Hello ELS families!
I hope everyone has been staying warm! Did you know it was colder in Chicago than Antarctica this week? Besides the cold weather, January has been a month full of exciting activities!
New activity alert!! This month we met Curly the dog and Vicki who will be coming to visit twice a month for pet therapy. Students and staff could not stop smiling the whole time our guests came to visit. Curly was full of energy and was excited to show off his tricks. Students practiced greeting, grasping toys, turn taking and following directions with Curly. The whole class loved when Curly pretended to go to sleep, then woke up!
I hope everyone has been staying warm! Did you know it was colder in Chicago than Antarctica this week? Besides the cold weather, January has been a month full of exciting activities!
New activity alert!! This month we met Curly the dog and Vicki who will be coming to visit twice a month for pet therapy. Students and staff could not stop smiling the whole time our guests came to visit. Curly was full of energy and was excited to show off his tricks. Students practiced greeting, grasping toys, turn taking and following directions with Curly. The whole class loved when Curly pretended to go to sleep, then woke up!
This month we have been practicing asking for help and identifying employees at the store. On community, we went to Home Depot. Students identified employees by their orange smock and used cue cards to ask for help finding items at the store. One of the employees demonstrated cutting wood for our class. It was very loud! Students also asked for help to locate the plant section. Students worked together to pick out a few small plants to purchase for our classroom collection.
A favorite News-2-You theme this month was yoga. The class participated in farm animal yoga. We talked about different ways to adapt yoga poses. During cooking, we made yoga yogurt, which was delicious! Another favorite News-2-You theme was dinosaurs. We talked about fossils and made our very own fossils during Adapted Art. We also made dinosaur dip during cooking. The dip was a huge hit! Students said it was the best recipe we have cooked this year!
Students have been working on their bowling skills this month in Adaptive PE. There have been lots of strikes and spares! I am hoping our class will be able to go to a bowling alley for one of our community field trips. How fun would that be!
Check out some pictures from a paper chain making contest we had on a Fun Friday with our peers! Some students used adaptive scissors to cut paper to make the chains.
Upcoming events:
2/6: Cultural Arts Assembly
2/7: Community
2/7: Pet Therapy
2/14: Valentine’s Day/ Class Parties
2/18: No School- President’s Day
2/19: No School- Institute Day
2/21: Community
2/21: Pet Therapy
2/22: 4th Grade Musical Performance
3/1: No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences (I will be reaching out individually to schedule a time for conferences)
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!
Best,
Hannah Lederman
2/6: Cultural Arts Assembly
2/7: Community
2/7: Pet Therapy
2/14: Valentine’s Day/ Class Parties
2/18: No School- President’s Day
2/19: No School- Institute Day
2/21: Community
2/21: Pet Therapy
2/22: 4th Grade Musical Performance
3/1: No School- Parent/Teacher Conferences (I will be reaching out individually to schedule a time for conferences)
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!
Best,
Hannah Lederman