Marshmallow Fun

So I was cruising Pinterest last night as I always do, and found this cute pick for a game that makes a fun treat for the speech room:

The site that described the game can be found here.

I plan to "speechify" it by doing the following:
Take a piece of regular copy paper and draw the circles inside of a temple of an oval that when cut out looks like a mouth.  Feed pink construction paper through the copier and copy the template to it and then cut out the mouth so it looks like the one in the picture.

When students come in for speech, I will have them practice their speech sounds 20-25 times before they can add the marshmallows to the circles for their "teeth".  Then, we will play the game as follows:  after practice of their goals, they roll a dice and remove that many marshmallows off of their gameboards and into their mouths!  The first person to get all of their teeth off first wins. 

This will be great for my language groups as well since we can read one of the following books from my stash to practice our language goals before we roll:

I bet your school library has many choices of fun books to choose from!  What did I ever do before Pinterest?????

Feeling Beachy

Three more weeks until I really get to go to the beach with my family....but in the meantime, I have 53 kids to get data on for progress reports and tons of meetings to attend-  not to mention IEPs to write!  All of this with daily schedule changes thanks to field days, grade level music programs, field trips, etc...... 

So, this frazzled SLP brought the beach to the speech room this week!

We started with a story (one of three standbys:  Pout Pout Fish or a Rainbow Fish Adventure)-

Followed by a fish coloring activity (using shiny, sparkly smiley face stickers as fins thanks to seeing this idea on Pinterest)

And throw in either the game Jolly Octopus, or a Fishing game, and our Speech Beach Week is complete!

What fun activities and books do you use for beach theme?  I can't wait to print and laminate by Beach Grammar packet from Jenn Alcorn at Crazy Speech World (available at Teachers Pay Teachers), but just did not have enough energy or time to get it ready in time for this past week!

A Huge Organizational Feat!

First, let me start this post by stating that state testing is finally over (I have read tests aloud four days in a row for some of our students who have this accommodation, and I've only seen four of my speech groups total in the past three school days-  yikes!-  but that is the way it happens when you are a test administrator for small group testing)!

Second, let me be honest and say I am getting older, I'm always tired, and I can't remember half the time what I own, what I still want, or what is in my therapy room.

Any-hoo, I started thinking yesterday about what I wanted to do with my students next week when we are back to a somewhat regular schedule, and I just couldn't picture if I had a certain book in my library.  My Type-A, perfectionistic self decided I was going to stay after school and bite the bullet on organizing all of my books because I just can't take the mess that is my book collection anymore. 

So, I started with my picture books!  Here is a sample of my titles in a visual format:

Now, I don't know about you, but I have tried many ways to organize my books in the past from a spreadsheet in Excel to a fancy app on the iPhone that reads ISBN codes and organizes your library.  The problem with these are:
1)  I am visual and like to see the covers, and
2)  The storage for the app ate up memory and I had to look up pictures for some of the books and ISBN numbers that wouldn't be read correctly so I quit that after ten minutes.

Instead, I grabbed a handful of my books from the shelf, went to Amazon.com, and began entering the title in their search engine.  The great thing about Amazon is it begins to fill in titles for you so most of the time, you don't have to enter the whole title in there-  check out what I mean below:

So while I am typing out scaredy, titles begin to appear and then I just go down and click on the book "Scaredy Squirrel".  That picture comes up and I right click on the picture and then chose "Save as Picture".  I then type in the title of the book, and save it in a folder I have on my travel drive labeled "Picture Book Pics". 

In order to see the picture and title in that folder, I simply open the folder up, and then right click anywhere inside it until the option for "view" comes up like below:

Then I click on large icons, and there is my library-  in a visual format I can see even without my reading glasses!  Now I am able to quickly scroll through and see just which "There Was An Old Lady Who...." and "Night Before..." books I have and which ones I need.  I can also hit print screen and paste the screen pictures into a word document or Publisher file and print it out to have a paper copy as well.  I also added the file to my dropbox account so if I am out and about shopping, I can open it up and see if I need a book or if I already own it.  Seriously, I am really bad about remembering which "Old Lady" books I still need!

Why didn't I do this before???  It is so easy, and Amazon found a picture of every book in my library- and I had some really out of print books.  Now I can group them by category or holiday as well.  So over the moon with this project.  In all honesty, this took me just under two hours by myself to catalogue almost four hundred books.  Not too bad!

So I started doing the same thing with my games!

Again, Amazon was my go to place for this.  They also carry many of the Super Duper products I use, and some LinguiSystem ones.  Now I have the beginning of a game inventory as well!  I have also created folders for pictures of my Super Duper products (I went to their site and entered product names for the things I already own):

I have made picture files for TPT Purchases (just look under the "My Purchases" tab and you can right click to "Save as picture" for each thing you have purchased), LinguiSystem items, Speech Corner items, and various speech materials. 

I  now have a visual library of my materials I can access from anywhere, and I have these pictures available for me when I start making visual lesson plans like the ones posted by Jenna Rayburn and Super Power Speech using the materials I own. 

Hope this idea might help you as well!  Thanks for stopping by!

