How to Set Up an Independent Work Box Station

My independent work box station is one of my favorite activities for my students. It's amazing to watch them grow more and more independent and begin to work on these tasks all by themselves. Also, my students find so much satisfaction and pride in being able to do tasks on their own tool! Plus, I know a lot of classrooms are short on aides. After teaching your students how to use a work task station, you shouldn't even need any aides to run it so you can utilize them where needed (just obviously with someone keeping an eye on things in case a student needs redirection!).

What kind of supplies do I need? Shoeboxes (I got 30 of them at the dollar store), labels and schedules, and random things you can probably find in your classroom or at the dollar store to create the tasks! If you need more space and have small tasks, you can use index card holders (for task cards) or magazine file boxes (for file folders)

15

"Vending Machine" Sorting Work Task

Don't you just love when you can get your students excited to work? :) My students were begging if they could do this task!

I made this task at the end of the year and my students loved it! Seriously, my students who never want to work, would work on this task. I got this small container from Wal-mart in the fishing department and taped in the pictures that you see above. I then laminated a couple of sheets of the pictures which then I cut out to go into each section.Students then sort the pop and the chips. It's really just a simple sorting activity, but is more fun because, let's be honest, everything is more fun with food! Plus, it actually takes a decent amount of time to complete, but it holds their focus.

Download the images that I used here so that you can make your own! 

And hope your Wal-mart also has this same box in their fishing section :)

Update: This post is now a few years old and people are having issues finding this exact box. This one on Amazon (affiliate link) looks like the exact same box, but you can possibly find other similar boxes that will also work, even if the spaces aren't exactly the same!

10

7 Work Task Boxes - part 4

And here's yet another work task post! I hope you guys aren't getting sick of them, but I just have so many and didn't want to bore you by putting them all in one post! :) So here's the next section of work tasks that we use in my classroom.

I feel like this task is a common one, and it's a great one! I drew rectangles around the clothespins on the index cards and then colored them in so students can match the color to the clothespin.

I had these shape Bingo-ish boards from who knows where. They were pretty old. I cut them up into strips of 3 and add Velcro. Insta-shape matching task!

Medicine 1:1 correspondence task. At the beginning of the year I created visuals for one color for Morning, another for Noon, etc...but none of my current students could get that. So 1:1 correspondence it is!

Would you call this task collating? The student has to put an apple of each color together and then secure with a paper clip.

Color match and 1:1 correspondence. I colored in spaces in an ice cube tray and used these little circles I had in a math manipulative kit.

This task is just to put a highlighter in each bag and seal it.

More medicine containers! (I found them at an estate sale this summer) I printed out pictures of suns and moons and students put the correct picture in the AM / PM spot.

For more work task box ideas, check out:

Work Task Boxes Post 1 

Work Tasks Post 2

Work Tasks Post 3

Work Tasks Post 4 (this post!)

Work Tasks Post 5

My Work Task/TEACCH Pinterest Board ~ All Breezy Special Ed Pinterest Boards

Printable Schedules, Labels and Data Sheets

2

More Work Task Boxes - part 3

And, yes, here's more work tasks for you to check out. If you missed my other work task posts, check them out here and here for more info on our independent work task station.

I got a bunch of CDs from free-cycle and went through them to find the CDs that look similar to the covers to create this matching/packaging task.

Pipe cleaners and pony beads. Pretty self explanatory, student matches color and strings on the beads.

These were leftover from a Halloween party, and I almost threw them out when I noticed some of the handles had fallen off. Yes! It has now turned into a great assembly task by put the handles back on the skulls! :)

Next I have sorting tasks with Velcro with a variety of different categories. These categories sets come from Erin - Adventures in Tutoring and Special Education. Thanks Erin! :)

I also use these and other task cards that can be answered with a dry erase marker. This specific set works on knowing which bill is worth more and can be found here.

