Cooking Club! Reading, Writing, Social Skills, and a Yummy Time!

I discovered a great kids' magazine called Chop Chop! put out by the American Pediatric Association. My students selected this Soba Noodle Salad for Cooking Club this week. I originally started the lunchtime group for a resource student who hated reading. She is in the 6th grade and is leading the group now. And....her reading level has increased by a year since we started reading children's cookbooks, and double-dosing her with lots of other interested books!

We also have two students with autism in this group, and they really look forward to Cooking Club. They invite a couple of friends from their general ed classes, and we end up with an eclectic group of students, included English Language Learners. 

Needless to say, we always make a mess, have a blast and everybody wins!

 

Here's my TPT product "A Recipe For...."

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Recipe-For-Informational-Text-766204

And I am Definitely Not an Autism Specialist!

More and more of my students are on the autism spectrum. I have participated in many trainings over the years, and have learned so much from specialists who really are trained in the area of autism.  But my college training was way-back-when, when the autism label was reserved for children with severe disabilities, and there were not the array of terrific interventions and research.
But, I have definitely developed my own bag of tricks over the years for students with behavioral, social, and communication difficulties, autism eligibility, or not.
Here's a sample of tools that I am calling "I Can" statements, and I have updated my Resource Specialist Manual to include them. The kids enjoy reflecting and reading their own ideas in the form of replacement behaviors for tricky situations.
No, I do not consider myself an autism expert, but these simple charts are working with my students!


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Special-Education-How-to-Be-a-Resource-Specialist-747284

Behavior Expert- Not!!!

I have never considered behavior management my area of expertise, but I have learned a lot from all the specialists, teachers, and students I have met in the last 33 years. And have you noticed that behaviors are getting a bit escalated right now? Maybe we are getting into the school year enough, and really digging into the academics, thus causing at-risk students to fall apart!

I am really not into complicated behavior management systems, and I use a variety of tricks and tools. I developed a couple of simple charts to use in a journal to take home. The idea is a quick snapshot of the child's day, and simple to fill out by the paraeducator or the teacher at the very busy end of the day. Here's a peek:

These can be found in my manual: How to Be a Resource Specialist

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Special-Education-How-to-Be-a-Resource-Specialist-747284

Pumpkins are......

I found these great scribble pumpkins and the heading from Graphics from the Pond on TPT!
My amazing assistant made this glorious big pumpkin, and I made this simple open-ended writing activity to go with it! It is also fun that I have big windows opening to a courtyard on one side of my room, and everyone gets to see! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Pumpkins-are-914880

Update~ How to Be a Resource Specialist!

I am updating this manual as the school year progresses. I have found that older kids really take ownership of getting their work done, if they have a checklist to fill out and then check off their assignments and activities as they complete them! These are included in my updated manual~

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Special-Education-How-to-Be-a-Resource-Specialist-747284

Special Education Students and Art

I love working with students with disabilites and differences, and I love art! I have never considered my self an expert in either area, but those are my loves. Throw in some good literature too! I am convinced that when our students find a medium where they can be successful, it opens windows for other areas that they struggle with. Everyone is an artist, whether they know it or not. With the right instruction( and maybe a little directed drawing) kids can create masterpieces. I pair the art lesson with reading and writing, which makes the whole process a little lesson painful! I just ran across this painting from Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, that one of my students did 7-8 years ago(she's graduating this year!).