I just wanted to share one more activity that our kids loved this summer.
During our water day, I wrote CVC words on the wall with chalk. Then we 'erased' them with a spray bottle. For some kids we targeted Letter ID. Other students worked on letter/sound correlation and listened to my sound, to find the correct letter to erase.
Kids words on segmenting and blending could erase a given sound and talk about what the word changes to when you take away a sound (i.e.: say pig, now say it without the /p/).
Hopefully I will get a chance to do something similar with my articulation kids at the beginning of this school year!
The developers from the Virtual Speech Center recently released a new app Verb News. The app is based on a young boy named Andrew. Andrew's news channels each teach the student about a different verb tenses.
By selecting the 'Intro to Tenses' button, the students are given short explanations of verb tenses. These include Simple Present, Simple Past, Simple Future and Present Continues. These each include about 3 minutes of information presented with a timeline visual for support. For example in the 'Simple Past' video it explains that the past can be 5 minutes ago, yesterday or last week. The app explains that usually we use -ed to mark past tense. The other words we have to memorize, such as the verb 'bought.'
When you're ready to work with your students, select the 'Start' button. Here you can add students easily by typing in their names. Select multiple players as needed. The next section of the app with have you select the word targets (109 regular, 81 irregular) by selecting 'all' or just the words you wish to target. You will also get to select the type of learning activities (auditory bombardment, fill in or develop a sentence.)
Then select a tense to get started (see the silver boxes on the left in the picture above.) The student name will appear in the lower left hand corner to indicate which student is currently taking their turn. You can use the red button in the upper right hand corner to record a sentence at any time. Use the button on the left to change the tense of verb you are practicing at any point.
The app also includes data collection that is up to par with SLP expectations. As usual it can be emailed or printed. There is also a feature for recording you own 'news cast' using the built it camera in the iPad 2/3.
What I love: The app targets verb tenses, but really can be used to target more syntax structures that come up when students are generating sentences and filling in blanks. There are many targets, but I can choose which ones my clients are ready for. I did run into a technical issue with a 'repeat' button, but when I emailed the developer they had a fixed version sent through iTunes that same day! (A speedy developer is so helpful!)
What needs work: A few of the pictures seemed distorted because they were stretched to meet the square size of the photos. The only other thing I would like to see, is a mixing of the question types. If you select multiple activities (ie: auditory bombardment and fill in) they will not mix the question types in the prompts. Your student will first be asked all auditory bombardments and then move onto the fill-in questions.
Plant some flowers while you strengthen your students' receptive language skills. Plant Your Garden is my newest download available on TPT.
Each flower pot has 3 accompanying descriptor words. Students need to find the flowers for each pot. For example the flower pot labeled 'Lemon' goes with the flowers: 'fruit, yellow, sour.'
The flowers have words that include relationships for: part/whole, attributes, descriptors, functions, etc.
The download includes 24 flower pots and 72 flowers.
The activity directions are as follows:
Print all pages. Laminate and cut apart all materials. Spread out pots across the table. Have students read the descriptors on the flowers to find right blooms for each pot. Self check each flower pot by checking for one of each color per pot (orange, pink, yellow) Find it in my TPT Store!
It's Back to School Week at TPT. I'm throwing a sale in my store: 10% off everything on Aug. 12 & 13th! When you also use the TPT coupon (BTS12) you get another 10% off for a total of 20% Enjoy!
The therapists over at ARK Therapeutic Services have been busy this summer. They developed some new items and I got another fun box of items to review for you! First up is the Right Bite, a tool for feeding therapy.
The Right Bite was designed by Jaci Dale, MA, CCC-SLP and developed by ARK. It is a small plastic tool to provide clinicians and clients with support for feeding therapy. The skills targeted are visually judging food and taking the correct sized bite.
The Right Bite keeps clinicians from having their fingers bitten, encourages correct bite sizes, prevents mouth stuffing and paces the rate of eating to allow for appropriate chewing time. Many objects will fit into the Right Bite, including cookies, crackers, cucumber and apple slices. It can also be used with jaw grading using a variety of textures and sizes of foods to practice opening the jaw appropriately.
