Every year, independent work saves my classroom.

This coming year will be no different. I know I’ve got a large group of kindergarten students coming in this fall. If you teach kindergarten you know just how intense those first few months are. It feels like herding cats. Everyone wants to do their own thing. You are teaching rules, routines and reinforcement, but you NEED simple, quick, functional activities that engage students. Enter independent work! Here are my top three tools I use for independent work.

Adapted Books

The Autism Helper has no shortage of adapted books. Pick a mastered concept, be it colors, counting, feature, function, prepositions… you name it, we’ve got it. They are perfect tools for independent tasks. The Velcroed pieces make great fine motor practice for little fingers, too! These are great for students who can read or can read with symbol support. As a bonus, I’ve used these books in small groups. I prep one book for each student. We practice reading the book together and then choose our answer. We can even ‘think, pair, share’ our answers with our neighbors!

Easy Matching Weekly Workbooks

If you think adaptive books are too difficult, check out the easy matching weekly workbooks!. With seven different sets to choose from your students will never tire of the content. I have all seven sets! I keep several sets of each ready at any given time in my classroom. These tasks are errorless or easy, simple matching. I love the physical versions, for my classroom. However, these are available in Google Slides and Boom Cards, too, if you’d rather stay digital. See how I use them below!

Interactive Reading and Math Work

These binders are the perfect compliment to The Autism Helper’s Leveled Daily Curriculum. I turn these interactive pages into a binder for each student. The bundles come with three different levels, so you’ve automatically got work that is differentiated for your classroom. Check out some of my students using them! Tasks start easy and build as you move through the levels.

With these three tools in my classroom prepped and ready to go, I’ll have independent work stations ready to use no matter what level my students are at.