'In Your Shoes' pragmatic language activity

Hey friends! I'm  loving my Colorado vacation this week. Everybody needs some time away! I had to hop on here and share a new download with you!

The games are called 'In your shoes.' The download includes 3 games: Problem Solving 1 & 2 and Perspective Taking. They feature these cute shoe graphics from KPM doodles.

The problem solving games include social situations that require the student to identify a solution. I use this large graphic in the middle of the table to remind the kids to identify the problem and the solution!

The game cards are tennis shoes with a social problem listed. For example:  A new student came to school today. He’s standing near the lunch line looking nervous.. What could you do? The level one cards are appropriate for students in grades k-4, but depending on developmental level they may work for your older students as well. Level 2 problem solving includes social problems appropriate for students in grades 4-8. For example: Chad wants to play football and be in band. They have practice afterschool at the same time. What should he do?

The perspective taking cards encourage kids to imagine themselves in someone else's shoes! You can use them to open discussion about empathy and making decisions based on others feelings. Theory of mind is such a difficult skill to teach, but it's fun when it clicks! The lack of perspective taking skills can really impact the kids ability to be sensitive to others and identify how others are feeling and reacting in a conversation.

The shoe cards each have a social situation. The students can identify how different people in the situation would feel. For example:  Kennedy and Jordan both had their birthday parties last week and you only went to Kennedy’s. How does Jordan feel?

The games each come with these ' Gum on your Shoes' cards. They can help make the activity seem like more of a game if you need to use them!

If you want to learn more about Perspective Taking head over to Jill's great site!

You can grab the download in my TPT store! Let me know if you use them!

Articulation Station Review & Giveaway!

Articulation Station Pro is an articulation app created by Little Bee Speech. The app is created for use by therapists, parents and teachers to target articulation impairments at a variety of difficulty levels.

While there are a variety of apps targeting articulation, Articulation Station Pro is the app I open most on my iPad for articulation treatment. I've seen a variety of comparative lists that talk about the differences in speech apps. You can compare number of pictures, difficulty levels, and drawn pictures versus real pictures.  All that information is great but sometimes you just want to know a person's personal preference!  This is my 'go-to' articulation app. It's easy for me to quickly use and my kids love it!

The app targets articulation sounds (p,b,m,d,n,t,k,g,f,v,ch,j,z,sh,th)  in initial, medial and final position of words, sentences and stories. Blends are targeted in (l,r,s). Each word has 60 target words and all together Articulation Station Pro has over 1,000 target words. The photo above demonstrates the interface for single words in the flashcard mode. SLP's can choose the target sound and position within the word. Select the green or red button to keep data. The record button allows you to record a child's answer and play it back for self monitoring. The other option for single word level practice is a matching game. It's what my students ask for the most!

The sentence level allows the SLP to pick two levels of difficulty. The student can select to rotate a single word within a sentence, as seen in the picture above. You can also select novel sentences.

The story level includes short stories that include picture prompts. The stories are loaded with target words.

At end of each story, a short comprehension check in included. Another great way to work on carryover and generalization during reading.

The scoring function provides data tracking for multiple students. Up to 6 students at one time may be targeted for group sessions.

An update was released 7/24/12 that includes the ability to select and save word lists. Check out a video tutorial here. Making lists is a big improvement for children with multiple articulation impairments.  It allows therapist to remove words with other conflicting errors.

In future updates I would love to see the ability to 'repeat' a word list! For example if I am working on initial /k/ with a student in single word flashcards, after the great 'You did it!' award at the end - I'd love to select 'repeat!

Overall, I don't think I can give a better recommendation than to say that of all my articulation apps, this is the one I use most. It's user friendly and what I recommend most to parents. Parents can buy the regular version of Articulation Station and select only the sounds they need to practice.

Little Bee Speech is being very generous and giving me two copies of Articulation Station Pro to giveaway!  Enter via rafflecopter below!



