It’s Turkey Time!! {A Peek at November in Our Classroom}

By teachingspecialthinkers | November 24, 2015 |

In our classroom, I think it’s quite obvious that we LOVE our holidays! Theme teaching makes planning for the month so.much.easier. For the next few weeks, we will be focusing on Thanksgiving, as well as continuing to use fall resources. For some reason, I love Thanksgiving! I mean, I obviously love decorating for the holidays, but I am alllllll about pumpkins and turkeys until Thanksgiving break. Plus, give me ALL THE MASHED POTATOES. Here’s a peek at some of my favs to use during Thanksgiving! Also, be sure to check out what I’m pinning on Pinterest for Thanksgiving below!

To get a glance of the structure of my Autism classroom, click below.

Morning Work.

Lemme tell you… these morning worksheets from Erin at You-Auta-Know have saved me this year. We starting using them on day one back in August, and so many of my kiddos are independent in their daily morning work routine because of the consistency! The different levels incorporate so many goals my wide range of students are working on, from writing their name, coloring in the lines, calendar skills, matching lowercase/uppercase, matching pictures, counting, adding. Basically, these packs rock my socks. I print enough pages for the entire month for each student, stick them in their morning work folders, and poof – I’m done. I like easy :)

Literacy.

Thanksgiving Storytime Packs
We have gotten into quite the routine of reading a picture book, retelling using a story map, and answering basic “wh” questions using my story time packs. The visuals help TREMENDOUSLY, and they help me stay organized and in a routine.

Easy Art Packs:

I usually try to tie in an art project after story time. During an art activity, we work on verbal and visual direction following, fine motor practice, shapes, colors, sizes, requesting, problem solving, and the list goes on! These activities cover so many skills and they they help us decorate our classroom and hallway with cuteness overload.

Photo credit: Alyssa from Simply Special Ed

Comprehension Sheets from Simply Special Ed:

I use these comprehension sheets with my level 1 and 2 groups (students that cannot read or write independent, but can point or choose an answer when someone else reads). The stories are only a few sentences and the picture cues really help them make connections. I print them in color and put them in sheet protectors so students can circle the correct answer with a dry/erase marker and I can reuse the sheets again and again.

Who/What Dabber Packs From You Auta Know

I place these in independent work folders for my level 3 students (students that are able to read and follow directions independently). They provide GREAT practice with those pesky “WH” questions, in a fun format! My students LOVE bingo dabbers!

Moffatt Girls – No Prep Packs for Kindergarten

I place these in independent work folders for my level 2 students (students that need practice with basic pre-academic skills, but also have some good reading foundational skills – aka letter/sound knowledge, tracing, cutting, word families, etc.). I have the entire year bundle, so the students get used to the routine and are able to complete the pages with minimal prompting from me and they provide lots of practice for K skills! We use these in math groups as well.

Moffatt Girls – November Reading Comprehension Journals

I use these packs for one student who is on grade level with reading and needs a little extra practice with comprehension. The color coding system is AH-mazing and really helps prompt the student to refer back to the passage to answer questions.

Table Time.

Ya’ll know I love clothespin tasks! We are currently using my Fall Clothespin pack at this independent center.

Workshop.

Sorting Leaves Activity:

My TA cut out the tree and covered it with contact paper. We added some leaves for sorting! I am all about “standing” work tasks especially for my wiggle worms that hate to sit!

Sorting by Size Activity:

I got this sort from Erin from You-Auta-Know. They come from a monthly pack so the poster stays the same, I just change out the pieces. Less prep = happy teachers!

Teacher Time.

This is by far my favorite center in our classroom, mainly because the labeled tubs go straight to my organization lovin’ heart. In this center, I have been using my Fall Basic Skill Flipbook Tasks. I also use the category sorting tasks from Christine Reeve’s Receptive Skill Packs.

Math.

These counting books have been a hit in our classroom!

File Folders: I use these folders to touch on all the standards that I teach my students during math groups. We touch on different skills each day, and I utilize throughout the entire month, and then the students work on them at teacher time as well.

Writing.

I always like to have lots of different resources available at our writing station, and the work system the students follow can vary day to day. I write the tasks/directions down on a standing dry/erase board for my TA’s and students that can read to follow. Here’s what we have there right now:

Pre-writing practice sheets and vocabulary tracing sheets from my Thanksgiving Basic Skills Pack.

Fall Sentence Builder Activities for students to practice with all the different parts of a sentence, especially pronouns!

Thanksgiving Leveled Journal Sheets from Brie over at Breezy Special Ed.

Bulletin Board Station.

If you don’t know these packs, you are seriously missing out. Talk about the PERFECT transition center for early finishers. Once again, I love standing work stations and so do my students! Who doesn’t need daily practice with matching ABC’s (uppercase to uppercase or lowercase to uppercase), matching numbers or counting ten frames, and a little puzzle action.

Cookie Tray Tasks.

These tasks are near and dear to my heart because they are so fun to complete and they really don’t require a ton of prep. Plus, my girl Erin knows how to make everything look A-DOR-ABLE. Cookie trays are from Dollar General and I use magnetic tape for the backs of the pieces. I store all the tasks in this amazing chart I got on clearance at an Office Max that was closing. It was seriously make for her cookie tray tasks.

Cooking.

Make sure you check out Brie’s post about cooking for Thanksgiving in the classroom. Such a great idea!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! :)

Posted in november, Uncategorized