1st Grade Special Education Activities (by date, oldest first)

Now digital and printable!

Serve up some phonics fun with this pizza-themed vowel sound sorting activity! Print, laminate, and cut out the pizza crusts and pepperonis. Your students will sort the pepperonis onto the correct pizzas by matching the pictures to the vowel sounds they contain. These fun pizzas will help your students learn to differentiate vowel sounds for all vowels. Clip art from Pink Cat Studio, Anika, and Preschool Curriculum

For more foodie fun, download my Sight Word Spaghetti!

Follow me on Instagram for sneak peeks into my classroom!

Based on ability level, students can use the single tens frame and the number cards to represent a given number using manipulatives. Students who are ready for more of a challenge can roll dice to create an addition problem and use the tens frames to represent and solve the addition problem using manipulatives.

Students will gain practice identifying and spelling primer level Dolch sight words with this fun spaghetti and meatballs game. Allow the students to select a spaghetti word bowl, or the teacher can "order" specific words on fun "Let me take your order" sheets. Perfect for small group instruction or early finishers. Print all sheets and laminate. Cut apart. You can add velcro pieces if you like to keep the metball letters secured to the spaghetti bowls.

Use these task cards for math centers. Students can match the word problem to the picture equation and fill in their answers on the answer sheet provided. Equations cover numbers 1-10. Perfect for early elementary and special education. This will be a growing bundle as I add more task cards and answer sheets, so get it now to save!

This no prep activity allows students to show what they've learned in the Parts of an Insect Emergent Reader or use it alone or as part of your own insect unit.

Students will sort crawly creatures into two categories: Insects or Not! A paragraph is included at the top to make sure the students remember just what makes an insect an insect.

Also available- Parts of an Insect Labeling Activity

Buy all products in the Insect Unit Bundle at a discounted price!

No book? No problem! A link to the story read aloud on YouTube is included!

Use with the book There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Ghost. Students can read the story and use the pictures to sequence the events of the story as they add pictures to their haunted house windows.

Included in the OLD LADY STORY BUNDLE

This is just one page of my St. Patrick's Day Math Activity Bundle! Students can use the pictures to count the groups and find their combined totals. This is a great way to introduce and practice addition with your young learners or your learners in special education. This worksheet uses fun St. Patrick's Day clipart from CK Clipart.

This fun St. Patrick's Day activity uses the story There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Clover to get students excited about sequencing!

Don't have the book? Don't worry! A link to listen to the book read aloud on YouTube is included in the download on the directions page.

Students will listen to the book and sequence the images from the story.

I have listed SEVEN ways to differentiate this activity to make it suitable for every student in your classroom- no extra planning time or accommodations required!

This product can also be found in a sequencing bundle along with several other "Old Lady Who" stories for every season!

Students will color leaves red and yellow, glue them to their tree trunks, and construct a single digit math problem using the visuals!

Turn Easter Peeps into a fun play dough! Includes recipe and investigation report. More information can be found in my blog post here!

8 math activity mats and graphic organizers for early math standards.

Your kindergarten and first grade students will love these activity mats to make math learning and practice more hands on! They are perfect for students in special education, as well.

Roll it Mats: Use dice and manipulatives to roll, make, and write numbers and simple addition problems

Part-Part-Whole Mats: Use with manipulatives to create simple addition problems

Number Tracing: Students will trace numbers 1-10 on the top and then try their own writing to write the numbers on the bottom.

Roll-a-Problem: Use dice to create simple addition problems. Students can draw the dots of the dice or write the number in the boxes provided.

How Many?: For use with counting collections

*Updated to include single digit addition cards for use with the Part-Part-Whole mats.*

Phonics skills-based differentiated "Guess Who Game" for Digraphs TH and SH

Get ready to supercharge your students' phonics skills with our printable pdf "Guess Who" game!  This game is the ultimate tool for helping your students improve their spelling and reading  decodable words with digraphs. With its fun and engaging gameplay, your students won't even  realize they're learning!  

This game is perfect for students of all ages and skill levels, and it's easy to use. Simply print out  the game sheets and let your students get to work. They'll love trying to guess the mystery word by  reading and spelling out the decodable words with digraphs.  

This "Guess Who" game is designed to make learning phonics fun and exciting. It's a great way to  reinforce the skills your students are learning in the classroom, and it's also a fantastic tool for at home learning.  

