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Lessons for Skills Practice over Break – Autism VTips

Of course, as loyal readers of these fabulous pearls of wisdom, you’ve already taken to heart my best advice on sending work home over a school holiday (VTips for a Smoother Thanksgiving Break). And you just knew that I would provide you with a Winter Break version of the visual story, like this one:

• Winter Break (Book), VizZle ID Number: 71300
  Images and text w/speech about getting time off school to celebrate winter holidays, with a quiz and pop-up for discussion, 11 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

And having had a fabulous week exploring the shared user library in VizZle for holiday lessons (because you hopped right on all my suggestions last week in 5 Tips for Finding “The Best” Holiday-Themed Lessons), you realize, “Huzzah! I still have a week left on my free trial!” So you can find exactly the fun and engaging lessons you need for your kids to retain skills over break.

But just on that oh-so-tiny chance you haven’t quite gotten to any of that yet, (and because I just love showing off cool VizZle lessons) here are some common skills practice gems that you might find useful to send home over break.

• Penguins (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 9379
  Image of penguins TO identical matching image, field of 3 choices, 27 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Colors (Book), VizZle ID Number: 27035
  45 page Book. Images and text showing colors, color examples, then followed by quizzes for each color. All pages have TTS (text to speech) audio.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Find the Sports Equipment (Game), VizZle ID Number: 16589
  Each tile has an image with a popup matching quiz with a text directive (i.e., “Find the Sports Equipment”) TO image, 20 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• I Know My Numbers (1-11) (Book), VizZle ID Number: 17661
  I Know My Numbers (1-11) with color word quizzes. Match the color word to the correct set. Includes a video on the first and last page of the story.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Word Families (Sorting), VizZle ID Number: 68706
  Sort into word families of /ap/ OR /an/ and /am/ OR /at/, text w/ audio instructions, text categories, image and text label w/ audio sorts, 8 tiles per sort, 2 sorts
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Time (Hour) (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 1184
  Digital time (e.g. 12:00) TO analog clockface, field of 3 choices, 12 pairs. Hour only.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Coin Value (Heads and Tails) (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 29363
  Image of U.S. coin (both heads and tails sides represented for penny, nickel, dime and quarter) TO value (e.g., “5 cents”), field of 3 choices with set distractors, 8 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Where Would You Buy This? (Game), VizZle ID Number: 16590
  Each tile has an image with a popup matching quiz with a text question (i.e., “Where would you buy this?”) TO image w/ text label, 20 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Next Dollar at the Grocery Store (Book), VizZle ID Number: 5146
  Grocery store scenarios with next dollar quizzes. Images and text w/audio, popups and quizzes, 12 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Happy Holidays from the VTips Team!

VTips will be taking a winter break too—the next post will come in 2012 (and doesn’t that just sound… far away?) (I can’t believe it is almost here—how the heck did that happen?)

The VTips Team wishes you and yours a happy and healthy holiday, and a joyous and successful New Year.

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5 Tips for Finding “The Best” Holiday-Themed Lessons (and Examples)–VTips for Autism

The VizZle shared library has some terrific examples of winter holiday-themed lessons – way too many to highlight all of them here. Besides–it’s impossible to pick the “best” in any case, because the “best” has the content and difficulty level you need for that child, at that moment (not necessarily the prettiest with all the bells and whistles that I am partial to showing off here). So here are 5 tips on finding the best lessons for you and your kids this holiday season.

1) If you don’t have a VizZle license, sign up for a free trial!

You are welcome to sign up for a free trial and explore to find (or edit, or create) exactly what you need. Click on the big orange SHARE to enter the shared lesson library. Try some of the keyword searches. You can send yourself VizZleGrams of lessons you like best (I send myself VizZleGrams to collect the lesson information and playable links I post here in VTips).

2) Use Keyword “Christmas”

When you search the library, try keyword “Christmas” you’ll get lessons for the other winter break holidays along with Christmas lessons. You can run separate searches for “Hanukkah” or “Kwanzaa” to get results specific to those holidays if that’s what you need. “Winter holidays” has a ton of returns, but you’ll get some Valentine’s and Groundhog Day lessons too.

3) Use KeyWORDS, Not Sentences

You can also try two-word searches, like “Christmas counting” or “Christmas vocab”. But don’t use longer phrases or sentences—the shorter the keyword phrase, the more likely you are to get accurate and fruitful returns.

