Linky Party: Favorite TPT Purchases and What's In My Cart

Jenna at Speech Room News has a fabulous linky party right now for favorite TPT purchases, as well as what is currently in your TPT cart!  A great sell is coming soon, so here is what I have in my cart, and what I have purchased recently!

I currently have this in my cart:

Context Clues Using Tier Vocabulary by Nicole Allison-  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Context-Clues-Packet-Using-Tier-Vocabulary-386803

I really need more of these types of activities, and I bought her  Curriculum Based Language Assessments for Grades K-5 Aligned with Standards and LOVE IT!  They are great one page screeners to use when I look at whether to do full evaluations for students or when trying to write new goals for annual IEPs.

 

I also purchased some great activities from the Buckeye Speech Path this summer including:
Grammar Dice and Pronoun Popup and Language Dice:  Black and White Language Games

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Grammar-Dice-and-Pronoun-Pop-Up-715496

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Dice-Black-White-Language-Games-624578

Both of these products save on ink!  Simply print a sheet for each student and pair with a die to roll and let them practice the language or grammar skill needed.  I printed the whole packs and slip them in clear sleeves that students can use a Vis-à-vis to mark on so they can be used over and over.

My other recommended products come from Mia McDaniel.  She has TONS of super cute quick and easy open-ended games that can be used for quick drills or for a whole session with students who have different types of goals.  Here are the two I bought recently:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Magic-Potion-Madness-an-open-ended-game-925396

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Quick-Drill-for-articulation-or-fluency-therapy-RTi-921787

Of course this list is not complete without mentioning that of my twenty-three purchases, over half have been Jenna Rayburn products!  If you are not following her on TPT, make sure you do!  I can say all of her stuff is fabulous.  My favorite purchases of hers are her Newspaper Companion Packet and her holiday themed cards such as:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Luck-of-the-Irish-Later-Developing-Sounds-Articulation-Game-493565

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cupids-Cards-Elementary-Valentines-Day-Articulation-463442

I just love cards to match holidays!  Seriously, you can not go wrong with a purchase of anything from Jenna.  I can't wait to get her new Polar Express Pack!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Polar-Express-Speech-Language-Therapy-Companion-988754

I can't wait to read what everyone else is purchasing from TPT!

 

Pinterest + Thanksgiving Break + Dollar Store= Christmas Therapy Planning

Today is the first day of Thanksgiving Break, and I am using my five days off to enjoy family, friends, shopping, and planning for the holiday season in my speech room after this break is over.  I have been pinning ideas from Pinterest like crazy this past month, and here are my three projects I am tackling to get a jump on December activities:

1)  Putting together my What's In the Stocking game (modeled after Ned's Head):

I will be hitting my local Dollar Store/local Target Dollar Spot (after I look through all of my Christmas boxes in my garage) to find holiday themed items (bow, jingle bell, ornament, candy cane, snowman, angel, etc.) to add to a stocking for a good all-grade level, any skill reinforce game.  I plan to use my iPad camera to take pictures of each item individually and the kids can go through the camera roll to see what item they have to feel for in the stocking (I need a break from laminating more cards!  The camera roll feature makes it easy to have each item one at a time on the screen instead of in a pile of cards on the table!).

2)  Gingerbread Cookie Matching
My kindergarten and first grade students are going to read The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett our first week
back:

http://www.amazon.com/Gingerbread-Baby-Jan-Brett/dp/0399234446/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1385561013&sr=8-13&keywords=gingerbread+man+books+children

 

Following the book, we are going to do the gingerbread matching game after answering questions from the story.   I saw the idea on Pinterest, and I am going to make my men look the same on the outside, and the students will use the spatula to flip the men on the baking sheet where I will have a Christmas sticker (hello Dollar Store) and they need to match the two with the same Christmas sticker to remove the pair from the cookie sheet.

 

 

3)  Silver Bells

 

For my older students in second and third grade, we are reading There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell:

 





http://www.amazon.com/There-Was-Lady-Swallowed-Bell/dp/0545043611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385561427&sr=8-1&keywords=there+was+an+old+lady+who+swallowed+a+bell

We are going to retell the story, sequence the story, and practice our good sounds in the story while playing a fun little game where Hershey kisses with matching stickers are placed on the table and students get to try to find a match after practicing their speech or language goals:

Happy Planning, everyone!

Linky Party: Articulation Apps

Jenna at Speech Room News has a great linky party happening right now about favorite articulation apps.  She already listed my favorite:

1)  Articulation Station

It is bright and colorful and divided by sounds.  Students can score themselves (including approximations).  Sounds can be done in words (flashcards or matching), sentences, or stories, and it keeps data for you!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/articulation-station/id467415882?mt=8

2)  Word Vault

I love this app!  It has lists for all sounds and you can open up multiple windows at the same time and easily navigate between the lists for quick drill.  It is no frills and only the words, but great when you need a selection of words with a particular sound on hand with large groups of kids with multiple goals!   You can also have lists open for language students at the same time!  Check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-vault-word-lists/id672989436?mt=8
3)  Speech Tutor

 

Sometimes no matter how I say it or how I show the way a sound should be made on my Mighty Mouth puppet, my students still can't picture it.  In comes this great little app for showing them how the sound is made.  They love this app!  Read more about it at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speech-tutor/id424752543ee

Turkey Day Books

So Turkey Day is getting closer, and here is a look at what we are doing the next week and a half in my speech room. 

