Adapted books are great for exposing your special education students to holidays and seasonal events. Sometimes we get stuck in a routine of our typical work tasks that we forget to give our students opportunities to practice their new skills in novel ways. This is particularly relevant at the end of the school year! I am certainly guilty of sticking to the tried and true, already prepped, mostly independent tasks as the year winds down.
Earth Day is one of the holidays easily overlooked in a special education classroom. Last year I made Earth Day BINGO and spinner games and we probably did an art project (apparently it wasn’t memorable). I wanted something more meaningful so I created this adapted book. Each page has a few short sentences of text and a single picture. There is an associated WH question for students to answer as a comprehension check. Each answer card has a picture and text.
Here’s what a page would look like after you did your usual print-laminate-cut-velcro prep procedure. Students read the statement and corresponding question. Then they move the answer card from the bottom field of 3 to the dotted answer box. Easy peasy. Except answering WH questions is typically very challenging for my students!
After just using the adapted book, I decided to add reading comprehension worksheets. My students’ ‘paper and pencil’ abilities are wide ranging so I made five differentiated versions – from fill in the blank to multiple choice to tracing. These are a great way to add a writing component to this activity.
You can find the book in my Teachers Pay Teachers store – Earth Day Adapted Book.
