Summer Articulation Activities for Carryover

Hello!  Another school year is almost under wraps.  I'm not counting the days yet, but I can see the end in sight.

During the last 2-3 weeks of school, my focus with my articulation students is finding a way to help them maintain and/or carry over skills during the summer.  Yes, I'm the Speech Therapist who sends home summer homework!


I bet you're wondering, "Why go through all of the extra work when most of your students won't practice their articulation skills over the summer?"   Well, it isn't extra work for me.   Say What??  Not extra work??  How?

1) I send speech homework during the school year.  Whether it's done or not, when it's returned to me, I keep it.   I file it by grade level in my homework hanging file bin.   Before school lets out for the summer, I sort the returned speech homework by student and send it home as "summer review" in their speech folder.   Easy peasy.

2) During the last few sessions, my articulation students make "Artic-On-The-Go" Lapbooks.   Lapbooks are an inexpensive way to display material that targets a central topic.  They're easy to make and my students love the coloring and cutting and gluing needed to make them - and we practice our target sounds while we are creating them.  What I love about them is that they are very portable.  This allows my students a way to practice their speech sound(s) while "on-the-go" -- traveling to the beach, traveling to soccer practice, driving to the grocery store, going to grandma's.

Interested in making Artic-On-The-Go Lapbooks with your students?  You can find all of the printable materials for the insides of the lapbooks for a wide range of speech sound targets in my TPT store.

Check out what other suggestions for Summer Carryover Activities from my SLP friends.  Click a link below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Speech & Language Therapy with Lego Duplo Build Me Emotions

Months ago (actually too long ago -- but life has been busy for me), I shared how I've been using Lego Duplo Animal Bingo in therapy.  If you missed that post, you can read it here.  I also received other Lego Duplo sets in my Donors Choose project that have been amazing to use in speech & language therapy with all of my elementary school students.

Today, let me share how I've been using Lego Duplo Build Me Emotions.

First, an overview of the product:  Lego Duplo Build Me Emotions comes with 188 Duplo size blocks to allow children to build people and explore emotions.  There are 8 face blocks, depicting 8 different emotions. (The face blocks are double sided, so you technically have 2 of every face/emotion.)  The set also comes with 8 double sided cards depicting 16 characters to be built.

Initially, I thought this would be a great way to talk about emotions and feelings with my younger students as well as my students who have pragmatic goals.  I also thought that my older students wouldn't want anything to do with these blocks as they aren't the "normal size" Lego blocks.  I was wrong.  SAY WHAT?!?!  Yes, I was wrong.  My students just want to build with Lego, regardless of the size.

How I have used this Lego Duplo set in therapy:

1) To target similarities and differences:  I build a simple figure (using 4-6 pieces, with one piece being a face).  I give the students enough blocks to build the same figure (but color of blocks and faces may be different).  We line up all of the figures, then pick 2 and discuss how they are similar and different.  Or I will give all the students the same block pieces (again color of blocks and faces may differ) and allow them to create their own figures.  We line them up to discuss how they are similar and different.  As you can see from the 3 photos, the same pieces were used each time.  The top photo shows how my students copied my figure.  The bottom two photos show how they created their own.  All from the same pile of blocks.

2) To target following directions:  I build a simple figure (with or without a face).  I give my students the blocks they need to build the same figure (along with 1 or 2 extra blocks).  I hide my figure (behind a binder) and then describe what I want them to build.  Basically, this is a Lego version of a barrier game.   

3) To target expressive language (describing, using sentences) and/or articulation skills:  This activity is very similar to what I described in bullet #2; however during this activity, the students describe the simple figure to be built.  This is a great way to have students work on speaking clearly (articulation carryover) or using sentences or descriptive terms.

 
4) To target emotions: I give each student a different face and a limited amount of blocks.  They build a figure.  We discuss how the character is feeling and why they might be feeling that way.

The first 3 activities need to be planned prior to therapy.  I dump out all of the blocks and sort by block shape.  For activity #1: I make 4 similar figures - not worrying if block colors or faces are the same as I only need block shape to be the same for this activity.  I store each set of 4 in a Ziploc bag.

For activities #2 & #3: I attempt to make 4 identical creations.  Remember, you don't want to use tons of blocks as activities #2 and #3 will be difficult for your language impaired students.  Once I have a group of 4 identical creations, I keep one built and dump the 1 built creation plus all the blocks needed for the other 3 creations into a Ziploc bag. 

