The book I selected for this month’s Easter theme was It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler. The story is about P.J. Funnybunny.
The descriptor reads:
“P.J. Funnybunny is tired of cooked carrots and his big ears. It would be way more fun to be a bear, a bird, or a pig…right? Read along as P.J. leaves home and tries to determine who he is—and where he belongs. But this bunny might just learn that all he wants to be is…himself!”
This is a great story about finding oneself. Where do we belong? I used to have amazing conversations with several of my students about their strengths and what they want to do after they leave high school.
If you’d like to preview the book before buying, check out the YouTube reading of the story:
Lesson skill focus
- Book knowledge (i.e., title, author, page turning, image walking)
- Use of low vision tools while reading the book
- Development of hand and eye coordination
- Soliciting assistance appropriately
- Fine motor skills
- Communication
- Animals and their habitats
- Choice making
- Creative thinking
Activity 1: Sticker eggs
The students helped me open the bags that each kit came in and sort them into the divided serving tray. I removed a couple of the bins to make room for the eggs. We used an egg holder to help hold our eggs and keep them from rolling around.
Students placed stickers on the egg after each student chose which ones they wanted to use. Whenever possible, they picked through the bins. If this was something they were unable to do, I placed one of each of the stickers out for them to choose what they wanted. I offered assistance when needed to remove the backing of the stickers or help with holding the egg.
The hanging rings were tricky to put in the eggs, and I often had to push them in. I had my students help hold the eggs and then put their free hand on top of mine as I pushed the hanger in place. A plastic needle was used to thread the ribbon in the hanging ring. Student’s initials were placed on the base of the egg so we could keep track of ownership.
Materials
- Craft eggs as ornaments
- Tactile stickers for eggs
- Round cone Easter eggs display holder
- Divided tray with lid & handle
Activity 2: Sequencing
Several of my students have sequencing goals, and a few are in the middle of me re-evaluating them. I chose to look for Easter related sequencing activities and found some ideas on Teacher Pay Teacher. Sequencing cards for early learners was available for free. There were 6 sequencing activities to choose from. There was one of a baby chick breaking out of an egg. It was a 4-sequence activity, but I could easily adapt it to 3. The size was perfect for my students. Since my focus was on sequencing and using fine motor skills to cut and glue, I was happy to use the images because they were already in color.
Materials
- Printed egg sequencing pages
- Adapted scissors. Talk to your OT as to which to use. I used HARAC table top scissors with base adaptive scissors spring loaded, safety push down scissors with several of my students after speaking with my OT.
- Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks
Tips
- To work on soliciting assistance, I gave my students glue sticks that were missing the glue. They could practice with me to solicit assistance. This also worked great as an April Fool’s trick!
- If the student is not ready for 4-step sequencing, break it down to 2 or 3 steps.
Extension activities
- After reading the book, several of my students and I ‘exchanged’ places for a lesson. We had FAR too much fun! It was interesting how their personalities changed a little by being the “teacher.”
- Easter I spy free printable game is great to use with low vision devices!
- Crafting Jeannie’s blog post of Easter basket craft with pocket has a free template. The activity comes with ‘eggs’ that can be moved in and out of the pocket. I changed it up a bit to use vocabulary words.
