Fall Trees and Apples - Video 1 of 2

Summary

The video showcases an engaging and inclusive learning environment where students explore various activities centered around seasonal themes, particularly autumn and apples. The teacher emphasizes the use of music, storytelling, and interactive experiences to cater to the diverse needs of her students, many of whom have special needs. Through activities like reading, cooking, and sensory experiences, the students learn about seasons and participate in hands-on tasks like making 'autumn toast.' The focus is on creating accessible, enjoyable learning moments that encourage communication, motor skills, and sensory engagement.

Takeaways

• 📚 The lesson centers around the theme of autumn and apples, incorporating various activities to engage the children in different ways.
• 🎶 Music plays an important role in the classroom, helping children warm up, communicate, and stay engaged with the activities.
• 🌳 The teacher uses books as a key part of the lesson, specifically reading about seasons and making the learning interactive with 'story boxes' or 'story bags'.
• 🍏 One of the highlighted activities is a simulated field trip to an apple orchard, giving the children an experience similar to being in a real one.
• 👦 The teacher carefully tailors lessons to meet the sensory needs of her students, many of whom have impairments or limited life experiences due to time spent in hospitals.
• 🥞 A cooking activity, where the children make 'autumn toast' with colored milk, incorporates motor skills and encourages student engagement.
• ✋ Throughout the activities, each child is given a chance to participate, ask for turns, and communicate, ensuring everyone is involved in the process.
• 🌳 The children learn about the different seasons through tactile experiences, like feeling a bare tree for winter and discussing how trees change.
• 🍞 The cooking activity helps develop life skills, with students learning to smash bread, paint with colored milk, and use cookie cutters to make leaf-shaped toast.
• 💪 The teacher emphasizes holding high expectations for students with special needs, believing they are capable of more than what is often assumed, which leads to rewarding outcomes.

Q & A

What is the central theme of the activities mentioned in the script?

The central theme of the activities revolves around autumn and apples, incorporating various educational elements such as reading, cooking, and motor skill development.

How does the teacher use music in the classroom?

The teacher uses music as a tool to engage the children, helping them to get warmed up for activities, stretch, and communicate. Music is a key element that seems to resonate with all the kids, aiding in both learning and engagement.

What is the purpose of using 'story boxes' or 'story bags' during reading time?

The purpose of using 'story boxes' or 'story bags' is to make the reading experience more interactive and engaging for the children. By using objects related to the story, the teacher helps bring the book to life, making it accessible and meaningful for all the students, especially those with sensory or cognitive impairments.

How does the teacher accommodate the special needs of the students during lessons?

The teacher accommodates the students by planning differentiated lessons that meet their individual needs. She ensures that all students have opportunities to participate, engages them through multiple sensory activities, and uses tools like communication devices to help them express themselves.

What kind of cooking activity did the class do, and how was it connected to the theme?

The class made 'autumn toast' using colored milk and bread, connected to the fall season. This activity was integrated into the overall lesson on autumn and incorporated cooking, which the teacher enjoys as it engages the students and helps develop various skills.

How does the teacher make sure every student is engaged in classroom activities?

The teacher makes sure every student is engaged by providing clear opportunities for them to participate, either by requesting turns, giving instructions tailored to their communication needs, or directly involving them in activities such as smashing bread or painting with colored milk.

Why does the teacher place a strong emphasis on high expectations for students with special needs?

The teacher believes that students with special needs are capable of much more than what is often expected of them. By holding them to high expectations, she sees them achieve skills and learn in ways that others may not have anticipated, demonstrating their full potential.

What sensory experiences are incorporated into the reading lesson about seasons?

The reading lesson incorporates sensory experiences such as touching a bare tree to understand winter, smelling syrup to learn about sap, and feeling objects like squirrels and birds that are part of the story. These experiences help students, especially those with sensory impairments, connect with the content.

How are communication skills developed during these classroom activities?

Communication skills are developed by encouraging students to ask for turns, express their preferences, and use assistive devices or gestures to participate in conversations. The teacher prompts them to say 'my turn' or make other simple requests, fostering active participation.

What does the teacher believe is the key to helping her students succeed in learning?

