"Where Is The Pie?" Thanksgiving Adapted Book Freebie

I'm so excited to share this adapted book with Ya'll!  "Where Is The Pie?" is a super-cute Thanksgiving Adapted Book that targets a ton of skills! I've truly tried my best to pack a whole lot into these few pages of fun, so that you can use this book with a variety of students, who may be working at many different skill levels.
This adapted book targets basic Thanksgiving vocabulary words, matching skills, basic story comprehension skills, Wh-questions, sequencing skills, and positional words. Whew!  Are we tired yet? And like the "Scary Little Witch," featured in October, this Adapted Book also includes the bonus "sequencing stick," activity.  (See photo above for details.)

In this silly story, something has seriously gone a wry!  The Thanksgiving pie is missing and nobody can seem to find it.

Sample Story Text:

Where is the pie? Where did it go?
Grandpa tried to find it but he really didn't know.
He looked under the table with a disappointed sigh.
He found the mashed potatoes but he didn't find the pie!

Where is the pie? Where did it go?
Grandma tried to find it but she really didn't know.
She looked above the table with a disappointed sigh.
She found the roasted corn but she didn't find the pie!"

This adapted book will be free until November 30th, as a tiny token of my "Thanks" to all of you. You can download it at File Folder Heaven here:

Where Is the Pie? 

And find it on TPT Here:

Where Is the Pie?

Happy Thanksgiving!

More "Folder Stories" Updates

I have finally updated more of the free "Folder Stories," In case you've missed out on them, "Folder Stories," are one-page social stories that fit nicely in a file folder.

Updates for this week include the "I Say Thank You," Folder Story, that focuses on the appropriate way to say thank you.

And the "I Have a Substitute" Folder Story which focuses on maintaining appropriate behavior while the teacher is away.

You can find the latest updates to all of the "Folder Stories" Here:

Free Folder Stories

"The Scary Little Witch" Halloween Freebie

The Scary Little Witch Adapted Book Freebie

I just love this little book!  The truth is....sometimes when I finish creating something, I love the activity so much that I think that EVERYBODY should have it.

That's exactly what happened when I finished creating this one!

This Halloween-themed adapted book focuses on basic Halloween vocabulary, teaches basic matching skills, includes interactive comprehension questions, and a bonus story sequencing activity. (See sequencing stick activity)

In this not so scary story, "The Scary Little Witch" tries to scare just about everybody!

Sample Text:

"One dark night, when it was time to Trick or Treat,
 a scary little witch was scaring people on the street!

She scared a little vampire,
and she scared a little bat.
She scared a little wizard
in a pointy purple hat!"

At the end of the book, this "Scary Little Witch" is very surprised when she is no longer the one doing the scaring!  ;)

If you would like to download a copy of this fun, little Halloween book, you can find it for free until October 31st at:

 File Folder Heaven Here:  "The Scary Little Witch" 

and on

TPT Here:  "The Scary Little Witch"

I truly hope ya'll love it!  <3

Updating Folder Stories

I've finally begun updating my collection of "Folder Stories." For those of you who are unfamiliar with Folder Stories, I'll give you a little background information.

Three Examples of Folder Stories

What Are Folder Stories?

Folder Stories are simple, one-page Social Stories, or social narratives that focus on teaching social skills or appropriate classroom behavior to students with Autism or any student that you think may benefit from them.  They are written in plain language, include visual support, and focus on the positive consequences of appropriate behavior. I created the "Folder Stories" series several years ago because I wanted social narratives that were simple to use, and easy to assemble and store.  All of the social narratives in this series are designed to fit in a single file folder for these reasons. You can find some examples below:

Folder Stories are simple to assemble and store.

 How Is The Collection Changing?

I've been wanting to update these Folder Stories for so long.  Back when I originally created the series of Folder Stories, the choices for clip art were so limited.  The choices today have expanded greatly.  For this series, like the behavior support visuals, I have chosen to update them with Smarty Symbols.  Along with each story, I am including a "desk strip." (This is new!)  This visual can be posted to the student's desk as a visual reminder of what is expected.  It usually breaks the expected behavior down to three basic steps. You can see examples of the new "desk strips" that accompany each story below.

"I Listen" Folder Story--Focuses on listening to instruction

"I Raise My Hand" Folder Story--Focuses on how to wait to be called on

"I Do My Work" Folder Story--Focuses on "on-task" behavior

Where Can I Find These Folder Stories?

They are going to be in the same place they have always been.  You can follow the link below:

Download Folder Stories Here

 I hope to be able to update two or three of the Folder Stories each week, so keep checking back for updates! ;) You'll know a story has been updated when you see a photo next to the description, instead of a graphic.

I truly hope that ya'll find these helpful.  If you ever have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Updating Classroom Behavior Support Visuals

So I was browsing through Pinterest the other day and this picture popped up in my Pinterest feed:

File Folder Heaven Fossil ;)

My first thought was, "Wow! That's one of the original behavior supports that I put up on File Folder Heaven years ago."  My second thought was, "Wow!  That could really use an update!" ;)

So I've decided to update all of the free behavior supports and social stories for a couple of reasons.  First, so much has changed in the 7 or 8 years since I started the website. Certain choices we may want on a "choice board," or "communication board" (like an Ipad, for example) didn't even exist back then. And second, my clip art choices were so limited back at that time, that I basically just had to use what was available (and there wasn't much!) Now the choices for clipart and illustrations are basically endless.  But for these updated visuals, I have decided to use Smarty Symbols because I wanted to use a cohesive set of symbols and pictures that are simple and easy to understand.

