Having a plan when heading into a new school year in the elementary special education classroom is essential to setting your year up for success. It reduces anxiety, establishes routines, and provides guidance for paraprofessionals.  Let's face it... in August the days are LONG! Especially without related services pulling students yet. And your students have a lot to learn about being at school… especially your Kindergarten students and students transitioning to a new building or classroom.  Don't worry! I have gathered some great ideas and resources to save you time and get you started off on the right foot this August! Click on an image or caption to find the resource in my TPT store ! ...

The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of year outside and inside of the classroom! My students and I always have so much fun celebrating the holidays.  Check out some of my favorite December activities: ELA Ideas Read The Gingerbread Man. I love this  version  retold by Mary Sandel from the Fountas and Pinnell intervention collection because it is predictable for making picture-supported sentences and easy enough for my emerging readers to read the text.  My favorite Christmas books are: Clifford’s Christmas by Norman Bridwell The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro In addition to using picture-supported sentence boards, I also have an old lady doll that I have students take turns feeding throughout the story. I just print an extra copy of the sentence board at a larger scale, laminate and cut out the pieces, and then pass them out to each of the students as the story starts. It is a great interactive activity and really builds joint attenti......

It's a new year and a new month in the special education classroom! This means it is time for some new themes and picture books to engage your learners. Since we have returned from break we have been enjoying lots of fun snow-related books and activities. Keep reading to see what we are up to this month! Reading The first week we studied The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I love talking about Peter and all the fun snowy day adventures he goes on. Interested in using this story with your students? Click the image below to grab my  Communication and Comprehension Support unit  on my TpT Store! After The Snowy Day, we read The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel.  To go along with the story I also created some  vocabulary and communication supports , reading comprehension activities, and progress monitoring sheets that you can grab by clicking the image below: We also read Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle and There Was a Cold Lady Who S......