The teacher believes that the key to helping her students succeed is maintaining high expectations and providing them with opportunities to learn in a way that meets their needs. She also emphasizes the importance of creating meaningful experiences that help students engage with the material in a way they can understand.

Outlines

00:00

🎶 The Importance of Music in Learning

The paragraph describes how music plays a crucial role in the classroom, helping engage children in various activities. The teacher discusses how music is used not only for warming up or stretching but also for communication. The kids respond well to music, and the teacher can identify their favorite songs, which encourages participation and engagement in learning activities.

05:00

📚 Bringing Stories to Life with Sensory Experiences

This section emphasizes the value of reading in the classroom and how the teacher uses sensory tools, such as story boxes or bags, to enhance the learning experience. The children are introduced to a book called 'A Tree for All Seasons,' and they actively engage with props like a tree model, touching the branches and discussing the seasons. These activities help make reading an immersive and participatory experience for the kids.

10:01

🌳 Learning Through Sensory Exploration

The paragraph continues the seasonal theme by diving into the concept of winter. The teacher explains the sensory experiences tied to the season, like touching the bare branches of a tree. The use of a squirrel prop allows students to participate actively, helping them understand how animals interact with trees. The focus is on creating learning moments through interaction, touching objects, and engaging with the sensory aspects of the story.

15:05

🍂 Cooking to Connect Learning with Real-Life Experiences

In this part, the focus shifts to a cooking activity tied to the seasonal theme. The children are introduced to the concept of making autumn toast using colored milk. The teacher integrates music into the activity, keeping the kids engaged. Aprons are distributed, and the kids are encouraged to participate by calling out the names of ingredients and taking turns performing tasks. The cooking activity serves as a multi-sensory experience, reinforcing concepts from the story.

20:12

🍞 Hands-on Cooking: Autumn Toast Creation

The students start the process of making autumn toast. They use their hands to smash the bread, paint it with colored milk using a paintbrush, and eventually cut the bread with a leaf-shaped cookie cutter. Each step is detailed, and the children are actively involved, making choices and participating in each stage of the recipe. The paragraph highlights the tactile and hands-on approach to learning through cooking.

25:12

🍁 Reflecting on Learning and High Expectations for Special Needs Students

In the final paragraph, the teacher reflects on the importance of holding high expectations for students with special needs. She discusses how the students, despite their challenges, can accomplish much when they are provided with the right support and opportunities. The paragraph emphasizes the power of believing in the students' abilities and giving them meaningful experiences to foster growth and learning.

Keywords

💡Seasons

Seasons refer to the four periods of the year characterized by changes in weather and natural cycles: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the video, the concept of seasons is used to structure learning activities for children. The teacher introduces the idea of seasonal change through stories like 'A Tree for All Seasons,' helping students understand the transformations that occur in nature, such as bare trees in winter and trees producing sap.

💡Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills involve the coordination of large muscles for movements such as walking, stretching, and dancing. The video illustrates how activities like dancing to music and stretching are used to engage children physically and support their gross motor development. These activities prepare the children for more focused learning by getting them physically active.

💡Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills refer to the control of small muscles in tasks like holding objects, cutting, and painting. In the video, the children engage in activities such as smashing bread with their hands and painting with milk, which help develop their fine motor skills. These tasks are crucial for children to build precision and dexterity in their hands.

💡Sensory Experiences

Sensory experiences engage a child's senses—touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing—to aid learning. The video highlights how sensory activities are vital for children with sensory impairments, such as those with visual or hearing difficulties. The teacher provides hands-on experiences with objects like a squirrel toy, syrup, and textured trees to make the lessons more tangible and accessible.

💡Music

Music is used in the classroom to facilitate learning, communication, and engagement. The video shows how music is an effective tool for these children, as they respond to it with enthusiasm, dancing, stretching, and warming up before academic tasks. Music also helps some children communicate by encouraging them to request songs or participate in singing.

💡Story Boxes

Story boxes are a teaching method that uses physical objects to bring stories to life. In the video, the teacher creates story boxes with items like a toy squirrel and a small bird to accompany the book 'A Tree for All Seasons.' This approach helps children, especially those with sensory impairments, to better grasp the content by making the story more interactive and multisensory.

