Having a plan when heading into a new school year in the elementary special education classroom is essential to setting your year up for success. It reduces anxiety, establishes routines, and provides guidance for paraprofessionals.  Let's face it... in August the days are LONG! Especially without related services pulling students yet. And your students have a lot to learn about being at school… especially your Kindergarten students and students transitioning to a new building or classroom.  Don't worry! I have gathered some great ideas and resources to save you time and get you started off on the right foot this August! Click on an image or caption to find the resource in my TPT store ! ...

The holiday season is a magical time in any classroom, but it can be especially meaningful in a special education setting. Planning December activities in special education means blending festive fun with functional learning goals. Whether you're looking for winter-themed academic tasks tailored to IEP goals, holiday crafts for family gifts, or fun classroom games for the busy season, December offers endless opportunities to engage your students in creative, structured, and joyful ways....

It's a new year and a new month in the special education classroom! This means it is time for some new themes and picture books to engage your learners. Since we have returned from break we have been enjoying lots of fun snow-related books and activities. Keep reading to see what we are up to this month! Reading The first week we studied The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I love talking about Peter and all the fun snowy day adventures he goes on. Interested in using this story with your students? Click the image below to grab my  Communication and Comprehension Support unit  on my TpT Store! After The Snowy Day, we read The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel.  To go along with the story I also created some  vocabulary and communication supports , reading comprehension activities, and progress monitoring sheets that you can grab by clicking the image below: We also read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle and There Was a Cold Lady Who S......

My paraprofessionals are in charge of planning our thematic cooking and craft activities each week and each week I select two special students to assist my paras. These students are the Head Chef and Head Artist. These two jobs are hands-down the class favorites. I think it is basically because they get to do so many of the "teacher" jobs (passing out supplies, modeling the activity, calling on students) and sit in the coveted "teacher" chair at the kidney table. Each Monday, we go over who gets to do the head jobs. I like talking about it on Monday because it give the kids something to look forward to and for those kids that need the extra behavior motivation it helps also. I place the students' names under these cute signs (click the link below the picture to print!) Head Jobs Signs To make the job even more special I made these adorable aprons for the kids to wear. They love them!  I even had a little guy that didn't really understand that the j......