We
hope your school year is off to a good start. We always felt the beginning of a
new term was stimulating. Getting to know our new students and their skills and
possibilities was always exciting as was figuring out what was next in learning
for our returning students.
Sometimes
in our early learning classrooms, we have new students who have not yet been introduced
to activities that require them to sustain focus until completion.
This
is an example of a simple put-in task. The objects to put in are visible and
can be turned up or down to fit through the opening. The opening is highlighted
with white tape. To encourage our beginning students to attempt tasks, we
design them so the explanation of what to do is visually clear. They remove
each item from the box top, place it in the opening where it disappears into
the container. It is obvious when the children have completed the task because
all the pegs are gone.
Frequently
we add additional sensory components to beginning tasks to make them more
appealing to individual students, such as watching the chip float down through
the water.
Or textures students
can feel while placing the item.
Gradually
we change the skills required in these simple tasks. In this task below, the
students must figure out which object fits into which opening. Because the
cylindrical spool will not fit into the horizontal slit and the buttons will
not fit into the circular opening, the students discriminate. This is an early
sorting type of task. Focusing attention to problem-solve is an important skill
that they can generalize to other tasks as they progress. Such simple put-in
tasks have valuable implications for our students.
For
hundreds more task ideas and classroom strategies please view our products at www.tasksgalore.com.
