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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Puppy Chow Recipe FREEBIE!

This week, I'm going to be "cooking" with my students from our transition rooms. Such an important life skill! We don't have access to a stove, so I'm limited to what I can do. This is the second time I will be cooking with them. Last year, we made ice cream in a bag and the kids LOVED it! I can't wait to try another recipe!

I decided to go with Puppy Chow this time- another easy recipe to attempt that doesn't involve a stove. You can get the free directions with visuals and communication board here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easy-and-Fun-Puppy-Chow-Recipe-with-Visuals-and-Communication-Board-1410525.

A little prep work is involved:

1. Measure out the ingredients if you think this will be too difficult for your students.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave beforehand.
3. Put the confectioners' sugar in the Ziploc bag beforehand.

I used Boardmaker to make some simple visuals to increase student's comprehension. I'll be targeting following written and oral directions, verbs, answering questions, and commenting on topic.

Here's some preview images from my computer (sorry for the low quality):


Go to my TPT store and grab this FREEBIE now!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Back to School Lesson Plan Ideas!

My creative juices are flowing right now! I'm so glad I'm not staring at my cursor with no idea what to do with my groups. It's been great to get that part of my brain going again!

I wanted to give you an idea of what I'm doing with my groups this first week back to school.

Here's what my lessons have been covering this week:

5 Minute Artic 1:1 Sessions:
We've been talking about summer (i.e. collected conversational baseline data on their targets) and also reading The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle. I found this freebie on TPT for sequencing so we'll be doing that once we've finished reading it: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Very-Lonely-Firefly-991038  Right now, I'm taking data on productions while reading, answering questions, and conversation. Once we've finished, we'll sequence the events of the story and I'll have the students retell it using their best speech.



Speech & Language Groups:
We've been reviewing rules, procedures, and routines of the classroom. Then, we're having fun getting to know one another! I found these great (FREE) "getting to know you" cards on TPT (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quiz-Quiz-Trade-Beginning-of-the-Year-Activity-1273409).  The questions are easy enough for even my language-impaired kindergartners to answer! I'm trying out Kagan Structures in my room this year and these cards were perfect for that! Here's how I did it (completely ignored the directions that came with it):

1. I gave each of the kids a number (1-4) written on an index card.

2. I asked one of the questions from the packet and gave some think time (3-5 seconds).

3. I spun a spinner (numbered 1-4). If it landed on number 3, number 3 went first. If it landed on number 2, number 2 went first (etc.).
4. They were getting a little antsy by this time so when it was their turn to answer the question, I had them stand up. Get the blood flowing!
5. We did a RoundRobin, so every one had a chance to answer the same questions and we all learned a bit about one another! I answered the questions too! They all thought it was funny that I was 31 years old!


We did that until our 30 minutes was up and I heard no complaints!

Autism Classroom:
We've been reviewing school supply vocabulary with this fun freebie on TPT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Whats-In-My-Backpack-Adapted-Book-for-SPED-FREEBIE-1356100
I brought in a backpack from home and filling the backpack with actual school supplies and pictures as well. We've been answering function questions (What school supply do you use for writing?), following oral and written directions (put the X in the backpack, put the X under the backpack), answering "where" questions with and without PECS visuals (positional PECS), answering objective Y/N questions (Is there a pencil in my backpack?), asking questions (Do you have scissors in your backpack?), and using possessives (What's in John's backpack?). I love bringing in actual objects paired with pictures and drawings to help these students generalize skills across settings. Tomorrow, I'm taking this group on a scavenger hunt around the classroom to find various school supplies. You can grab a copy of my scavenger hunt for school supplies here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Scavenger-Hunt-for-School-Supplies-1402132



I'm excited to be back with my students! I love my job!

How do SLPs make their schedules?

Scheduling is hard, really hard. The first year I was an SLP, our reading specialist came in and helped me organize all my groups and figure out how to do it. It was a blessing! I don't think I would have figured it out without her! I want to share with you how I do it now (independently!).

First, print out or write out a paper copy of your caseload that includes the child's name, their grade, their teacher, and their minutes divided into 4 columns: articulation/phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

So I would write out/print out:
                                                                           Artic          Semantics          Syntax          Pragmatics
Johnny Smith      K      Mrs. Alligator                    60                  30                   30
Mary Mellow     K       Mrs. Alligator                    30                 30  

etc.

Group all kindergarten together, all 1st grade together, etc.

Second, see what kind of groups you can make. I try to group 3-4 students together, all with the same goal area (semantics, syntax, etc.), all in the same grade. If they're in the same classroom, that's even better. If same grade isn't possible, I usually group K and 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and so on.

Third, block out times in your schedule over which you have no control (i.e. duties). I have morning duty, lunch duty, and dismissal duty.

Fourth, grab your school's master schedule and try to get schedules from every teacher as well. I try my best to pull from science and social studies. Our school does not allow us to pull from gym, art, music, recess, etc. Sometimes, I end up pulling from reading or math and that stinks. Sometimes, there are no other options. It's okay!

