Work Basket Wednesday

It's been a long time since I've written a post about independent work tasks, but I wanted to get one in before the end of the school year.  At this time of year, I am starting to realize how many pieces are missing from games and center tasks wonder where they all go.  I swear my classroom is like the Bermuda Triangle!  One minute all the pieces are all there, then next some are missing, never to be found again!  At this time of year, I am tired of looking for the missing pieces and am tempted just to throw out the entire game.  But, we have limited resources and funding, so I stop myself and think about how the game can be salvaged.  And the most obvious solution is making them into independent work tasks!

These will be the easiest work tasks that you ever make.  Literally no prep time, and no cost, since they are already resources you have in your classroom!  All of these tasks are made from old games or center tasks that we had in our classroom that we couldn't use anymore due to missing pieces.  These ones were made from lotto games we had with multiple boards and matching pieces, but some of the pieces went missing, so we were no longer able to use them as lotto games.  Now they are matching tasks!

These ones were made from counting peg sets.

And this one is made from a spelling puzzle flashcard set that has missing cards.

And this last one is one of the few cards we had left that had that matching pieces!

So, before you go crazy with your end of the year purging, pause and think about how you can salvage games and make your resources go further!

And don't forget to check out the other great Workbasket Wednesday ideas from Autism Classroom News!

Until next time,

Work Basket Wednesday

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are enjoying this beautiful sunny day!  Today, I am linking up with Christine Reeve at Autism Classroom News for Workbasket Wednesday.  On the first of every month, Christine hosts this link party to share some great ideas for independent work tasks.  This week's theme seems to be Easter, and more specifically eggs!  Christine and Gabrielle from Teaching Special Thinkers have some great ideas for using plastic eggs.  Make sure to check them out!  I do have some egg tasks to share, but am sharing more of the Easter tasks my students have been doing for the last two weeks.

First up are some sorting tasks.  I use a lot of different sorting tasks in my independent work area as most of my students have mastered this skill.  For my Easter sorting tasks, I have used some plastic bunnies I found at the dollar store, plastic eggs and mini erasers.  We had the foam bunnies in our craft cupboard, which I used as sorting mats.  I found the coloured bowls at Dollarama and the coloured baskets are from an egg dyeing kit.

Next, I made some simple put in tasks for my youngest student.  He doesn't have a lot of skills yet, so we need some really easy tasks for him.  I found the bunny in the top photo at Walmart.  It's actually a cup and came with a straw, but I took the straw out and the hole at the top is perfect for these small pompoms we had in our craft cupboard.  I've had the eggs and tray in the bottom photo for a couple of years now and they are great for a different type of put in activity.

I also made this simple task for him, which involves using the spoon to transfer the eggs from one bowl to another.

I also made some assembly tasks, using plastic eggs.  In the first task, the students have to put the hair elastics in the corresponding egg. I found these eggs with the hair elastics already in them at the Dollar Tree.  I love it when I find pre-made tasks!  In the second task, students have to put the eraser in the matching egg.  And in the third task, students match the halves of the egg and put them together.

The next tasks that I have to share today are using Bingo Dauber pages from DLTK-Kids.  I love that this site has pages for all kinds of themes and holidays, and that I can use them several different ways.  In the photo on the right, students simply put the pom poms in the dots, matching the colours.  In the photo on the left, I put alphabet stickers in the dots and students have to find and cover the letter /E/ with bingo chips.

The last task involves decorating Easter eggs, following the model in the photo.  I have four different decorated egg tasks, but I only took a photo of one.  These tasks are made with magnetic pieces that I found at Dollarama years ago.

What's in your workbasket or independent work tasks this week?  I'd love to hear from you!  Leave me a comment or send me an email!  

And don't forget to come back tomorrow to celebrate Autism Awareness Day!  I am participating in a giveaway that you won't want to miss!  Some awesome special education teachers are joining together to give you the chance to win a $50 TPT gift card!  Come back tomorrow for all of the details!

Until then,