The Mouth With a Mind of Its Own- New Therapy Book

One of the biggest challenges I have is when a new student starts speech therapy.  Depending on their age, it can be a little tricky explaining why they need to come for  therapy.  Even the most self-aware child can feel sensitive about the way they talk, and the last thing I ever want to do is to make them feel negatively about themselves.  Pat Mervine at Speaking of Speech has written a great new book:  The Mouth With a Mind of Its Own.  I was able to preview a copy of the book, and I am sharing my thoughts of this book with you!

 

The basic premise of the book is as follows:  Matthew has trouble getting his mouth to say what he is thinking.  He just can't seem to tame his mouth.  Thanks to his new SLP, Mrs. Hicks, Matthew learns how to take control and effectively communicate with others around him. 

 

I liked this book for many reasons, and the main reason is that Matthew reminds me of students I have worked with- especially when others, including me, can not understand the child when they say their own name.  Another positive is that the book gives readers a look inside the world of speech therapy by illustrating the various tasks one would do to be a better commnicator including auditory bombardment, learning about speech helpers, and the work/steps involved in articulation therapy.  I like that it accurately captures the speech therapist role and speech therapy process from rubber mouth puppets, tongue depressors, and mirrors to the need for daily practice and the amount of time required to learn so many different sounds. The metaphor of "taming my mouth" is a great idea (it  even shows Matthew's idea of what he thinks it means and then what it really means where you start with the lips and move on to the teeth, jaw, and then the tongue).

 

A huge bonus point goes to the inclusion of the following fact-  speech therapy is a work in progress-  it takes time and practice both inside the speech room and out!  And kudoos to the author for making Mrs. Hicks an encouraging therapist always ready to support Matthew throughout the whole process.

The illustrations are colorful and I like how the sounds Matthew needs to work on and what he says is in a bright yellow to emphasize the book is about his speech sound improvement.  Overall, the book uses light humor well to reassure children with speech sound issues that they will improve with therapy while also providing validation of their feelings that it is frustrating and difficult to tame one's mouth.  I think this book would be a welcome addition to any therapist's shelf. 

Check it out at Pat's site, or by cliking the book title link above!

TPT Linky Party: What's In My Cart

Jenna at Speech Room News is holding a Linky Party about the upcoming Teachers Pay Teachers Sale for Teacher Appreciation Week.  Most TpT Sellers will put their store on sale on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 6-7th), plus you will have an extra code to use in order to take an additional percent off of all materials on the site! I am so excited about this sale, and I'm listing my top choices on my LLLOOOOONNNNGGGG wish list below:

1)  Comparing and Contrasting SpeechPads
So many students with this goal, and can always use new ways of teaching it.

 

2)  Speech Camp Expressive Language Activities

Cute graphics, great pack with good end-of-the-year theme

 

3)  Reading Skills Pack-  Context Clues

Ton of students with this goal and can always use more context clues materials

 

4)  Be A Grammar Ninja

I don't think I ever buy from a big TPT sale without getting at least one product made by Mia McDaniel.  Love the graphics and always need grammar materials.  My boys will love this!

 

5)  Visuals for Vocabulary 



These posters from Jenna Rayburn are terrific and much needed.

I can't wait to read what is in everyone's cart!  I always end up with new products I missed.  Happy shopping!

Parrot Pile-Up

Ahhh, May is here, and state testing is next week.  We have been doing a pirate theme this past week, and you know that includes all of the regular standbys such as the book "Pirates Go To School":

 

Pop-Up Pirate:

 

Pirate Talk:

 

Pesky Pirates:

 

And, now, my latest find- Parrot Pile-Up.

If you have read this blog before, you know I am all about finding games and activities that cover multiple goals.  Winner, winner, chicken (parrot) dinner-  this little game can do it!

 

Each player gets a beach scene card, and they load one piece of their cargo on the raft with the parrot and "drive" it from their beach card to the other player's beach card without losing any cargo along the way (or while they are stacking it on the raft).  I love that this game is a reinforcer for any skill you practice using your handy flashcards or iPad apps, and it has a ton of words and vocabulary built-in as well. 

 

My /r/, vocalic /r/, and r-blends students had plenty of words to practice by naming the items that are a part of the game-  parrot, raft, red, barrel, crate, triangle, rectangle, and fruit.  



 

Now I love me some Pop-up Pirates, but my older kids think it is a little young for them.  This game was enjoyed by all ages and all groups (and they kept saying the pieces reminded them of Angry Birds-  more /r/ practice).  Gotta love a game like this!  I found mine for eight dollars at Tuesday Morning (hope you have one in your area).  It is also available at Amazon (link above) for just a few bucks more. 

Thanks for "flying" by!

Behavior Management Linky Party

Jenna at Speech Room News is hosting a linky party about behavior management.  With so much to cover in sessions, crowd control is really important, and can be exhausting.  I always start out the year going over speech room rules and expectations, and I try to keep the kids busy and engage to minimize behavior issues, but every one has off days at times.  That is why I love the program Class Dojo.  I already posted about this on-line tool Class Dojo here.

