Revision [1275]
Last edited on 2007-02-01 09:45:40 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Once JB, CO and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CO and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CO brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everyday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling SS "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CO and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CO and JB did their activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed their work, Kyle and I took CO and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of their surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CO went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CO was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys receive (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had their own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slide show of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make name tags for their desks. Along with their name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished their name tags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CO played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CO and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing their journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose their attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CO, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CO had his game boy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CO had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moon patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of their favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CO and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on their journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CO, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely autistic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CO and JB to Mrs. Wingate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CO got very excited because sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on their own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was ecstatic when he received a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CO, BS and CB. We did math first. CO and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished their math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a Frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pine cones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore multiple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CO and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CO and CB did a worksheet interpreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theater to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Computer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the oatmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed their math and returned from services, we went on a walk before gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush their teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunately, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For their journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompanying worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read their social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considering his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The special activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wrote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made their entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
For journal, we had the boys write about the vegetable contest the day before. They did very well. They all made sure to write about what we made, what vegetables we made the dogs out of and who judged the contest. After journal, I worked with SS and BS on their math; they are still doing market math using the price list and a calculator to do the actual math. Gym today was MM choice, he decided that we should play soccer so that is what we played. During writing workshop, we began writing our paragraphs on our community trip we took on Friday using the outlines we had made on Monday. Since gym cut into writer's workshop, we only wrote half of the paragraph.
Kyle was absent today and Miss Parks was subbing in another classroom so I was pretty much in charge of the class since the substitute was basically just walking into a strange classroom with kids who don't like their routine changed. Luckily, they did really well with the change and there were no real problems. We started off the day having the students write about the pie contest the day before and then BS shared his souvenirs from his trip to San Diego. While SS was at work and CB and JB were at OT, I helped MM with his math while the sub, Mrs. D helped BS with his market math sheet.
Once we were done in the computer lab, we went on our neighborhood scavenger hunt. It was a neat time since the students had created the list themselves. After the scavenger hunt there was a little bit of time for free choice and then the day was already over!
While SS was at work, CO and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CO and JB did their activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed their work, Kyle and I took CO and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of their surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CO went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CO was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys receive (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had their own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slide show of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make name tags for their desks. Along with their name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished their name tags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CO played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CO and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing their journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose their attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CO, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CO had his game boy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CO had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moon patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of their favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CO and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on their journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CO, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely autistic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CO and JB to Mrs. Wingate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CO got very excited because sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on their own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was ecstatic when he received a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CO, BS and CB. We did math first. CO and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished their math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a Frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pine cones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore multiple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CO and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CO and CB did a worksheet interpreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theater to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Computer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the oatmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed their math and returned from services, we went on a walk before gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush their teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunately, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For their journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompanying worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read their social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considering his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The special activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wrote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made their entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
For journal, we had the boys write about the vegetable contest the day before. They did very well. They all made sure to write about what we made, what vegetables we made the dogs out of and who judged the contest. After journal, I worked with SS and BS on their math; they are still doing market math using the price list and a calculator to do the actual math. Gym today was MM choice, he decided that we should play soccer so that is what we played. During writing workshop, we began writing our paragraphs on our community trip we took on Friday using the outlines we had made on Monday. Since gym cut into writer's workshop, we only wrote half of the paragraph.
Kyle was absent today and Miss Parks was subbing in another classroom so I was pretty much in charge of the class since the substitute was basically just walking into a strange classroom with kids who don't like their routine changed. Luckily, they did really well with the change and there were no real problems. We started off the day having the students write about the pie contest the day before and then BS shared his souvenirs from his trip to San Diego. While SS was at work and CB and JB were at OT, I helped MM with his math while the sub, Mrs. D helped BS with his market math sheet.
Once we were done in the computer lab, we went on our neighborhood scavenger hunt. It was a neat time since the students had created the list themselves. After the scavenger hunt there was a little bit of time for free choice and then the day was already over!
Deletions:
While SS was at work, CO and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CO and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CO and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CO went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CO was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slideshow of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make nametags for thier desks. Along with thier name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CO played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CO and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CO, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CO had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CO had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moom patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CO and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CO, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely austic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CO and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CO got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on thier own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was estatic when he recieved a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CO, BS and CB. We did math first. CO and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pinecones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore mulitple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CO and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CO and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theatre to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Computer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
For journal, we had the boys write about the vegetable contest the day before. They did very well. They all made sure to write about what we made, what vegetables we made the dogs out of and who judged the contest. After journal, I worked with SS and BS on thier math; they are still doing market math using the price list and a calculator to do the actual math. Gym today was MM choice, he decided that we should play soccer so that is what we played. During writing workshop, we began writing our paragraphs on our community trip we took on Friday using the outlines we had made on Monday. Since gym cut into writer's workshop, we only wrote half of the paragraph.
Kyle was absent today and Miss Parks was subbing in another classroom so I was pretty much in charge of the class since the subsitute was basically just walking into a strange classroom with kids who don't like their routine changed. Luckily, they did really well with the change and there were no real problems. We started off the day having the students write about the pie contest the day before and then BS shared his souveniers from his trip to San Diego. While SS was at work and CB and JB were at OT, I helped MM with his math while the sub, Mrs. D helped BS with his market math sheet.
Once we were done in the computer lab, we went on our neighborhood scavenger hunt. It was a neat time since the students had created the list themselves. After the scavenger hunt there was a litte bit of time for free choice and then the day was already over!
Revision [890]
Edited on 2006-08-21 15:59:28 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
=====''Thursday August 17, 2006''=====
=====''Friday August 18, 2006''=====
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Deletions:
====="Friday August 18, 2006"=====
Revision [889]
Edited on 2006-08-21 15:57:57 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
=====''Tuesday July 11, 2006''=====
=====''Friday July 14, 2006''=====
=====''Monday July 17, 2006''=====
=====''Tuesday, July 18, 2006''=====
=====''Wednesday July 19, 2006''=====
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=====''Monday July 24, 2006''=====
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=====''Monday July 31, 2006''=====
=====''Tuesday August 1, 2006''=====
=====''Wednesday August 2, 2006''=====
=====''Friday July 14, 2006''=====
=====''Monday July 17, 2006''=====
=====''Tuesday, July 18, 2006''=====
=====''Wednesday July 19, 2006''=====
=====''Thursday July 20, 2006''=====
=====''Friday July 21, 2006''=====
=====''Monday July 24, 2006''=====
=====''Tuesday July 25, 2006''=====
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=====''Monday July 31, 2006''=====
=====''Tuesday August 1, 2006''=====
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Deletions:
====="Friday July 14, 2006"=====
====="Monday July 17, 2006"=====
====="Tuesday, July 18, 2006"=====
====="Wednesday July 19, 2006"=====
====="Thursday July 20, 2006"=====
====="Friday July 21, 2006"=====
====="Monday July 24, 2006"=====
====="Tuesday July 25, 2006"=====
====="Wednesday July 26, 2006"=====
====="Thursday July 27, 2006"=====
====="Friday July 28, 2006"=====
====="Monday July 31, 2006"=====
====="Tuesday August 1, 2006"=====
====="Wednesday August 2, 2006"=====
Revision [888]
Edited on 2006-08-21 15:54:14 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
=====''Monday July 10, 2006''=====
====='''Tuesday July 11, 2006'''=====
====='''Tuesday July 11, 2006'''=====
Deletions:
=====''Tuesday July 11, 2006''=====
Revision [886]
Edited on 2006-08-20 09:31:28 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
====="Monday July 10, 2006"=====
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CO, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CO drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CO did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CO wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CO but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. JB and CO played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with SS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CO did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CO went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CO playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CO and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CO and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CO brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling SS "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CO and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CO and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CO and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CO went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CO was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CO drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CO really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CO and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
//Total Hours to Date: 21.5//
====="Friday July 14, 2006"=====
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CO enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CO really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
//Total Hours to Date: 27//
====="Monday July 17, 2006"=====
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CO since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CO did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CO played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
//Total Hours to Date: 32.5//
====="Tuesday, July 18, 2006"=====
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CO and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CO, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CO had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CO had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CO and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CO and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
//Total Hours to Date: 38//
====="Wednesday July 19, 2006"=====
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CO, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
//Total Hours to Date: 43.5//
====="Thursday July 20, 2006"=====
(CB was absent today)
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CO and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CO got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
//Total Hours to Date: 50//
====="Friday July 21, 2006"=====
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CO, BS and CB. We did math first. CO and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CO played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
//Total Hours to Date: 55//
====="Monday July 24, 2006"=====
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CO, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CO and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
//Total Hours to Date: 60.5//
====="Tuesday July 25, 2006"=====
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CO and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CO and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
//Total Hours to Date: 66//
====="Wednesday July 26, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 71.5//
====="Thursday July 27, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 76 //
====="Friday July 28, 2006"=====
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Computer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
//Total Hours to Date: 81.5//
====="Monday July 31, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 86//
====="Tuesday August 1, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 91.5//
====="Wednesday August 2, 2006"=====
=====''Wednesday August 16, 2006''=====
Kyle was absent today so we had another sub; this time we had a male sub, Mr. Witt. He was very friendly and good with the kids but like before, I had to really take charge to get things moving. We took the students to the playground, did math and reading and really just had a normal day.
//Total Hours to Date: 152//
====="Thursday August 17, 2006"=====
Today was a really fun day. Once we did a little bit of work, we walked with Mrs. Wingate's class to the bowling alley. One of the other classes planned the trip that included 2 games of bowling and unlimited pizza and pop for 9 dollars. The kids had a great time. They love to eat, so unlimited pizza was enough to make for a great day but throw in some bowling and an ice cream cone before walking back to school and they were flying high! We arrived back at school just in time to catch the buses.
