Using Independent Work Binders in the South African Mainstream Classroom

Independent binders are a great way of helping the learners in your class develop independent learning. This, I find particularly true in a special needs environment. Not only is it true, it is also an essential part of a special needs classroom.

But, while I realise just how important this is in my special needs classroom. I began thinking about how they can be used in a mainstream class. 

Create centers in your class

Have an area in your classroom which your learners are able to access throughout the day. In this area, place a learning activity (read:binder) which your learners need to complete at some point throughout the day. In order to do this, laminate the pages of the binder you would like to use, and supply the area with whiteboard markers for your learners to use. This activity may be math, literacy, or life skill related. It may even be an art activity. Not only, are you able to assess their level of independence, but also their level of task initiation, and task completion. 

It may also keep those fast workers occupied for a little while, and give you some time to work with your weaker learners. 

Make flashcards

Use these to create ladybug themed
 flashcards

The binders do not have to be used strictly in the sense that you would like them to be used. You can also use them as different themed flashcards. Take the Spring themed bundle and create alphabet and number flashcards as well as colour flashcards. 

Or create snail themed flashcards.

Play games

You can play games, such as snap, or even memory with what is included in the bundle. Again, print and laminate what you need and you have an instant themed game for your class. Remember, if you have different levels of groups in your class, while you are focusing on one group, you may be able to keep the other group occupied with a game. Or, use the game as a fun reinforcement activity of a concept you have been teaching. I always find games seem to help get the concept across.

If you have any more ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Creating Workbox Tasks

Hi everyone!!
Sorry we have been so quiet recently. Both of us have had some major changes happening... But we're getting back to normality slowly.
I thought for our first post of the year, I would introduce you all to something I have been looking rather closely into. Workbox Tasks.
Workbox tasks are a great way for creating independent learning. They will provide your learners with structure and routine - in a special needs environment, these two are tantamount to success.
To begin with a workbox classroom, you will need to create independent work stations for each child - these need to be free from all distractions, if you're lucky enough and have space use dividers between the desks to create cubicles. Only use these stations for worktasks, you still want the social aspect of teaching when doing group learning.
Create a schedule for your learners to show them how much work they need to complete when they are working on work tasks.

Now for the tasks:
Firstly, I would like to show you two of mine which I have just created, these two are what we call 'put in/on tasks'. These are the most basic of tasks, and this is what you begin with when introducing your learners to workbox tasks.

First I created a matching task:

Start off with an ice cream box - you can get them from any of the Westpack Shops or plastic shops, get some plastic eggs - also a Westpack item, and some foam numbers from the crazy store. 

Get the kids in the class to match the numbers and close the eggs - this is great for fine motor tasks as well.

When they have finished, make sure they put the completed egg back into the box, complete the other eggs and pack them all away. 

The second task I have included, is a fun one for Easter -

Pick up some more eggs from westpack, and I found these very cute little chicks at China Mall. The eggs are R12 for 10 and the chicks were R2 each. 

Get the kids to put the chicks into the eggs to complete the task - or take them out, if they are unable to put the eggs together.

I hope this gives you some insight into the world of workbox tasks. Have fun with it!

Reading Eggs

I recently stumbled onto a wonderful set of apps developed by the Reading Eggs team. Don't let the name fool you though. They have also designed apps for numeracy. 

Together with their apps, you are also able to create an account on their website, and follow each childs' progress. 

The apps are really great, and the kids in my class have thoroughly enjoyed working on them - in fact they will choose these apps instead of games!! Below is just a few of the apps that I have had the opportunity to work with:

• Eggy Phonics 1: Short vowel words

Eggy phonics allows you to create as many users as you need, which is really fantastic if you only have one tablet in your classroom. It will also show you the progress of each child, therefore allowing you to see where a child is struggling, and also giving you the opportunity to help that child. 

Once you have selected the child's name, you are taken to a screen which will have two options - words or reward game,

The words game, is a graduated level game. You start on level 1, and with the word cat. Once you have completed all 6 activities, you are then given a short reward and are moved onto the next activity. 

Activity one, is a simple match the word spoken to the correct picture, after completing this level correctly you must then spell the word - this gives you both the letter name and the letter sound. After completing these activities twice, you move onto bubble words - you have to pop the bubbles to spell the word. Your final activity is writing the word. You then earn a badge, and depending on how well you have done, you are awarded a certain amount of game time - you may use your game time straight away, or save it until you have a certain amount,

Eggy phonics begins with the -at word family and moves through the different families.

• Tap the Cat

Tap the Cat has various activities, ranging from Speak and Listen to Draw and Paint.

1.     Speak and Listen

The app will show you the word, and you then need to record yourself saying the word - great for those battling with a speech impediment.

2.     Smart Quiz

Here, you need to listen to the question and then select the correct question. This I find really useful when working on auditory perception skills. It begins with questions such as; “I can moo. Who am I?” It covers animal sounds and identification , initial sounds as well as associations and colour identification.

3.     Letters

The child must find the matching letters. This activity will help the child learn both the letter name and the letter sound.

4.     Writing

After writing the word, the child is then able to save their best attempt at writing the word.

5.     Sight Words

Take the bunny home to complete this very cute activity. Get the bunny to jump to the correct word until you have eaten the green carrot.