 

I like this tool because I can have it open on my SmartBoard, iPhone, or iPad.  It allows me to give points for good behavior, bad behavior, and it is easily tailored for each individual in each group.  I can also give and take points as we walk back and forth from our sessions because I carry my iPhone and use the free app to keep giving them points.  Love, love, love it!

Check it out and let me know what you think of the program! 

U.T. F. Linky Party

Melanie Place at the The Speech Place has a great linky party for SLPs to share some of the unusual items that they use in therapy each month.   This month's topic is apps.  We all love the apps dedicated to a specific therapy purpose, but there are tons of apps out there ready to be modified for other uses by the most creative people on the planet-  SLPs!

So, mine are not always the most original uses for apps out there, but here is what I do with apps that are not necessarily straight artic or language or fluency apps.

1)  Reinforcer apps

So many of my students just love any type of activity or game app.  The one my 5th grade boys love lately (and this is a tough  crowd let me say) is the free version of Tenzi I got awhile back.

This is an electronic version of the dice game Tenzi.  I love it because it is SUPER fast, doesn't involve real dice that make lots of noise and go flying across my therapy table, and has lots of game options.  We usually practice our goal, and then the student has a turn to play Tenzi where ten dice are rolled and they chose the number they think they can collect the fastest and the timer shows who got ten of the same number first.  Since they are racing to do it the fastest, a turn often lasts less than thirty seconds so most of our time is spent doing goal practice and only a little on reinforcement. 

For younger students, especially the preschool crowd, I love free apps that go with a theme.  For example, this past month we did a farm unit.  There are tons of free apps that open to a screen that gets them talking (describing what they see, using good sounds identifying what goes in what category, etc.).  After they practice their goals, they get to add a piece to the farm scene or color part of a scene.  Here are two free ones called Crazy Farm and Little Farm.

 

 

2)  Books

 

I LOVE books in therapy, but nonfiction ones are sometimes hard to find, and my students really like books with colorful pictures and less obvious amounts of text.  I use this National Geographic Weird But True app quite a bit to work on language goals and auditory processing goals.

 

 

3)  Doodle Buddy

 

I love this app for playing pictionary with kids.  Sometimes I get so into creating themed units and linking things to Common Core that I work much harder at creating elaborate therapy units when a simple game with the Doodle Buddy app gets even more accomplished.  I was doing r-blends last week with a student:  See if you can figure out what she wanted me to guess on my turn.

 

Now, if can only get her to blend the f with the rest of the word instead of saying fffff, pause, reckles!  :-)  Plus, DoodleBuddy is great for having the students write on worksheets you upload and save in your iPad library or in Dropbox.

 

And last, but not least, I have to say that my camera feature gets used the most on my iPad.  Not officially an app, but I can take pictures of therapy cards and then scroll through them for practice.  I have photographed objects throughout the room and scrolled through them like game cards (see this previous post).  I love to take the kids pictures and add it to other apps like The Fifth Wiggle or inside drawing apps so they can make funny pictures of themselves.  Oh, the possibilities!

 

How do you get creative with apps?





Sharing "Gamis"- a free app for today!

One of my fabulous technology teachers shared this cool new app that is free at the moment (go quick, you know that changes!).  It is called Tellagami and you can get it here.

This app allows you to create a virtual version of yourself with a recorded message.  I created a version of myself (much skinnier of course), and made a welcome back message for my students for after Spring Break.

This took less than two minutes to do-  didn't even read any directions or tutorial first-  it is just that simple.  There are add-ons you can buy for different backgrounds, but the free version is just fine for me.

You students can use this app to create a version of themselves saying their speech words, or retelling a story you read, or any other type of goal practice.  Anything that gets them engaged and practicing speech is a good thing!  I am also attaching my "gami" to my website for parents to give them info about sound productions and language homework ideas for home, as well as for speech centers (so instead of me having to tell the directions for the center myself, they can listen to the gami repeat the expectations for that center).  The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

TPT Plunge Linky

Felice at the Dabbling Speechie is hosting a Linky Party about favorite products from TPT.  I am a huge fan of TPT, and have even written posts about purchases on the site as well as my favorite daily ritual of checking the free downloads on the site-  read more about it here.

So, if I had to pick my favorite two purchases, I would have to say the following are my faves:

1)  Articulation Notebooks

This is the priciest item I have ever bought, but I did get it when it was first posted and it around 40 something instead of the $68 it is now.  But, wow, what a comprehensive product.  It is well-made, super cute, and meets artic needs for my k-2 kids for the entire year.  There is a sample of the /v/ sound on the site you can try for free.

2)  Curriculum Based Language Assessments for k-5 by Nicole Allison

I use this every week when it is time to update my language student's IEPs.  I don't usually have time to give a formal evaluation again, and this gives great data for me to look at where to go next in their therapy.  It is divided by grade levels and linked to Common Core.  I just love this product (and all products from Nicole).

So those are my most used and favorites, but I also love everything by Mia McDaniel as well (just used her freebie the Magic Slide today!).  Look up her items on TPT.  They are great because they are inexpensive activities that allow you to target lots of goals for all of your students at once.

Thanks for stopping by!