//Total Hours to Date: 157.5//
====="Friday August 18, 2006"=====
Today was the last day of summer school. It was a day full of fun and mixed emotions. The kids were happy that they didn't have to do work for a couple of weeks but sad and anxious at the same time because many of them really enjoy school and need the consistency of the routine. In the morning, all the students got all their stuff together and helped us clean up the classroom. Then it was time for the school-wide picnic. There was tons of food: hot dogs, chips, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit and tons of desserts. After eating there was dancing and singing. All in all, the students had a great afternoon and once the picnic was over, we all said our goodbyes.
//Total Hours to Date: 163//
Practicum Experience Summary:
I had a amazing Practicum experience. I was able to work with a great staff of people and got to know and work with students with a variety of disabilities, particularly Autism. The students in the class were a pleasure to work with and there was not a single day where I didn't want to go to work. I learned valuable lessons in teaching students with Autism, modifying assignments to enable the best possible learning and sense of appreciation for the many gifts that these children have despite the difficulties they endure everyday.
//Total Practicum Hours: 163//
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CO, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CO drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CO did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CO wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CO but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. JB and CO played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with SS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CO did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CO went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CO playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CO and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CO and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CO brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling SS "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CO and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CO and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CO and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CO went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CO was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CO drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CO really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CO and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
//Total Hours to Date: 21.5//
====="Friday July 14, 2006"=====
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CO enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CO really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
//Total Hours to Date: 27//
====="Monday July 17, 2006"=====
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CO since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CO did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CO played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
//Total Hours to Date: 32.5//
====="Tuesday, July 18, 2006"=====
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CO and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CO, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CO had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CO had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CO and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CO and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
//Total Hours to Date: 38//
====="Wednesday July 19, 2006"=====
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CO, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
//Total Hours to Date: 43.5//
====="Thursday July 20, 2006"=====
(CB was absent today)
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CO and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CO got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
//Total Hours to Date: 50//
====="Friday July 21, 2006"=====
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CO, BS and CB. We did math first. CO and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CO played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
//Total Hours to Date: 55//
====="Monday July 24, 2006"=====
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CO, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CO and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
//Total Hours to Date: 60.5//
====="Tuesday July 25, 2006"=====
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CO and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CO and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
//Total Hours to Date: 66//
====="Wednesday July 26, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 71.5//
====="Thursday July 27, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 76 //
====="Friday July 28, 2006"=====
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Computer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
//Total Hours to Date: 81.5//
====="Monday July 31, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 86//
====="Tuesday August 1, 2006"=====
//Total Hours to Date: 91.5//
====="Wednesday August 2, 2006"=====
=====''Wednesday August 16, 2006''=====
Kyle was absent today so we had another sub; this time we had a male sub, Mr. Witt. He was very friendly and good with the kids but like before, I had to really take charge to get things moving. We took the students to the playground, did math and reading and really just had a normal day.
//Total Hours to Date: 152//
====="Thursday August 17, 2006"=====
Today was a really fun day. Once we did a little bit of work, we walked with Mrs. Wingate's class to the bowling alley. One of the other classes planned the trip that included 2 games of bowling and unlimited pizza and pop for 9 dollars. The kids had a great time. They love to eat, so unlimited pizza was enough to make for a great day but throw in some bowling and an ice cream cone before walking back to school and they were flying high! We arrived back at school just in time to catch the buses.
//Total Hours to Date: 157.5//
====="Friday August 18, 2006"=====
Today was the last day of summer school. It was a day full of fun and mixed emotions. The kids were happy that they didn't have to do work for a couple of weeks but sad and anxious at the same time because many of them really enjoy school and need the consistency of the routine. In the morning, all the students got all their stuff together and helped us clean up the classroom. Then it was time for the school-wide picnic. There was tons of food: hot dogs, chips, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit and tons of desserts. After eating there was dancing and singing. All in all, the students had a great afternoon and once the picnic was over, we all said our goodbyes.
//Total Hours to Date: 163//
Practicum Experience Summary:
I had a amazing Practicum experience. I was able to work with a great staff of people and got to know and work with students with a variety of disabilities, particularly Autism. The students in the class were a pleasure to work with and there was not a single day where I didn't want to go to work. I learned valuable lessons in teaching students with Autism, modifying assignments to enable the best possible learning and sense of appreciation for the many gifts that these children have despite the difficulties they endure everyday.
//Total Practicum Hours: 163//
Deletions:
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CU, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CU drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CU did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CU wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CU but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. Jb and CU played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with sS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CU did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CU went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CU playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CU and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CU and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CU brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling S "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CU and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CU and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CU and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CU went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CU was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CU drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CU really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CU and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
Total Hours to Date: 21.5
Friday July 14, 2006
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CU enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CU really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
Total Hours to Date: 27
Monday July 17, 2006
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CU since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CU did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CU played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Total Hours to Date: 32.5
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CU and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CU, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CU had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CU had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CU and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CU and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
Total Hours to Date: 38
Wednesday July 19, 2006
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CU, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
Total Hours to Date: 43.5
Thursday July 20, 2006 (CB was absent today)
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CU and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CU got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
Total Hours to Date: 50
Friday July 21, 2006
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CU, BS and CB. We did math first. CU and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CU played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
Total Hours to Date: 55
Monday July 24, 2006
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CU, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CU and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
Total Hours to Date: 60.5
Tuesday July 25, 2006
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CU and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CU and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
Total Hours to Date: 66
Wednesday July 26, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 71.5
Thursday July 27, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 76
Friday July 28, 2006
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Total Hours to Date: 81.5
Monday July 31, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 86
Tuesday August 1, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 91.5
Wednesday August 2, 2006
Revision [884]
Edited on 2006-08-15 09:58:45 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
//Total Hours to Date: 97//
=====''Thursday August 3, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 102.5//
=====''Friday August 4, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 108//
=====''Monday August 7, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 113.5//
=====''Tuesday August 8, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 119//
=====''Wednesday August 9, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 124.5//
=====''Thursday August 10, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 130//
=====''Friday August 11, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 135.5//
//Total Hours to Date: 141//
=====''Tuesday August 15, 2006''=====
Once again today we had only 4 students since SS went with his family to the fair. In the morning we took a walk around the school grounds and then three of them went to services. When they got back, we had them create their own scavenger hunt list for our afternoon walk. They also made thank-you cards for Mrs. Brazill since she planned many activities for the summer school students including the pancake breakfasts every Monday. Afterwards, CO and MM did a math worksheet while the other two boys went for services.
Mr. Cashmore was not here today and the gym was closed for cleaning so we played kickball outside with the substitute gym teacher. The game went really fast and they actually played the best they have all summer. We ended early and we back to the classroom with plenty of time for writer's workshop. They wrote the longest paragraph yet about the trip to the fair, even adding more detail than what was on the original outline. Tomorrow, we will have them type the paragraph and find pictures during computer time.
In the afternoon, we tried another science experiment. We attempted to make paper clay. The recipe called for shredded paper, water and flour. As much as we mixed it however, we could not get the paper to get the clay consistency (we were supposed to use a blender, which we didn't have and I am sure that would have made a difference.) Luckily, the boys were not that disappointed. During computer time, after art/science, we let the students have free time on the computers.
Once we were done in the computer lab, we went on our neighborhood scavenger hunt. It was a neat time since the students had created the list themselves. After the scavenger hunt there was a litte bit of time for free choice and then the day was already over!
//Total Hours to Date: 146.5//
=====''Thursday August 3, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 102.5//
=====''Friday August 4, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 108//
=====''Monday August 7, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 113.5//
=====''Tuesday August 8, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 119//
=====''Wednesday August 9, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 124.5//
=====''Thursday August 10, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 130//
=====''Friday August 11, 2006''=====
//Total Hours to Date: 135.5//
//Total Hours to Date: 141//
=====''Tuesday August 15, 2006''=====
Once again today we had only 4 students since SS went with his family to the fair. In the morning we took a walk around the school grounds and then three of them went to services. When they got back, we had them create their own scavenger hunt list for our afternoon walk. They also made thank-you cards for Mrs. Brazill since she planned many activities for the summer school students including the pancake breakfasts every Monday. Afterwards, CO and MM did a math worksheet while the other two boys went for services.
Mr. Cashmore was not here today and the gym was closed for cleaning so we played kickball outside with the substitute gym teacher. The game went really fast and they actually played the best they have all summer. We ended early and we back to the classroom with plenty of time for writer's workshop. They wrote the longest paragraph yet about the trip to the fair, even adding more detail than what was on the original outline. Tomorrow, we will have them type the paragraph and find pictures during computer time.
In the afternoon, we tried another science experiment. We attempted to make paper clay. The recipe called for shredded paper, water and flour. As much as we mixed it however, we could not get the paper to get the clay consistency (we were supposed to use a blender, which we didn't have and I am sure that would have made a difference.) Luckily, the boys were not that disappointed. During computer time, after art/science, we let the students have free time on the computers.
Once we were done in the computer lab, we went on our neighborhood scavenger hunt. It was a neat time since the students had created the list themselves. After the scavenger hunt there was a litte bit of time for free choice and then the day was already over!
//Total Hours to Date: 146.5//
Deletions:
Thursday August 3, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 102.5
Friday August 4, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 108
Monday August 7, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 113.5
Tuesday August 8, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 119
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 124.5
Thursday August 10, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 130
Friday August 11, 2006
Total Hours to Date: 135.5
Total Hours to Date: 141
Revision [879]
Edited on 2006-08-14 09:48:29 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
=====''Tuesday July 11, 2006''=====
//Hours to date: 11//
=====''Wednesday July 12, 2006''=====
//Total hours to date: 16//
=====''Thursday July 13, 2006''=====
//Hours to date: 11//
=====''Wednesday July 12, 2006''=====
//Total hours to date: 16//
=====''Thursday July 13, 2006''=====
Deletions:
Hours to date: 11
Wednesday July 12, 2006
Total hours to date: 16
Thursday July 13, 2006
Revision [878]
Edited on 2006-08-14 09:43:51 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Friday August 11, 2006
Today was the school-wide trip to the Erie County Fair.