4) Read the Description Before You Open It

It will save you time if you check out the lesson’s description in the Activity Summary before you open it. The description should give you a pretty good idea if the lesson is what you are looking for, so you won’t waste time opening lessons that aren’t even close to what you need.

5) The Same Title Doesn’t Mean It’s a Duplicate!

We try to make sure that there is a lot of variety, but no exact duplicates in the library. If you see titles that are exactly the same, but the lesson type icons are different, those lessons are likely to support each other (like a matching board to quiz comprehension for the book of the same title). If the lesson title and the lesson type are exactly the same, you’ll probably find differentiating features by reading the description (for instance one will have audio and the other won’t, or one is an edit with videos or other features added by a different author).

Holiday-Themed Sample Lessons

May all of your holiday lesson searches be fruitful! Here are two of my favorites with winter holiday themes (a lower level and then a more advanced social skills lesson) but I hope you’ll go search and find exactly what you need!

• Ornaments on my Tree (Book), VizZle ID Number: 23174
  Images and simple text w/ audio about the ornaments being put on the Christmas tree, with popup counting quizzes, 8 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Opening Presents (Book), VizZle ID Number: 8029
  Images and text with audio about why we should say thank you, and how to do so, when receiving a gift during the holidays, with popups and quizzes for reinforcement, 17 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

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Happy Thanksgiving Break to VizZlers Everywhere

We are thankful for every one of the thousands of amazing VizZlers who have dedicated themselves to working in special education and autism. We appreciate your work and your passion.

Last-Minute Lessons

Just since the Thanksgiving lessons post, VizZle creators have added some awesome new lessons to the shared library. They might be just what you need to keep your kids focused as the break approaches.

• Ten Little Turkeys (Book), VizZle ID Number: 53660
  Image and rhyming text for counting turkeys from 10 down to none (e.g., “Ten little turkeys walking in line. One went away, then there were…”), popup related quiz image and text question (e.g., “How many turkeys are there?”) TO number (e.g., “10”), first page includes “Turkey in the Straw” video, 12 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving Words (Book), VizZle ID Number: 61443
  Image and repetitive simple text w/ audio related to Thanksgiving words (e.g., “I see a turkey.”), 7 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving Match (Pix for Print), VizZle ID Number: 60539
  For print, tile/direction tile (“Thanksgiving Match Game”, “Match the items that go together”), image of Thanksgiving food item before being cooked and another of same item after cooked, 9 tiles, prints on 1 page
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Holiday: Halloween or Thanksgiving (Sorting), VizZle ID Number: 55183
  Sort into Halloween OR Thanksgiving, text instructions, text categories, image and text sort tiles, 8 tiles per sort, 1 sort
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving Vocabulary (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 57180
  Text for vocabulary word associated with Thanksgiving (e.g., “Colony”) TO image and text definition (e.g., “A place where people settle far from home.”), field of 3 choices, 7 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Happy Thanksgiving from the VTips Team!

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Holiday-Themed Lessons that Make Us Thankful

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am thankful for how many VizZlers share their hard work via the shared user library. It can save so much time to find a pre-made lesson in Share and then edit it (if editing is even needed). But that wouldn’t happen without the creators who make original lessons and share them.

So, many thanks this holiday season from the VTips Team to everyone who creates and shares awesome lessons like these with a Thanksgiving theme…

Counting

• 10 Little Turkeys (Book), VizZle ID Number: 20723
  Images and text rhyme about 1 little, 2 little etc., (up to 10), with popup counting quizzes and videos on the 1st and last pages, 6 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• How Many? (Thanksgiving) (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 20445
  Image of number set of Thanksgiving themed items with text question, (i.e., “How many?”) TO number (for numbers 1 to 10), field of 3 choices, 10 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Discrimination

• Discriminate: Thanksgiving (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 6775
  Image and text label TO identical image w/text label of Thanksgiving themed items, field of 3 choices, 14 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving (Game), VizZle ID Number: 20926
  Each tile has an image and text label with a popup matching quiz with an image and text question about Thanksgiving TO image w/ text label in a field of 2 choices, 11 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Vocabulary

• Object Function: Thanksgiving (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 20857
  Text directive (e.g., “Find something we eat for Thanksgiving Dinner.”)TO image w/text label, field of 3 choices, 6 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving Vocab (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 20945
  Text of vocabulary related to Thanksgiving TO image, field of 3 choices, some with set distractors, 17 pairs.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