Sometimes it is a time saver to dump each creation (unbuilt) into a small sandwich bag and then the 4 sandwich bags into one big Ziploc bag.   Remember, if your creations for #2 and #3 have faces, then you can use those same creations for activity #1.

The Lego Duplo Build Me Emotions set has been a HUGE hit in therapy!  Even my 5th graders have enjoyed the activities I have shared with you today.

Let's Go Shopping! SPEECHY TPT Appreciation Sale

WOW!  Another school year flying by!  Not only is May Better Speech and Hearing Month, but it is also host to Teacher Appreciation days.  As a celebration of all this greatness, TPT is having a 2 day site-wide sale!  Wahoo!  I love a sale!

That said, TPT sales always tend to overwhelm me!  Say what?!?!  Yes, they overwhelm me.  What to buy?  What do I need?  Will this product actually be THE product that I need? So many awesome products on TPT; not enough money in my checking account.  What's a girl to do?

That's easy!   Find some awesome recommendations from your Frenzied SLP friends!  

Let me suggest a couple items from my TPT store:


Looking for something different to do in therapy to target articulation?  And, once done, can be used as summer practice??  Check out my Artic-On-The-Go Lapbook (bundle pack).  Yes, you can help your students make lapbooks targeting their articulation sound, which in turn can be used as summer practice.  Therapy planned, summer practice happening!  Win-win!


 
Do you have students who have difficulty understanding before and after in relation to sequencing events?  When they hear "Before Suzie waved to her friend, she ate a cookie", they don't know what happened first?  My Before and After:  Understanding and Using for Sequencing Events packet will help those students.  It includes a pre/post test to help with data collection.





Also, let me suggest some items from other SLP TPT stores:

GoldCountrySLP has a brand new product for targeting complex directions: Following Complex Directions - Summer 500.  I know I always have students (tons of students) each year who need practice understanding & following complex directions.  I always seem to be looking for another way (that's fun!) to target this skill.  And if you're not looking for "summer themed" therapy materials, check out her Following Complex Directions - Spring 500 packet.




I recently discovered Monae's Speech House and I've fallen in love with her books.  My students LOVE them!  She has this amazingly

cute book about a cockroach.  Yes, you read that correctly:  A COCKROACH!  To be honest, I've never seen a cute cockroach until finding this book.  The book comes with a list of WH (and yes/no) questions to ask as well as interactive pieces.  Trust me -- you won't be disappointed.  Check out Cockroach.  And, if you truly can't bring yourself to buy a book about a cockroach (honestly, YOUR LOSS!), then let me suggest Monae's book:  Chicken, Chicken Cross That Road - my husband laughed reading that one!!  I personally plan to buy her Yucky Boogers book.


 
For those of you looking for older elementary and/or middle school therapy materials, check out SLPRunner's Inferencing and Vocabulary Adventure Bundle.  This packet makes me wish I had a day at a middle school.  Sharks? Pirates? Big Foot? Abdominal Snowman?  What middle school student wouldn't love working on language and vocabulary with those themes?



Well, I hope those suggestions help make your shopping trip a bit easier.  Remember to use the code CELEBRATE at checkout for an additional 10% off sale and regular prices.  If you want more recommendations, click on any of the links below to see what other SLPs recommend. 

What TPT product do you currently use in therapy that you can't live without?  Comment and share!   I love checking out therapy materials.

Happy shopping!

An InLinkz Link-up

Speech & Language Therapy with Lego Duplo Animal Bingo

Recently, I decided that I needed more toys for my therapy room.  A few of my current students aren't developmentally ready for "table learning" with worksheets, picture cards or board games.   They need hands-on learning.  They need toys.  After some research and thought, I decided Lego Duplo blocks would be a great addition to my therapy room.  Initially, I was leaning toward regular Lego blocks, but didn't want my younger students to struggle with the fine motor skills needed to build with those smaller blocks.

Not having tons of money to spend, I chose to fund my Lego Duplo blocks via a Donors Choose project.  Donors Choose is an amazing website -- if you're not familiar with it, you should check it out.  I submitted my project request on a Thursday night.  Friday morning it was approved and by Friday evening, it was fully funded.   Items were ordered Saturday morning and in my possession by Tuesday afternoon in time to use in therapy on Wednesday.   Mind you, Donors Choose projects don't always get funded (or arrive) this quickly.  It was amazing how quickly all of this happened.