First, we are reading one of the Thanksgiving books pictured below:

The one with the glare has been used the most-  Thanks for Thanksgiving.  It has simple rhyming text, and lots happening in each richly drawn illustration that allows for lots of speech practice!

Depending on the group, we have done one of the following a read aloud.

1)  StoryMaker app on the iPad (Super Duper app) for grades k-1:
Using StoryMaker, we have made our own book for what we are thankful for, and after creating our own page, we narrate it and the book plays for us.  Below is my example page (notice how big the coffee pic is!  Super Duper needs to add a Starbucks symbol to the possible items in the food category!):

And here is one from my students (who is thankful for his home and wanted it to be the candyhouse):

2)  We are making turkey puppets or coffee filter turkeys in grades 2-3 with artic pictures for their sounds added in:

4)  Turkey sign sheet for grades 4-5: 

We read Turk and Runt for this grade level to get them in a frame of mind for what a turkey might say to keep from being eaten.  I use the cows from Chick-Fil-A as a reference as well (the whole eat more chicken idea).  Students have written lots of cute ideas such as "Lose Weight-  Eat Veggies" and "Turkeys Have Feelings, too!".

Use the link below if you would like a copy of the sheet!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9fXi0D7J3y4NDlFa3dVMTd1VHM/edit?usp=sharing

Happy Thanksgiving Speech Days Ahead!

One Thankful SLP

So several blogs have listed what they are thankful for this month, and I thought I would share what I am thankful for as far as my job is concerned,  That is easier to put into words because I honestly can't express how grateful I am for my family and friends (there was a seven year time span where I lost my father and four grandparents, so the fact I have been blessed with such an awesome husband and daughters, as well as great friends, just can't be summed up in a blogpost)!  So...

Here are the things that make me grateful to be an SLP:

1)  My co-workers!  Talk about an amazing group of people...so professional and knowledgeable.  They are always there to help me and our students.

2)  Other SLPs in my district.  I am speechless (ha-  excuse that pun) with the talented, exceptional SLPs I get to work with in my school district.  These women are so bright, energetic, and compassionate.  They always have a listening ear and words of wisdom and encouragement.  They have such varied experiences and increase my knowledge base every day.  They make me want to be the best SLP I can be!

3)  SLP Bloggers!  I started following Speech Room News my final year of graduate school...and that led me to Simply Speech and Crazy Speech World and 2o other equally great and exciting blogs.  The creative ideas I glean from these exceptional ladies, and guys (I'm following you too, Erik Raj!), makes me excited every day to be a part of the speech pathology community!

4)  The constant challenge of an ever-expanding, constantly growing field!  I feel like I could study this field forever and not even come close to knowing everything I should.  It is always so much fun to see new therapy techniques and research ideas that lead to helping children.

5)  My students!  I couldn't ever consider a field where I didn't get to work with children, and being an SLP allows to be nurturing, innovative, helpful, and encouraging each and every day.

What makes you thankful to be an SLP?

Technological Thanksgiving

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I thought once I got through October and all of my annual IEPs for that month, 1st nine weeks progress reports, and new students to screen and evaluate were underway that I would be able to breathe.  No such luck!  November has turned out to be even busier than October.  Most days, I feel so overwhelmed I am ready to throw things, and coming up with therapy ideas that can meet lots of different goals for all ages is really hard when there is no time to be creative.  So, why not make throwing something part of the therapy?

Don't get me wrong, we are also reading Thanksgiving books and making coffee filter turkey or turkey puppets with artic feathers as well, but some days, I just need an easy-piecey lemon squeezy idea that requires no prep and can be used all day long.  Thank goodness for my SmartBoard!

Awhile back, I found a free Thanksgiving koosh ball game where you throw the ball at  a picture on your SmartBoard and a blank screen popped up where you could write in whatever you wanted.  At the time, I thought about making each slide full of words with the students' targeted sounds, but since most of my groups have different kids with different sounds, as well as most groups have a language student as well, this would be very difficult.  So I just made each slide contain various amounts of points.  That way, before a student throws a koosh ball (or in this case, a stuffed beanie baby turkey) at the board......

they have to say words with their sounds, or describe one of the foods on the board, or name other foods that fit categories, or etc.  Once they practice, they get to toss and earn points.

 

Students can use the pens on the board to mark over the foods they have already hit:

When I went to post this idea, I saw the templates are no longer free in Teachers Pay Teachers, so I opened up Notebook on my computer and made one to share that includes the points and everything.  If you are fortunate like I am to have a SmartBoard, then feel free to download this and use it in your therapy room.  I will be making some for Christmas soon, so email me if you would like a copy of that when it is done. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4V1FF1bR6z5UEgzMkdDekd4SUE/edit?usp=sharing