Happy New Year

December was such as busy month! I had such tunnel vision, moving day to day, looking forward to surviving the holidays and relaxing in the new year. So the holidays are over, and now I can take the time with my students to really focus on their learning goals.

Part of my new year's resolution, (other than losing weight) is to actually get ahead and get better prepared for upcoming events. We try at Lessonpix to do well by doing good. Personally, I have seen some incredible parents, teachers, and therapists working with children - and I believe in you and appreciate what you do. I know there are so many resources out there, but it can be overwhelming and expensive. Our ulimate goal is to provide affordable, quality resources in one location to help promote language and learning to all children. With your input we hopefully can help our users build and use a great resource.

So right now with LessonPix, I am drawing more items related to winter and spring holidays. Here are some holidays that we are working on at this time:

Winter

Living in Florida, my students don't have a real understanding of snow or seasons. So I bring my margarita machine to make "snow" (no added flavoring!) and put the snow in our water table. The children figure how to manipulate gloves and  LOVE playing in the snow. For my non verbal children, they are highly motivated to request going to the snow table using picture cards. My children with behavior needs learn to share in a small group and work together to create a snowman. For more ideas... check out the Snowman Theme Ideas Article. Some great pictures for winter include Snowman Feelings Pictures, and Winter Pictures.

With the winter theme, I enjoy doing a book study on The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We read other versions as well for comparison. The students lace mitten shapes and sequence character picture cards. For more ideas on The Mitten book theme, check out this article and The Mitten pictures.

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King Day is a great time for teaching about diversity, acceptance, friendship, and history. Here are some Lesson Plan Ideas to teach about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is a great time to connect learning social skills and being a good friend through to Valentine's day.

Groundhog's Day

Groundhog's day is a fun day to tie in learning to observation skills, weather, and animals. Here are some beginning ideas to use in lessons on Groundhog's day.

I will continue to build ideas and pictures for Valentine's Day, 100th Day of School, President's Day and St. Patrick's Day. Please remember, we LOVE your image requests, materials ideas, and lesson ideas. Just click on the help button in the top right corner and write your comment or questions. And again, thank you for being a part of the LessonPix community and for all you do!

Lori

(PS. Next post- I promise to keep it shorter!)