Addressing IEP Goals in the Writing Center

I teach a preschool self-contained class for three year olds, so all of my students have IEP's (Individualized Education Plans). I aim to address many of their personal goals and objectives through center time in addition to more teacher-directed activities. 

In this post I will show how I address some popular preschool IEP goals through my writing center activities...

This is a super simple task I created last year to address a student's goal of "will color in basic shapes." It also works for "will color within lines." I am not a huge coloring in fan, but it is important for them to learn the fine motor control of coloring in the lines. I created this in Microsoft Word and I have attached a link to a downloadable PDF of it here!

 

The name-matching folder is one of my favorite activities that I came up with last year. It not only works on letter identification but also addresses the goal of a student identifying themselves in a picture. In my experience students LOVE to see themselves and are more motivated to complete this activity when they see their picture.

(found at Childcareland.com)

This shape tracing activity is seasonally appropriate and addresses a popular preschool IEP goal of "will name basic shapes..." It also works on the goal of "will develop a tripod grasp" since the student is working on using a pencil/marker/crayon to trace each shape. 

(found at totschooling.net)

This is a fun, seasonal take on the classic pre-writing skill/IEP goal of "student will trace/independently write horizontal and vertical lines." I learned a trick from an OT to tape a paper to the wall and have the student write their lines that way because it forces them to use a more correct grip on their writing utensil and it works!

Science in the Preschool Classroom

STEM in the classroom is huge lately. I feel like every other day I see ideas on Pinterest on how to incorporate it into the early childhood classroom. My goal is to also make the NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards accessible to my students. So, today I did a sink or float lesson with my class. This addressed standard 5.1.2 (Observe, question, predict, and investigate materials, objects, and phenomena during classroom activities indoors and outdoors and during any longer term investigations in progress. Seek answers to questions and test predictions using simple experiments or research media (e.g., cracking a nut to look inside; putting a toy car in water to determine whether it sinks))

I created a pictures using Boardmakeronline.com (free trial again, woo!). One says "sink" and the other says "float" and have the corresponding visuals. I decided to do this activity with fall items- an apple, a stick, a pine cone, a leaf, and a mini pumpkin. I also made visuals on Boardmaker for these items. This way the students got to choose which items we put in the water  first, second, etc. 

My students LOVED this activity. I mean water and preschoolers is an instant hit no matter what, but seriously they enjoyed making predictions by pointing to "sink" or float." This was also a great lesson on choice making for them. After we were done placing each item in the water and determining if they sank or floated I allowed the students to have some free play with the fall items in the water.

Choices, Choices, Choices!

Hi all! It's been quite awhile since I've last posted. Since then I've graduated with my bachelor's degree in early childhood, psychology, and special education. I have worked as a preschool inclusion teacher and now as a self-contained preschool teacher in a new district. I am loving my new position and plan to use this blog to share my ideas/lessons.

Today I wanted to post about my song choice board. Everyday between center time and lunch time we sing songs on the rug. I noticed my students engagement in this time was wavering, and I knew I had to find a way to get them more involved. All of my students have delays in speech, so often their expressive language is limited. Yet, I knew that if they were able to express their song preferences their interest in singing would undoubtedly be raised. I mean com'n who isn't more interested in doing something they like?! So, I created this song choice board with the help of BoardMakerOnline.com. Yay, for 30 day free trials! I love how Board Maker also allows you to import pictures from the internet also. As you can see from the picture I limit the song choices to six, but on the back I have about 9 other songs I can velcro on and off to keep in the rotation. The velcro on the mini clipboard allows for quick changes.

(front side presented to students)

(Backside)

So, when it's time for songs each child gets to pick one song by pointing to or taking a picture off and handing it to me. In my class of vehicle obsessed boys it's no surprise we sing "Wheels on the Bus" almost daily! This board has really increased participation during song time, and it allows students' whose expressive language skills are limited to be more involved in choice making!