When are we cooking?

"What are we cooking?" my students say
"Wait and see" I answer politely
"Wash your hands, get into between those fingers"
"I'll wait til you're quiet"
"Don't sneeze into your hand, buddy"
"Go wash them again"
Step 1- Read the ingredients
"No voices while I'm reading"
Step 2- Complete the steps
"Everyone take turns now"
Step 3- Eat your creation
"What do you think"
"Thumbs up or thumbs down?"
"Let's clean up!"
"Take this to the garbage"
"Please throw your trash away"
"Time for dishes!"
"Let's review--what was in it? Was it good? Was it healthy? Would you make it again?"
Until next week....
We cook on Fridays.


This is a conversation I have every Friday with all of my students. We have a curriculum that has a weekly topic that has a recipe that goes with it. Each Friday we cook the recipe and my students are really good at going through the steps and taking turns adding ingredients, stirring and combining ingredients together. I was thinking of what groceries I needed to buy for Friday when I wrote this. In the past, I have had my students write about the steps that we took when we cooked. It's a good opportunity for writing a process.

Here is some of my writing for my students. In special education, we work a lot on correct behaviors for certain situations and how to properly respond to scenarios that may happen inside and outside of the school day. Fire drills are something that are continually a problem with my students, especially when they go longer than necessary. They aren't outright disruptive, but they can get ansy, not follow directions or get distracted/overstimulated by all of the noise. We use documents called social stories to help students through these types of situations. Here is one I wrote for fire drills:

Fire Drills

When we go out for fire drills, we have to stay safe.
When the fire alarm goes off, I know to line up with my class
We walk in a single file line
When I stand in line, I use a whisper voice
It's important to stay quiet so I can hear any directions
When the alarm turns off, I know that it is almost time to go in
I look to my teacher to tell me when
When I walk with my class, I stay quiet until we get back to class

These social stories are typically used for students with Autism. I do have several other students, including one with Down Syndrome, that these types of stories are good for as well. Carol Grey makes an entire book of social scenarios, complete with pictures. I love her book and use it often when I have a student that is continually not following directions. These are so helpful to introduce when students will be doing something new or going somewhere they have never been before. One of my favorite social stories is for riding the bus. I have got quite a few riders that have frequent issues and write-ups. I like to make up new social stories because sometimes the ones in my books are too long or too involved for the student that I need them for. Simplifying the stories has been key to them being successful with my students.