Cooking with Kids!

This week's recipe was a Banana Strawberry Smoothie. This recipe from Kids Cooking was used.

 

Here is how we utilized it in our class:

The schedule for the remainder of the day was displayed and explained (cooking is once a week...its different from our normal schedule, there is anxiety even if it is fun)

1. We talked about the ingredients and supplies needed. Identified the blender, talked about the noise it makes and so on. (had the sound reduction ear muffs ready)

2. There is an excellent reader who likes to read recipes. The group has been practicing "Show me listening" and this was a perfect time to put it into practice. The reader read over the recipe, everyone else listened. Sounds simple, but it took a lot of lessons to actually perform it accurately. Yea!

3. Sliced the bananas with plastic butter knives. Everyone enjoyed this with the exception of the sensory sensitive guy but he made himself do it, making an "ewww" face the whole time. Students took turns sliding their slices in the blender container.

4. Frozen strawberries were thawed before the lesson. The students sliced and put into container.

5. Up until now, everyone had something to slice and put into the container. Now we had to take turns- measuring the yogurt and milk. Getting to pour them into the container. Some students were fine with it, they knew their turn was coming, others had a specific thing they wanted to do and if it wasn't their turn...oh well.

6. At last it was time to turn on the noisy machine, everyone put on their ear muffs.

7. Smoothies were poured, crackers handed out, story brought up on the Promethean board. (have I mentioned how awesome tumblebooks.com is??)

Sadly, not everyone liked the smoothies, too healthy I think! ("Mrs. Hamand...I don't LOVE bananas and strawberries..." , in his world if he doesn't love something, he doesn't want to do it, or eat it in this case)

I am enjoying our cooking days, the kids are always engaged and everyone can be included in this one activity. There is lots to be learned and practiced within a cooking lesson!

This week we also attended the Special Olympics event, the kids had a blast. There were lots of fun things to do. I don't have many pictures to show because the students' faces are showing (and I don't have a nifty program to blur them).

The at&t sports center is a wonderful place.

The obstacle course was the favorite for many of our guys.

Until next time,

Paula

Five for Friday..April 18, 2014

Linking with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Friday....

ONE

This week we made an Easter bunny door hanger and it was very cute, but I didn't take a picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

TWO

The weather continues to improve! Today was beautiful, sunny with temps in the 40's.....the moose still mosey through the yard. (or is that "mooooo"sey? sorry it's been a long week)

THREE - FOUR

The highlight of our week was cooking day! We have decided to have one every week until the last day of school, it is the only time I have their full attention!

This week's recipe was....

A recipe booklet was prepared ahead of time, they were very excited about the book and I placed it in our classroom library  afterwards.

Recommend that you help hold the bowl

Some kids needed help pushing the cutter through the apple, I set the cutter before allowing them to start and stayed right on top of them,  Small apples were used so each student cut their own apple.

A couple of our friends could not chew the apples and they enjoyed eating a spoonful of applesauce with the dip just as much.

Quiet munching for a short time...it was heavenly!

I told the boys..."Now you know being a cook isn't for wimps, you need to be strong, read and follow directions and know your math!"

They ask me "What are we going to make next week?!?"

FIVE

I am rereading Stephen King's 

 On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

and highly recommend it. Before he became a world renowned author, he was an English teacher and what he says about that time in his life is something we can relate to....

"I liked my coworkers and loved the kids....but by most Friday afternoons I felt as if I'd spent the week with jumper cables clamped to my brain."

My countdown has began...I received notification that I will be teaching summer school again this year.....next week is Special Olympics...daylight is increasing...HOWEVER I have a day off Monday!

WOOOO!

Until next week,

Paula

Making an Object Book

Another Friday has come and gone, there are 26 student contact days left minus 3 personal days equals 23 for me to personally deliver lessons! That doesn't sound so bad does it?

Join us at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the party!

Object books were introduced to our team by our vision specialist. Our student is nonverbal, has limited movement and vision. The specialist created a book about bath time to share with our student, it also is a great model for us in learning how to make more object books. She also pointed us in the direction of an excellent resource: Nevada Dual Sensory Impairment Project.

Another goal for our student has been to have him more involved in lessons with other children. We decided to make pudding together.

Materials 
poster board
hole punch
binder
instant chocolate pudding box
paper bowl
milk carton (school lunch size)
wooden spoon or small whisk
plastic spoon
hot glue, tape, something that will make objects stick to pages


1. Cut the poster board into pages. Punch holes to fit into a binder.

2. Type up simple instructions for making the pudding.

3. Take out the pudding mix out of the box, flatten the box and glue to the first page.

4. Trim down the paper bowl and glue the bottom of it to the next page.

5. Cut the milk carton in half (I trimmed the back half) and used double sided tape to stick it to the page.

6. Tape a spoon or whisk to the next page.

7. I found an image of a child enjoying  a bowl of pudding and glued it to the last page along with a plastic spoon.

  

Corresponding activity:

Read the book with the students before making the pudding. Repeat the book one page at a time as they make the pudding. 


More about object books

Lots more can be done within an object book. The bath book had small zip lock bags containing items such as a small bar of soap and shampoo which the student can smell.  


We are already thinking about our next book! Hope this gives you some ideas.

Paula

Five for Friday.....April 2, 2014

Thank goodness this week is at a close! It has been looonnnng......testing, seizures, spring fever, the kids are DONE...and therefore I am DONE. Now it is time to link up with Doodle Bugs for the Friday party!

1

We did an awesome project this week, it was part of our following directions lesson. Using the book, A Color of his Own, by Leo Lionni, we made a 3-D chameleon, the idea and directions can be found at the Artolozzi.blog. They loved it! One of my friends got very creative, adding a hat to his chameleon. Next, they wrote a sentence and drew a picture of their chameleon...My chameleon's name is _____.

2

There is hope...the sun is still shining! and look! the ice field behind the school is melting!

3

Positive thinking

4

Yes!

 (such a cute and plump unicorn too)

5

yummy and relaxing

I had to stretch it a bit to come up with five things this week, but it's all downhill from here....thirty something student days are left.

Later gator!

Paula