This task is sorting bumpy frogs from smooth frogs. I added bumps on the bumpy frog visual and container by using Elmer's glue and allowing it to dry. I really like this task because it's not something students are used to sorting so it really makes them think. This would also be a great task for visually impaired/blind students.

For more work task box ideas, check out

• Work Task Boxes Post 1
• Work Tasks Post 2
• Work Tasks Post 4
• Work Tasks Post 5
• My Work Task/TEACCH Pinterest Board ~ All Breezy Special Ed Pinterest Boards
• Printable Schedules, Labels and Data Sheets

1

Simple TEACCH / Work Task boxes - part two

I hope you're excited for Work Tasks #2! Again, my work task station is one of my favorites in our morning routine, because students are expected to be independent and they shine given the opportunities! I give students three letters on a mini schedule and they find the boxes and then complete them in order, ideally moving from one box to the next on their own.

I like this box for working on fine motor and 1:1 correspondence. The student has to put one eraser on each pencil (and they have to put it on the right end!) When one of my students was having trouble with this task, one of my aides quickly printed this picture off from Google images. Easy, efficient, and does the job!

This is another simple box, sorting pencils from pens. I used different types of pens and pencils to make it just a little more challenging. I started out the year created these visuals for each box...but didn't end up making them for all of the boxes.

For this box, the student counts the items and then puts the clothespin on that number. I think this set came from a health unit created by Kara at Sped-ventures!

When using coins, I typically like to use real coins, because plastic ones just don't seem like coins and they really don't look much like the real thing....however, since I had them I decided to use them for this sorting activity! I taped a coin and wrote on amount on each yogurt cup for students to sort the coins in. (I use yogurt cups for a lot of things in my classroom).

I found these lacing cards at a garage sale for $1 this past summer. I often have some students lace and other un-lace for this task. This seems to be a calming activity for a couple of my students when they are very active, probably because they have to focus so much.

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Work Task boxes A-E. And if you need materials to set up a work task station, check out these materials on TpT.

Also, check out these posts to see tons of more work boxes!

Work Task Boxes Post 1 

Work Tasks Post 3

Work Tasks Post 4 

Work Tasks Post 5

My Work Task/TEACCH Pinterest Board ~ All Breezy Special Ed Pinterest Boards

Printable Schedules, Labels and Data Sheets

3

Work Tasks (TEACCH) Boxes

My work task station is one of my favorites in my classroom. Probably because it's main goal is independence and I love seeing my students working on their own. It makes me so proud! :) I have 31 boxes, labeled by letters A-Z and 5 different shapes.

Since that is a LOT of boxes, I'm just going to share 5 this post and will probably share more of them later! So here's letters A-E (I have not put my letters in any order of difficulty or anything like that, so this is totally random).

My kids have fun with this one just because it's McDonalds! The visual helps students count out 5 fries (pipe cleaners) to put in each bag. Get this visual here. Or grab this pack with counting visuals for numbers 1-20 and materials to create your own work task like this one here!

Here's a dollar over one. The student reads the price on the card and attaches the correct amount with the paper clip. (Side note - These next dollar over worksheets are great for additional practice!)

This one is a simple 1:1 correspondence activity - to put one object (in this case a foam letter) in each container. I have considered making this a matching activity by gluing a matching letter to each lid, but I needed to keep some of my boxes very simple.

Speaking of simple, this one is just sticking the Popsicle stick into the wet ones container!

This one is color matching and counting. This one is challenging for many of my current students, but the visual helps and I often remove a majority of the numbers.

The materials I used to set up my work task station (labels, schedules, and data sheets) are for sale here in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Update: More work task posts can be found below.

• Work Tasks Post 2
• Work Tasks Post 3
• Work Tasks Post 4
• Work Tasks Post 5
• My Work Task/TEACCH Pinterest Board ~ All Breezy Special Ed Pinterest Boards
• Printable Schedules, Labels and Data Sheets

Do you have work task boxes in your classroom? Any similar ones?! :)

6