Check out this video demonstration to get a better feel for the product! Oh and it's dishwasher safe!
The next products will have your Occupation Therapists excited to co-treat with you!
The first item is the Tran-Quill Writing Set. The kit uses the DnZ-Vibe that I previously reviewed for oral motor work. The vibration in the handle does not actually impact the actual writing, but helps some individuals concentrate. The kit comes with replaceable chewable 'eraser' end that are perfect for our kids who are constantly seeking sensory input. The pencil adapter screws into the DnZ Vibe just like all the oral motor tips, and then the little pencils fit right into the adapter.
Are you dreaming of all the kids on your caseload who need this like I am? Can't wait to collaborate with my OT about which kids will be appropriate for. I can use it when we do either artic or language goals by tying in writing!
Check out the video for more info!
ARK is also featuring their new Butter Grip and Weighted Tip. The Butter grip is designed to promote proper finger positioning during writing tasks. The round shape of the Butter Grip is meant to serve as a tactile cue for the fingers to grasp. It works for both left and right handed individuals. The grip works with the Tran-Quil set reviewed above but also works with most standard pencils and pens.
The Weighted Tip is designed to attach to the top of ARK's aluminum handles (pencil or pen). The weighted tip gives increased sensory awareness to the hand during fine motor activities. The extra weight is intended to help with stabilization, concentration, speed, strength and grip.
Check out these and all the other fine motor tools on ARK's website. What an easy way to help your OT's carryover those skills!
I'm back today with another giveaway from Articulation Station! This one is sponsored by my friend Siva over at Appy Mall. If you love Technology in Special Education you're going to LOVE their new venture at the Appy Mall!
This week AppyMall is sponsoring another giveaway for Speech Room News followers. Just head over to AppyMall and check out all the goodness! Then enter via rafflecopter!
Katie and I been working hard on phonological awareness skills with most of the kids in our literacy group. Here's a quick round up!
I borrowed Emily's Twister Hopscotch and added letters on construction paper below them. I said one of the sounds and the kids had to hop the corresponding letter.
The gross motor moving helped us get out some energy!
We worked on syllable counting. First we wrote the beginning sounds for each color. Then we wrote the number of syllables for the color word. For example "yellow" is two syllables.
Katie had the kids use a flashlight identify and find the letter to accompany the sound she produced. (PS - I kinda LOVE this pirate graphic to cover my faces :))
We also created these Pinterest inspired ice blocks.
The kids dug them out, then we did phonological awareness skills with the name of the animals.
Lastly we made some super cute ice cream cones! These are a Pinterest copy cat too! Original credit.
We worked on identifying words that start with /s/ like our flavor 'strawberry'.
What have you been doing with your kids this summer?
Electrokite apps have developed a series of apps called Birds on a Wire. The apps were released this summer and are listed in iTunes for 99 cents each. The three apps focus on Adjectives, Verbs and Nouns.
Birds on a Wire: Adjectives is a simple app that lets students read a set of 3 words and identify the one that is an adjective.
The introduction page teaches students the features of an adjective. If you click on the adjective listed it changes to another adjective and also changes the picture. Since adjectives can be broad these examples are really important to the student understanding. For example, pressing the 'three' on this page changed the example to 'sleepy birds.'
The app is easy to navigate once you understand the controls on the lower part of the screen. You can also see the Brainstorm button which prompts you to make an adjective list. It asks the student to look around the room and name as many adjectives they can in one minute.
The game portion shows 3 words. The student clicks on the correct bird to indicate which word is an adjective. After the choice is selected press the arrow to move to next set of words.
The other portion of the app asks the students to write sentences using the adjectives on the top of the page.
The app price is much lower than most other therapy apps. Therapist should be aware that the reduced price results in limited control. There is no data collection or tracking. Therapists can not edit the words used or the types of prompts. While the app doesn't have many features, for it's low price, I'm glad to have this is my 'grammar' app file!
Keep your eyes peeled over at the SpeechRoomNews Facebook page for a major code drop of these apps!
Disclosure Statement: These app codes were provided by the company in order to complete a review. No other compensation was provided.