Check out my new therapy fun:

I've had this box of Lego Duplo fun for less than a week and already I am seeing a world of possibilities!  When I originally requested these products, I had only a few of my students in mind. Little did I realize how many more of my students these products would actually benefit.  Initially, I thought my older students wouldn't want anything to do with these blocks as they aren't the "normal size" Lego blocks.  I was wrong. SAY WHAT?!?!  Yes, I was wrong.  They just want to build.

Today, let me share what we did with Lego Duplo Animal Bingo.

First an overview of the product:  Lego Duplo Animal Bingo comes with enough blocks to build 8 different animals and 8 game cards depicting the blocks needed to build each animal.  The game cards are 2 sided with one side showing the animal built with all the same color block and the other side showing the same animal built with different colored blocks.  Each student is given a game card (or 2).  All of the blocks go in the container.  Someone (usually the adult) picks a random block from the container.  If one of the students need it to build their animal, s/he says, "I need that block."  The winner is the first person to have all the blocks needed to build their animal.  

How I used it in therapy:

1) To target colors - check out all those colors!  A yellow giraffe, a red bunny, a pink snail, a green bird, a blue elephant, a brown moose, an orange ostrich, and a purple camel.

2) To target increasing vocabulary by naming animals.

3) To target increasing vocabulary by naming action words while the animals walk, run, hop, sleep, eat, talk, spin, hide, etc.

4) To target same and different by matching the correct block to the one pictured on the game card.  This was difficult for one of my students - he wanted to match a red block to a red block without regard for shape or size or even the fact there was an eye on the block.  With lots of modeling from me, he began to understand what he needed to do.




5) As a reinforcement during articulation therapy.  I gave each student 2 game boards.  They had to say their target words correctly 5-10x to earn a block to build their animal.  They loved this activity! 





6) To target answering and asking questions.  My student had to ask for two game cards, requesting which animals he wanted ("Can I have the giraffe?").   I also had two game cads.  We took turns closing our eyes and reaching in the box for a random block.  If I needed it, I would model, "I need this block for my animal."  If I didn't need it, I would ask the student, "Do you need this block?"  If he answered, "Yes", I would follow up with "Which animal needs this block?"   My student was expected to ask me similar questions after he chose a block from the box.



7) To target creative, spontaneous language while playing.

I've had these blocks for less than a week and look at everything we've been doing!  And I've only shared what we did with ONE of the Lego Duplo products!   Wait until you see what we do next week with these fun blocks!

Monster Box Fun

Here's a fun & easy craft to do with your children, for your classroom, to use with your students, or to hold the tissues in your bathroom:  MONSTER BOXES! 

First you will need an empty box -- a rectangular Kleenex box is what was used to make all of the Monster Boxes pictured above.   (The yellow and blue striped one is actually 2 rectangular Kleenex boxes.)   That said, any cardboard box will do - cereal box, snack box, cracker box, etc.

Once you have an empty box, then gather these other materials:

• roll of duct tape
• fun foam (for the eyes & teeth - I used white, but you can use any color)
• googly eyes
• hot glue gun
• Sharpie pen (any dark color)
• sharp scissors or box cutter

 
 Draw where you want the mouth to be.  Cut away that cardboard as well as the plastic area of the Kleenex box.  Cover the box with duct tape.  (Optional = cover the inside of the box also!  Use red so it looks like the inside of his mouth!)

Once you've covered the box with duct tape, randomly cut triangles out of the fun foam.   These will be the monster's teeth.  Using the hot glue gun, attach the "teeth" to the inside of the box so they stick out.   You can attach teeth along the bottom ridge of the mouth only or along the bottom and top.  Next, decide how many eyes your monster will have.  Remember, the more, the spookier!  Cut tombstone shaped pieces of fun foam for the eyes -- you will be gluing the googly eyes to the tombstone piece so the eyes will be able to stand up and watch your entire room.  Glue the googly eyes to the tombstone piece, then glue the tombstone piece to the Kleenex box on the back side so they stick up and peer over the mouth.  As an added reinforcement (and to make the eyes blend into the back of the monster's head), I put duct tape over the bottom portion of the eyes.

VOILA!  You are now the proud owner of a fun and silly monster box!

