Resources and Tips
Alternatives to Laminating (and other things. . . )
We all know that laminating materials for the classroom can get VERY expensive but if it is not protected, it probably won't last the week. Here are a few suggestions that we have used in our classrooms (or that we have found online) to keep our materials safe and cut the cost along the way!
Tired of laminating, try:
Tired of laminating, try:
- Copying a book or activity pages and putting them in sheet protectors. When you are done with the book, store the in a folder so you can reuse them.
- Packing tape (for smaller item)! Simply tape over the front and back of the item you need protected and create a seal with your fingernail. The tape sticks to itself well and you won't have to worry about little pockets of air on your image.
- Contact paper, it's an oldie but still a goodie. Contact paper can be purchased at a few widths and is relatively cheaper then having something laminated. A huge perk when using contact paper is that your item had a softer feel and you can easily round the edges out. The only drawback is making sure you lay the contact paper down perfectly without any air bubbles.
- Magnets! Magnets are a great way to reduce the sound of Velcro tearing in your classroom and can be purchased by the roll with an adhesive backing to them.
- Attaching a piece of Velcro to a piece of tape. This way, if you are rotating items, you can just attach the piece of tape (with the Velcro on it) to your item and you would not have to waste a large quantity of materials on something that is not used very often.
A-Zs of Adapting Books
There is so much literature available online about how to adapt books, it would be silly to reinvent the wheel without looking at what has already been invented. Here are two A-Zs of How to Adapt Books with suggestions, ideas, and links to try. The first link will take you to a PDF and the second will take you to a word document.
http://www.vcu.edu/ttac/images/Handout_for_A-Z_of_Adapting_Books_for_Students_with_Disabilities_in_Virginia.pdf
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncatp.org%2Fforms%2520pp%2520documents%2Faota%2520conference%2520forms%2Faota%2520confernece%2Fa-z%2520of%2520adapting%2520books.doc&ei=tbpiUeesDaHN2QXFq4CoAQ&usg=AFQjCNE4dW-fCQG1JC_ThzFE5HLTi-b6Tg&sig2=IVv10m658_4ldP4Bvxix5w
http://www.vcu.edu/ttac/images/Handout_for_A-Z_of_Adapting_Books_for_Students_with_Disabilities_in_Virginia.pdf
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncatp.org%2Fforms%2520pp%2520documents%2Faota%2520conference%2520forms%2Faota%2520confernece%2Fa-z%2520of%2520adapting%2520books.doc&ei=tbpiUeesDaHN2QXFq4CoAQ&usg=AFQjCNE4dW-fCQG1JC_ThzFE5HLTi-b6Tg&sig2=IVv10m658_4ldP4Bvxix5w
Bookshelf and Book Covers
This bookshelf image is the example that we provided at the IAEYC Conference. By adding three rows of velcro to the bookshelf, you can create a different representation of the books available in your classroom. Additional advantages of having three rows of velcro are that you include however many books you would like and organize them in whatever categories you choose. This bookshelf can be extremely helpful for students who have a difficult time communicating their preferences. This bookshelf can also be used when allowing students to select books that are not typically available to them or when allowing the students to choose a book related activity. For example, a lot of my felt board activities are based on popular books my students enjoy; I have a bookshelf page devoted just to activities that I have created for books for which I have a flannel board activity.
In addition, I have also included a popular selection of book covers to print out, laminate, and velcro. It is important to have the image on the cover of your book as your velcro piece as students should visually match their velcro piece to their selected book cover.
Bookshelf (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/cv9i5zcwwqlv64r/Book%20Shelf.pdf
Eric Carle Book Covers (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/tttpiu2uqlsmwbx/Eric%20Carle%20Books.pdf
Eric Carle Book Covers (bm) https://www.dropbox.com/s/byrl0zinktjvsrx/Eric%20Carle%20Books.bm2
Common Book Covers (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/f36csp0e74ysfuy/Common%20Classroom%20Books.pdf
Common Book Covers (bm) https://www.dropbox.com/s/bp97ho77aqrcdbt/Common%20Classroom%20Books.bm2
In addition, I have also included a popular selection of book covers to print out, laminate, and velcro. It is important to have the image on the cover of your book as your velcro piece as students should visually match their velcro piece to their selected book cover.
Bookshelf (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/cv9i5zcwwqlv64r/Book%20Shelf.pdf
Eric Carle Book Covers (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/tttpiu2uqlsmwbx/Eric%20Carle%20Books.pdf
Eric Carle Book Covers (bm) https://www.dropbox.com/s/byrl0zinktjvsrx/Eric%20Carle%20Books.bm2
Common Book Covers (pdf) https://www.dropbox.com/s/f36csp0e74ysfuy/Common%20Classroom%20Books.pdf
Common Book Covers (bm) https://www.dropbox.com/s/bp97ho77aqrcdbt/Common%20Classroom%20Books.bm2
Literacy Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Other Disabilities
This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs, Autism spectrum disorders, Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Developmental apraxia, or Multiple disabilities. The website provides information on what skills to teach, how to teach these skills, and it contains videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs.
http://aacliteracy.psu.edu/Home.html
http://aacliteracy.psu.edu/Home.html
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education has a collection of adapted books and materials. They were created with Boardmaker, Writing with Symbols, and PowerPoint software. They have also been converted to .pdf format as well. Many of the examples on this website include pictures of students; in order to best adapt the books to your classroom, replace the pictures in the book with pictures of your own students.
http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/Literacy/AdaptedBooks/default.htm
http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/Literacy/AdaptedBooks/default.htm
Speaking of Speech New Resource!
This website has a great variety of Boardmaker boards (all in pdf format) that are well organized and quick to download. The majority of people who post to this website are speech and language pathologists. In addition to the communication boards, they have strong lesson plan ideas and good data collection tools. They even have a section of helpful ideas for IEP goal writing!
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/AugCom_Materials.html
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/AugCom_Materials.html
Sublime Speech
This blog was created and written by Danielle Reed, a speech and language pathologist from Missouri. This blog has a few visual examples of how you can adapt board books along with links to some of the adaptive images and text she has created. The files are downloadable in both Board Maker and PDF. She has links to materials for: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, My Many Colored Days, The Very Busy Spider, and The Foot Book.
http://sublimespeech.blogspot.com/2012/06/augmenting-board-books.html
http://sublimespeech.blogspot.com/2012/06/augmenting-board-books.html
The Daycare Resource Connection
The Daycare Resource Connection is a website that provides resources on various daycares in different areas of the country. This website has a GREAT collection of flannel board activities based on popular children's books. Some of their resources come from the website www.kizclub.com. A great idea that I saw here was to adapt flap books for the flannel board by adding small magnets to keep the flaps closed until the students open them.
http://www.daycareresource.com/flannelstories37642.html
http://www.daycareresource.com/flannelstories37642.html
What Can I Copy?
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, each child has the right to free access to the general curriculum to meet the challenging expectations established for all children. When working with students with disabilities, part of providing free access to the general curriculum is modifying the curriculum to meet the individual students' needs. As long as you own a copy of the specific book that you would like to adapt, and you would be adapting or modifying the book to meet the needs of a students with disabilities, teachers are able to scan, copy, and manipulate a book in order to create a successful learning environment for the students.