Total Hours to Date: 135.5
=====''Monday August 14, 2006''=====
Today we only had 4 students since last Thursday was BS's last day and CB went to the fair with his family today. So we had a really relaxed day. On top of having only 4 kids, they had a lot of services so the day went really fast. We had the pancake breakfast this morning and afterwards we went for a walk to visit SS at work and played a game of "mother may I" with Mrs. Gibson's class. Then all of them went to counseling together so Kyle and I had a half-hour free to clean up the room and I read over all the student's IEP's.
Once they returned from counseling, it was time for writer's workshop. Today Mrs. Miller had them make an outline of what we did on the trip to the fair. They recalled a lot of details of what we did and made the longest outline yet. Tomorrow they will write a paragraph based on the outline.
After lunch and hygiene, the computers were working once again (they had been down all morning) so we went to the computer lab for some free time. CO looked for music clips of Garth Brookes, JB played Battleship, SS played Mavis Beacon while MM looked at animal pictures. For art today we made sidewalk paint and then went outside to try it out. We also took the boys to the playground which they hadn't done for a while.
Total Hours to Date: 141
Today was the school-wide trip to the Erie County Fair.
Total Hours to Date: 135.5
=====''Monday August 14, 2006''=====
Today we only had 4 students since last Thursday was BS's last day and CB went to the fair with his family today. So we had a really relaxed day. On top of having only 4 kids, they had a lot of services so the day went really fast. We had the pancake breakfast this morning and afterwards we went for a walk to visit SS at work and played a game of "mother may I" with Mrs. Gibson's class. Then all of them went to counseling together so Kyle and I had a half-hour free to clean up the room and I read over all the student's IEP's.
Once they returned from counseling, it was time for writer's workshop. Today Mrs. Miller had them make an outline of what we did on the trip to the fair. They recalled a lot of details of what we did and made the longest outline yet. Tomorrow they will write a paragraph based on the outline.
After lunch and hygiene, the computers were working once again (they had been down all morning) so we went to the computer lab for some free time. CO looked for music clips of Garth Brookes, JB played Battleship, SS played Mavis Beacon while MM looked at animal pictures. For art today we made sidewalk paint and then went outside to try it out. We also took the boys to the playground which they hadn't done for a while.
Total Hours to Date: 141
Revision [872]
Edited on 2006-08-10 07:29:11 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Thursday August 10, 2006
Today all the students were present and Kyle was back so things went very smoothly. MM was tested today by a school psychologist that I was able to talk to for a few minutes which was great. She went to UB and talked with me about some of the tests she used on MM. While MM was being tested I worked with BS on finishing his market math packet. He did really well and was able to the rest of packet independently. Next, while CO and BS were at speech, I worked with CB on his math and then began reading with them. Kyle was at a tutorial for a computer program so I started the exercise worksheets with them.
Writer's workshop today went well and afterwards, we left for our pot-luck picnic in the park. Each of the boys brought a treat to share and had a great time walking to town and enjoying the picnic. When we got back to school, we went to the MidWay Fair made by Mrs. Brazil's class. This was a mini-fair with games that the boys really enjoyed. Tomorrow is our field trip to the actual Erie County Fair.
Total Hours to Date: 130
Today all the students were present and Kyle was back so things went very smoothly. MM was tested today by a school psychologist that I was able to talk to for a few minutes which was great. She went to UB and talked with me about some of the tests she used on MM. While MM was being tested I worked with BS on finishing his market math packet. He did really well and was able to the rest of packet independently. Next, while CO and BS were at speech, I worked with CB on his math and then began reading with them. Kyle was at a tutorial for a computer program so I started the exercise worksheets with them.
Writer's workshop today went well and afterwards, we left for our pot-luck picnic in the park. Each of the boys brought a treat to share and had a great time walking to town and enjoying the picnic. When we got back to school, we went to the MidWay Fair made by Mrs. Brazil's class. This was a mini-fair with games that the boys really enjoyed. Tomorrow is our field trip to the actual Erie County Fair.
Total Hours to Date: 130
Revision [869]
Edited on 2006-08-09 18:51:24 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
=====Monday July 10, 2006=====
''Hours to date: 5.5''
''Hours to date: 5.5''
Deletions:
Hours to date: 5.5
Revision [868]
Edited on 2006-08-09 18:32:34 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Summer school begins at 8:30 and runs to 2 pm each day. Since today was the first day, the students attended for a half day arriving at 11. The first hour was spent in a faculty meeting going over basic instructions regarding attendance, arrival/dismissal procedures, attire, and field trips. After the faculty meeting, all the staff went to set up their classrooms. There really wasn’t much to set up; the students’ regular teacher only sent 2 boxes containing their binders, and some worksheets.
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CU, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CU drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CU did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
The last part of the day was choice time. Since there were no games or anything available, they played tic-tac-toe and hangman on the board and looked out the window. I also just visited with them.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CU wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After journal, I went with SS and a group of other students and teachers over to the elementary school for the Summer Youth work program. They are helping to clean the school. After a demonstration, rules and getting supplies, the kids went right to work. The group consisted a wide variety of kids with differing levels of disability. They worked hard from 10-11 cleaning the desks, chairs and lockers. They did a great job! They will go everyday from about 9-11 and are paid for their work, it is a great program for them. And best of all, they enjoyed it!
When SS and I returned from work, it was time for writing workshop with the Mrs. Miller. They worked on writing 3 part sentences that described a picture. After this it was time for lunch. The boys were much more quiet today, but they were hungry from their busy morning.
After lunch we worked on reading comprehension. They read a short story and then answered true/false questions about the story. During this time they mainly worked independently while Kyle was on break and I made a full schedule of all the services they receive each day. (there are a ton to keep track of)
Once again, around 12:30 we took a long walk and took the boys to the playground at the front of the elementary school. They had a ball climbing and playing on the playground set.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CU but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. Jb and CU played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with sS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CU did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CU went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CU playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CU and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CU and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CU brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling S "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CU and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CU and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CU and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CU went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CU was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CU drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CU really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CU and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
Today was a pretty low-key since it was Friday. After arrival and journal, SS and I went over to work study where I supervised the same group of kids who had moved on to cleaning classrooms. They were only responsible for cleaning the chairs and desks. S worked the full 2 hours although Kyle and I are considering cutting him back to only one hour on some of the days, especially gym days, since he gets really tired and can barely stay awake.
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CU enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CU really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
Today was the first day that six students were present. BS and CS had been at Cradle Beach Camp the previous week and notes from their parents expressed that they both really enjoyed themselves. MM had just come back from Walt Disney World so there was plenty of things to talk to the boys about to ease their nerves since both Kyle and I were new to them. It was very apparent during journal (and eventually throughout the rest of the day) that the new students are much more involved than the other three, especially more withdrawn. They appear to be a more "characteristic" portrayal of autism.
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CU since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CU did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slideshow of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make nametags for thier desks. Along with thier name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CU played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CU and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CU, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CU had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CU had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CU and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moom patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CU and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CU, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
After gym, it was time for writing workshop. Using the red, yellow green method from the previous day, Mrs. Miller created a short paragraph about a field trip to a firehouse. They then highlighted the correct sentence with what the purpose of the sentence was. They listened very well and followed directions. Afterwards we went to lunch.
After lunch we did a reading packet like yesterday. Today's reading packet was on cowboys. They then went to the computer lab where they worked on various things. Afterwards we had choice time. MM got a surprise today during choice time because he won first place in the silly shirt day contest with his Donal Duck shirt. He was excited I took him down to see his favorite OT teacher to show her his prizes.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely austic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
Today started the same as usual but with great excitement among the boys. Today was our first trip into the community for lunch. Our journal topic today was "Today we are going to Julie's Pizza." Most of them wrote about what they would be having for lunch. BS was the only student who brought something for show and tell today. He shared a photo of a peacock fanning its feathers that he saw at the zoo. SS then went to work and Kyle and I did a reading packet on alligators with the remaining students.
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CU and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CU got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on thier own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was estatic when he recieved a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CU, BS and CB. We did math first. CU and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 9:50 we went to gym. We played kick ball again which is good. The boys enjoy the game and they are steadily improving in their comprehension of the game. Since BS is the only struggling the most grasping the game, Mr. Cashmore had him be the pitcher which is good for him. He knew what he had to do and is good at it because he rolls the ball nice and slow.
Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop after gym. Today she incorporated the red-yellow-green method with the T chart. The topic was the trip to Julie's and we filled the chart in with details about 3 things (we walked there, the food, and what they liked best). On Monday, they will use the information from the chart to write their own paragraph that we will hi-light. When workshop was over, we went to lunch.
Reading was the activity after lunch. We started a packet on birds that the boys found very interesting. They did the first two pages that contained reading and activities teaching about the various parts of the bird and what the different feathers are for. After reading we went to the computer lab.
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CU played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CU, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CU and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
Mondays are very busy with services so the boys are coming and going to all different places every half-hour. At one point, CB was the only one in the classroom so I worked with him on some flashcards involving addition and telling time. When CB left and BS returned, I then worked with him on the same crossword the others had completed and then practiced adding and subtracting before writer's workshop.
Writing workshop for today with Mrs. Miller was really interesting and the boys really enjoyed it. Using the outline they made on Friday, they wrote a paragraph telling about our trip to Julie's Pizza. It turned out really well and they ended up typing it out during computer time and finding pictures to illustrate it. We had them make 3 copies: one to put in the workshop folder, one to use for an art project later in the week, and one to add to a collection they will make a book out of to show their parents.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pinecones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore mulitple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
Today went very quickly since we were all very busy with several activities and a lot of services. The journal topic for today was "My best friend." It was a great topic that I loved hearing the boys share. Most of them wrote about classmates or their brothers. BS was the only one who brought something to show and tell today. He brought in a snow globe.
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CU and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CU and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
After math, we went to gym with the boys from Mrs. Wingate's class. It was amazing, everyone had their sneakers today! It was a good thing because today we played soccer. It was a good change of pace and the entire class like it, I think better than kickball. Almost all of the boys got into the game and made an effort to play together instead of parallel to each other like they usually do.