To Spark Conversation

• How Do You Celebrate Thanksgiving? (Book), VizZle ID Number: 7229
  Images and text w/audio about how people celebrate Thanksgiving, with quizzes and open-ended popups for discussion, 10 pages.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• What Are You Thankful For? (Game), VizZle ID Number: 7232
  Images with popups for each tile with images and text w/audio of questions asking what the player is thankful for in that category (e.g. “What kind of food are you thankful for?”), 16 tiles
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Holiday ADL

• Green Bean Casserole Recipe (Book), VizZle ID Number: 21454
  Images and text w/audio for all the steps in making green bean casserole, 14 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Individual Apple Pie Recipe (Pix), VizZle ID Number: 4794
  Print activity, recipe for easy individual apple pies. 1 page
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Help for Home

• Thanksgiving Choices (Pix), VizZle ID Number: 20263
  For print, tiles of images and text labels to facilitate choice at Thanksgiving dinner, with yes please, no thank you and more and thank you (replace food items with those specific to your meal), prints on 1 page
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Thanksgiving Dinner (Schedule), VizZle ID Number: 20260
  7 step schedule for Thanksgiving Dinner, with checks and boxes when printed, prints on 3 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

October has an astonishing number of holidays and observances (including National Frappe Day today) that can inspire fun new ways to approach the same old skills practice. For a great resource for keeping things fresh in the classroom and some seriously happy lessons, scroll down.

Repetition–But Not Boredom!

Meeting goals in special education often involves a lot of repetition. It can be really hard to find new angles and fresh approaches to practicing the same skills repeatedly. But if you don’t find fresh and fun ways to practice, you can’t know if the student doesn’t understand the material, or is just bored and refusing to participate.

Especially as the days get dreary and the routine becomes routine, having a ready resource for themes makes life a lot easier and more fun for everybody. Holidays and observances are a natural, ready-made source to pick and choose from. In October alone, there are 18 “months” (everything from “Eat Country Ham Month” to “Vegetarian Month”, depending on your taste), 5 “weeks” (Pet Peeve Week!) and 67 “days,” from the serious (Fire Prevention Day) to the sublime (Moment of Frustration Day).

My favorite site for the lowdown on all holidays large and observations small is Holiday Insights, especially the Bizarre and Unique Days pages. It is often the observances that strike me as the most hilarious and absurd at first glance that can prove to provide the best inspiration.

For Instance…

World Smile Day? Really? (Hey, I am allowed to take an easy shot at it—it is Sarcastic Month after all… ). But read a bit about it, and you find out that World Smile day, which honors the smiley face created in 1963, is intended to be celebrated by doing an act of kindness, or by helping one person to smile. What a great lesson-of-the-day that is for our kids (and for the kids who interact with our kids)!

And there are so many easy ways to use the theme! Use smiley faces throughout the day (set all the reinforcers to smileys… use smiley stickers and emoticons…count the smileys…). The theme lends itself to lots of standard ASD goals on a typical IEP (emotion ID… generalization… social skills practice…). Practice research and internet skills (yes—there is a World Smile Day website). Use it as a theme for writing assignments. It sounds like a joke (which kids love in and of itself), but it’s really a super-easy way to bring a bit of fun and humor to very serious lessons and skills practice.

In about 10 minutes (which includes the time I spent making the counting lesson from scratch), I found this group of awesome lessons that fit the theme perfectly:

• How Many Smiles? (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 47798
  Image set of smiley faces and text w/ audio question (i.e., “How many smiles?”) TO numeral, for numbers 0 to 10, field of 3 choices, 11 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Smiley (3 Step Directions) (Pix for Print), VizZle ID Number: 47801
  For print, 3 steps of directions for how to draw a smiley face, with set area to draw in, prints on one page
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Generalize: Happy (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 15765
  Image of a smiley face and text directive (i.e., “Find Happy”) TO photo image of happy people, field of 3 choices with set distractors, 17 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Happy or Sad? (Matching), VizZle ID Number: 29478
  Image of either an happy or a sad event TO an image of a happy or a sad smiley face, field of 2 choices with set distractors, 10 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• Emotions: Smiley Face (Game), VizZle ID Number: 39601
  Each tile has a Smiley Face image, popup quiz labeling emotions, image and text question (e.g., “How does this girl feel?”) TO image and text label (e.g., “confused”), 13 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)
• It Makes Me Feel… (Game), VizZle ID Number: 43634
  Image with popup that has a smile and a frown and the leading statement, “It makes me feel…” for the child to point to, 5 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

And, by the way, Happy World Teacher Day tomorrow!