💡Cooking Activities

Cooking activities combine practical skills and learning in a fun, hands-on way. In the video, the children make 'autumn toast,' involving tasks like smashing bread, painting with colored milk, and using cookie cutters. Cooking not only teaches them about food and seasonal ingredients but also engages their motor skills, teamwork, and ability to follow instructions.

💡Individualized Instruction

Individualized instruction tailors teaching methods to each child's unique needs and abilities. The teacher in the video ensures that every child has opportunities to participate, making sure they understand what is required of them. This is especially important for children with special needs, who may need specific prompts or supports to engage fully in classroom activities.

💡Communication

Communication is emphasized as a crucial aspect of learning, especially for children with speech impairments. The teacher encourages children to use words, gestures, or assistive devices to ask for turns or express preferences, such as saying 'my turn' or choosing between colors. Developing communication skills is a central goal in the classroom environment.

💡High Expectations

High expectations refer to the belief that children with special needs are capable of achieving more than what is often assumed. The teacher in the video holds her students to these high standards, believing in their potential to learn and participate fully in activities, from reading to cooking. This mindset drives the structured, supportive approach seen throughout the classroom activities.

Highlights

Music is used to warm up, stretch, and engage students, catering to their unique preferences and needs.

The classroom integrates music into daily activities to help students communicate, ask for things, and interact with others.

The teacher incorporates a variety of activities like reading, cooking, and sensory experiences to engage students with different learning needs.

A field trip to an 'apple orchard' is set up within the school to give students an experience they might not have access to.

Story boxes and bags with objects related to the book help students with sensory or cognitive challenges better engage with reading material.

Books are made interactive with props and sensory objects, allowing students to physically experience the stories.

Cooking activities, such as making autumn toast, provide opportunities for the students to engage in hands-on learning while incorporating motor skills.

Each student is given a chance to participate in cooking by requesting turns, using communication aids, and learning to follow instructions.

The teacher uses personalized songs and routines to maintain student engagement and prepare them for the activities.

Students are taught to make choices, ask for turns, and follow steps in activities, helping them practice decision-making and communication skills.

The teacher takes time to make sure each child can participate in their own way, adapting the lesson to suit their needs and abilities.

High expectations are set for all students, including those with special needs, as the teacher believes in their capacity to learn and grow.

The cooking activity integrates learning about seasons, sensory exploration, and teamwork in a fun, engaging manner.

Visual aids like a cookie cutter are used to represent autumn leaves, making abstract concepts tangible for students.

The teacher emphasizes that children with special needs can often exceed expectations when provided with the right support and environment.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

you

[Music]

we were doing kind of seasons autumn and

talking about apples and so we kind of

broke that up into a bunch of different

activities that kind of met the needs of

all the kids as well as touched on the

gross motor fine motor academics it kind

of touch on everything so it kind of

started out with some simple reading

books and kind of getting familiar with

the theme and then we move along to some

different things and cooking activities

and I'm kind of culminated with a field

trip to the apple orchard that we kind

of set up in school and made it you know

a time for the kids to go and experience

what it would be like to be in an apple

orchard and all the things that you

might do at an apple orchards you guys

want to do some music to start off so

you can get all ready for our activity

would you like some music you tell us

what you can tell us you tell us you

want some music

hmm what do you want what do you want

some music I know there's all kinds of

fun stuff but look we're gonna do a

little bit of music to start off let's

see just to get you guys warmed up and

stretched out yes would you like some

music music that's right Caleb good

talking like this song you're gonna

dance yeah get warmed up you stretch it

out the rest of your days you wanna

dance

[Music]

there you go get all warmed up you want

to stretch out and get warmed up music

and our classroom is kind of a big deal

music for some reason seems to get

through to so many kids all of my kids I

could probably tell you 2 or 3 favourite

songs for every kid that I have I could

probably tell you a type of music that

they like they just respond so

differently to each you know different

songs and so we use music throughout the

day to do to accomplish different things

sometimes it's a break sometimes it's to

get warmed up and do some stretching

sometimes it's to get the child to

communicate to ask for something you

guys are warm and ready now all right

you guys ready to read our book guess

why it's time to read a book what you

like this tree that's gonna be what our

story's about so it's time to sing our

song to get ready to read it you guys

ready to sing here we go it's time to

read look it's time to read a book it's

time to read it's time to read it's time

to read a book hey all right you ready

to see what yeah you guys ready to see

what our book is about yeah look our

book is called a tree for all seasons

you look at that tree look at that tree

these kids down there you see good job

you want to look William

[Music]