When we got back from gym, Mrs. Miller was all ready for us to begin writer's workshop. She had a new outline all ready for them and they had to write their own paragraph from the information given as a group. Since we didn't have much time, they only got through the topic sentence. They will finish the rest on Thursday since the entire school is going on a field trip tomorrow and will miss writer's workshop.
We had two special activities today; we made oatmeal clay dough in the home-ec room and then went on a scavenger hunt. Kyle and I were surprised that they didn't get more into making the clay dough than they did. They helped add the ingredients, and took turns stirring and kneading. After they finished making the clay-dough and had some computer time, we went on the scavenger hunt. Kyle gave them each a bag and a list and then out we went. They did pretty well, especially JB and SS who were able to locate everything independently. I kept CB on track (which was a task today, since he was having another tough day) while Kyle helped BS and Erin helped MM who did not have a clue (even with her helped basically had a bag full of rocks, instead of the needed three).
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theatre to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
Today the entire summer school program went the Regal Movie Theater to see "Racing Stripes."
Today was another community trip once we finished all the morning work. For our trip today we walked down to the Springville Shuttleworth Park for a picnic lunch. After eating we looked around the creek for animals and fish. We also went for ice cream at Nick Charlaps. The boys had a great time. We spent much more time in the community this week than we did last time. We returned to the school just in time for free time.
Today was a pretty easy day since it was Friday and everyone seemed a bit tired. The journal topic for the day was "My favorite thing to don in summer school is.." Most of the boys wrote about how much they like gym class with Mr. Cashmore. None of them brought anything new for show and tell today. After SS left for work and JB and MM left for services, Kyle and I took the remaining three boys for a short walk since it was supposed to rain all day. After the walk we did some math. I did some problems on the board with CB once he finished his time telling worksheet. Once the others returned from services they did some math worksheets as well and a word puzzle worksheet.
Today in gym we played soccer again and the session went well with no fighting, biting or swearing so that was a plus! Writer's workshop today was about our trip into the community yesterday. Mrs. Miller had the students make an outline of what we did and what we saw while on our little field trip. They got really into it and gave her some great ideas. On Monday, they will write a paragraph from the outline.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
The journal topic for today was what they did over the weekend. No one brought anything for show and tell today so we went right into reading and math after we took a short walk. I worked with BS on his flashcards. For the rest of the morning we did various reading and math worksheets.
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During computer time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Ant Bully."
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Today was a community trip day so we did school work for the first part of the day. The journal topic for today was about exercise, and each of the boys presented about what type of exercise they liked to do best. They are really seeming to enjoy this unit. After journal, we did another exercise worksheet to add their unit folder. The sheets are difficult for them but by talking them through the questions they do well.
For math today I helped BS on a market worksheet until he left for speech. Once SS returned from work, I helped him on a similar worksheet and using a calculator. Afterwards, it was time for writing workshop. We finished the directions activity on how to brush your teeth. Once done with writing workshop, it was time for our community trip.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
The boys really wanted to go to the computer lab and luckily it was available. So we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then had choice time.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
After journal, three of the students were gone to work or services leaving Kyle and with only CO and BS to do math. CO worked on an addition sheet independently and I worked with BS on a market math worksheet and a calculator. He needed to find the prices of the two items and then subtract the total from the amount he began with. The second sheet was finding the difference in prices between two items. He needed help with the first ones on each sheet but after that was able to do the assignment on his own. In fact, I was only going to have him do one sheet, but he wanted to keep going! Once math was over and the other kids returned, we went for a short walk around the school before taking them to gym.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
Tuesday August 8, 2006
Fair week continued today with a pie contest. Our class made a lemonade pie that the kids really liked (they ate the entire thing!) Even better, we won another third place ribbon in the contest. Since most of the boys were at services when we made the pie, it was made by JB and BS. They liked making the pie much better than than making the dough last week.
For journal, we had the boys write about the vegetable contest the day before. They did very well. They all made sure to write about what we made, what vegetables we made the dogs out of and who judged the contest. After journal, I worked with SS and BS on thier math; they are still doing market math using the price list and a calculator to do the actual math. Gym today was MM choice, he decided that we should play soccer so that is what we played. During writing workshop, we began writing our paragraphs on our community trip we took on Friday using the outlines we had made on Monday. Since gym cut into writer's workshop, we only wrote half of the paragraph.
In the afternoon we continued with our exercise unit for reading. Kyle and I did two worksheets with them on aerobic exercises and then we went to the computer lab. Since they didn't have a finished paragraph to type out, we let them have free time on the computer. Instead of having choice time today, at 1:15, we all went down to the cafeteria for the pie contest.
Total Hours to Date: 119
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Kyle was absent today and Miss Parks was subbing in another classroom so I was pretty much in charge of the class since the subsitute was basically just walking into a strange classroom with kids who don't like their routine changed. Luckily, they did really well with the change and there were no real problems. We started off the day having the students write about the pie contest the day before and then BS shared his souveniers from his trip to San Diego. While SS was at work and CB and JB were at OT, I helped MM with his math while the sub, Mrs. D helped BS with his market math sheet.
After math, it was time for gym. We went to the playground today since the weather was so nice and the gym was closed off to be resealed. The students love going to the playground and were glad for the change. Unfortunately, we had to cut the playground time short because one of the boys was stung by a bee. Mrs. D and I took the remaining kids to the smaller gym to have some free time for the rest of the gym session. We then had writer's workshop where we finished the paragraph about the community trip.
The fair activity for today was ice cream and after reading where we completed another exercise sheet, we went to the cafeteria and made homemade ice cream. All the students except SS and MM were able to make the ice cream. We had them measure all the ingredients and shake the mixture to make the ice cream.
Instead of computer time today, we had a special treat. One of the speech teachers during the school year brought in her dog, which the boys really liked. They have seen her dog before and were so excited that she was coming to visit today. After the visit we went to the computer lab and had them type their paragraphs. Afterwards, we went to the cafeteria for the ice cream social until dismissal.
Total Hours to Date: 124.5
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CU, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CU drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CU did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
The last part of the day was choice time. Since there were no games or anything available, they played tic-tac-toe and hangman on the board and looked out the window. I also just visited with them.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CU wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After journal, I went with SS and a group of other students and teachers over to the elementary school for the Summer Youth work program. They are helping to clean the school. After a demonstration, rules and getting supplies, the kids went right to work. The group consisted a wide variety of kids with differing levels of disability. They worked hard from 10-11 cleaning the desks, chairs and lockers. They did a great job! They will go everyday from about 9-11 and are paid for their work, it is a great program for them. And best of all, they enjoyed it!
When SS and I returned from work, it was time for writing workshop with the Mrs. Miller. They worked on writing 3 part sentences that described a picture. After this it was time for lunch. The boys were much more quiet today, but they were hungry from their busy morning.
After lunch we worked on reading comprehension. They read a short story and then answered true/false questions about the story. During this time they mainly worked independently while Kyle was on break and I made a full schedule of all the services they receive each day. (there are a ton to keep track of)
Once again, around 12:30 we took a long walk and took the boys to the playground at the front of the elementary school. They had a ball climbing and playing on the playground set.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CU but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. Jb and CU played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with sS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CU did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CU went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CU playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CU and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CU and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CU brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling S "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CU and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CU and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CU and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CU went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CU was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CU drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CU really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CU and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
Today was a pretty low-key since it was Friday. After arrival and journal, SS and I went over to work study where I supervised the same group of kids who had moved on to cleaning classrooms. They were only responsible for cleaning the chairs and desks. S worked the full 2 hours although Kyle and I are considering cutting him back to only one hour on some of the days, especially gym days, since he gets really tired and can barely stay awake.
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CU enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CU really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
Today was the first day that six students were present. BS and CS had been at Cradle Beach Camp the previous week and notes from their parents expressed that they both really enjoyed themselves. MM had just come back from Walt Disney World so there was plenty of things to talk to the boys about to ease their nerves since both Kyle and I were new to them. It was very apparent during journal (and eventually throughout the rest of the day) that the new students are much more involved than the other three, especially more withdrawn. They appear to be a more "characteristic" portrayal of autism.
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CU since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CU did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slideshow of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make nametags for thier desks. Along with thier name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CU played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CU and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CU, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CU had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CU had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CU and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moom patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CU and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CU, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
After gym, it was time for writing workshop. Using the red, yellow green method from the previous day, Mrs. Miller created a short paragraph about a field trip to a firehouse. They then highlighted the correct sentence with what the purpose of the sentence was. They listened very well and followed directions. Afterwards we went to lunch.
After lunch we did a reading packet like yesterday. Today's reading packet was on cowboys. They then went to the computer lab where they worked on various things. Afterwards we had choice time. MM got a surprise today during choice time because he won first place in the silly shirt day contest with his Donal Duck shirt. He was excited I took him down to see his favorite OT teacher to show her his prizes.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely austic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
Today started the same as usual but with great excitement among the boys. Today was our first trip into the community for lunch. Our journal topic today was "Today we are going to Julie's Pizza." Most of them wrote about what they would be having for lunch. BS was the only student who brought something for show and tell today. He shared a photo of a peacock fanning its feathers that he saw at the zoo. SS then went to work and Kyle and I did a reading packet on alligators with the remaining students.
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CU and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CU got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on thier own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was estatic when he recieved a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CU, BS and CB. We did math first. CU and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 9:50 we went to gym. We played kick ball again which is good. The boys enjoy the game and they are steadily improving in their comprehension of the game. Since BS is the only struggling the most grasping the game, Mr. Cashmore had him be the pitcher which is good for him. He knew what he had to do and is good at it because he rolls the ball nice and slow.
Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop after gym. Today she incorporated the red-yellow-green method with the T chart. The topic was the trip to Julie's and we filled the chart in with details about 3 things (we walked there, the food, and what they liked best). On Monday, they will use the information from the chart to write their own paragraph that we will hi-light. When workshop was over, we went to lunch.