Looking for ways to incorporate the 4th of July theme into your lesson plans as the holiday approaches? For the “best of” the holiday-themed lessons, and some ideas for creating your own, scroll down…

Basic Goal Practice

Holiday themes like the 4th of July are an awesome way to spice up repetitious drills. Very basic 1:1 matching is way more fun when you are matching crisp, beautiful images, like in:

• Discriminate: Fireworks, (Matching) VizZle ID Number: 14400
  Image TO identical matching image, field of 3 choices, 10 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

For counting, why not count sets of kids with sparklers (or rockets, or flags, or even ants at a picnic)? Add a custom celebration as an extra bit of fun, like in:

• How Many Flags? (Matching) VizZle ID Number: 39081
  Image of set of flags (for 1 to 10) and text w/audio question (i.e., “How many?”) TO large colorful number, field of 3 choices, 10 pairs, with custom celebration of fireworks show
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

You can practice finding more than just red, white and blue for the 4th of July holiday with color lessons like:

• Color Words (Fireworks) , (Matching) VizZle ID Number: 14402
  Text directive (e.g. “Find Yellow”) TO image of firework, field of 3 choices, 7 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Or cover multiple goals, for instance following directions, fine motor control and color ID in a lesson like:

• Coloring U. S. Flag (3 Step) , (Pix2Go) VizZle ID Number: 39078
  For print, black and while outline of the U.S. flag with color prompts, and 3 steps of written directions for coloring, prints on 1 page
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Using the Holiday to Teach Citizenship

A 4th of July theme is a slam-dunk for teaching about citizenship, patriotism and what it means to be an American. A couple of my favorite examples from the library include:

• Symbols of the United States , (Book) VizZle ID Number: 38010
  Images and text about the symbols of the United States of America, several popups with patriotic videos and quizzes (e.g., “What country do you live in?” TO map of United States and text “United States of America”), 10 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Symbols of the United States, (Book) VizZle ID Number: 5989
  Images and text about the symbols and icons of the United States, and how to show patriotism, with popups for the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star Spangled Banner and an ending quiz, 14 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

And Independence Day lends itself to exploring the Revolutionary War period of U.S. history, or the constitution. Visuals make it easier to grasp and more engaging, like in:

• Bill of Rights Vocab, (Book) VizZle ID Number: 36760
  Image and text of a vocabulary and terms related to the Bill of Rights on each page, each with popup quiz (all text) asking a related question (e.g., for “Democratic Society” the popup quiz asks “Which situation is characteristic of all democratic societies?”), 9 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Visual Stories to Prepare for the Holiday

And, as always, holidays can be stressful for our kids because they disrupt regular routine. A visual story about what to expect turns it from an unhappy surprise into an expected (and even welcomed) special event. Check out these examples:

• The Fourth of July, (Book) VizZle ID Number: 14493
  Description: Images and text w/audio about the history of the 4th of July, with popups, 13 pages with a custom celebration
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Going to the Fireworks, (Book) VizZle ID Number: 14496
  Images and text w/audio to set expectations and calm anxiety about going to the fireworks with family, with popups, 11 pages with a custom celebration of Mt. Rushmore fireworks
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

All these great lessons are available in Share, the VizZle shared library. See what else is available using keyword “4th July” or “patriotic” before you set out to make your own—there may well be a lesson already made that you can tweak with edits or even use “as is” saving you tons of time. But if you do decide to create from scratch, send it to Share (for those all-important extra-bonus karma points)!

It can be particularly challenging to engage and motivate a student with autism. For info on improving engagement, quick customization tips, and motivating ways to take advantage of VizZle’s safe authoring environment (including original templates you can use for student-authored projects for Mother’s Day) scroll down…

Engagement 101

If you have worked or lived with kids with autism, you probably already know a fact that has been proven in studies: given a choice, kids with autism choose to spend more time playing with electronic media (multimedia, computers and computer games etc.) than with all other forms of play combined (Shane & Albert, 2008). In fact, getting a kid with ASD to put down the DVD player or move away from the computer game can be a battle.