look our book is gonna be about a tree

season that's right you found the trees

good job Caleb look Maurice look what I

got

what is that a tree see it's gonna be a

tree for all seasons you ready to read

it and see what it's about let's check

our book out you ready let's see

year after year trees change from season

to season look at all our seasons we've

got winter where it's nice and cold

reading is one of my favorite things to

teach especially for these kids because

it's so much fun to take a book and make

it really accessible to them and make it

an experience not just a book and so I

love to take books and come up with what

we call story boxes or story bags where

we can you know find a bunch of

different objects or things that would

go along with the story and they get

really involved in it and they can

participate in it and that really kind

of brings the book to life for them and

they're able to get a lot more out of a

literacy experience so we're gonna find

out about all of our seasons and guess

what we're gonna make our tree look like

it goes with all the seasons to here's

our tree we're gonna change it as the

seasons change you ready let's see what

the season is first alright look the

first season we have is winter and

winter the tree is bare can you guys

look at our tree it's bare there's no

leaves you want to touch it so what the

bear tree feels like see there's

branches that's wintertime look Maurice

you touch it

touch those branches that's a winter

tree there's no leaves on it it's bare I

know I'm not crazy

alright let's see what happens in the

winter time what do you need help with

you good all right this street it looks

bad but guess what you like the tree

good job good job

I like how you asked for that the tree

it looks dead but guess what it is alive

and well and many things are happening

let's find out what all is happening

guess what the first thing that's

happening is there are squirrels

squirrels napping in a cozy tree hole

how would you like to see the squirrel

guess what look there's a squirrel

that's squirrel good talking who else

would like to see eye squirrel my turn

[Music]

