: You can use these worksheets with a dry erase marker and page protector as a direct instruction or independent work activity so students can practice the concept several time without making multiple copies. 

Or you could even slide it into the cover of a binder as a slant board.  

Well, that is it for now!  Until next time, happy concept building! She and He will learn a lot:) 

Lindy