Hi All, It's been a couple of weeks since I've had a chance to blog about my class. We've been so busy. We are still a work in progress but I see progress. I think that we will be working hard throughout the year all the way to the end with certain behaviors but we celebrate every success. Some of our success is in the area of work. These are photos of a few of the activities we've been doing:

Way Up High In the Apple Tree

      I've been using this cookie tray and pieces from my Apples Unit to do the rhyme: "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" with my students.  It's been very successful for developing oral language.  Even my non-verbal students are participating.  The apples are velcro'd to the tree and as we count backward I let them remove an apple until we reach zero.  Once all of the apples have been "eaten" I let them put them back on one at a time while counting out how many.

Candy Corn Emergent Readers & Centers:  Candy Corn Spin Game Now I must admit this one has been a challenge so far. I love it, but my kids haven't been able to control their impulse to put the candy in their mouths long enough to finish a game. I'm going to keep this in my centers and replenish the candy throughout the month. It's great for "My Turn, Your Turn," which is a great social skill. The 10 frames are a big hit.  I made them 2 ways:  filled and not filled.  For my students that need to do one to one, I have the filled.  For my students who can count out the given amount without doing one to one I have the empty.  I love it!  Turns out, candy corn is a great manipulative ;0) Well, that's all I have for now.  Be sure to stop by my store and check out my Apples & my Candy Corn units.   Thanks for stopping by! Asia

Have you ever bought a gift for a toddler and they enjoyed the box more than the big thing that was inside?  Well, that is sort of what I experienced this week.  We spend all of our time creating lessons & activities, and every now and then, what we think is the big thing takes a back seat to some seemingly insignificant thing. 

This past week, I made a printer friendly apples centers packet.  I always try to fit in a few skills, even during centers.  I printed out all 27 pages of this packet (b&w); copied it onto red, green, and yellow construction paper; laminated it; and cut it all apart.  My idea was that since the theme for the week was apples, I would also incorporate apples in my table toys & writing centers.  I paired the items I made with manipulatives.  I never took any of this work home so it took me a couple of days to put together during planning & nap periods (this is to show the effort). :)

Anyway, I placed the components in my centers.  This is what I put in there: