Today we will be talking about learning with task bags. I worked alongside my Educational Psychologist, Jenn Osberg, and my Consultant, Michelle Michaluk, to create literacy, math, fine motor, and life skills task bags that would meet the needs of my learners. As a primary Student Support Teacher, task bags are part of my regular intervention and we love them because they:
- are play-based and hands-on
- cover a variety of curriculum and/or individual outcomes
- are simple to use and model (if another teacher or Educational Assistant will be implementing them)
- include high-interest materials
- promote student engagement
- can be accomplished quickly (5-10 minutes of practice)
- can be used with 1-3 students to add social goals, such as sharing and turn-taking
- are quick interventions that reinforce previously taught outcomes
- are easy and cost effective to create
- can be created from “Busy Bag” idea books, simple internet searches, or unused items around the classroom
I have used my task bags with a variety of students, particularly a student who could only say two words when they started in our Kindergarten program. Task bags became an easy way to develop this student’s vocabulary, name recognition knowledge, and keep them engaged. What I like most about these task bags is that after modeling the use of the task bags a few times, they are easy for any other adult to take and use and they fit nicely into any schedule. I use my task bags for intervention times. I have also used them for additional literacy and math practice with Kindergarten students who need additional practice time after our centers. It is quick and easy to pull them for 5-10 minutes and target the specific concept and can be done within their classroom. In the classroom, these task bags could be set up as a center after teacher modeling/explicit instruction. I recommend using task bags with 1-2 students but I have used them with up to 3 learners.
I have organized my task bags into two shelves and four categories:
a) early math skills
b) early literacy skills
c) fine motor skills
d) life skills
There are countless other tasks bags that could be made and I hope you find use for them in your own room. Please find the task bag labels and instructions attached: Task Bag Instruction Templates and Task Bag Templates Updated. Happy teaching!