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**Edit: I forgot to mention, you can try out Articulation Station by downloading it here. It comes with the sound /p/. A great way to test it out and determine if it will fit your needs! On the iTunes store you will see both Articulation Station and Articulation Station Pro. The Pro version includes all the phonemes included. The regular version allows you to buy sounds individually.

Beach Ball Language!

Hey there SLP friends. This is a quick summer speech idea!

Grab a beach ball from the dollar bins at Target and make a therapy tool! I grabbed 3 and made one for literacy group! I kept the others to make throughout the school year. My literacy ball has phonological awareness skills in each color. The kids toss the ball in a circle. When they catch it they complete the action under their right hand.

I also created this beach ball to work on expressive language and syntax. I found this one in the summer section at Target. On each small circle I wrote a word. The students catch the ball and then use the two words under their hands to create a sentence.

Head over to the summer clearance and grab some beach balls to use in therapy this year!

Paint Bags!

I'm sure you have seen these paint bags floating around pinterest. Teachers use them to have their students get some hands on practice for tracing letters and numbers.

This summer a colleague, Emily Lansden, made a version for her summer language group!

Under each paint bag she placed stickers on paper. Students took turns searching for items under the paint. Such an easy idea that elicitired a lot of great language!

Thanks Emily!!

Pancake Flip!

I checked another item off my Pinterest 'to-do' list this week! I made a Pancake Flip game, inspired by this link I found on Pinterest!

To make your own, you just need a few spatula's from the Dollar Tree and my freebie printable!

One side of the pancake is lighter to look like 'batter.' As the kids complete questions they can flip the pancakes to the 'cooked' side. I made this version for literacy group where we are working on identifying letter/sound correlations. You can make articulation, language, fluency, social, or grammar versions!

The freebie is available here. I printed them front and back but if you don't have that option, just cut and glue them! Enjoy! Leave a comment and let me know how you use them!

License Plates Galore!

Sometimes you find very unexpected treasures in the thrift store bins. Today's post is based on just that! This summer I found a package of these mini license plates at my local Goodwill. I thought they were so cool and I grabbed them and put them in my 'make something awesome with these pile!'

 I decided to print out a map of the USA and use it with my upper elementary students! This summer I just have a couple of older students but I'll let you know how I've used them so far!

 For a student working on articulation carryover of /r/ we put all the plates into a bucket. As he pulled the plates, he had to identify the state and find it on the map. We used ink daubers to cover the states we found. If he said it correctly, he used orange to mark the state and he scored a point. If he needed prompts, I used purple to cover the state and I earned a point! I love incorporating other content areas into the speech room so for my 4th grade student this was a great summer review in geography!

The other student I used this activity with is a student who is currently working on language objectives. They include sequencing, comprehension, developing short stories, etc. We pulled the plates one at a time. We marked them on the map as though we were on a road trip. For each state, she had to indicate an activity we could do in that state! I stacked the deck so that we started with the Ohio plate (since that's where we are!) Then we went to Florida (Disney!), Louisiana (swamps), Colorado (skiing), and so on! We drew the map and then used the ipad to video our story retell.

I plan to use it as a reinforcer activity in my mixed groups this year. I think I will divide the map into regions for each student. I also  plan to use it with one of my social groups. I have some 4th and 5th graders who have been working on the idea of persuasion. Each student will draw a plate and that will be the state they focus on. We can do a little research on the ipad and then they can make a persuasive argument to the group. Then we can compare and contrast their states.

How would you use these mini license plates?


I really have no idea where to find these. I googled it, but didn't find any matches. All the plates say 1988 on them, so I'm guessing they're not made anymore.

Miss Piggy

I've been checking things off my summer to do list! Most of them come from pinterest! I saw this cute upcycled light and thought I could make something similar for therapy!

Meet Miss Piggy. Her name changes depending on the kid using her and their goals! But she has been an instant hit no matter what I call her!

You can make your very own Piggy too! Start with a laundry detergent bottle, plastic eyes, craft fur and a knife. I cut out one side of the pig to allow us to add picture cards or mini items to Miss Piggy.