So what are you waiting for? Help your students become phonics superstars with our "Guess Who"  game today! 

Engage your elementary school ELA students by using this phonics game to practice reading words with digraphs TH and SH. Ideas for differentiation and prompting are included to ensure the game is suitable for students of all academic levels.

This activity is perfect for elementary school reading and ELA centers, elementary school reading and ELA lesson plans, small group instruction, extra help sessions, early finishers, group/partner work, classroom competitions, individual practice, and so much more. 

What's included

• 24 "word pile" cards
• 24 red board inserts
• 24 blue board inserts
• 24 red question prompts
• 24 blue question prompts
• Directions for five different ways to play (for individual players, two players, or small group)
• Guess Who game board linked here (NOT INCLUDED IN DOWNLOAD)

You may also like the Guess Who Reading Games Bundle

If you like this product check out others at my store by clicking here.

Feel free to reach out to me rebekah@rebekahpoeteaching with any questions you may have or find me on Instagram @RebekahPoeTeaching

Get your students up and moving with this fun Hopscotch Math activity! Digital and printable version are included.

Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk. Toss bean bags (a folded pair of socks works too!) on to two numbers. Write the numbers in the boxes and solve the equation. Then hop to the numbers to get the bean bags and begin again!

For the digital version, type the numbers into the text boxes.

If you do not have sidewalk chalk, they can pick two numbers from the hopscotch image included on the worksheets. Alternatively, they can use a pack of playing cards (numbers only) to draw numbers.

Students will LOVE this interactive phonics activity where they select the letter that makes the beginning sound of the pictures shown on the card. With fun sound effects, they will know when they have chosen the correct answer.

Play a preview by clicking HERE

Download the PDF and click the image to get access to the Boom Cards!

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Readhere for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial.

Print and laminate alphabet arc, picture cards, and arrow. Punch a hole where indicated on the alphabet arc and attach the arrow to the arc with a brad. 

Students will draw a picture card, place it in the box under the arc, and match the picture to its beginning sound (with the exception of boX for X) by rotating the spinning arrow to point to the correct letter. Alternately, students could turn over a card and place it in front of them, rotate the arrow to the correct letter, and then write the letter with a dry erase marker in the box below the arc for additional writing practice. Pictures coordinate with the key words from the Phonics First program, but this product is in no way related to Orton-Gillingham or its affiliates.

Clip art from PicMonkey

Font is KG Red Hands

Designed on PicMonkey.com

These adorable candy bags are perfect to teach students one-to-one correspondence. Students place paper candy pieces (or m&ms if you're feeling extra fun!) on the numbered candy bags. There are optional "errorless" candy bags available where students can place one piece over one circle to count each number. Perfect for lower elementary and special education.

Valentine's Day Reading Comprehension and Sequencing Craft

Students will love this Valentine's Day themed, educational activity that goes along with one of my favorite Valentine's Day books: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose.

UPDATE! This activity now includes link to a DIGITAL version of the activity and assessments so you can continue to use this with your remote learners.

No book? No problem! A link to the story read aloud on YouTube is included on the directions page!

Use with the book There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Rose. Students can read the story and use the picture "leaves" to sequence the events of the story as they add leaves to their rose.

Includes a differentiated sequencing assessment (fill in the blank and multiple choice versions) along with a list of seven easy ways to differentiate instruction with this resource.

This is included in my Sequencing Activity Bundle available here

Students will have so much fun "sliding" letters and sounds together to make CVC words!

So many activities can be made from this ONE DOWNLOAD!

Students can...

Work on beginning, middle, and/or ending sounds based on CVC word pictures.

Match CVC word pictures to a teacher-given word (word list/answer key provided). Write the letters that spell the word represented by the CVC word picture card.

Read CVC words and drag and drop them to the corresponding picture (digital bonus activity!).

Images are available in color and in black and white. Ideas for differentiating instruction are included.

Popcorn Pathway is a fun way to help students practice CVC words with the short O sound. This is a perfect game for small group stations or to play during free time. Directions are included, but you are encouraged to change up the rules to according to your students' needs.

Use these practice pages to reinforce letter skills such as identifying beginning sounds, letter formation, and letter identification. Laminate or place in page protector for repeated use.