Camping in the Classroom

My favorite theme for summer school/Extended School Year is CAMPING. 

There's nothing better, it is a natural for incorporating outdoor activities when the weather allows and it's just plain fun! 

I have done it in the past with more flair and you can see that here.

This summer I didn't try to do tents. We had quite a few kids with wheelchairs, gait walkers and so forth and didn't want to have tents unless ALL could enjoy and participate. I saw a cool idea that would have worked for us at Our Small-Town Idaho Life.  I didn't get around to getting it together THIS time, maybe next summer! Here's a picture from their blog:



Nice, right?

😻

Another difference this summer from the past sessions was the technology. We had it available and it was WORKING.  How cool is that??

I have mentioned this before that our district is big time into digitalizing (yes yes I know that isn't a real word, but I like it). I actually know how to create a Google classroom and make slides for lessons. So I did that A LOT. The boxes of books I usually bring did not have to be carted to our summer site either because it is all online. (OF COURSE I brought some books for the students to look at, technology cannot match that experience).

There are so many books and videos online.  All I have to do is link a video or website to the slide and it is ready to go. Making a slide show for the entire day ensures nothing is forgotten. However, I am veering off the path for today. I will talk about using Google Education at another time. 


This is the group area. We sit around the campfire to listen to a book, discuss, watch a video or do a song.

For the door, we color coded the hand colors, orange for the AM students, yellow for the PM students and red for the adults.

In order to address students' individual objectives, our schedule includes a "station" time. 

For the campfire, everything is real except the fire! I initially had a battery operated candle tucked inside the tissue and it glowed. Looked good. However, a student had difficulty leaving it alone and it was removed.

This "About Me" project is very flexible, some students wrote their information and others matched and glued the letters.
Everyone had their picture in a tent on the top. The way they did the background depended on their skills. Some kids drew and colored their own, others had help placing the grass, trees, butterflies, or sun. Snipping green paper for grass is a great way to practice scissor skills!
I love these kind of activities because most students can have a hand in doing them and they are all unique.

The page is part of a Special Ed. Daily Morning work packet from School Bells N Whistles, I have found this packet to be so very very useful! You can find it on Teacher Pay Teachers here.😎

Hope your summer is going well!

Later,

Paula

Source: Emoji Me from itunes

edited by PicMonkey

2014 Camping Classroom...Stations

Our summer school theme is Camping! First, we are camping with dinosaurs. Kids love dinosaurs! I am linking with Doodle Bugs Teaching:

The students have a variety of objectives to work on so we are splitting into small groups and calling it the "Station Rotation". Note: This is my morning session, a MUCH smaller group compared to the afternoon session.

The chart helps the students be more independent, I ring the bell when it is time to switch. Initially I was going to use pictures to represent all the stations, but realized this would be much simpler! 

This chart is my guide, so I don't have to think so hard!

The stations are marked with matching construction paper.

Here are  the stations:

Blue

motor and sensory skills

The rug is from a thrift store and the pins are made from water bottles with gravel to weight them slightly.

I really really want a ball pit ! I think the kids would get a lot of good from it.

Red (the picnic table)

math skills and games

Green (the tree)

reading and writing skills

Yellow

free choice reading

There are still some bugs to work out of the system, but the first week went pretty well.

Later,

Paula

Five for Friday....June 20, 2014

Summer school is here!  Time to share with Doodle Bug's five for Friday link:

ONE

It was difficult to get back into the swing of things.

I returned to the camping theme because it was too much fun last summer! We will be camping with dinosaurs, by the seashore and if time...at the zoo.

TWO

We are house  hunting. It is exhausting, exciting and frustrating! We actually made an offer, but someone else jumped in and offered more. I can see there will be many ups and downs. Anyway! Alaska is a lovely place to wander around in......

I love the green!

THREE

We had a successful yard sale! 

FOUR

I repeated this art project. It is a simple, fun to break twigs, you can't use too much glue, and great scissor skill practice kind of project.

I changed up the campfire this year, a friend gave me this cool tin, we cut out a circle of flames, lined the sides and put real firewood in the middle.

FIVE

I changed my hair color! Instead of darkening it in a vain attempt to cover the gray, I lightened. It was a process, my hair was resistant, but the hair dresser was persistent and she got it done!

I'll be back in a few days to share more about our classroom set up and activities!

Later Gator!

Paula

FLASHBACK SUMMER! The Science Table and Sensory Cabin

This post has been hanging around unpublished and I decided it was too fun not to share! So here is one more tidbit from summer school.

The Cabin is where the sensory tub and other fun stuff resides. The first 2 weeks included various puzzles.  Last week we added a fishing "pond". The kids loved it! I observed them independently taking turns, counting, sorting fish, and talking about the colors of the fish they caught! (Fishing and graphing fish had been introduced the week before-see the previous blog here)

We are also matching our colors in the sensory box with the songs being taught at the campfire! (Thank you Miss Susan!) Using Frog Street Press' Color Songs Program, we sing songs that spell the color words. It is very engaging for most kids.