Fifth, make an excel spreadsheet. Across the top, I put days (we use an A-E schedule, but Monday-Friday would also work for some). Down the left-hand column, I write times. Our day starts at 9:00 and I usually have 30 minute groups. So I have 9:00-9:30, 9:30-10:00, and so on.

Sixth, start plugging groups in, cross-checking with the master schedule, the special education teacher's schedule, and the teacher's schedule to make sure there are no conflicts. I like to color code the groups as well- orange for speech, red for language, yellow for mixed groups, blue for plan time, evaluation time, and lunch, and green for supervision duties. I'm also very lucky because our special education teacher often works around my schedule.

You will inevitably have groups that have to start at odd times (2:20, 1:35). You will inevitably have to change it once it's written. You will inevitably have to have mixed groups. It's okay! You are creative and you will be able to address every one's goals!!

Good luck to everyone who has yet to start the year!!! Welcome back to all who have already started!

Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt!

My newest product is posted on TPT. I'm actually really excited to do this activity with some of my students tomorrow. I work in a room with several students with autism and some of them really struggle with category, function, and vocabulary. Tomorrow, we will be doing a scavenger hunt in the special education room to find various school supplies that they will be using throughout the year! I made two sets of clues, with both using "wh" function questions as hints. Here's a sneak peak at what it looks like:
I included clues without visuals for readers/higher-level kiddos.

I also included visual cues for those that need a helping hand to answer Wh function questions.
Check it out at my store! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Scavenger-Hunt-for-School-Supplies-1402132 

Tomorrow my store will be on sale (20% off)! Plus, use the code BOOST and get 28% off all your purchases!

For those who have started back, I hope your year is going well!
Grace

Friday, August 15, 2014

Newest product posted!

Check out my newest product for improving prosody in children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS):

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/CV-VC-Two-Word-Phrases-for-Treating-Apraxia-1394520

It includes 24 flashcards of CV-VC two-word phrases (e.g. "Do it!") that often sound "chunky" when produced by a person with CAS.

I've also found that targeting these can improve production of CVC words as well!

Check it out!


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Beginning of the Year Slump

I don't know about you, but I always have trouble in the beginning of the year with lesson planning. I start providing services to students on Monday and am drawing a big blank when it comes to lesson ideas. It always takes me sooooo much longer in the beginning of the year!! By October, I'm a pro- knocking down a whole week of lesson plans in one hour on a Sunday night. But right now, I'm staring at the cursor with no ideas!! My first day, I have 4 students I'll see for "Speedy Speech" (5 minute articulation 1:1 sessions), 2 speech groups, 2 language groups with students with autism, 1 semantic language group, 1 snack group for students with autism, and 1 pragmatic language group.

I rather work on decorating my room...




I love my smallish classroom! My first year, I was in a huge classroom and it was too much space for me and my students. I had some trouble with students getting up and wandering, looking around, etc. In this room, students are better at staying seated when I need them to be. Love this room!

Help me with my writer's block!!! What would you do with my groups????

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Motor Activities in Speech


On Tuesday, I was able to work in my room for a little bit and saw all the things I ordered with my budget money. This year, I purchased many things I can use to incorporate movement into my speech and language sessions. Here's a few things I purchased:


These are called River Stones and I think I purchased them from Office Essentials. These are going to be great for sessions! Say a word/phrase/sentence, go to 1 stone, balance, say another, go to the next stone, and repeat! I think my K-2 students will really enjoy this.

I also got these:
I plan on setting up a sort of (very) mini-obstacle course with these cones. I think I'll use my alien-print duct tape to define the path (love that stuff!).

I also got these:
I hope there are no fights over these. I purchased 3 ball chairs and sometimes have groups of 4...hopefully there will be no tears! I'm really interested to see if these help my wiggly students with their attention. I'll let you know!

I also got a bowling set, some bean bags, a 3D scene for spatial concepts, and tally counters. With all these motor activities, I plan on setting up small stations where students can work independently on their speech sounds and keep track of their productions with the tally counters. 

All these new items are getting me excited for a new year!! The kids start on Wednesday! I'm sad to leave my boys and last week I was kinda dreading going back. These purchases make going back a little easier!

Monday, August 4, 2014

Phonological Awareness Bundle Now Available!

I completed my 4th and final product targeting phonological awareness! It's up on my TPT store and you can buy it here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610

Here's some preview images. This product is all about adding, deleting, and substituting sounds in all positions of words.


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Here's an example of task cards for adding initial sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Adding final sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Adding medial sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Deleting initial sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Deleting final sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Deleting medial sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Substituting initial sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Substituting final sounds


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610
Substituting medial sounds


My whole store is on sale until tomorrow so go now!

I also bundled ALL my phonological awareness products into a super-savings packet! It's 90 pages long and includes task cards for rhyming, blending/separating sounds and syllables, isolating sounds, and manipulating sounds. It's super discounted right now and you can buy it here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phonological-Awareness-Bundle-Rhyming-Manipulating-Sounds-and-More-1373610

Enjoy that TPT sale!!!