So far I've had the Pink Pig hanging out in our summer literacy group. Pink Pig has been helping us with phonological awareness skills. Pink Pig's favorite sound is /p/ (of course!) so the kids can only add items that start with that sound! They are getting really good at it. And they think the 'num num' sound that she makes when she eats their cards is hilarious! They ask for it everyday!

I think Miss Piggy will make a great addition to my classroom in the fall!

Have you upcycled anything this summer?

Sandcastle Freebie!

We are well into summer here in Ohio! Temp's up to 100 again this weekend! Maybe a little freebie will make you smile if the heat is getting to you too!

This sandcastle download is a game to made target multiple meaning words! Gather as many castles as you can but watch out for the waves! 

Enjoy! Grab your freebie here! If you download - kindly leave a comment and say hey!

Candy Land Language

Many of you downloaded the Candy Land Articulation Cards! Since you seemed to enjoy them I whipped up some Candy Land Language Cards as well!

 The card games are broken into different game sets. These include (1) irregular verbs, (2) categories (3) antonyms (4) comparatives & superlatives and (5) functions. You can mix and match the games as needed.

The cards contain look a like cards with either one square or two containing a learning target. They also include the 6 special cards.

Each game comes with a title page. I recommend you put them into plastic bags and store them in your game box!

The 6 special cards match my version of the game. There are tons of versions of CandyLand, but your kids should be able to make the connections.

You can purchase the CandyLand Language Cards in my TPT store. Let me know what you think!

Where is Howie's Owie? Review & Giveaway

This week I'm reviewing another great Learning Resources product that can be used a lot of different ways in your speech room! Where is Howie's Owie? is a fun activity that will target expressive and receptive language targets.

The item comes with a two sided easel stand. One side is magnetic and has Howie on the beach, the other side has lines drawn for labeling Howie! The easel comes with colorful magnetic bandages, enough to give Howie 20 Owies!

There are many learning targets that Howie lends himself to in the speech room. My preschool student and I worked on vocabulary and following 1 and 2 step directions with temporal and conditional directions. I even snuck in some concepts such as 'top, middle, bottom, under, next to, between, corner.' We developed simple sentences for /k/ carryover and said 'Doctor fix ___' for each band aid we added to poor Howie! We answered WH questions while we added band aids too ( ie: "Where is the purple band aid?") Lastly we targeted some basic inferencing skills. The second time we applied Howie's band aids, I gave clues and scenarios and the child had to decide where the band aid should go. For example, 'Howie tried to catch a a bumble bee in his hands! Ouch! Where is Howie's Owie?'

During a literacy group we used Howie at circle time to work on Phonological Awareness skills. Each student added a band aid to a body part. Then they name that body part, a word that rhymed with it, the initial and final sound in their body part, and how many syllables that word contained.

I can't wait to use Howie in our Health and 5 Senses week next year during preschool!

Speech Room News was provided a copy of this product for review. No other compensation was provided.  Learning Resources is giving a copy of Where is Howie's Owie? to one lucky Speech Room News follower! Please enter using the rafflecopter below!

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Guess Who Articulation

Guess Who is a game found in most therapy closets around the country. While Guess Who can be used for many therapy goals independently, one Speech Room News reader Alice Wong sent in an idea for Guess Who Articulation. I used her activity with my students and they enjoyed it! I hope yours will too!

To play, first print new game cards that include your target sound. Alice used Custom Boards to easily make her inserts. To play, make 3 copies of the cards (one for each board and one stack to draw from.) Have each student draw 5 cards from the stack. Students can then ask the other person questions. If your students are younger you might just have them ask for each sound e.g. 'Is it SOCK?' The first person to get all 5 is the winner (in the 1998 version there is a counter up to 5 on the bottom of the game!)

For older students you can have them ask yes/no questions like the original game. This will be a great opportunity to work on language goals simultaneously. Some questions we used were 'Is is a piece of clothing?' 'Is is hot?' 'Is is a type of food?'
.      

