MORE D.I.Y. Fine Motor Tasks: Concept Circles

I love simple ideas that I am able to use across students, skills, etc. When I first made this resource, I realized I would be using it. A lot. Luckily, it is composed of some of my favorite characteristics: easy and inexpensive to make. I have about six of these in my classroom now, with more plans to add as the kiddos master the ones we currently use. So, what exactly am I talking about? Do-It-Yourself Concept Circles!

To make these, all you really need is a skill, any skill, in mind. They are the perfect, easy-to-make resource for just about any kiddo with any repertoire. The ones in my classroom now include matching colors, counting 1-12, counting 13-20, and letter sounds a-e. I've created these with other materials, too (as pictured below).

The possibilities for these are endless. Materials necessary for the circles shown are clothespins, permanent markers, and card stock. I've added Mayer Johnson picture symbols to mine as well as other crafty items like sequins. I also laminate for durability, of course. (Who am I kidding, I laminate almost everything!)

The gist is simple; the student matches the clothespin with the correct space on the circle. Once taught, they are great as an independent activity for practicing a skill. Just be sure to teach how to "use" a clothespin to your kiddo(s) first!

To help you get started, download a copy of my concept circle templates for FREE here in my TpT store. Templates included are blank circle, 4-piece circle, 6-piece circle, 8-piece circle, 10-piece circle, and 12-piece circle. Also included in the download are TWO uppercase alphabet skill circles (A-L and M-Z).

To use the alphabet skill circles, print and laminate. Then, grab 24 clothespins. For matching uppercase with uppercase, use a permanent marker print an uppercase letter on each clothespin. For matching uppercase to lowercase, print a lowercase letter on each clothespin. Simple, right?

If you haven't already, be sure to "like" Adventures with ABA in AS on Facebook for exclusive freebies and information!

Happy Teaching!

Kortnie C.

Line Up Visual (100th Like Surprise Flash Freebie!)

This post is coming a little later in the day than I anticipated. Cleaning my entire house didn't help especially after I noticed something very alarming.

I know: YUCK.

The name of this substance is beyond my knowledge but I'm assuming it comes from years of a wooden cabinet being unpolished or uncleaned. See, I moved into my current home (a rental) in July of this year and, well... I suppose "clean" can be a subjective word. At least I know I'll make my mom proud! Now that the cabinet debacle is resolved, I have something for you! In honor of hitting 100+ likes on Facebook, I wanted to say thank you with an extended flash freebie! This freebie will only be free for two hours so snag it up quick!

Lining up is often difficult for individuals of any type, even adults. But really, who wants to wait in line? To help my students with this skill, I created a line up visual for positioning on the floor. When I first did this, I used plain ol' construction paper and scissors (a pic of that to come later). Although it served it's purpose, I wanted to make it more functional and physically appealing.

Now we can line up by name, number, or color! I love how the differentiation is built into this resource. By assigning each student a number or color, they automatically know where to stand in line. Plus, it helps keep it straight...er! If a student is absent, we simply skip over their spot. Right now, I'm working on making a printable version of these for on-the-go. Remember, this resource will be free for only two hours tonight! Grab it or take a shot at making your own!

Grab the flash freebie here!

Happy Teaching,
Kortnie C.

Helpful Freebies for Back-to-School!

This first week of school has been c-r-a-z-y busy! I can't believe we are three days into the year. On one hand, I feel like just yesterday we started but on the other hand, I feel like summer never happened!

We've spent the week catching up and completing maintenence checks on skills. Establishing routines has also been a huge this week. It's amazing how a group of kiddos can forget how to walk in a line in the hallway! So, tonight, I have a short and simple post to help you get your kiddos back on their feet.

First, assessing a student's ability to trace letters and numbers is an important precursor to writing. Check your kiddos' fine motor abilities with this Letter and Number Tracing Freebie:

This FREE resource contains a KG trace font for numbers 0-9 and uppercase and lowercase A-Z. Get more KG fonts here!

Or use this Bathroom Task Analysis Freebie (available for boys or girls!) to guide a learner's independence for toileting:

Thanks to Graphics from the Pond for the amazing, free fuzzy bumps borders!

That's all for now!

Happy Teaching!
Kortnie C.

Throw Back Thursday: Shopping Unit Flash Freebie!

Throughout each year, we take trips for the purpose of C.B.I., or community-based instruction. These days are often a chance for our class to go somewhere in the community and practice academic and life skills. Although skills such as shopping and ordering off a menu seem to be second nature to us, individuals with autism benefit most when these skills are learned via direct instruction, using specific and explicit techniques.

Popular places for C.B.I. include restaurants, community parks, and the zoo but we typically start out by visiting a store. When planning our trip to visit a store for the first time, we acknowledged the importance of our students practicing this skill first in the classroom. We set up a "store" of empty food containers on some bookshelves in our classroom. Price tags were printed and affixed to each item and each student was given a "shopping list" of items to find. Differentiating (or leveling) this instruction was also pretty easy! Some of our students used a picture shopping list with a place for the student to check off "buying" an item. Other students used shopping lists with the check-format but also a space to write and total the price! We made it as realistic as possible, with one staff member reminding them to walk and use a quiet mouth.

Advanced Shopping List

Skill Sheet

Basic Shopping List

After a few days of prep, we visited a local store! Each student used a list to find necessary items and we later used the supplies to make pancakes (find my breakfast task analyses here). The shopping trip is one I am excited to repeat soon!