Reading was the activity after lunch. We started a packet on birds that the boys found very interesting. They did the first two pages that contained reading and activities teaching about the various parts of the bird and what the different feathers are for. After reading we went to the computer lab.
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CU played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CU, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CU and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
Mondays are very busy with services so the boys are coming and going to all different places every half-hour. At one point, CB was the only one in the classroom so I worked with him on some flashcards involving addition and telling time. When CB left and BS returned, I then worked with him on the same crossword the others had completed and then practiced adding and subtracting before writer's workshop.
Writing workshop for today with Mrs. Miller was really interesting and the boys really enjoyed it. Using the outline they made on Friday, they wrote a paragraph telling about our trip to Julie's Pizza. It turned out really well and they ended up typing it out during computer time and finding pictures to illustrate it. We had them make 3 copies: one to put in the workshop folder, one to use for an art project later in the week, and one to add to a collection they will make a book out of to show their parents.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pinecones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore mulitple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
Today went very quickly since we were all very busy with several activities and a lot of services. The journal topic for today was "My best friend." It was a great topic that I loved hearing the boys share. Most of them wrote about classmates or their brothers. BS was the only one who brought something to show and tell today. He brought in a snow globe.
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CU and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CU and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
After math, we went to gym with the boys from Mrs. Wingate's class. It was amazing, everyone had their sneakers today! It was a good thing because today we played soccer. It was a good change of pace and the entire class like it, I think better than kickball. Almost all of the boys got into the game and made an effort to play together instead of parallel to each other like they usually do.
When we got back from gym, Mrs. Miller was all ready for us to begin writer's workshop. She had a new outline all ready for them and they had to write their own paragraph from the information given as a group. Since we didn't have much time, they only got through the topic sentence. They will finish the rest on Thursday since the entire school is going on a field trip tomorrow and will miss writer's workshop.
We had two special activities today; we made oatmeal clay dough in the home-ec room and then went on a scavenger hunt. Kyle and I were surprised that they didn't get more into making the clay dough than they did. They helped add the ingredients, and took turns stirring and kneading. After they finished making the clay-dough and had some computer time, we went on the scavenger hunt. Kyle gave them each a bag and a list and then out we went. They did pretty well, especially JB and SS who were able to locate everything independently. I kept CB on track (which was a task today, since he was having another tough day) while Kyle helped BS and Erin helped MM who did not have a clue (even with her helped basically had a bag full of rocks, instead of the needed three).
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theatre to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
Today the entire summer school program went the Regal Movie Theater to see "Racing Stripes."
Today was another community trip once we finished all the morning work. For our trip today we walked down to the Springville Shuttleworth Park for a picnic lunch. After eating we looked around the creek for animals and fish. We also went for ice cream at Nick Charlaps. The boys had a great time. We spent much more time in the community this week than we did last time. We returned to the school just in time for free time.
Today was a pretty easy day since it was Friday and everyone seemed a bit tired. The journal topic for the day was "My favorite thing to don in summer school is.." Most of the boys wrote about how much they like gym class with Mr. Cashmore. None of them brought anything new for show and tell today. After SS left for work and JB and MM left for services, Kyle and I took the remaining three boys for a short walk since it was supposed to rain all day. After the walk we did some math. I did some problems on the board with CB once he finished his time telling worksheet. Once the others returned from services they did some math worksheets as well and a word puzzle worksheet.
Today in gym we played soccer again and the session went well with no fighting, biting or swearing so that was a plus! Writer's workshop today was about our trip into the community yesterday. Mrs. Miller had the students make an outline of what we did and what we saw while on our little field trip. They got really into it and gave her some great ideas. On Monday, they will write a paragraph from the outline.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
The journal topic for today was what they did over the weekend. No one brought anything for show and tell today so we went right into reading and math after we took a short walk. I worked with BS on his flashcards. For the rest of the morning we did various reading and math worksheets.
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During computer time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Ant Bully."
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Today was a community trip day so we did school work for the first part of the day. The journal topic for today was about exercise, and each of the boys presented about what type of exercise they liked to do best. They are really seeming to enjoy this unit. After journal, we did another exercise worksheet to add their unit folder. The sheets are difficult for them but by talking them through the questions they do well.
For math today I helped BS on a market worksheet until he left for speech. Once SS returned from work, I helped him on a similar worksheet and using a calculator. Afterwards, it was time for writing workshop. We finished the directions activity on how to brush your teeth. Once done with writing workshop, it was time for our community trip.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
The boys really wanted to go to the computer lab and luckily it was available. So we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then had choice time.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
After journal, three of the students were gone to work or services leaving Kyle and with only CO and BS to do math. CO worked on an addition sheet independently and I worked with BS on a market math worksheet and a calculator. He needed to find the prices of the two items and then subtract the total from the amount he began with. The second sheet was finding the difference in prices between two items. He needed help with the first ones on each sheet but after that was able to do the assignment on his own. In fact, I was only going to have him do one sheet, but he wanted to keep going! Once math was over and the other kids returned, we went for a short walk around the school before taking them to gym.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
Tuesday August 8, 2006
Fair week continued today with a pie contest. Our class made a lemonade pie that the kids really liked (they ate the entire thing!) Even better, we won another third place ribbon in the contest. Since most of the boys were at services when we made the pie, it was made by JB and BS. They liked making the pie much better than than making the dough last week.
For journal, we had the boys write about the vegetable contest the day before. They did very well. They all made sure to write about what we made, what vegetables we made the dogs out of and who judged the contest. After journal, I worked with SS and BS on thier math; they are still doing market math using the price list and a calculator to do the actual math. Gym today was MM choice, he decided that we should play soccer so that is what we played. During writing workshop, we began writing our paragraphs on our community trip we took on Friday using the outlines we had made on Monday. Since gym cut into writer's workshop, we only wrote half of the paragraph.
In the afternoon we continued with our exercise unit for reading. Kyle and I did two worksheets with them on aerobic exercises and then we went to the computer lab. Since they didn't have a finished paragraph to type out, we let them have free time on the computer. Instead of having choice time today, at 1:15, we all went down to the cafeteria for the pie contest.
Total Hours to Date: 119
Wednesday August 9, 2006
Kyle was absent today and Miss Parks was subbing in another classroom so I was pretty much in charge of the class since the subsitute was basically just walking into a strange classroom with kids who don't like their routine changed. Luckily, they did really well with the change and there were no real problems. We started off the day having the students write about the pie contest the day before and then BS shared his souveniers from his trip to San Diego. While SS was at work and CB and JB were at OT, I helped MM with his math while the sub, Mrs. D helped BS with his market math sheet.
After math, it was time for gym. We went to the playground today since the weather was so nice and the gym was closed off to be resealed. The students love going to the playground and were glad for the change. Unfortunately, we had to cut the playground time short because one of the boys was stung by a bee. Mrs. D and I took the remaining kids to the smaller gym to have some free time for the rest of the gym session. We then had writer's workshop where we finished the paragraph about the community trip.
The fair activity for today was ice cream and after reading where we completed another exercise sheet, we went to the cafeteria and made homemade ice cream. All the students except SS and MM were able to make the ice cream. We had them measure all the ingredients and shake the mixture to make the ice cream.
Instead of computer time today, we had a special treat. One of the speech teachers during the school year brought in her dog, which the boys really liked. They have seen her dog before and were so excited that she was coming to visit today. After the visit we went to the computer lab and had them type their paragraphs. Afterwards, we went to the cafeteria for the ice cream social until dismissal.
Total Hours to Date: 124.5
Deletions:
At 11 three out the six students arrived: CU, JB and SS. Since lunch is from 11-11:30, we all went straight to the cafeteria. The boys talked, mainly to me (not each other) and are only slightly withdrawn. After lunch, the boys took a hygiene break where they washed their faces and brushed their teeth.
After lunch, the students made name tags for their desks with a picture of something they like and then presented them to Kyle, myself, and each other. JB drew his family, CU drew a police car, and SS drew a basketball. After this activity, we had journal time where the assignment was to write 3 sentences about their family and then read them to the class and answer questions from the “audience.” After this, we all went for a walk outside and to the playground where the boys played on the swings.
After the walk, we returned to the classroom and I worked 1:1 with SS. We read “social stories” about life skills, etc. Once he read 3 stories, he and CU did activity cards. This involved showing the boys a card with a direction printed on it and then completing the direction. They had to do sit ups, jumping jacks and ask a teacher what they had for breakfast or give a compliment.
The last part of the day was choice time. Since there were no games or anything available, they played tic-tac-toe and hangman on the board and looked out the window. I also just visited with them.
Today once the boys (same 3) had arrived and gotten settled in the classroom, we went right to work on journals. Today’s topic was “what I want to be.” After writing about the topic, they presented to each other. CU wants to be a NYS police man, JB wants to be an aide like he has, and SS is not sure what he wants to be.
After journal, I went with SS and a group of other students and teachers over to the elementary school for the Summer Youth work program. They are helping to clean the school. After a demonstration, rules and getting supplies, the kids went right to work. The group consisted a wide variety of kids with differing levels of disability. They worked hard from 10-11 cleaning the desks, chairs and lockers. They did a great job! They will go everyday from about 9-11 and are paid for their work, it is a great program for them. And best of all, they enjoyed it!
When SS and I returned from work, it was time for writing workshop with the Mrs. Miller. They worked on writing 3 part sentences that described a picture. After this it was time for lunch. The boys were much more quiet today, but they were hungry from their busy morning.
After lunch we worked on reading comprehension. They read a short story and then answered true/false questions about the story. During this time they mainly worked independently while Kyle was on break and I made a full schedule of all the services they receive each day. (there are a ton to keep track of)
Once again, around 12:30 we took a long walk and took the boys to the playground at the front of the elementary school. They had a ball climbing and playing on the playground set.
After the exercise we worked on 2 math worksheets involving graphs. I mainly assisted CU but they did much of the work independently. Once they finished their math, the boys could have free time until dismissal. Jb and CU played battleship with Kyle and Miss Parks (the part time aide) while I played Guess Who with sS. He did a really good job and won most of the games. You just have to remind him at first which cards to put down, but he remembered the rules and then did great. They all said they loved the new games that I brought in.
