May Currently and My Puppy (and TPT sale)!!!

 So, can you tell what's on my mind? It's definitely not school! :) I tried to not make this currently all about my new dog, but I just love her so much and think about her a lot! We recused her from a shelter on Friday and she is just the cutest thing ever. We named her Oreo. She is two years old, is so playful and loving, house trained, and such a fun dog! However, on Saturday (one day after we got her) she started coughing real bad and we found out she has a kennel cough. We got antibiotics for her, but she's been coughing so bad she has thrown up and today when I got home she coughed up blood. It gets really bad when she gets excited...so I just hope she gets better soon. Read more about her and see pictures on my post here.

My kiddos are getting so smart and I want to find more functional math materials for them...ideally before school ends so I'm not constantly thinking about it all summer and can go into the year a little bit more prepared. 

For my summer bucket list...I really need to learn how to cook better. Especially easier things that I can make while I'm working. Too often we eat pizza for dinner so I'd like to get some other simple staple dinner ideas to add into our rotation! 

And, I would just like to get in better shape and just be healthier. I plan on talking Oreo for a lot of long walks this summer so that will help. Plus, right now I have been walking to school which has been great!
Then I just want to do more things around the house. Some boring, like put in attic fans, but others more exciting like decorating and maybe making a tuffed headboard for our bed!

So, I know I'm late with this month's currently, but if you haven't done yours yet, there's still time! :) Head over to Farley's to add your link!!

Happy last month of school everyone! And be sure to check out my products for sale on TPT on May 7 and 8 - for a total of 28% off! Don't forget to use the promo code TAD13.

The Final Countdown Giveaway!

 Gabrielle from Teaching Special Thinkers is having a Final Countdown {to summer} giveaway! Winning would definitely make the last few weeks of school more fun. Enter for the chances to win special education products below (Including your choice from my TPT store!) or head to Gabrielle's blog to enter for products for elementary grades as well. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After School Event: Open Gym

 

This month our after school event was an open gym and the students loved it! We had a lot of special education students attend, as well as students throughout the building who stopped in for a little bit.

Our more athletic students enjoyed playing games just as basketball, football, etc. They pretty much just grabbed a ball and went for it.

Activities for our more un-athletic students (and myself) included:

• ladder golf
• scooter boards (great for those in wheelchairs too. we snapped a bunch together and had a student lay on top of them and slid her around!)
• parachute games (seriously, you can never be too old for some parachute fun!)
• horseshoes (they were foam)
• foam noodles
• music for dancing (turned to a "today's hits" station) 
• watching the boys warm up for their water polo game...haha! We were above the pool and could see through the glass window. Some girls seemed to really enjoy this activity...

Pretty much all students continue to participate and hang out with friends for the entire hour and half. It was a success and a fun time for all! Yay! Sorry, no pictures this time as I forgot my camera and phone!

Counting Money using Visuals

I love these visuals from Tinsnips! So easy to prepare too, all I needed to do was print them off and stick them in page protectors. I keep telling myself I'll laminate them...but it's almost been two years and it's still working great just like this!

As you can see, the visuals include coins the actual size of the coins, so students can place the coin on the correct spot while counting.

A great, practical way to practice skip counting by 5s, 10s, and 25s! (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the dimes sheet)

So, tinsnips has visuals for counting nickels, dimes, and quarters. You can download copies for your classroom on their site here (and might want to check out the rest of the site while you're there!)

And no, I don't usually have this much money in my classroom (see the first picture with all of the bills? not usually how we roll), we were counting the money that our school has raised for autism awareness this month by selling ribbons. How awesome right? We counted over $670 raised so far!

Monthly Calendar Math

At the beginning of each month we do our monthly calendar activity. We did this one yesterday! Many of my students (especially those with autism) love this calendar lesson so much that they actually remind me that we need to do it when we are getting close to the end of a month. And get upset when something interferes with us doing it on the first school day of each month...

Not only is it educational but also gives students a visual for that month so they know exactly what to expect.

I used a blank calendar template that I found via a google search. I copy and pasted it into word and added a "key" text box. I change the key items as necessary each month. As a class we assign colors for the big events happening that month ( found in the key). I also have students fill in the numbers on their own because it's good practice.

After we have assigned our colors to the events in the key we talk about the month and color in our calendar accordingly. I like to tell students things like, "earth day is the day after the 21" or " our late starts are the two middle Wednesdays in April."

Once we are finished with that as a class, I give students a worksheet based on the calendar. I use the basic one each month and just adjust it to fit into that month- super easy, takes me like 2 minutes if even that long.

So that's it! We revisit the calendar throughout the month as students have questions and when things change. Do you do anything similar for calendar math instruction?