 You can grab free copy of her initial /s/ and final /s/ cards using these links! These sizes are compatible with the 1998 version of Guess Who. If you're using a different version the sizes will need to be adjusted.



Alice Wong recently graduated from American River College with an A.S. in Speech Language Pathology. Thanks for sharing Alice!

Have you ever adapted Guess Who?

July 4th Freebie!

Are you dressed in Red, White and Blue today? Happy 4th of July! This summer I'm working in two different speech clinics, giving me the opportunity to work with some awesome SLP's! My friend Katie Schutz had made a book about the 4th of July to use in our Summer Language Group. She is kindly letting me share it with you guys today!

The book as simple sentences that describe typical 4th of July activities (ie: I see fireworks!) and the students can find the matching icons. We used it at circle time and the students took turns finding the matching icon! Katie used velcro to attach the pieces but if you are having a student make their own book you could glue them on! Enjoy!

 Grab the book here. And the icons here.

In the group Emily had her kids make American flags. Didn't they turn out adorable?! What ideas did you use this week?

Happy Fourth of July!

Magnet Madness

Selecting therapy materials is always tough decision for me. One of the most important factors I look at before purchasing a material is how many children on my caseload an item will apply to. If you use this same criteria you will love what I'm reviewing today! I'm going to review three great Super Duper items that can easily be used together to target a variety of treatment goals!

Up first is the MagneTalk Match-Up Fantasy Barrier activity set. Using barrier games is one of my all time favorite activities for therapy. Katie had a wonderful description in this post about how to use them for a variety of targets!  I mostly use it for following directions, concepts and vocabulary. 

The games come with background scenes and magnets. The barrier is magnetic, giving it the flexibility all SLP's are craving! I got the Fantasy Pack - isn't this candy scene fun?!

One way we jazzed this up in my office this week was to use magnetic paper. You can get it in any office supply store. It's a bit expensive ($13 for 5 sheets), so you'll want to get all the printing out of it you can. One of the things I printed on it was pictures of familiar faces for my student! He got a huge kick out of it. Today all I can show you is MY picture in the river, but we had lots of friends in our story :) If you already have a set of barrier boards that your students are bored with - pull out your ipad and take a quick picture that you can print. It will make the boards seem like new again!

This version also comes with a story chart, which we used on one side of the board, instead of using matching barrier pictures! The MagneTalk Match Up Fantasy Story Adventures give you the flexibility to work on many different language goals simultaneously. 

So we've covered using the barrier set in the typical way, but once you have the magnetic barrier, you can adapt any other magnetic activities for use on the activity center! Super Duper also provided me with a copy of the MagneTalk Early Action Words game. My student's goals included pronouns and verbs, so we made "pronoun + is + verb+ing" sentences!

Many of you might own some of the other MagneTalk Game items from Super Duper. They carry versions for articulation, grammar, language and more. Any of those items would be compatible with the barrier activity center!

The last activity I reviewed this week in my magnet extravaganza is the Webber Basic Concepts MagneFoam Magnets (Level 1).

This kit includes 158 magnets for 54 basic concepts. My favorite part of the magnets is their thickness. It makes them easy to grab off of the board for my preschoolers!

Each set of magnets contains two pictures plus a FOIL (ie: awake, asleep). The magnets are decently sized at 2 inches and will be perfect for my language circles in preschool this fall!

I wanted to use these with the same little friend working on pronouns. I opened Custom Boards on my ipad and made some quick sentences strips to use on my MagneTalk Activity Center. (I skipped my magnetic paper this time since I was in a hurry!) 

A bit of tape held them into place and we took turns adding magnets while we made sentences! 


Pros: The ability to target multiple goals using the same materials makes these activities well worth their price tag. I enjoy being able to use each item as a stand alone item, but the ability to use them together gives clinicians more opportunities to use each item. 


Cons:  These items are quite large. The box for the MagneFoam Concepts is particularly big, so those with small spaces might need to re-pack/organize it into a smaller container! 


Do you have any favorite magnetic activities?


All materials were provided by Super Duper. The opinions in this review are mine and no other compensation was provided.