Instead of fighting it, use it! Whenever possible, use interactive media-rich lessons that cover the content you need to teach. In one study, kids with ASD were attentive to a computer-generated lesson 97% of the time (learning 74% of the targeted nouns) but attentive to a teacher-directed lesson on the same material only 62% of the time (learning 41% of the targeted nouns). (Moore & Calvert, 2000). Searching Share for interactive lessons on topic, or making your own lessons if you can’t find what you need, can pay huge dividends.

The Easiest Way to Further the Engagement

Adding a student’s name to a lesson is by far the quickest and easiest customization bang for your buck. As you move a lesson into a student’s folder for launch, take a minute to edit it with that student’s name in a couple of key places. If it is a book, change the title (“Jenny’s Triangles”) and the last page (“Jenny learned a lot about triangles! Good job Jenny!”). For a matching board or a game, see if it lends itself to using the student’s name (a prime example being math word problems—use Jenny and her friends as the stars!).

Up the Ante with Personalized Pictures

Using a picture of the student in the lesson adds even more impact. Import a student’s photo just once (by dragging it into any lesson in edit mode) and the picture will be there whenever you want to use it again (you can find it automatically saved in your “My Media” folder). Use it on a title page, last page, or wherever it makes sense within the lesson.

If you drag the student’s picture from your My Media folder into the Student Profile in that student’s folder, it can have even greater impact. Launch a lesson that uses Magic Media from the student’s folder, and the lesson will pick up that student’s picture, automatically personalizing for greater engagement. (You can use “Magic Media” as a search term in Share to find lessons that use the Magic Media placeholders, or you can customize any lesson with a Magic Media image yourself so it picks up all your students’ pictures with one edit—see the illustration below.)

Use an Obsession to Your Advantage

All children get fascinated in phases, but kids with autism take it to the nth degree. Instead of fighting it for attention, use it! Drag in a picture or a video clip of their current obsession as a custom celebration (click here to learn how). You only have to import it once—then you’ll find it in your My Media whenever you want to use it again.

Creation as Motivation

More and more we hear from teachers that students are motivated to do their lessons by the reward of being allowed to author their own VizZle creations. And since all VizZle database content is safe, students can explore and experiment with new authoring techniques independently. Students love to see their work published, and we love to see and publish their work in Share. (You can find student authored work in the shared library by searching for “student author” or scanning the “Fiction” subject.)

Try a student authoring project—you may be surprised by how inspired your students get and how much they want to do more (and you have to love it when the “reward” motivator is a great lesson in and of itself!). For lower level students, you can help them search and let them choose the images to drag into a story. Mid-level students can use sentence starters and search suggestions. Higher level students can be given a theme.

Here are a couple of lesson templates for student authored projects to get you started, just in time for Mother’s Day:

• MOTHER Template, VizZle ID Number: 34143
  Print this book and use as template for students to use to create their own book for Mother’s Day. Text of a Mother’s Day poem and prompts for the student to add their own pictures (with or without aid, depending on the level of the student). Set to print on individual pages so the student can make a book to take home to Mom, 9 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Mother’s Day – Sentence Starters, VizZle ID Number: 34145
  Print a copy to use as a template for making your Mother’s Day book. Text directions and prompts on each page of sentence-starters for a Mother’s Day story by the student. Pages give students prompts divided into “think about it”, “type it” and/or “picture it.” along with each sentence starter. Set to print on single pages for the student to print and take home for Mother’s Day. 7 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

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References

Shane, H.C., Albert, P.D. (2008). Electronic screen media for persons with autism spectrum disorders: results of a survey. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38 (8) 1499-1508.

Moore, M., & Calvert, S. (2000). Brief report: vocabulary acquisition for children with autism: teacher or computer instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 359-362.

Whether serious or silly, designated celebrations are a fun way to introduce or practice a concept. Run a keyword search in Share, and you’ll be amazed at what you can find! Scroll down for lesson ideas for Nutrition Month (plus Peanut Month And Bubble Gum Week!)…

Some Are Straightforward

Some celebrations, like National Nutrition Month, are a straightforward way to introduce and discuss core topics like Health Literacy. Lessons on the food pyramid or good eating habits are appropriate at every ability level. Complex, higher level issues in healthy eating can be made more accessible. Or you can also be topical and work on more basic goals like generalization, or behavioral problems like pica.