who else would like a turn with the

squirrel would anybody else like to see

the squirrel you can say my turn

squirrel yep all right my turn William

yes would you like a turn can I help you

let me show you how to find it look you

can say you can say my turn

oh look my my turn yeah see your turn

here's the squirrel you see it did you

see the tail look it's got a bushy tail

that's the score good job Maurice would

you like a turn good job Bri let's see

what else is happening oh look a little

bird sits on a branch and chirps who

could put my bird in the tree look I've

got a little bird you can blink if you

would like a turn would you like a turn

yes you would all right let me bring

this tree over here

clip him right in the tree ready

let's reach let's put him right here in

this branch I wonder look at that that

is really nice what is really important

for people to understand I think about

our students is a lot of times they

don't have the experiences that a lot of

typical kids might have because you know

a lot of these kids have sensory losses

they have visual impairments they have

hearing impairments and just the simple

fact that a lot of them spend a lot of

time in the hospital growing up they you

know just haven't had access to as many

experiences so the books the story boxes

are really about creating those

experiences for our kids so that these

things really come to life for them what

else happens in winter oh look as winter

ends nights are still cold but days are

getting warmer and guess what happens in

the wintertime this is something you

guys will like trees make SAP and we

make syrup from tree sap look we've got

syrup syrup comes from trees see you

want to smell the syrup it smell sweet

smell that we eat syrup on waffles and

pancakes you guys like that don't you so

who would like a turn to taste it

Brianna you can make a sentence and

taste it anybody like to taste the syrup

syrup to taste who wants a turn would

you like to taste the syrup would you

like to taste that all right let's see

what happens next I think winter might

be all done let's see see what comes

next

oh it's time for spring we do cooking

pretty much either every week or every

other week and so for this activity the

one of the cooking activities was making

autumn toast with paint with colored

milk and so we are able to incorporate

so many different things into a cooking

activity and the reason I love cooking

activities is because the kids are

engaged okay guys we're gonna do some

cooking today we've been learned we read

our book about the seasons and we talked

about fall and guess what we're gonna

make a recipe that has to do with it

so first yeah you ready more we're not

going to music right now but you know

what

we are gonna sing our cooking song are

you ready let's get ready to clap here

we go it's cooking time today

it's cooking time today it's cooking

time it's cooking time it's cooking time

today hey alright time to cook you know

we need first when it's time to cook

we need our aprons so let's see when I

call your name let me know you're here

so you can have your apron where is a

boy named William who needs this apron

whose name is William yours put your

apron on what about do I have a Breanna

in the house where's Briana this is this

who needs this apron that says Briana

let's see who else I have I've got one

that says Terrell if your name is

Terrell you could blink and let me know

let's find out what we're cooking who

could tell me the title of our recipe

who could read that for me you can do it

tell us yeah we're gonna make autumn

toast today that's gonna be our recipe

so we're gonna put this right up here

our recipe title is gonna be autumn

toast so let's see there's lots of

things we need to know to make autumn

toast we're gonna need to know our

cooking tools what do we need to cook

who can tell me the first thing we're

gonna need to cook we want Saturn you

think one of them knows let's see if

they want to turn do you want to try to

tell me you do okay tell me the first

thing we need to cook what's one cooking

tool

oh we're gonna need a paintbrush that's

interesting we're not all done we're

just getting started girl William do you

want to tell me what's next oh we need

our toaster let's see we have our

toaster right here I plugged it up let

me unplug it so you can see

not juice we're gonna have a toaster do

you want to see it look toaster yeah and

guess what when you plug it in and it

gets hot you don't want to touch it cuz

it'll be hot hurt your fingers look

toaster

that's a toaster we're gonna use that

yeah look you see that toaster see

toaster good talking toaster there you

go not water toaster look toaster yeah

any time that I do an activity and here

I try to have opportunities for every

student to be able to request a turn

come up and be engaged in what we're

doing because a lot of times with these

kids they unless you come straight to

them and ask them you know tell them

exactly what they need to do to be able

to be involved they might not know you

know I need to press my advice to get

you to pay attention to me that's

something that we work on we've got our

cooking tools we also have some

ingredients we're gonna need who can

tell me the first ingredient we need hmm

Tyrell would you like a turn to tell me

yes get ready here we go

let's push we need milk and guess what

the milk has to stay cold so I need

somebody to get the milk out of the

refrigerator who could do that would you

like to get the milk can you go get the

milk out of the refrigerator all right

let's look at the milk here's what a

milk carton looks like Caleb's getting

our milk out of the refrigerator

look milk

yeah we're gonna need milk for this

food coloring

we're gonna need food coloring for this

cooking activity let's see see food

coloring yeah we're gonna need to make

that milk some different colors see food

coloring oh you got it off look Breanna

we need food coloring good job see

Maddie coloring

oh not yet look I need food coloring for

this see so those are ingredients now

we're ready we're ready to find out the

steps of our recipe and start cooking

would you like to be the first can you

read the first step in our recipe

alright we're gonna need to use our

hands to smash some red so let me give

you a plate and a piece of bread and

we're gonna do our first step so Briana

told us that we need to smash the bread

with our hands so here's our very first

step we're gonna use our hands to smash

the bread okay can you do that you're

gonna use your hands to smash the bread

ready the good reading

use your hands to smash the bread good

job I like how you're reading this

alright that's our first step see if

everybody can do that step can you smash

it you ready to roll let's do yours here