SAY WHAT?!?!  You don't know what to do with this cute guy?!?!  Here are some ideas:

• official tissue holder in any bedroom/bathroom/classroom/therapy room
• official study helper -- feed him your vocabulary/math flash cards -- but only the ones you get correct!  The ones you don't get correct, you need to study so they're tastier for the monster
• official speech therapy helper -- feed him articulation/vocabulary cards (or anything)!   He loves eating anything!
• official bingo chip holder
• official bouncy ball catcher -- set him on the table/floor, see who can bounce the most bouncy balls into his mouth
• print these tasty "Monster Box Treats" from my TPT store to feed him (if you download, please be a friendly monster and leave feedback!)

The starry monster box (in the above pictures) holds the baby wipes in my therapy room.  My students always complained when I handed them a baby wipe to clean their hands/face; but now they beg to use "monster spit wipes" to clean their hands/face.

Here are some other monster boxes to give you some ideas:

wacky shaped snack box

 

Cheerios box

give him antenna

one-eyed monster box with a full mouth of goodies

 
 
Please share a photo of your monster box creation below!  I'd love to see what monster boxes are living in your therapy room, classroom, or home.

Until next time,

 

Creating a card game - how hard can it be?

Card games... my family can't get enough of them.  Playing them, finding unique and different ones to buy, making them.... 

SAY WHAT?!?!

Yes, we like to make our own card games.

Have you ever tried to make a card game?  It's not as easy as you think.   When my son, M, was 12, he dared me to make a card game about potatoes.   Well, about "poe-tah-toes" as that's his term for "potatoes".  He's a funny kid.  

I accepted his dare but it became a family event.  My family sat around the table brainstorming:  What would be the object of the game?  What rules would there be?  How would the players interact?  Would all cards be shown or some kept hidden?  What type graphics did we want?  Action cards:  how would they restrict players from reaching their goal or help players reach the goal?  

Ideas and suggestions poured out and I scrambled to get them all on paper.  We let the ideas sit for a day then reviewed them, scrapping some, tweaking others.  Now, it was time for a rough draft.   Via powerpoint, I created a card template and began adding graphics and text.  My family wandered in and out, giving advice on graphics and text wording.   Project saved and rough draft printed.

Finally, it was time to play the game and it stunk.  SAY WHAT?!?!  All that time invested and it stunk?  What was the problem?  Inertia.   The game in its neutral state never ended.  That's not a good thing.  When you play a game, you want it to end.  Please don't confuse that last sentence with "You don't want to play the game."    That is not what I meant.  When we play a game, we want to reach the goal of the game.  That's the purpose of the game, right?  Think of a good game of UNO:  when the game is quick and ends "too soon", most of the time the players will say, "Hey... let's play another round!"   There was fun, the fun ended, they want to re-capture the fun.   Now, think of a bad game of UNO:  drags on and on and on and on.  When it does end, the emotion around the table is "Thank goodness that was over... I thought it was never going again... please don't deal another round."

One key element to a good game is that even in the game's neutral state, players are still making gains toward the goal (or end) of the game.  Our poor homemade game wasn't doing that.  Hubby and I figured out we had too many "Lose everything" cards.  Basically, those cards kept sending players back to square one of the game.  No one was winning.  The game was not ending.  Everyone was thinking, "Please... let this madness stop!"

We didn't scrap the entire game.  It had some really fun elements.  We did enjoy the actual game play until we realized the game wouldn't end.  Our first idea to fix that issue was a simple one:  reduce the number of "Lose everything" cards.    Luckily, that was the perfect solution.  We cut the number of "Lose everything" cards in half and the game flowed beautifully.  We enjoy playing it.  My son's friends and my nephews enjoy playing it.  For such a pale, white topic (potatoes); it's truly an entertaining game.


Since creating our "Poe-tah-toe Game"  (yes, that's what we named it), I've created a few other card games to entertain my students during speech therapy.  All of them are "open-ended", meaning anyone can use the games.  They aren't tailored specifically for "students in speech therapy".  I created them to entertain and all of them have done exactly that.

Thinking about creating your own game?  First read this blog post written by Mark Rosewater (the Head Designer for Magic, The Gathering) for the top 10 things every game needs.   It's full of excellent information.

If you do create a game (whether to use in your classroom or therapy room or with your own family), I'd love to hear about it.  My family and I truly enjoy checking out new games.

Keep on having fun....