Today once I got the three students off the bus, they began the day with their journal topics and presentations. The topic was “three things that I did yesterday.” After his OT, SS and I went with a group of students over for work. I supervised a group of 4 students and helped them clean lockers. The four boys (SS, Billy, Mike and Mike) did an excellent job and were very cooperative during the work time. During this time JB and CU did math worksheets and SS and I returned just in time to do some writing workshop with 3 part sentences.
At 11 we returned to the middle school for lunch. I sat with the boys while they ate and visited with them. After lunch I took my break and made a ton of copies of various activity sheets to do later in the session. While I took care of the copies, SS went to speech therapy and JB and CU went for a walk around the school since it was still raining. After the walk, all the boys met in the computer lab for a half hour to do Mavis Beacon teaches typing. The activity held their attention very well and they really enjoyed the typing. This really helps them with letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. We plan to do this in the afternoon everyday if possible.
The final half hour of the day was choice time. SS chose to play Guess Who with Miss Parks while I supervised JB and CU playing Connect Four. They started arguing (they were actually socializing today and playing with some competitiveness unlike with Battleship) so I came over to make sure they played fair and nicely with each other.
Once JB, CU and SS arrived at school today, they went right to work on their journals. The topic was "last night I..." They each presented their sentences and then CU and JB both participated in Show and Tell. CU brought his Garth Brookes box set of CD's. He told the class some of his favorite songs, who bought the set for him etc. JB's item was his pocket gamer that he plays Connect 4 on. He brings this to school everday to play on the bus and is very possessive of the game. Earlier in the morning when he thought that SS was going in to his bag, JB leaped from his chair strongly telling S "No, get away" etc. After show and tell, I walked SS over to Mrs. Wingate's class so that her aide could take him over to work.
While SS was at work, CU and J did some math worksheets practicing graph comprehension. They are both fairly independent at completing these types of worksheets. They only need help occasionally with comprehending exactly what the questions are asking. After math, CU and JB did thier activity cards. The only cards we had them do were the ones involving giving complements, asking questions, and writing their name and address on the board.
Once they completed thier work, Kyle and I took CU and JB on a long walk around the school. While on the walks we made sure that the boys were conscious of thier surroundings, especially when it was time to cross the parking lots and streets. After the walk, CU went to speech therapy while JB read a story aloud to me. When CU was done with speech and SS returned from work, Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop which is part of the services the boys recieve (group speech therapy). They are still working on 3 part sentences they created from a picture. This time however, they each had thier own picture they had to write a sentence about rather than writing the same sentence as a group.
After lunch and hygiene break, we had art time. The boys had to follow a set of directions regarding what they would be making. They needed to draw a picture of an outside scene using at least 5 different colors. In addition, they had to use all the paper, not just a small drawing in the center. CU drew a picture of the playground with children playing on it as well as a rainbow going over the monkey bars. JB meticulously drew a rainbow with the color bands each being the same width. SS drew a rainbow as well.
The last hour of the day is probably their favorite time. We spend one half hour in the computer lab where they practice typing (they really like the Mavis Beacon games) and also typed out their sentences from writer's workshop and find a picture to put under the sentence that is related to the sentence. JB is really good on the computer. He can open and close the programs he wants, can type with both hands occasionally and is getting really good at several of the speed and accuracy games on Mavis Beacon. SS is slower at the typing (as he is with writing) because he quickly loses his focus and then needs reminding and prodding to get him back on track. However, he really enjoys the chameleon game on Mavis Beacon where the object is to locate the correct letters that appear on the screen. CU really likes to go on the Internet and find pictures of various state police cars. Once you get him to the correct site, he can find his way around the site and type what state he wants to find in the search engine box.
After computer time we went to the playground for a little while and then the boys had choice time before dismissal. CU and JB played Connect 4 together once again while SS and I played Guess Who?
Today was a pretty low-key since it was Friday. After arrival and journal, SS and I went over to work study where I supervised the same group of kids who had moved on to cleaning classrooms. They were only responsible for cleaning the chairs and desks. S worked the full 2 hours although Kyle and I are considering cutting him back to only one hour on some of the days, especially gym days, since he gets really tired and can barely stay awake.
Once we came back it was time for writer's workshop with Mrs. Miller. We did the same worksheet and then I took the boys to lunch. After hygiene, we went to join Mrs. Wingate's class to watch a movie. They watched Holes but really didn't get much out of it. JB could not focus at all and was pretty much falling asleep. CU enjoyed it but could not follow the story at all and not surprisingly, laughed at inappropriate points of the movie. After 45 minutes, Kyle and I took them to the computer lab where we let them pretty much play what they wanted after they had finished typing their writing workshop sentences.
For choice time today instead of staying inside, we took the boys to the playground until dismissal which they really enjoyed. CU really likes the spinners and JB and SS played a type of foursquare-basketball on the new court at the Elementary school.
Today was the first day that six students were present. BS and CS had been at Cradle Beach Camp the previous week and notes from their parents expressed that they both really enjoyed themselves. MM had just come back from Walt Disney World so there was plenty of things to talk to the boys about to ease their nerves since both Kyle and I were new to them. It was very apparent during journal (and eventually throughout the rest of the day) that the new students are much more involved than the other three, especially more withdrawn. They appear to be a more "characteristic" portrayal of autism.
This week started the theme of the day contests with a pancake breakfast. Today was silly sunglasses day but unfortunately, none of our students remembered their silly sunglasses. After the pancake breakfast, we took a walk with CB and CU since SS was at work and BS, MM and JB each had services. Once they returned to class or went to another service, Kyle and I took B for a walk. At 10:30, all the kids returned to class and we had writer's workshop. Mrs. Miller had them using a new format using a T chart and putting favorite foods on one side of the chart and 3 details about the food on the other side of the chart. They did not write sentences today since we ran out of time.
After lunch and hygiene, the boys did math. BS and CU did problems on the board while I worked with MM. MM cannot write at all and has great trouble counting. So I had him count out crayons and then would write the number myself as a model. Then, he would hold the pencil and I would help him copy the number.
From 12:30 to one o'clock, we went to the computer lab. CB is very good on the computer and made all kinds of drawings in paint and then found song clips on the Internet. JB and SS played on Mavis Beacon while B used paint. MM could not work the computer at all so needed a lot of help. Since he just got back from Disney World, we found a slideshow of photos of the park which he really liked. After computer, we had art time. Since all the boys were present, we had them make nametags for thier desks. Along with thier name, they needed to draw pictures of things they liked to do, favorite foods, family, etc.
Once they had finished thier nametags, they were allowed to have choice time (as long as they had 5 stars for good behavior, which we started this week). All the boys had enough stars so they could have choice time. CB drew pictures, SS and CU played Guess Who while MM had his OT. CU was drawing and I played tic-tac-toe with BS. He did not understand how to play at all but instead made patterns with the pieces which he really enjoyed.
Once all the boys had arrived and put their things away, it was time for journal. Today's topic was "My favorite thing to do in summer." CB, CU and JB were good to go all their own. Kyle scribed for MM while I worked with BS and SS. They are capable of doing thier journals but just need prodding and refocusing when they lose thier attention. After each of them shared their journals, JB, BS, CU, MM and SS all presented their show and tell items. MM brought his giant pencil from Disney World, JB showed his Connect 4 again, CU had his gameboy, SS borrowed his brother's silly hat, and BS had a picture from Sunshine Day at Cradle Beach. After show and tell, SS went to work while MM, JB, CB and CU had rotating services. When they weren't getting services, they worked on math. I worked with BS who was doing adding and subtracting problems on the board while the others worked with Kyle at the group table. JB is really a math whiz-adding, subtracting and multiplication.
After math, Kyle went to get SS while I took the rest of the boys to gym. After warm-ups (sit-ups) we played kickball with a few other students from other classes. B and CB were in their own worlds for most of the time but JB, CU and SS really got into the game. After gym which lasted for 50 minutes, the boys had writer's workshop where they learned about the green, yellow, red method of writing (like a stop light). It seemed to be over their heads but Mrs. Miller is going to continue with it tomorrow so hopefully it will get better.
After lunch and hygiene, I came back from break and the boys were working on a packet that was on the Northern Lights. The first page was a short paragraph about them and the following pages were worksheets on what they had read. The first was a diary with blanks and a word bank they filled in (CB was really good at this). The second page gave various hours of the day and they had to decide if the sun or moon would be out (from the story). This was very difficult for them since it was not like normal sun/moom patterns. The last page was a color-by-number of the northern lights that they really enjoyed doing.
After this we had computer time where the boys basically did the same things that they had been doing. This is one of thier favorite parts of the day and you can see improvement in each of them in using the computers. Afterwards, we went for a short walk to the playground, since they weren't able to go out the day before due to the heat. Once we returned the boys had choice time. CU and JB played Connect 4; CB colored; BS played with the tic-tac-toe board; and SS and MM played Guess Who? This game was very difficult for MM and he needed a lot of help from me. SS got frustrated after the first game and left MM to play something else. This did not bother MM at all, and it was almost time for dismissal anyway.
All six boys were present today and once they got settled in got to work on thier journals. Today's topic was "My family." After they each presented it was time for show and tell. Today BS was the only one who brought something to share. He shared his bouncing ball that lights up when bounced. After journal, a few of the boys went to various services while CU, CB, MM and BS worked on math. I worked with MM today and created a sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 on it along with the correct number of circles for each number. He then traced over all the numbers and circles and we went over the numbers several times. After math, Kyle and I took the boys for a walk around the school before gym class. At gym today we played a little kick ball again and then went for a walk to the playground at the Elementary school.
After gym, it was time for writing workshop. Using the red, yellow green method from the previous day, Mrs. Miller created a short paragraph about a field trip to a firehouse. They then highlighted the correct sentence with what the purpose of the sentence was. They listened very well and followed directions. Afterwards we went to lunch.
