My first year of teaching was HARD. I had five kindergarteners, one first grader, and one fifth grader.
Before I began teaching that year, I was given one piece of advice from a lot of special education teachers: focus on independent work. When I was told that, I was uncertain how that could even be possible. How could those seven students, mostly kindergarten, do independent work? Answer: Work Boxes.
In the many years since that first year of teaching, I have used a number of work boxes in my room for all types of activities and skills ranging from matching, fine motor, and basic skills. Here are a couple of my key takeaways from using work boxes.
Choose the right skills to practice
When starting a work box system, one important thing to remember is that the task or skill that is being worked on is a mastered skill for the student and NOT a skill that the student is still working on. One of the biggest challenges that I had was finding tasks that my students could complete independently.
Functional, not pretty
Work boxes do not need to be pretty; they need to be functional.
Work boxes can look like a lot of different things. From small pencil boxes to Chinese takeout containers from the local supermarket. The most important part is clear labeling, keeping all the tasks together in one place, and accessibility to the students.
Here are some unexpected “boxes” you may consider to keep your task boxes organized.
- Chinese takeout boxes
- Plastic Soap Containers
- Pencil Bags
- Cupcake Takeout boxes
- Gift Boxes
- Pencil Boxes
- Garage Sale Tupperware Containers
- Reusable Plastic Storage Containers
Work Boxes Teach Independence
I have students in my class who need confirmation that what they have done is correct. They will not move on until an adult has checked their work. Implementing work boxes with these types of students has helped greatly with building confidence for the student to know that they can do the work.
I also have had students who have not been given independence and need someone sitting next to them telling them the steps to complete an assignment. Work boxes have been very successful for these students as they work towards independence as well as confidence in themselves.
Types of Work Boxes
- Sorting Work Boxes: Sorting work boxes are a great functional skill for students to work on. There are several different varieties of sorting work boxes. Here is a list of activities from my store that I think make great sorting activities.
- Put In Work Boxes: Put in work task are simple boxes that any student is able to complete.
- Matching Work Boxes:Matching work boxes are a great task for beginning learners
- Fine Motor Work Boxes: Fine motor
- Basic Skills Work Boxes :
- Errorless Work Boxes: Errorless work boxes are a task that any learner can complete.
As a special education teacher in an elementary school, I am constantly adding to my work boxes, and as students advance in their mastery of skills, I am able to add more work boxes into their repertoire.
What work boxes do you use in your classroom? What do yours look like? Let me know in the comments below.