Let's Talk About Speech & Language Screening Tools

As a Speech Language Pathologist, often parents and teachers asked me the difference between "screenings" and "evaluations".  Speech and language screenings are used to determine if a child needs further testing to determine if s/he has a speech and/or language delay or disability.  They are usually quick and short.  Speech and language evaluations are used to determine the existence of a delay or disability.  They are more thorough and lengthier.  Basically, screening tools are a quick way to determine who might need further speech and language testing and who doesn't; while evaluation tools determine the actual existence of a delay or disability.

Today, I'm linking up with my amazing and talented friend and fellow bloggers, the Frenzied SLPs, to talk about different screening tools.

What I have realized during my many years working in elementary schools is sometimes teachers need a little help determining whether they should refer a student for a speech and language screening.  During my first few years as a Speech Therapist (20+ years ago), it was no big deal to tell the parents that the school Speech Therapist was going to have a "small chat with Johnny" to determine if a referral was the appropriate course of action.  Nowadays, no way.  SAY WHAT?!?!  It's true.  Parent permission is needed for a Speech Therapist to actually have a "small chat with Johnny".  

In order to help teachers determine if a speech and language screening referral is an appropriate course of action, I created two "teacher friendly" screening tools.  These tools can be used by Speech Therapists as informal screening tools OR used by classroom teachers to determine if a referral to the Speech Therapist is appropriate.

Speech and Language Skills Assessment (SALSA for short) is available in a preschool/kindergarten version and a 1st/2nd grade version.

SALSA for preschool & kindergarten screens the child's ability to label common objects as well as verbally state the function of those objects.  The objects were specifically chosen in order to hear how the child pronounces certain sounds.  For example, "computer" was chosen in order to hear Becky say a 3 syllable word as well as the initial /k/ sound in that word.  If Becky says, "tompu", then that is valuable information for the Speech Therapist to know in determining whether Becky needs that speech and language referral.  (By the way, she does!)  This screening tool also looks at the child's ability to answer a variety of simple questions.  Does the child know to answer a WHO question with a person and a WHERE question with a place?

 

SALSA for 1st and 2nd graders also screens the child's ability to label common objects as well as listening to how the child pronounces certain sounds while labeling those objects.  This screening tool also screens the child's ability to compare and contrast common objects, provide 2 descriptive words, make predictions/inferences, follow directions, explain how to do a common activity as well as answer simple and more complex questions.

Both SALSA screening tools come with an additional file that allows you to view the necessary pictures on your computer or iDevice.  (No need to print the pictures so this will save your color ink cartridge.)  Detailed instructions on how to prepare the screening tool as well as how to administer it are also provided.  It's very user friendly -- a fact that my co-workers have told me repeatedly.

Another screening tool that I use frequently is the informal Articulation Screener (No Prep!) created by The SLT Scrapbook.  I love how this tool screens all positions of single sounds as well as the initial position of two-letter blends.  The chosen pictures are mostly common items that my students should be able to identify, so if they can't that also gives me some insight regarding their vocabulary skills.  I also love the fact that I don't have to print any cards/pictures - I display them on my computer screen or my iPad (when I remember to bring my iPad to school).  The scoring form is 3 pages long and my "bifocal-needing eyes" enjoy the font size that The SLT Scrapbook chose to use.  If you don't have 40+ year old eyes (or aren't waiting for your optometrist to get your refraction correct so new glasses can be ordered), you can opt to print the 3 recording pages on 1 page.  Not unreasonably small, but my "bifocal-needing eyes" just say NO to that option.

Now that you've read my suggestions, please remember this:  The screening tools you create or the screening tools you purchase from TPT are informal tools.  They are not standardized.   They don't (or shouldn't) provide pass/fail guidelines as they haven't been standardized to accurately provide that information to you.  They are informal tools.  They can provide you with knowledge about a student's speech and language skills which you must interpret using your professional expertise.  Informal screening tools should not be used to determine whether a child has a delay or disability.   These informal tools should be used to add to the information you have about this child (through observations, teacher report, and/or standardized screening tools) in order to make a professional decision regarding the need for an actual speech and language evaluation.

What do you use to screen speech and language skills?  Share what you use in a comment below -- I love learning what you are doing.  If you are classroom teacher reading this post, I'd love to know your thoughts on using one of my screening tools to determine if you should refer that student to your school's Speech Therapist.

If you want more fabulous ideas on speech and language screening tools, click on the links below to visit my amazing friends and fellow bloggers.

An InLinkz Link-up