Warm Fuzzies, The Reward Book, & Intrinsic Motivation

Adapted Books: Colors | Primary and Special Education

Teaching kindergarten in a rural area of Florida for the past four years has taught me that not all kindergarteners start school knowing their colors. I can’t wait to use these books let my teacher friends borrow these books at the beginning of next school year (I keep forgetting I won’t be in the classroom next year!!)  

The real photographs are great conversation starters for students who need more vocabulary!

Each book takes about 6-8 minutes to make. I use this ProClick binding machine:

Even my most emergent readers stay engaged during independent reading while using this interactive, engaging book!

Grab all 10 of these books from my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking the picture below! :)

Behavior Contracts | Primary and Special Education | ADHD

Do you have a student that is repeatedly calling out in class, no matter how many times you’ve addressed raising his hand and waiting to be called on? Or a student that is constantly disrupting/distracting other students?  

A great way to address unwanted behavior in a classroom setting is a behavior contract. 

Behavior Strategy Books for ADHD

The first page introduces the book to the student. Drawing pictures of their emotions will help them connect to these emotions as they happen in real life. Discuss situations they feel these emotions in, letting them know it is appropriate to feel these at different times in our life.

This page allows the teacher to understand what the student feels is most/least distracting. This can sometimes help a teacher who is unsure of what to try next. The distractors can seem hidden to us as teachers, but so obvious to the student. The first way to make progress is to identify the problems. 

This page encourages the student to think about what rules they know of and the consequences for breaking the rules. Sometimes just talking about what is appropriate/not appropriate will improve behaviors. This page can easily be referenced in real situations… “Remember that rule you mentioned? What is the consequence?” …to prevent the behavior from occurring.

This checklist provides an opportunity for the student to help the teacher understand them better. Tell students to be honest with what they want you to know. All of this information is used to gain a better understanding of how to help this child. 

A to-do list, which comes in two sizes, can be used for anything you want the student to complete. The items on the list should accommodate the student, not hinder them. For example, some students can handle having a week’s worth of assignments/things to do, where some students need it broken down by day or even by hours. If parents are having trouble at home, have them use the to-do list for regular routines such as brushing teeth, completing homework, etc.

Goal setting is always a great way to start a discussion about change. The student has to be motivated to change their behavior and goal planning for future, weekly, and daily can help with that. Again, this planning sheet can be used in any way, but is designed for future, weekly, and daily goals to be aligned. Each goal should get more specific.