My Special Education Tools: "Grab and Learn" Boxes: A Part of Morning Routine

Ever need an activity to get students motivated to learn whether its when they walk into the classroom first thing in the morning or to fill the time during transitions? Well, I have the perfect solution for you: "Grab and Learn" boxes. "Grab and Learn" boxes are meaningful, engaging, and interactive ways to bring the general education curriculum as well as individualized instruction to our students with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities. To help you understand and create your own "Grab and Learn" boxes for you classroom, I have provided a list of materials, a step-by-step creation process, and examples of my own "Grab and Learn" boxes as well as when I would use these throughout the day.

Ready to find out more? Let's begin!

Before you create your own "Grab and Learn" box, you will need to gather the following materials:

Box or Basket
Manila Folder w/ Checklist
Any number or activities, worksheets, or games
Pencils

Now that we have our materials, let's create our boxes:

To create a “Grab and Learn” Box, simply select a wide range of materials - activities, worksheets, games, etc. - that is related to subject area (i.e. math, science, reading, etc) and can be designed to help your students learn new skills, practice emerging skills, or generalize skills to different areas. Once you have gathered a wide range of materials, create a checklist for each box that gives students a variety of options - have them check-off three our of five or five out of seven of the activities available to them in the box. REMEMBER these materials need to be connected, not only to the general education curriculum, but also be individualized and tailored to the needs of your students in the classroom.
When you have created all of your “Grab and Learn” boxes - I recommend having 4 at a minimum, introduce the boxes to the students during a group meeting. Explain what the boxes are for, what materials are in them (show an example of activities within one box), and when the students will be using those boxes.
- For example, I would have five different “Grab and Learn” boxes - one for each subject area - placed around the room when the students enter the classroom. As part of their morning routine, students will need to select a “Grab and Learn” box and complete the number of activities dictated by each box’s checklist - each activity needs to be checked off by a para-educator or myself. This is to help student’s get their minds awaken in the morning and provide ample opportunities to work within the general education curriculum in a meaningful, engaging, and interactive way.
After the introduction of the “Grab and Learn” boxes, have students split into pairs and, working with a para-educator or yourself, complete a “Grab and Learn” box checklist.

Now, it’s your turn to try it! Create these “Grab and Learn” boxes and implement them into your classroom. They can be used as part of a morning routine, a way to challenge students in their learning, or given to students during down-time! Be creative and have fun with these! Your students will love them!

A "Grab and Learn" Math Box Example