Saturday, December 26, 2015

Differentiated Lesson Plans

Two weeks ago I shared this photo on Instagram and it immediately inspired this blog post.


Just like most of you, I am CONSTANTLY changing my lesson plan format, or so it feels. I'm pretty positive that at the start of every school year it takes me 3-4 format drafts before I finally get to 1 that is going to meet my needs for that school year and that group of students.

The biggest hurdle being that I have to differentiate for each child. Different work boxes, different cookie tray activities, different work binder pages (when we get there), and then during each part of our routine each child needs something different, such as sticker reinforcements for sitting, a hand fidget, or even an edible reinforcement schedule.

How do you put ALL of that into your plans each week without driving yourself mad over the oh so little details that are so very important. On top of that, I REALLY prefer to be able to hand write some things into my plans. It's just easier that way to be able to flip around, or set 3 weeks worth of planning pages out in front of me at a time and fill in activities as I come to them.

A lot of you wanted to know more about this set up. I've snapped a few more of the other pages so I can show you my whole set up and at the bottom of this post you can download the same template for free.


As you can see my plans are set up with the daily schedule/routine to the left where I've typed some specifics if they apply. Then I have the student names across the top and in each box are the accommodations/specifics for that child during that part of the day.  What's so great about this set-up is that I only have to adjust these sections maybe 1-2x per month as reinforcers, etc change for students.


This is the next page, continuing our morning routine. I have the box at the bottom for the mid-day routine and then the next two pages of my plans continue with the afternoon group of kids, but the routine repeats. The next few pages of the plans are what changes frequently and I hand write those parts in.





I will print my plans out for the whole month at one time. This way as I'm planning activities if I find something I want to do, but maybe not for another week or so, I can go ahead and write it in for that week.

In the photo above Smartboard #3 is typically something planned from Starfall, I just had not written it in prior to taking this photo. Smartboard #1 is always a book, or an adapted book and then I look for something online to pair with it, either a re-telling on YouTube, or a song.

In order to share this with you, I've basically just left you an empty grid with some direction of what to fill where. It's still in power point format so you can add more boxes if you have more students. That could mean having to put cookie trays on one page and work boxes on page versus having them together like I do. (Not to sound cold, but I am not willing to make any changes to this template for you. You can download it and tweak it as you need it.) Click {here} to download this template to give it a try!


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Monday, December 07, 2015

Magnet Center Activities

Ever since I put up an oil drip pan in my classroom I've been intending to make some activities to use at this center. In the meantime we've had a combination of magnetic letters, numbers, farm animals, Mickey Mouse, etc.

Last year I wanted to add a magnet center but wasn't sure where to put one. This year I re-arranged my classroom and the perfect spot presented itself. I used industrial strength Velcro to attach my oil drip pan to the back of a shelf and voila- magnet center created.

I {FINALLY} got around to creating some center activities to use in this area that are a little more structured than free play magnets. This first pack is great for the month of December with a holiday theme, and the next pack will include a winter theme. The pack includes 4 different activities that I rushed to prep so that I could share photos of what they look like set up in person.

The first activity is letter matching. Line the presents up on your magnet board and have students sort either capital, lowercase, or both under each of the presents. I am just using capital letters with my group and in hind sight from looking at this photo I would probably cut the alphabet in half. The board looks very full and busy with this many letters. That's just my opinion, and some older kiddos could probably handle it just fine.


I snagged an action shot with this one today and 2 of my kiddos.

After I snapped the photo he realized his R did not match the P and moved it :)
The next activity is for number matching. There are 4 trees, the first 3 including numbers 1-20. The 4th tree has random numbers on it. I lined up the number ornaments along the bottom and students match them on top of the tree. My only suggestion for this one would be to use a stronger magnet on the ornaments so they hold onto the board through the tree. You could also place the ornaments in a small container nearby.


Activity number 3 includes stocking shape sorting! Place each of the stockings along the top of your magnet board. Have a container nearby with all of the ornaments. Students sort the ornaments out by their shapes and place them under the correct stocking.


The last activity is for color sorting. Place the color words on your magnet board. Put the light bulbs in a container nearby and students place them under the correct color word. I have this activity set up to use for tomorrow and have it started with 1 light bulb under each word to give students a cue to get going on their own.


I'm SO excited for this and can't wait to keep the ball rolling to have engaging and structured activities for my kiddos at the magnet center! You may have also noticed in each picture that there is a PEC For ABCs above the magnet board. Students always have the option to request the magnetic letters if they like. Nothing like adding in additional communication opportunities where you can. And hey, as long as they're engaged meaningfully, I don't mind if it's with the activity I suggested, or the one they chose!

If you want to purchase this item click {here} or click the cover photo below.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Magnet-Center-Activities-2246443



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