Check out:

• Food Pyramid, VizZle ID Number: 4487
  Images and text w/audio about healthy nutrition, with quizzes and pop-ups, 9 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Nutrition, VizZle ID Number: 20248
  Each tile has an image with popup of a text question about vocabulary related to nutrition, (e.g., “Which is a healthy breakfast?” ) TO image with text label, 12 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Artificial Flavor, VizZle ID Number: 30241
  Images and text about frozen or processed foods losing flavor, and the artificial flavors added to enhance them, with comprehension quizzes at the end, 14 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Generalization: Bread, VizZle ID Number: 16629
  Black and white line drawing of generic bread with text directive, “Find the Bread” TO image, field of 3 choices with set distractors, 20 pairs.
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• What Is OK to Eat?, VizZle ID Number: 16253
  Each tile has an image with a popup matching quiz with a text question (i.e., “What is OK to eat?”) TO image, 12 tiles, number spinner
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Some Are Just Fun!

Some celebrations, like National Peanut Month or National Bubble Gum Week are too fun to ignore, and can be interpreted however you choose. Maybe a student has a peanut allergy and this is a way to introduce the topic? Or maybe it’s a reason to have a lesson about George Washington Carver? Or maybe just a reason to teach some fun lessons like the ones below (the kids don’t need to know that they are great ways to hone ADL skills, or practice things like following directions or breath control…)

• PB&J Recipe (w/Video), VizZle ID Number: 30847
  Images and text w/audio of how to make the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with video model, popups and custom PB&J song celebration, 14 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• The History Of Bubble Gum, VizZle ID Number: 9072
  Images and text about the invention of bubble gum, with video and custom celebration 12 pages
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

You Can Always Make Your Own!

And if you can’t find that perfect lesson already in the library for Something on a Stick Day (March 28th), be the first to make one and share it!!

Holiday themes are always an easy way to put a fresh face on the skills you are working on, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. For ideas and lesson samples, scroll down.

Ideal for Higher Level Money Math!

Gift giving holidays like Valentine’s Day are an ideal theme to use for ADL goals like purchasing and budgeting. One search on a shopping site (and VizZle’s stock images of currency) will net you all the images and prices you need to quickly create next dollar, which bill buy it, change back or any number of other lesson types that address goals common to many IEPs.

Look up these ID numbers in Share in VizZle to check out how one set of imports made two lessons. Just change some wording and your answer field, then “Save As” for a quick and easy new lesson working on a different aspect of purchasing.

• Valentine’s Gifts Next Dollar , VizZle ID Number: 26565
  Image w/ price and text question (e.g., “Chocolate rose: $4.95. Next dollar?”) TO next dollar amount, field of 3 choices with set distractors, 11 pairs, with custom celebration
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Valentine’s Gifts–Which Buys It? , VizZle ID Number: 26569
  Image and price with text question (e.g., “Flowers: $19.99. Which can buy it?) TO image w/text label of U.S. currency, field of 3 choices with set distractors, 10 pairs, with custom celebration
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

Perk Up Your Drills

Holiday themes are always an easy way to put a fresh face on drills for other familiar subjects too, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. From counting and colors to following directions and handwriting practice, Valentine’s themes add some fun. Check out:

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• How Many Hearts? , VizZle ID Number: 8363
  Match the set of hearts TO the numeral, for numbers 1 to 10, field of 3 choices, 10 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Color Words (Hearts), VizZle ID Number: 8379
  Text of color word TO image of heart of that color, field of 3 choices, 10 pairs
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Coloring Hearts (3 Step) , VizZle ID Number: 8361
  For print activity, practice following 3 step directions using coloring hearts. Print out pages of hearts to be colored in following the written directions on each page (some with color prompts, some without).
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

• Valentine’s Day Writing , VizZle ID Number: 7762
  Designed for use on electronic WRITEBOARD ONLY. Each tile has Valentine’s-themed image with popup quiz. Quiz has image with text vocab word and blank single match for copying answer by hand on writeboard (game write board directions) Directions for Writeboard use: 1) land on tile to open quiz 2) pick up pen to open ink layer 3) write answer 4) close ink layer 5) touch white blank answer area to move to next player
  (No access to VizZle? Click here for a browser version—remember to maximize your browser and click play at the bottom.)

All of us here at MTT wish you and yours a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous new year. Welcome to 2011!

My favorite thought for the holiday… “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” Bill Vaughan.