As an elementary special education teacher, it's important to create a learning environment that is engaging and meaningful for all students. This includes incorporating hands-on activities that not only help students develop academic skills but also foster their curiosity and love for learning. One way to achieve this is by exploring the natural world around us. Spring is a perfect time to focus on plants , flowers , and insects , as the warmer weather brings about new growth and activity. Here are some activities that can be incorporated into the classroom to help students learn about these topics: Flower Dissection : To learn about the different parts of a flower, students can dissect one and label its various components, such as the petals, stem, and roots. This can be a fun and interactive way to learn about the anatomy of a flower. Then, assess what students remember using this flower labeling cut & paste activity from my Plants & Flowers Thematic Unit .  Vocabulary ......

   Hi! I'm Allison. I am a SpEd Teacher who is passionate about creating resources to help every special education teacher succeed!...

Each week in my special education classroom we do cooking and craft extension activities related to our thematic unit. We have had a lot of fun over the years with all of our different projects! Each week, we use a visual recipe for students to follow along. On the front, are icons for all of the ingredients and supplies. On the back, are picture-supported directions for each step of the recipe.  Are you interested in implementing some thematic cooking activities in your classroom? My Visual Recipes for the Entire Year resource has 50 different visual recipes that can be printed and ready to go each week!  My paraprofessionals are in charge of planning our thematic cooking and craft activities each week. This gives me an awesome opportunity to be on "the other side of the table" assisting students and seeing how they all do with group activities without the stress of managing the group as a whole. I love switching it up like this and giving my paras something special that th......

The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of year outside and inside of the classroom! My students and I always have so much fun celebrating the holidays.  Check out some of my favorite December activities: ELA Ideas Read The Gingerbread Man. I love this  version  retold by Mary Sandel from the Fountas and Pinnell intervention collection because it is predictable for making picture-supported sentences and easy enough for my emerging readers to read the text.  My favorite Christmas books are: Clifford’s Christmas by Norman Bridwell The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro In addition to using picture-supported sentence boards, I also have an old lady doll that I have students take turns feeding throughout the story. I just print an extra copy of the sentence board at a larger scale, laminate and cut out the pieces, and then pass them out to each of the students as the story starts. It is a great interactive activity and really builds joint attenti......