After lunch we did a reading packet like yesterday. Today's reading packet was on cowboys. They then went to the computer lab where they worked on various things. Afterwards we had choice time. MM got a surprise today during choice time because he won first place in the silly shirt day contest with his Donal Duck shirt. He was excited I took him down to see his favorite OT teacher to show her his prizes.
One profound thing that happened this morning was when I was entering, a severely austic student I worked with earlier in the year smiled and waved hello to me as he was entering the building. I said hello and he smiled again. This was a very big social landmark for him and my mom (who is the director of his program) is going to be telling his parents who will be thrilled!
Today started the same as usual but with great excitement among the boys. Today was our first trip into the community for lunch. Our journal topic today was "Today we are going to Julie's Pizza." Most of them wrote about what they would be having for lunch. BS was the only student who brought something for show and tell today. He shared a photo of a peacock fanning its feathers that he saw at the zoo. SS then went to work and Kyle and I did a reading packet on alligators with the remaining students.
After reading we worked on some math. BS worked on flashcards practicing 9's. MM and I made a worksheet with the numbers 1-10 on it that he traced and also practiced counting markers. After math, we took MM, CU and JB to Mrs. WIngate's class for some social time. They played dominoes with two of the boys in her class. When Steven returned from work, it was time for writing workshop. Today they hi-lighted another paragraph using the red-yellow-green method. This time the topic was on fun with friends on the playground. JB is very good at these exercises; he knows what the colors stand for and where to find them in the paragraph. He completed the entire paragraph on his own before any of the others.
Once writer's workshop was over, we began the 1-mile walk to Julie's Pizza in downtown Springville. It did not take us long to get there at all and the heat wasn't that bad. Once we arrived at the restaurant, CU got very excited becuase sitting at the table next to ours were two police officers. He waited so patiently for them to finish eating before he approached them and introduced himself. The police were also very nice to him and the other boys as well. Each of the boys ordered their lunch themselves and were well-behaved while waiting for it to arrive. They also really enjoyed the food-there wasn't a bit of food on any of the plates! After lunch, we walked back to the school.
We arrived just in time for computer class. They each went right to their computers and worked on thier own doing games, looking at pictures and drawing. After computer, instead of doing art, we went to the cafeteria for the surprise ice cream social one of the classes was giving. The boys had a great time and even asked to sit with some students from another class. (non-forced socialization, of course we said yes!) SS was estatic when he recieved a prize for silly hat day. He was so excited it was adorable! After the social it was choice time and I played Ker-Plunk with 3 of the boys while the other two played Connect 4.
All six of the students were present today. CB had gone on a family trip to the country the day before and came back in good spirits. The journal topic for today was "Yesterday I." All but CB wrote about the trip to Juile's telling about how we got there, what we saw along the way, how the food was, and what their favorite part was. After journal, SS left for work while JB and MM had services. Kyle and I were left with CU, BS and CB. We did math first. CU and CB did a graph interpretation worksheet while BS and I practiced his flashcards and also telling time. Once they finished thier math, we took them for a walk before it got too hot. The walk was cut short however because we needed to get a class picture taken in the cafeteria. When JB and MM returned from their services, they did math while the others did some reading. JB did the same worksheet that the other 2 boys had done while MM worked on a coloring sheet with 1 picture on it from a packet that Kyle made for him. His skills are very low so we are trying some simple visual math with him. He really enjoyed it and was able to understand that it represented the number 1, so far so good!
At 9:50 we went to gym. We played kick ball again which is good. The boys enjoy the game and they are steadily improving in their comprehension of the game. Since BS is the only struggling the most grasping the game, Mr. Cashmore had him be the pitcher which is good for him. He knew what he had to do and is good at it because he rolls the ball nice and slow.
Mrs. Miller came for writer's workshop after gym. Today she incorporated the red-yellow-green method with the T chart. The topic was the trip to Julie's and we filled the chart in with details about 3 things (we walked there, the food, and what they liked best). On Monday, they will use the information from the chart to write their own paragraph that we will hi-light. When workshop was over, we went to lunch.
Reading was the activity after lunch. We started a packet on birds that the boys found very interesting. They did the first two pages that contained reading and activities teaching about the various parts of the bird and what the different feathers are for. After reading we went to the computer lab.
At 1 o'clock, we went to the cafeteria to do art. Kyle found some coloring pictures of birds on the Internet and we had the boys watercolor them. They really liked this activity and it held their attention for a longer period of time than we expected. On Monday we are going to have them cut out the birds and put them on colored paper and decorate around them. Then they can hang them around the room. For choice time, JB and CU played Connect 4 while I played Ker-Plunk with MM, SS, and BS. CB chose to draw, which he really enjoys and would do all day if we would let him!
The journal topic for today was "My favorite thing to do." I helped Matt by scribing for him what he told me about playing basketball with his brother. After sharing their journals, BS shared his object that he brought for show and tell. He brought in a frisbee and threw it to Mrs. Penn and caught it a few times since he really doesn't talk all that much.
One of the other classes who plans a lot of the fun activities for the students makes a pancake breakfast that is held every Monday morning. So Kyle and I took BS, CU, CB and JB to the cafeteria. SS was at work study and MM had PT so we brought some pancakes back to the room for him to eat afterwards. Once the boys were finished eating, we had them try a crossword puzzle that focused on words containing "ou." Both CU and CB really surprised us at how good they were at.
Mondays are very busy with services so the boys are coming and going to all different places every half-hour. At one point, CB was the only one in the classroom so I worked with him on some flashcards involving addition and telling time. When CB left and BS returned, I then worked with him on the same crossword the others had completed and then practiced adding and subtracting before writer's workshop.
Writing workshop for today with Mrs. Miller was really interesting and the boys really enjoyed it. Using the outline they made on Friday, they wrote a paragraph telling about our trip to Julie's Pizza. It turned out really well and they ended up typing it out during computer time and finding pictures to illustrate it. We had them make 3 copies: one to put in the workshop folder, one to use for an art project later in the week, and one to add to a collection they will make a book out of to show their parents.
For exercise today, we went on a long walk with a mission: to find pinecones and twigs. The ones we found are going to be used for art projects with our bird unit. We hope to make bird feeders with peanut butter and seeds and maybe a bird nest. They really liked the hunt for objects.
The only down side to today was CB's behavior for the better part of the day. He swore mulitple times, went into the girl's bathroom and was very defiant to us several times during most of the days activities. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!
Today went very quickly since we were all very busy with several activities and a lot of services. The journal topic for today was "My best friend." It was a great topic that I loved hearing the boys share. Most of them wrote about classmates or their brothers. BS was the only one who brought something to show and tell today. He brought in a snow globe.
After finishing up the morning prep work and the first round of services started, I helped BS, CU and CB with math assignments. BS did some new flashcards and some problems on the board. CU and CB did a worksheet intrepreting a line graph; they well on it but a few of the questions really gave them some trouble since it was a new type of graph. What I love about working with them is that when they don't understand something they tell you and let you know when they get it; they don't just keep going lost in a fog.
After math, we went to gym with the boys from Mrs. Wingate's class. It was amazing, everyone had their sneakers today! It was a good thing because today we played soccer. It was a good change of pace and the entire class like it, I think better than kickball. Almost all of the boys got into the game and made an effort to play together instead of parallel to each other like they usually do.
When we got back from gym, Mrs. Miller was all ready for us to begin writer's workshop. She had a new outline all ready for them and they had to write their own paragraph from the information given as a group. Since we didn't have much time, they only got through the topic sentence. They will finish the rest on Thursday since the entire school is going on a field trip tomorrow and will miss writer's workshop.
We had two special activities today; we made oatmeal clay dough in the home-ec room and then went on a scavenger hunt. Kyle and I were surprised that they didn't get more into making the clay dough than they did. They helped add the ingredients, and took turns stirring and kneading. After they finished making the clay-dough and had some computer time, we went on the scavenger hunt. Kyle gave them each a bag and a list and then out we went. They did pretty well, especially JB and SS who were able to locate everything independently. I kept CB on track (which was a task today, since he was having another tough day) while Kyle helped BS and Erin helped MM who did not have a clue (even with her helped basically had a bag full of rocks, instead of the needed three).
Tomorrow we are going on a school-wide trip to the Regal theatre to see "Racing Stripes." The boys are really excited about going to the movies and each have money with Mrs. Penn to buy a snack.
Today the entire summer school program went the Regal Movie Theater to see "Racing Stripes."
Today was another community trip once we finished all the morning work. For our trip today we walked down to the Springville Shuttleworth Park for a picnic lunch. After eating we looked around the creek for animals and fish. We also went for ice cream at Nick Charlaps. The boys had a great time. We spent much more time in the community this week than we did last time. We returned to the school just in time for free time.
Today was a pretty easy day since it was Friday and everyone seemed a bit tired. The journal topic for the day was "My favorite thing to don in summer school is.." Most of the boys wrote about how much they like gym class with Mr. Cashmore. None of them brought anything new for show and tell today. After SS left for work and JB and MM left for services, Kyle and I took the remaining three boys for a short walk since it was supposed to rain all day. After the walk we did some math. I did some problems on the board with CB once he finished his time telling worksheet. Once the others returned from services they did some math worksheets as well and a word puzzle worksheet.
Today in gym we played soccer again and the session went well with no fighting, biting or swearing so that was a plus! Writer's workshop today was about our trip into the community yesterday. Mrs. Miller had the students make an outline of what we did and what we saw while on our little field trip. They got really into it and gave her some great ideas. On Monday, they will write a paragraph from the outline.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
The journal topic for today was what they did over the weekend. No one brought anything for show and tell today so we went right into reading and math after we took a short walk. I worked with BS on his flashcards. For the rest of the morning we did various reading and math worksheets.
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During computer time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Ant Bully."
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Today was a community trip day so we did school work for the first part of the day. The journal topic for today was about exercise, and each of the boys presented about what type of exercise they liked to do best. They are really seeming to enjoy this unit. After journal, we did another exercise worksheet to add their unit folder. The sheets are difficult for them but by talking them through the questions they do well.
