Work Station Wednesday - Summer activities

This week's work station activities were from my summer pack.  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures this week so I thought I would at least show the previews.

We were working on putting the alphabet in order and kids loved using the Popsicles.

We were also putting numbers in order.  

It was a little more difficult to filling in the missing letter but the kids enjoyed using the dry erase marker on the flip flops.

The dry erase marker came out again to fill in the missing number on the ice cream.

"More than", "less than" and "equal to"  are concepts we are just starting to work on, so these were perfect to work on these skills.

The last activity we did was beginning sounds. The kids are getting good at this activity now.

Work Station Wednesday - Marshmallows

This week's work stations are about marshmallows.  

Marshmallows are perfect for a camping or summer theme.

We combined marshmallows with our literacy work.

I also used the snap cubes that I talked about on Monday.

Our first activity involved putting the alphabet in the correct order.

I had some skewers in the cupboard and thought they would make perfect marshmallow sticks.

I attached a letter "marshmallow" to each snap cube and had the children thread them on the sticks.

Perfect fine motor work and they were easy to pick up.

Next we did some work on "missing letters".  The children had to find the marshmallow with the correct letter and place it on the card.  For some children I had cards with Velcro.

For other children I put the "marshmallows" on snap cubes so they were easier to manipulate.

 Next, we matched upper and lower case letters.

We then worked on word families.  Again I put the "marshmallows" on snap cubes and had the children put them on the sticks.

Once the children were finished, I had them read the words to me.

I put the word families on separate coloured snap cubes.  That way I could easily visually check to see if the children completed the task correctly.

The last game we played is a favorite.  Under one of the marshmallows is a picture of a piece of chocolate.  The children had to read the word first in order to look under the card.  The child who finds the chocolate is the winner.

I attached snap cubes to the corners of the cards so that the children could easily pick them up.

Work Station Wednesday - Forest Animals

It's work station Wednesday and I'm going to featuring some work station activities each week.

This week, I'm featuring forest animals.

This activity works on missing numbers.  I put Velcro on the blank spot so that the owls won't move when the children place them on the cards.  This reduces frustration when the children are working.  Children with poor fine motor control often have difficulty keeping pieces in place and can easily knock the pieces off of the cards.  

Patterning is the next activity we did.  The colourful cards made it easier for children with visual difficulties to see.

Next we did a memory game.  I had the children find the number card and match it with the correct number of animals.

When working on adding, I had the children roll a dice.  I find dice easier to use than spinners.  Spinners require fine motor control that a lot of my students don't have.  Dice can be placed in little hands and all they have to do is drop it.

Having the children place the correct number of mushrooms on either side of the rabbit, helps them visualize the concept.

I do use a response sheet for children that can print.  If children can't print, I often use number stickers or stamps.

Matching ten frames are next.  Ten frames are a great way to visualize numbers to ten.

Ordering numbers is another skill that we work on a lot.  I mix them up and have the children put them in the right order.

Our last activity is measuring.  I used mushroom strips and the children had to measure the trees and find out how tall they were.