 The Science Table  is our table of randomness! Whatever we have around home that is related to our theme, we bring and share with the kids! If it is not too fragile, it is left on the table for the kids to explore. It is one of their favorite places to go.

Driftwood is so cool, each one is unique. AND you can never underestimate the interest in magnifying glasses!

These two stations were so fun! I decided to not have a toy area this year, I wanted them to be more engaged in these kind of stations and they were! They still played with the items that were available, but it required them to be more creative.

Paula

SUMMER FLASHBACK.....Classroom Camping Theme and writing

This didn't get posted this summer and I decided to do a little flashback session! I really loved this theme and found so many great ideas in the TpT store as well as teachers' blogs. This particular idea just needed a clipart fire, paper and staples!

We made some camp Notebooks to go along with our books and graphs activities. I really had some big plans for these guys, but we never had enough time for everything! Here are a few things we did with them...maybe next summer we can work them into the lessons more!

When we prepared them, I didn't know WHAT we were going to do yet! So they had blank pages.

Later, when I knew what our lessons were going to cover I made pages, copied, cut them apart and glued them into the notebooks. It worked okay, I only had 12 notebooks to glue.

 We brainstormed after our hike, while I wrote everything they said, I also drew simple pictures next to the words to prepare them for doing it on their own.

This was completed after our fishing graph.

We read the big book Under the Waves.

. 

Step by step drawing activities.

This notebook has a lot of potential and can be individualized for each student if needed. We met in our "Writing Tent" to complete the notebooks. I learned something....even the most reluctant writer will try his best if he can be in a tent!

If you are new to this blog and want to read more about our camping theme, check out the June-July posts here

Paula

Binoculars Art Project

This is a quick and fun art project, every kid loves binoculars and the price is right on these!

Materials:

• empty toilet paper rolls (2 for each student)
• stapler
• duct tape (it comes in many colors and patterns!)
• yarn or string
• stickers
• hole puncher

Prepare in advance:

• Staple toilet paper rolls together.
• Make dots where the holes for the string/yarn should be.
• Cut string or yarn a length that will go over their heads. Tape one end so it is easier to thread through the holes.
• Make a demo model to show off

Procedure:
1. Give each student a pair of stapled TP rolls.
2. Instruct them to hole punch the dots for the string. Give each a hole puncher. Depending on your hole puncher and the student's hand strength, you may need to help them.
3. String through the holes. Tie together.
4. Give each student a piece of duct tape that will wrap completely around the pair of TP rolls.
5. Apply stickers.

Suggested Activities:

• Indoors or outdoors, take a walk around and take turns announcing "I see a ____". Great expressive language practice!
• Call out something such as "I see the letter E". Everyone looks through their binoculars and repeats it as they find it. Skills: shapes, letter names, letter sounds (I see the letter that says /b/), numbers, high frequency words, classroom vocabulary......
• Call out "I spy with my little eye something (color word)". Take turns with students.

Star Gazing in a Camp Theme Classroom

Put some stars on the ceiling, program them with whatever you want to practice....

 

Cover windows to darken the room, my awesome assistant provided black sheets and the big dipper...

 

 

hand kids a flashlight, turn off the lights....

a fun and motivating lesson!

 

The first week we wrote individual letters and basic sight words on the stars.

The second week we added pictures with the words from our camp words. We discovered that some of our kids needed help recognizing letters by name and we wanted to give them something to call out that they knew independently. Other skills: naming shapes and numbers.

 

 

Many of our students are working on verbal expression, so an expectation is to have them shout out what they see as they point their flashlight beam on it, I write it on the whiteboard as they say it. EVERYONE can participate, the child with the communication device can push a button to share his finds!

Each student has a pencil zipper bag with a flashlight, pencil and crayons. I found the flashlights in the Target dollar aisle! The most expensive part was buying the batteries, but it has been totally worth it!

Paula

Campfire Art Project

 

We did this art project the first week of summer school, it is simple and fun to do! I found it on pinterest through Fumbling through parenthood  There are some great ideas if you want to check them out!

 

We went on a hike the first day and picked up all kinds of neat stuff--moss, leaves, flowers, rocks, sticks, twigs.

 

Materials needed:

twigs

liquid glue

tissue paper or construction paper

scissors

 

1. Break up the twigs if needed.

2. Squeeze lots of glue in the spot for the logs. I drew an oval shape to indicate where the glue needed to stay within.

3. Place the twigs.

4. Cut or tear paper in orange, red and yellow color.

5. Randomly place and glue paper.

6. Let dry overnight.

 

This is one art project where the kids can use lots of glue! This project is also very adaptable for all scissor skills. If they are just beginning and are snipping, give them narrow strips to do just that. If they cannot handle scissors at all, they can tear the paper into small pieces. One of my students made a pattern with his flames all on his own!

 

They are very proud of this project! It has been hanging in the hall the last couple of weeks and the parents ooo and aah over it.

 

Paula