6.     Vocabulary

Matching the word to the picture – touch the word and then select the correct picture.

7.     Time to Rhyme

This activity begins with a good description of what rhyming words are. You are then given a sentence such as; On the house I see a ______ . To complete the sentence, you will need to choose the correct rhyming word.

8.     Draw and Paint

This is a fun activity, your child can paint 6 different pictures.

Eggy Words 250 HD

This is one of the favourites in my class. This is a variety of sight words, which appear on the screen on eggs. You need to touch the correct word. You can choose different speeds and levels. This is a great activity to help with visual tracking.

Eggy Add to 20

In this app there are various games to choose from; balloons, teddy, snowboard, sheepdog, memory and fishing. You are given a sum, and then need to choose the correct answer. With this app, the activities are all very different and require different skills. Some require you to find the answer, while others require you to work out what numbers will give you the answer.

 All of these apps are available in the South African App store as well, and are R24.99 each.

Turn Your Class Into A Democracy

With the elections coming up we, as teachers, have a golden opportunity to turn our classrooms into a democracy and educate our learners about what is about to happen in our country.

It's real life, it's what mom and dad are talking about and it's important to learn about. So, how do we do this?

Use what you have in your classroom. And keep it simple. Maybe even decide on some new class rules. Or the themes that you want to use during the term.

Let's take the theme option for now. Give your class an option of themes, so, dinosaurs, wild animals, pirates, insects, books, pets, our country, food, shops and transport. That's 10 quite exciting themes, but you only have 4 weeks. Draw up a voting sheet with pictures and words for each theme. Download my example here.

Let your class vote on a Friday, and use the week before to explain each theme briefly (kind of like the way political parties describe themselves). Explain to you class what confidential means, and that it's their vote, and nobody else's.

On the Friday, set up your class as a voting station. Explain the procedure (maybe even include this as a schedule). Let them queue up outside, come in (they could even have ID books that you can make - see mine here). Stamp their books, take their fingerprint, and mark their thumb. Give them their sheet and let them go into a little cubicle to place their X. And then post their ballot.

Once everyone has completed this, bring them all into the class and explain that the themes with the most votes will be the theme for the term.

Take the votes out of the box, draw a tally table on the board.. And wait to see which themes will win.  

Proudly South African Resources

The app rubric is still under construction, but coming along nicely! Remember, you can make your own one to assess apps! And, don't forget about google!! There are plenty of app rubrics out there!

In the mean time, I thought we could do with a list of resources. (To clarify, Ryan, the boyfriend, thought of this one!).
There are so many resources available to teachers as well as parents, but yet not many of them are South African! There are a few that I have come across, and which I have found quite useful.

The first one to look at is e-classroom.This site has a wealth of free worksheets, all aligned with the CAPS curriculum, not only are worksheets available but plenty of lesson plans and ideas for all grades, right from grade R to grade 12! Everything is organised in it's respective grade or theme and you can also search for specific items. Natalie Wood, the founder of e-classroom, has put together a selection of beautifully designed worksheets which are really great to reinforce concepts you are teaching. For me, as a teacher (and parents, you can also use this site to help clarify tricky concepts) this is definitely one of my "go to" sites!

Another site to look at is; sahomeschoolmum. She has some amazing items on South Africa, such as a money poster! Go have a look! These are all free and you can print them in your own time! There are also maths and literacy resources as well as activities you can do with your child.

The last one that I stumbled upon is edchatsa, while this site has less resources it has forums and regular discussion evenings. As I have only just discovered this site, I am still learning about it myself but it does look to be very promising!

Of course there are many many resources available on the internet now, and all you really need to do is be an avid pinterester! As a teacher this is by far one of my favourite resources to utilize when I am stuck, not only for worksheets, but for activities that are concrete enough for my kids to pick up!
For me, one of the most important parts of teaching, is having fun with your students. So find activities that are fun, release your inner child, and they will have fun and unknowingly learn!

iPads and technology in the South African Classroom

Teachers in South Africa are discovering more and more about iPads, tablets and technology in their classrooms. As a special needs teacher myself I am finding technology more and more useful in my classroom. My student who cannot speak now has his augmentative and alternative communication device as well as various other apps all built into one, another student who cannot write is now able to type and thus is no longer frustrated by not being able to write. My students who learn visually (which is the majority), are picking up concepts a lot quicker now! While all of this technology has been incredible for my students, I always seem to come back to one question? Where are all the South African apps? Or the apps that we can use in South Africa?

Many of the apps that I have downloaded are fantastic, but are American, and this often means that I need to mute the app. This is particularly true for any reading or literacy apps as they have a tendency to use the letter names and not the letter sounds. In South Africa we start teaching reading using just the letter sounds (think of the word apple, we do not teach saying apple starts with A but rather apple starts with a). This has led me to a search for apps that South African teachers can use without muting them as the sounds are often half the fun for the kids. There are definitely some out there, and there are a few app developers who have developed apps for South African educators. I will be posting reviews of these apps on this blog soon!

If you would like to see any apps reviewed here, please let me know or if you are an app developer please drop me a line. I would also just like to say thank you to Paula from Big Bug Books for helping me out setting up this blog and for all of her advice!