As my first Throwback Thursday, I am also making these resource a FLASH FREEBIE! Get this resource for FREE in my TpT store from 8:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. tonight only! Find it fast here!

Happy Teaching!
Kortnie C.

Mathematic Manipulative Mat Super Pack!

Whew! After another day in the classroom, things are finally shaping up! I'm (almost) done organizing the room for the 2013-2014 year and we are beginning to solidify plans for our first week! I really wish we had "before" and "after" pictures but oh, well.

This year, we would like to try to incorporate a new concept into our schedule that involves the students learning independently. During this, they will practice current and old skills in a structured, independent way for approximately 10-15 minutes. We realize it will initially take loads of prompting and then a good amount of fading, after that, but it is important that our students are able to independently attend to a task.

One of the activities we plan on using during this time involves the ever-popular counting bear manipulatives. In case you aren't familiar, they are available for purchase online, including Amazon.

We like these bears because they come in three sizes and six different colors! Really, the possibilities are endless but I have a good place to start for anyone who is interested in using these at school, home, or wherever!

Jenna, the other teacher in the classroom, created a set of brilliantly useful manipulative mats for reinforcing skills such as categorization by color, patterning, fill-in patterning, and one-to-one correspondence (#1-20). The colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple are included in the mat packet as well as blank templates for new ideas!

One:One Correspondence

Fill-In Patterning

Patterning

Categorization by Color

Fill-In Patterning Template

Above is just a quick peek at the complete 96-page document, available here in Jenna's TpT store. Be sure to follow her when you stop by!

These mats can be used with any sort of manipulative with distinguishable colors... beads, stickers, crayons, oh, my! I know I can't wait to incorporate these into our classroom and get our kiddos working independently!

Happy Teaching!

Kortnie C.

Token Board Starter Pack (Dinosaur, Princess, Train, and Rainbow Token Boards)

With school just around the corner (six days away!), we are starting to finish arranging the classroom and beginning to build things for individual students. Like what, you ask? Well, I'll reference a quote I've heard: "If you know one individual with autism... you know one individual with autism."

A common way to manage behaviors is through a token economy. Token economies can be as simple or elaborate as the child for which they are designed. Some adults discredit them initially without realizing they are subject to one on the daily... money! In other words, money (a token) is earned (most likely through task completion at work) to access reinforcers (i.e. food, clothes, electricity). Trust me on this one, they can get much more difficult than that; the good news is, though, they don't have to! Even basic token economies hold much scientific merit.

Basic components of a token economy:
1. Tokens (tickets, pennies, small picture cards... keep in mind these do not necessarily need to be "appealing" the the child but instead serve the purpose of telling him/her that reinforcement is ## responses away)
2. [Withheld] Reinforcers (this is different for each individual but may often include food, verbal praise, or a preferred activity)
3. A well defined target behavior (a.k.a. behavior to increase, TB)

That's it! Of course, for our visual kiddos with autism, we typically include an actual base or board, pictures or symbols of available reinforcers, and a space on the board for the currently selected reinforcer. Sometimes even a timer is helpful.

Basic guidelines for a token economy:
1. Start off with the student set up for success (by allowing the student to contact the reinforcer or "prize" )
2. Be consistent (this is easily done if your behavior to increase is very well defined and yes, across staff members)
3. Offer multiple reinforcers across functions
4. Gradually increase what is "expected" (the response requirement)

Further information is readily available from Cooper, Heron, and Heward's publication of Applied Behavior Analysis. Which leaves me with the fun part: actually making the token economies! We tend to design our kiddos' with a little personal flare. An FR5 (fixed ratio of five... the number of tokens required to "cash in" for a reinforcer) is pretty standard in our classroom but your ratio of tokens/per reinforcer will depend on the child in mind. With this in mind, I made a token boards today that will debut in our classroom this year!

Grab your copy here:

My TpT Store

(while the last few hours of the TpT sale take place!)

Happy Teaching!
Kortnie C.

I Spy Colors: An Adapted Book

In less than two weeks, our kiddos will be back to school. During those initial days, we plan on assessing the students to see how well their skills maintained over the summer (or, if the student is new, we will assess to determine what skills they currently hold). A popular skill program in our K-2 classroom is learning colors. We tend to teach the necessities (red, yellow, blue) as well as extra colors (purple, green, orange, black, etc.).

To compliment our traditional direct instruction, I like to create a resources to help practice common skills. Adapted books are one of my favorite methods (if you couldn't already tell) of doing this. So, today I authored I Spy Colors. 

I Spy Colors is designed to increase expressive and receptive language. It targets skills such as naming pictures of objects and colors.

Differentiation (or leveled, individualized) instruction is a built-in feature, too! For example, a teacher may read with the student and then prompt, "Find red." The student could point to the red items on the page or the teacher may require the students to name the red items by saying "firetruck" and "apple." A more advanced student, however, may read independently or with the help of the pictures above the text.

I think this book will prove to be a great resource. Hopefully I can make a few more of these before school starts!

To my parent readers out there: Books like this can be great resources for connecting with your child at home. We often take adapted books on our C.B.I. (community based instruction) trips for the students while they are waiting or on the bus. Remember, your child's learning starts with you!

Get your own copy of this resource here, in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

This resource and all others will be sold at a reduced price from August 18th-19th for the Teachers Pay Teachers back-to-school sale! Load up your cart for this great savings event!

Also, here's a quick peek at another adapted book I finished today. Do you recognize it?

Happy Teaching!

Kortnie C.