we go and use our hands smash the bread

good job let's see who can read the

second step who wants a turn William

would you like to do it can you push and

see what our next step we already read

that one try again push again

oh we need our paintbrush we're gonna

paint some colored milk on our bread so

let's make some colors who can pour the

milk for me all right we've got our

colored milk who's ready to paint it on

who wants to paint got our very clean

paintbrush here who wants to start off

with painting would you like to paint

yours first no you don't want to be

first would you like to be first yeah

all right would you like to start with

red or green colors your Leafs gonna be

do you think it should be red or do you

think it should be green you like red

all right red for Maddy so everybody

have some color on their bread looks

like it all right let's put our second

step out that's what we did we use our

paintbrush to paint colored milk on our

bread that was our second step we'll put

it on our board with our number two

because it was our second step let's see

who can read our next step what do we

need to do next somebody over here like

a turn Maddy

Tyrell would you like a turn

who wants a turn do it

oh you want a turn oh look Maddy wants

one maybe you can go Moo's okay ready

can you push look you get it now we need

to cut our bread with our cookie cutter

and look at our cookie cutter we have a

cookie cutter Oh would you like a turn

Terrell I see you raising your hand over

here would you like to be the first

person to cut it you can use the leaf

cookie cutter we've got a leaf cookie

two cuts we're gonna make some autumn

leaves you ready let's push it on here

and show everybody how you do it here we

go push use those hands and push push

push push push push

good job and guess what we made you made

a leaf shape look at that

are you reaching up to get it look you

made a leaf out of your bread good job

all right who else is gonna do it you

want to turn tell me my turn turn my

turn don't what oh you don't want to

turn okay oh that's Briana's you have

one what can you use your whole sentence

my turn

do you like a turn who wants to cut

their bread that was a good setup and

then Brianna you'll be next alright our

third step was cutting the bread with

our cookie cutter we'll put it up we did

that step number three all right there's

one more step would you like to tell us

Brianna alright step we need to toast

the bread and then we get to eat it who

wants to toast their bread hmm

who wants to come up here and put their

bread in the toaster you want to alright

bring it on up alright and guess what

our last step we get to eat our bread

let's put it up here and we can eat our

bread who wants to taste their bread

miss MacFarlane is an effective teacher

because she is a competent caring

nurturing teacher she takes the time to

intentionally plan her lessons for her

students to differentiate instruction to

meet their individual needs as you can

see you know investing her classroom

every moment in her classroom is a

learning opportunity for her students

and she keeps them engaged they sing she

talks to them constantly I've never met

the teacher who talks as much as she

does during the day but she's constantly

in communication and talking with them

to keep them engaged in what they're

learning now that we made our toast

let's see if we can remember what our

recipe was do our worksheet all right so

the first thing we need to think about

is what our ingredients were for our

recipe so let's see I need one person

that can tell me the first ingredient we

use who thinks they could tell me you

can make a choice hmm

some whatever here want to do it would

you like to make a choice and tell me

you can tell me you want to turn all

right so the question is what is one of

the ingredients we use our recipe did we

use bread or did we use a banana what

did we use in our recipe we used bread

that's right we use bread so I'm gonna

give you all a daughter give you a

daughter and you need to stamp bread

Brianna told us that we use bread there

it is now you know we used bread all

right who else can tell me another

ingredient we used

who can tell me somebody over here would

you like to make a choice true yeah look

I'm gonna ask you a question I need to

know if we used pudding in our recipe or

if we used food coloring in our recipe

all right so your turn to answer did we

use pudding in our recipe or did we use

food coloring in our recipe we try again

you wake all the way back up for me have

those eyes so you can make a choice yes

would you like to make the choice maybe

Tyrell can you make a another one of our

choices all right we'll let you think

about it okay

Maurice which did we use in our recipe

pudding or food coloring food coloring

you're right so you guys can mark food

coloring the last thing we need to do is

to put our recipe steps in order for

cooking so I need somebody who can tell

me what the first step in our recipe was

who thinks they know hmm who knows what

the first step was Brianna would you be

able to tell me can you answer a

question for me look was the first thing

we did in our recipe did we use our

hands to smash the bread or did we toast

it and eat it first which one was first

Oh Maddie's trying to help you out which

one was first smashing the bread we're

eating it smashing the bread that's

right that was the first thing we did so

we'll pass around our number one and you

can stamp it someone can tell me the

second thing we did Terrell would you

like to tell me the second thing yes all

right was the second thing we did did we

use our paintbrush to paint the colored

milk on the bread or did we toast the

bread and eat it alright your turn to

answer did we use a paintbrush to paint

the color we did you already know you're

answering me before I finish that was

the second thing we did you are so right

guess what that's our whole recipe it's

all done so cooking time is all done you

did it look cooking time is all done you

did it I am very passionate about

students with special needs still being

held to high expectations because I

believe that they are able to do so much

and they're able to do so much more than

a lot of time is what is expected of

them from just just in the community a

lot of people see kids these kids

sometimes and think oh they they're not

going to be able to do that don't make

up you know don't make them do that but

when you hold them to that expectation

and you have high expectations for them

you see them learn things that people

never thought they would be able to do

and they are capable of so much and all

you have to do is have that expectation

and believe that they can do it and a

lot of times they can't

[Music]