Teaching with Duck Tape!

As I prepare to set up my classroom in a way that is supportive of all my learners, I have to take into account visual supports. Most of my students have never set foot in a classroom and it can be overwhelming for them. Sometimes we just need to get creative!

I found Duck Tape Sheets a few years back and have used them ever since! They come in a variety of colors and patterns and even have a paper grid on the back for easy trimming or drawing!

These are some ways that I use them in my classroom:

• I primarily have used them on my tile floor (you may want to seek permission from your building manager) as a visual for lining up.  Removal from tile flooring was very easy.
• This last year I made shapes and put them on my carpet. My carpet already had sticky residue from tape being used on it from a previous teacher so I could tape over those marks. (It can get sticky and you may need goo gone to remove it from carpet) 
• I used them to indicate an area of wait when they needed to use a restroom that was occupied

Here are some skills that I was able to see and use as a teaching tool instantly:

• Following directions
• Students would have to listen to and follow my 1 or 2 step-directions "Johnny, stand up and go stand on the red rectangle"
• Color identification
• I would have the students transition to lining up by asking them to go and stand on a specific color. 
• Shape identification
• I cut shapes and then stuck them to my carpet. The students had to find their place on the carpet by finding their name and their shape from our seating chart. 
• Positional words
• I would ask my students to line up and tell them to stand "in front", "behind", and sometimes "next to" a specific color. 
• Ordinal numbers
• Go and stand on the first color, second color, third color, etc. I could also ask them what place a certain color was in. "Where is the red square?" they could answer by saying "the red square is first."
• Counting
• I could have the students demonstrate 1:1 correspondence by asking them how many colors are there in all? How many colors are after red? How many colors are before green? How many colors are after yellow? etc. 

We will see what other uses I will come up with this next year.  Do you have any ideas for uses or skills taught?

Diana