For math today I helped BS on a market worksheet until he left for speech. Once SS returned from work, I helped him on a similar worksheet and using a calculator. Afterwards, it was time for writing workshop. We finished the directions activity on how to brush your teeth. Once done with writing workshop, it was time for our community trip.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
The boys really wanted to go to the computer lab and luckily it was available. So we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then had choice time.
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
After journal, three of the students were gone to work or services leaving Kyle and with only CO and BS to do math. CO worked on an addition sheet independently and I worked with BS on a market math worksheet and a calculator. He needed to find the prices of the two items and then subtract the total from the amount he began with. The second sheet was finding the difference in prices between two items. He needed help with the first ones on each sheet but after that was able to do the assignment on his own. In fact, I was only going to have him do one sheet, but he wanted to keep going! Once math was over and the other kids returned, we went for a short walk around the school before taking them to gym.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
Revision [862]
Edited on 2006-08-07 09:44:32 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Monday August 7, 2006
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
Total Hours to Date: 113.5
Today was the beginning of fair week at summer school since on Friday we will be going on a field trip the Erie County Fair. The speical activity for the day was to create a farm animal out of vegetables. Our class made a dog and her puppy out of squash, cukes, and peas. They are so cute!
After journal today, we did some reading using the exercise booklets. We also wote in the logs the exercise we did last week on our community trips. We then took a couple of the students on a walk before doing math. Mondays are so full of services that we are often left with only one or two kids. After math and another walk with a different set of kids, we had writer's workshop. Today we made an outline of our trip to the community on Friday.
They made thier entry for the animal competition after lunch, and then it was time for computer lab. The judging was a 1:15 so between then and computer time we made sidewalk paint during art. The day went by very quickly.
Total Hours to Date: 113.5
Revision [861]
Edited on 2006-08-05 16:19:47 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Friday August 4, 2006
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
After journal, three of the students were gone to work or services leaving Kyle and with only CO and BS to do math. CO worked on an addition sheet independently and I worked with BS on a market math worksheet and a calculator. He needed to find the prices of the two items and then subtract the total from the amount he began with. The second sheet was finding the difference in prices between two items. He needed help with the first ones on each sheet but after that was able to do the assignment on his own. In fact, I was only going to have him do one sheet, but he wanted to keep going! Once math was over and the other kids returned, we went for a short walk around the school before taking them to gym.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Total Hours to Date: 108
Fridays are always kind of low-key at summer school. CB was absent again today since he went camping with his family for the weekend. For thier journal topic, the students wrote about the adventure we had the day before in town. BS's case management came for a classroom visit and was very impressed with his presentation and his reading aloud. He also brought in an item for show and tell. He presented a medal he was awarded at a baseball league he played in.
After journal, three of the students were gone to work or services leaving Kyle and with only CO and BS to do math. CO worked on an addition sheet independently and I worked with BS on a market math worksheet and a calculator. He needed to find the prices of the two items and then subtract the total from the amount he began with. The second sheet was finding the difference in prices between two items. He needed help with the first ones on each sheet but after that was able to do the assignment on his own. In fact, I was only going to have him do one sheet, but he wanted to keep going! Once math was over and the other kids returned, we went for a short walk around the school before taking them to gym.
Gym was pretty crazy today. They all really got into the games we played (some kickball and some soccer). After gym it was time for writing workshop. We were only able to start a new activity involving definitions of new words. On Monday, we will read the paragraph containing the new words and complete the accompaning worksheet.
Since our community trip was cut short yesterday, we took the boys back into the community today. First we mailed the thank you letters and then went to Wilson Farms to get a freezie pop for BS and a drink for JB. Then we walked to the ice cream parlor where the others got ice cream cones as a special treat. We got back to the school just in time for choice time once we had them read thier social stories to cool down. For choice time, we played UNO. MM really surprised me with his ability to understand the game (considereing his lack of comprehension regarding numbers, reading and colors). He needed very little assistance or prompting. I think he really just understood that he needed to play a card that matched the one on top of the pile.
Total Hours to Date: 108
Revision [857]
Edited on 2006-08-03 10:22:37 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Thursday August 3, 2006
Today was a community trip day so we did school work for the first part of the day. The journal topic for today was about exercise, and each of the boys presented about what type of exercise they liked to do best. They are really seeming to enjoy this unit. After journal, we did another exercise worksheet to add their unit folder. The sheets are difficult for them but by talking them through the questions they do well.
For math today I helped BS on a market worksheet until he left for speech. Once SS returned from work, I helped him on a similar worksheet and using a calculator. Afterwards, it was time for writing workshop. We finished the directions activity on how to brush your teeth. Once done with writing workshop, it was time for our community trip.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
The boys really wanted to go to the computer lab and luckily it was available. So we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then had choice time.
Total Hours to Date: 102.5
Today was a community trip day so we did school work for the first part of the day. The journal topic for today was about exercise, and each of the boys presented about what type of exercise they liked to do best. They are really seeming to enjoy this unit. After journal, we did another exercise worksheet to add their unit folder. The sheets are difficult for them but by talking them through the questions they do well.
For math today I helped BS on a market worksheet until he left for speech. Once SS returned from work, I helped him on a similar worksheet and using a calculator. Afterwards, it was time for writing workshop. We finished the directions activity on how to brush your teeth. Once done with writing workshop, it was time for our community trip.
Even though it was cloudy we decided to chance it. The walk went well and we made it to Main Street Pizza in good time. Each of the boys ordered their own lunch and waited patiently for it to arrive. They all really enjoyed the food, seeing as there was nothing left! Unfortunatley, it began to pour. We couldn't get a treat at Wilson Farms or walk to the post office to mail our thank you letters for the Joyland Theater. Mr. Cashmore picked us in the BOCES van so we made it back to the school at 1:00.
The boys really wanted to go to the computer lab and luckily it was available. So we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then had choice time.
Total Hours to Date: 102.5
Revision [856]
Edited on 2006-08-02 09:52:48 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Ant Bully."
Deletions:
Revision [855]
Edited on 2006-08-02 09:52:25 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During computer time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Wednesday August 2, 2006
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Total Hours to Date: 97
Wednesday August 2, 2006
Today was a busy day. The journal topic for the morning was to write about their pets. Once they all had shared their journal, it was time for math. I worked with SS on a sheet locating prices on food items. Once the students completed thier math and returned from services, we went on a walk beofre gym. Gym today was low-key since it was so hot. They played a game that required listening and following instructions. Mr. Cashmore would do something and they had to repeat it. Afterwards we played kickball.
Writer's workshop today was short since it was a gym day and it cut into writing time. They began writing out directions on how to brush thier teeth. After lunch, they worked on their exercise unit. We did another worksheet learning about the benefits of exercise and then during computer time, they each had to find pictures of people exercising to decorate their unit folders.
Total Hours to Date: 97
Deletions:
Revision [852]
Edited on 2006-08-01 09:48:30 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Monday July 31, 2006
The journal topic for today was what they did over the weekend. No one brought anything for show and tell today so we went right into reading and math after we took a short walk. I worked with BS on his flashcards. For the rest of the morning we did various reading and math worksheets.
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During comouter time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Total Hours to Date: 86
Tuesday August 1, 2006
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Aunt Bully."
Total Hours to Date: 91.5
The journal topic for today was what they did over the weekend. No one brought anything for show and tell today so we went right into reading and math after we took a short walk. I worked with BS on his flashcards. For the rest of the morning we did various reading and math worksheets.
For writer's workshop today we wrote a paragraph based on the outline they created on Friday. They did really well on their paragraph. During comouter time, each of them typed out the paragraph and found a picture to put on the page. Basically it was a really easy day. For choice time, I played UNO with JB, BS and Miss Parks.
Total Hours to Date: 86
Tuesday August 1, 2006
Today we had a field trip to the movies to see "Aunt Bully."
Total Hours to Date: 91.5
Revision [848]
Edited on 2006-07-28 09:57:07 by EmilyKrezmienAdditions:
Friday July 28, 2006
Today was a pretty easy day since it was Friday and everyone seemed a bit tired. The journal topic for the day was "My favorite thing to don in summer school is.." Most of the boys wrote about how much they like gym class with Mr. Cashmore. None of them brought anything new for show and tell today. After SS left for work and JB and MM left for services, Kyle and I took the remaining three boys for a short walk since it was supposed to rain all day. After the walk we did some math. I did some problems on the board with CB once he finished his time telling worksheet. Once the others returned from services they did some math worksheets as well and a word puzzle worksheet.
Today in gym we played soccer again and the session went well with no fighting, biting or swearing so that was a plus! Writer's workshop today was about our trip into the community yesterday. Mrs. Miller had the students make an outline of what we did and what we saw while on our little field trip. They got really into it and gave her some great ideas. On Monday, they will write a paragraph from the outline.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Total Hours to Date: 81.5
Today was a pretty easy day since it was Friday and everyone seemed a bit tired. The journal topic for the day was "My favorite thing to don in summer school is.." Most of the boys wrote about how much they like gym class with Mr. Cashmore. None of them brought anything new for show and tell today. After SS left for work and JB and MM left for services, Kyle and I took the remaining three boys for a short walk since it was supposed to rain all day. After the walk we did some math. I did some problems on the board with CB once he finished his time telling worksheet. Once the others returned from services they did some math worksheets as well and a word puzzle worksheet.
Today in gym we played soccer again and the session went well with no fighting, biting or swearing so that was a plus! Writer's workshop today was about our trip into the community yesterday. Mrs. Miller had the students make an outline of what we did and what we saw while on our little field trip. They got really into it and gave her some great ideas. On Monday, they will write a paragraph from the outline.
After lunch we did some reading with these worksheets that involved observation and problem solving. The really liked doing these fun worksheets. Cocmputer time today was free time since they didn't have anything to type. For art today we made marbles from the outmeal play clay that we made earlier in the week. We read a story on Tuesday about frontier children and how they made marbles from clay so we decided to connect our art project to the reading activity.
Total Hours to Date: 81.5
