Social Skills Building for Special Education Students

School:: Freeport Elementary
Subject:: Low Performing Students
Teacher:: MacKenzie Kirkland
Students Impacted:: 40
Grade:: K-5
Date:: September 30, 2022

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The Alys Foundation - $704.87

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 37

I work with 37-40 3rd and 4th graders that are low performing special educaiton students. I purchased items to increase social skills and help students regulate emotions. I had a goal for my students to be at 80% accuracy towards their social-emotional (social skills) goals and the students are at 82% accuracy. I have seen students grow through direct social skills instruction using the items that were purchased. They have increased skills in the areas of taking turns, using appropriate language, and following directions through game play and journaling. They have also been able to better regulate emotions utlizing the self-calming strategies/items purchased. I am proud to see the progress that has been made and know that the grants items made a huge impact on each student and gave them practice in skills that help them throughout their entire lives.

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

I would like to help my students improve their social-emotional skills and meet their individual goals this school year.

What will be done with my students

I will use the social-emotional activities to directly instruct my students on proper social skills and meet their individualized social-emotional goals. I will help develop their social skills through collaborative activities and games where they can role play and work through problems and frustrations in a safe space. I will also use the sensory items to help students that need a break from their general education classroom setting to work through strong emotions and deal with sensory overload.

Benefits to my students

My students struggle with social skills and often lack appropriate skills to interact with their peers and adults throughout the school day. Some have experienced trauma and struggle with controlling their emotions and working through strong feelings. I have other students that are autistic and need to work on interacting with their peers and games are a great way to do that. I want to give them a safe space in my classroom where they can come to take a break and engage in sensory calming activities. I also want to help them build social skills strategies that they can use to be successful in their classrooms and in their daily lives.

Budget Narrative

All items are available online at Lakeshorelearning.com.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Jumbo Tactile Tangle	$24.99
2	Sensory Rings	$19.99
3	Fidget Monster	$9.99
4	Fidget Monster	$9.99
5	Lakeshore Sensory Ball Set	$49.99
6	Hoberman Sphere	$17.99
7	Tilt & Turn Liquid Sensory Windows	$59.99
8	Cuddly Puppy Weighted Lap Pad	$59.99
9	Let’s Talk! Conversation Starters	$19.99
10	Gel-Bead Emotion Friends	$14.99
11	Social-Emotional Classroom Activity Kit - Gr. 3-5	$359.00
12	Fidget Poppers - Set of 4	$19.99
13	Pop & Play Sensory Dimpl™	$12.99
14	The Maze Cube	$24.99
	Total:	$704.87

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