So here is a little sneak peek of the updates:

Updated Behavior Helpers with Smarty Symbols

Updated Behavior Helpers with Smarty Symbols

Updated Behavior Visuals With Smarty Symbols

These updates are a work in progress!  So check back regularly.  You will know they have been updated when you see a real photo next to the description instead of a clipart icon. You can find these free behavior helpers in the same spot that they've always been:

Right Here!

I hope ya'll find them helpful! ;)

Switching It Up With Find And Cover Activities

I recently wrote a post about why I like "Find and Cover" Activities.  They offer students many opportunities to practice basic skills that you have already introduced. You can cover a wide variety of skills with them. (No pun intended!) They require almost no preparation (Just print and go!) and they work very well in both centers and independent workstations.

I love to set them up on a cookie sheet with button magnets because it is a quick and easy set-up, it provides nice visual organization and everything stays contained to the tray.

Here is an example of a "Find and Cover" activity set up this way:

Find and Cover the Circles (Identifying Shapes)

But much like file folder games, there are multiple ways that "Find and Cover" activities can be set up to give students a wider variety of practice opportunities, and target other skills students may need practice with.

Here is an example of a "Find and Cover" activity, set up as "Binder Work." In this set up, you just slide the the "Find and Cover" activity mats into plastic sheet covers and put them in your student's work binder. Students can bubble in or "X" their answers.

Find and Cover "What Makes 3"

You can also set them up in a center as a "Find and Cover," activity but have students cover their answers with different objects.

Here is an example using poker chips:

Find and Cover "The Number 3"

Here is an example using quarters.  Quarters work nicely to cover objects in the circles, but they especially work nicely in this, "identifying quarters" task ;)

Find and Cover "The Quarters"

And a fan favorite in my house--If you'd like to mix in a little fine motor skills focus to build strength in those growing hands, and add an extra element of fun, you can set them up as a "Just Squish It,"activity.  In this set up, you provide your student with play dough, to "squish" over their answers. (Just make sure you've laminated your "Find and Cover" mat!"

Find and Cover "The Color Green"

So what about you?  Are you using "Find and Cover" Activities in your classroom?  If so, what's your favorite set-up?  I'd love to know! ;)

Stretching File Folder Games Into Multiple Learning Activities

Well, I guess it is no secret that I have always loved file folder games.  They are relatively simple to assemble, are super-easy to store, durable and withstand the test of time, and provide students with hands-on interaction to practice basic skills. But another thing I love about file folder games is their versatility.  In other words, file folder games don't always have to be file folder games.  They can be assembled in multiple ways, to provide students a variety of opportunities, that look and feel slightly different. This allows them to practice the same skill, across multiple environments or situations.  This not only gives you, the teacher, more tools and activities in your classroom "tool bag," but it also can help our special little guys and gals with generalization.

In this post, I am going show you how I've assembled a couple of file folder games, multiple ways to provide many different learning opportunities, for my student (in this case, my son!) ;) I've taken a couple of the file folder games from my newest "Sorting Our School File Folder Games Bundle" to do that.

A Few File Folder Games From the Bundle

So for the first example, we will look at the "Happy Crayons Color Sort II."  This simple file folder game, helps students practice basic color sorting.  When assembled in the "traditional" file folder game format, it looks like this:

"Happy Crayons Color Sort"

This format is great for workstations, centers, one-on-one teaching, and offers great portability, if you want to send the activity home for extra practice.

Here is the same file folder game activity assembled as a binder task:

"Happy Crayons Color Sort"Assembled as a Binder Task

I love the binder task format for independent work situations, morning work binders, and homework binders.

Here is the same activity assembled as a cookie sheet activity:

"Happy Crayons Sort" as Cookie Sheet Activities

The cookie sheet activity also works well in independent learning stations, centers, and one-on-one teaching time.  For lower-functioning students, this format essentially allows you to cut the task in half and focus only two colors at a time.

Here is half of the file folder game.

This is the same activity assembled as a clipboard task:

"Happy Crayons Sort" as Clipboard Task

I love to use clipboard tasks in workstations.  You can number and hang them easily in workstations, for an organized task set-up.  Like cookie sheet activities, they also allow you to divide the file folder game in half, for students that benefit from that. They are also very portable and are great to send home for extra practice opportunities. I like to attach a small, canvas pencil case on the back of them, to hold sorting and matching pieces.

Pencil Cases Attached on Back of Clipboard Tasks 

I am going to show you a few more examples.  Here is the file folder game, "Sorting Our School," (People/Places/Things) assembled multiple ways.

First, here it is as file folder game:

"Sorting Our School" (People/Places/Things) File Folder Game

And a binder task:

"Sorting Our School" Assembled as a Binder Task

And a cookie sheet activity:

"Sorting Our School" Assembled as a Cookie Sheet Activity

And a clipboard task:

"Sorting Our School" Assembled as a Clipboard Task

So what about you?  Are you using your file folder games, multiple ways across multiple situations or environments? I would love to learn from you too! Please share your tips with us! ;)

If you want to see the complete set of "Sorting Our School" File Folder Games, you can find them at the website here:

"Sorting Our School File Folder Games Mini-Bundle"

And on TPT here:

"Sorting Our School File Folder Games Mini-Bundle"