SEPTEMBER 1998
Welcome
back to school ! Here in Texas, most school districts open for business
in early to middle August, so we are always starting back when summer is
at it's hottest! This year we have been having record heat, and have
been making the national news with our heat spell and it's effects on people
and crops. My philosophy is, it's too hot to enjoy being outdoors,
so we might as well be in the classroom. It's not fall yet, so we
can't do thematic units on autumn leaves or pumpkins, we have to create
some different ideas for activities that are relevant to our kids.
This
time, the August newsletter includes a unit called All About ME, and a
letter to parents requesting scraps and recycled items for the classroom.
Help
your students get acquainted with their new class or with new members of
the class by doing a unit about themselves. Language circle is the
best time to introduce a new unit, if you're in a secondary education setting,
oral discussion groups related to social studies or social or life skills
are appropriate times.
Help
your students find ways to communicate about themselves, their school,
home, friends and families.
INTRODUCTIONS: Help students learn to introduce themselves by rehearsing appropriate phrases or adding a self introductory phrase to their communication board or device. For students who can communicate by conventional means, practice using spoken language or sign language to say phrases such as "Hi, I'm Patsy, what's your name?"
For students using communication devices, especially for new users, this is a great time for them to learn the social skills along with their friends. Some school districts on low budgets, or some students who are not ready for complex communication systems, may use a switch and tape loop, or a BIG MAC to say the same phrase again and again. After using this prerecorded message to get the listener's attention, the student can point to icons on a communication board, or compose a message using a voice output device.
BODY POSTERS: One of my favorite activities for this type of unit, is the life size body poster. This is made by finding a piece of paper big enough for the student to lay on such as freezer paper for smaller children, or bulletin board paper for bigger kids. If you are working with kids in a setting outside the public schools, such as a day care, you may not have access to a variety of art supplies, but requesting a purchase order for a large (36 inch wide) roll of white paper will give you access to a variety of art activities which you can do again and again with different thematic units through the school year
For
students who are totally blind, ask their family to send in a spare
set of clothes, then you can construct a Me Doll by using safety pins to
attach the pants to the shirt and stuffing the clothes with newspaper.
Make heads, legs (you’ll have to make legs if they send shorts or skirts
as clothing) and arms by cutting plastic garbage bags and taping
or stapling together to make tubes for arms and legs. For most kids,
a kitchen sized trash bag cut down the middle is a good size for legs.
Stuff with paper. Stuff and tie a small bag or a corner of a big
bag for the head. Once the doll is dressed, sit on the floor with
your blind student and explore the doll, identifying body parts and clothing.
MY
BOOK: Make a book for each student from construction paper folded in
half. Have each student put on the first page a hand print, on the
next page a footprint, then on the following pages, be creative and think
of some activities that your students can do fairly independently, such
as draw, write, fingerpaint, cut, staple, use a hole punch, tear paper,
glue, etc. On each page that the student has worked, write at the top “I
can draw” or cut, or whatever the activity was. Please include only
the things your students are most capable of.
The
goal of this unit is to build the student's self concepts, and we do not
improve their self concepts by doing things for them and pretending they
have done it themselves.
MY
DAY: After a week or several days of school, make a book of the routine
activities that occur every day. If your students are capable of
understanding pictures, give each student a set of picture symbols such
as those used for communication boards, and let them glue each picture
to a page and practice putting them in order of occurrence in the daily
schedule. If your students are
not
up to the picture level (about 18 months developmentally) or are totally
blind, let them find items during each activity that represents the activity.
For instance, lunch could be represented by a (plastic) spoon, art activities
could be represented by a small version of some art activity such as collage,
table
activities
could be represented by bingo chips or other counters if you use those
types of materials. This is a wonderful way to introduce picture
or object symbol communication boards, though.
In my printed newsletter, I included a page for duplication for teachers to ask parents to send in materials for the classroom. In order to make this more accessible to more people browsing the web, I am putting that letter on a separate page. Click on the text below to view the letter.
I
tend to unconsciously emphasize the needs of certain populations of kids
or certain classrooms which I think of when searching for and creating
learning activities in this newsletter. Sometimes I really consider
adaptations for totally blind or functionally blind students, sometimes
I think of multicultural themes so African-American and Latino students’
cultures are included, sometimes I think of secondary aged kids and cooking
and other functional skills to incorporate. I feel that the last
year or so I have said little about activities for students with the most
severe impairments. I when considering the needs of these students,
I think of kids who don't have consistent ability to hold objects with
their hands or express themselves in
conventional ways we always understand. The Me Unit is perfect
for these students because we can incorporate choice making, and photographs
of familiar people and pets. In addition, we can bring in mirrors,
tape recordings of family members reading a story, or we can send home
a tape recording of the teacher or other familiar friend reading.
Send pictures home, make (pre-arranged) phone calls to family members at
home or at work so the student can hear their voice, if possible.
Send in your ideas of ways to include all students to share with other
teachers.
Holly