In this blog post today I am so excited to sharing with you how I have been using a diary for life skills with my students. I am always on the look out for new activities and ideas to use with my students for working on their functional life skills.
And I always find this a little trickier with my older students. Especially when I’m trying to work on these skills in the classroom in an age appropriate way. And when I was walking around one of the calendar stores last year – I picked up a diary! I figured that a diary is something that so much of the population use.. But do my students know how they work? Are they able to use one?
And that’s when I thought it would be fun to come up with a diary activity to use with them!
2023-24 Diary Activity
So this is what my diary activity looks like. Don’t worry about the date – you can use this year after year! It doesn’t matter when the dates are. Because if you build these up over the years, your students will be able to go and find the correct diary to go with their worksheet/task cards.
You can actually go and download this diary activity to use with your students by clicking here.
How to Use
So you’re going to want to download my 2023-24 diary activity pack here and purchase a 2023-24 diary. The only criteria that you really need for this diary is that it has room for personal details, an emergency contact, contacts lists and then I use the week to page view one. Then follow the directions below;
- First, you need to follow the information on pages 2-3 of this document to fill in your 2023 diary. This includes the personal details, monthly dates, contacts etc.
- If you want to use this in reverse for higher ability students, you can give them pages 2-3 to follow to fill in their own 2023-24 diary.
- Pages 4-13 of this document contains worksheets for your students to fill in. They need to answer the questions by finding the corresponding information in the diary. An answer key has been provided in a separate document for you.
- If you would rather your students work on task cards instead of worksheets, simply print out pages 14-27, cut out and laminate each of the individual task cards then hand out to your students. Students can fill in the answers by using dry-wipe pens. An answer key has been provided in a separate document for you.
What Skills are Targeted?
There are so many skills to be targeted on with this activity that I don’t even know where to begin! Some of the skills include;
- Finding dates.
- Understanding and answering questions.
- Finding contact details.
- Identifying timings.
- Taking down addresses.
- Recognizing addresses, zip codes, email addresses, phone numbers.
- Dates.
- Times.
- Money.
- Time management/organization.
Improving diary skills can have numerous benefits for special education students, including:
- Increased independence.
As your students become more adept at managing their own schedules, they will be better equipped to navigate their daily lives independently. - Improved organization.
Developing strong diary skills can help students keep track of important dates, deadlines, and other commitments. This can reduce stress and improve overall organization. - Enhanced communication.
Being able to locate and share personal details and contact numbers can help students communicate more effectively with teachers, peers, and other members of their community. - Boosted self-confidence.
Successfully managing diary skills can help students feel more confident in their abilities and better equipped to handle challenges. - Improved academic performance.
Consistent use of a diary can help students stay on top of homework assignments, project due dates, and test schedules, which can lead to improved academic performance.
Download the 2023-24 diary activity pack here.
Nikki
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