August 18, 2016
Writing a question or statement on a whiteboard and having students respond during the school day is becoming increasingly popular. It can be used as way to check in with students about a current topic and initiate discussion. Shown is one way to bring in the SGM® icons. Put this board in view after lunch on the first day of school. You may also post the SGM® Feelings Poster. Ask the students to write one word to describe how they were feeling before coming to school and one to describe how they currently are feeling...
August 16, 2016
Getting students back in the swing of a new school year can be a challenge. Here is an idea to help make this transition easier. Ask the students what their favorite summer memory is… Have them think about where they were (Setting) and what they did there. To help facilitate the sharing of these ideas students may use the SGM® resources as shown below. Invite students to orally share these memories with the group. I used a removable adhesive tape so that I could display student work on the poster board as they orally shared memories. This lends itself especially well to teachers/interventionists/therapists who travel from class to class and who work with multiple grade levels...
August 04, 2016
It’s never too early to begin planning for a new school year. I know that my colleagues and I were always preparing our classrooms and sharing ideas all summer long! Here is a simple idea for the first day of school to use with students. This activity may be modified to meet the needs of your students. You can use MindWing’s Icon STAMPede Stamp Activity Set to print the paper. (You can use the other stamps for activities to reinforce the Setting, Kick-Off, Feelings, etc.) 1. Review the SGM icons. Talk about the Character icon. 2. Print as many character icons as needed, two of each color. 3. Laminate and cut the icons out. (These may be used all year to group students for other activities as well and are easily stored to be used with your groups!)...
July 12, 2016
If you’re looking for a entertaining, summertime activity to do with preschoolers or kindergarten students, get a copy of the book Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill. This book was originally published in 1980 and was the first book in the Spot series. This engaging lift–the-flap book will bring you and your students on Sally’s journey to find her pup, Spot, in the house so that he will eat his supper. It’s the perfect book to reinforce the Descriptive Sequence and focus on the Character and Setting icons using Braidy the StoryBraid After reading (or viewing on YouTube) the book, make a list of characters (Sally, Spot, bear, snake, hippo, bird, lion, monkey, alligator, penguin, turtle) with the students...
July 07, 2016
Setting is a key area of instruction for students on the autism spectrum not only because they tend not to observe the “expected behaviors” or script for a given setting, but also because they often leave out details about Setting when telling stories to others, thus resulting in loss of a point of reference and confusion on the part of their listener. Students in social thinking/skills groups or individual treatment would therefore benefit from building descriptive skills through the use of the Setting Map contained in It’s All About the Story and other SGM resources. Once again, as visual and kinesethetic learners, working with resources they can see and manipulate assists in building these skills...
June 27, 2016
Recently, I came across two books at my local library that both had the same Kick-Off: Hiccups for Elephant by James Preller and Clifford’s Hiccups adapted by Suzanne Weyn. In each, the main Character in the story has the hiccups. Maryellen Moreau has completed a workshop activity using the Preller book shown below. In the Hiccups for Elephant book, the hiccups that the elephant has is an Initiating Event (Kick-Off) for the animals in the forest who do not like being awakened by the hiccups, and each have a remedy to offer. The elephant, himself, is not seeking a remedy...