Get a mirror for MIRROR-TIC!

I am so excited to share a new activity idea I thought of last night. I think it'll become a hit in your therapy room, as well as mine! I really wanted to use this camera clipart from Maree Truelove that I used for my Click! What's the Pic? activity (blog post soon). In the process of trying to think up another area to target, I happened to think about how you hold cameras up when you're about take a picture. BAM! It hit me: write the words so that when you hold it up in front of the mirror, the words are shown correctly.

I played around to figure out how to do this and finally figured it out!

I decided to focus on /r/ first! This is what the cards look like:

Weird looking, huh? BUT THE MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN YOU HOLD THE CARD IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR! Have your students pretend to take a picture in front of the mirror and the word will appear correctly for them. If they say the word correctly, they keep the card. Watch out for the "broken camera" cards. 

There are 18 cards for each variation of /r/ including: prevocalic, ar, ire, ear, er, or, er. Each camera color corresponds to a different variation of /r/ so it's easy to keep them separated. Because I know a lot of people prefer picture stimuli, I also included 12 cards  for each variation with pictures and writing that look like this:

There are only 12 pictures for each because it's difficult to find pictures for a lot of the /r/ words! In total, you get 84 picture cards and 126 cards with just writing. 

ALL THE CARDS NEED TO BE HELD UP TO A MIRROR IN ORDER TO READ*

I hope you like this different kind of activity! Comment below and let me know what other sounds you'd like me to create next! Get the activity HERE!

Multiple Meaning Mail

I'm already seeing Valentine's Day themed materials! My new activity is called Multiple Meaning Mail. While I created this with Valentine's Day in mind, it is something you could use year round. 

While we live in a world where e-mail is used much more frequently than "real mail," I sometimes miss getting actual letters and sending postcards (see my Articulation Postcards if you miss them too). 

Included in this activity are 20 envelope cards with a multiple meaning word. 

You can't mail a letter without stamps! Each of these letters requires 2 stamps. The stamp cards each have a meaning that with match one of the envelopes. When completed, each envelope will have 2 stamps!

It's a simple concept, but a different way to work on multiple meaning words! Get it HERE!

HOMEWORK? HOMEWORK!

I'm guessing that most SLPs try to give weekly homework, especially if you work in the schools. I did a survey on Facebook to see if there was interest if I decided to create some homework packets. Articulation, grammar, social skills were all requested, so I decided to tackle articulation first. This packet is different from my other activities, because I wanted it to be easy to print (black and white) and copy. It also turned into a very large packet!

I call this packet Homework SMILES. 

See picture below for a breakdown of the entire packet:

For most sounds, there are 4 different HW pages for each position of the sound. I broke the blends up and provided 2 pages for each different blend (i.e. SN, SK, etc), plus 4 pages of mixed blends. I also added a blank page that you can easily make your own!

The picture below is an example of what the HW pages look like. They are half sheets to help conserve paper. Again, they can be printed in black and white so there are no graphics (other than the smiley faces):

There are a total of 146 different ready-made HW sheets! I am hard at work creating one for grammar and language! Comment if you like what you see and want more! 

Get the packet HERE! (It will be included in the 20% off sale on Jan. 2nd and 3rd) 

Pick A Pocket Auditory Memory

Auditory memory is a skill that several students on my caseload seem to have difficulty with. After seeing some "pocket" clipart from Ashley Hughes, I decided to create an activity based on auditory memory of words AND sentences called Pick a Pocket: Auditory Memory:

The games can be played separately or together. The goal is to try to earn a pocket in all 5 colors: purple, green, red, orange, and blue. Placemats included to help students keep track of the pockets they've earned:

Be careful of the "ripped pocket" cards because they require students to put a pocket back:

A visual is included for both words and sentences. Strategies are included to help students remember the words:

For the word game, there are 3 words that the SLP/teacher readers aloud to the student. Once completed, the student must recall all three words. If he/she is able to recall all 3, they keep the pocket. Below is an example:

Below is the sentence visual with a reminder to listen for key words:

Examples of the sentence pockets are below. Each pocket features one sentence with a corresponding question. If the student answers the question correctly, they keep the pocket!

2 pages of blank pockets are also included in the event that you want to add your own! You can get this activity HERE!

Bee-utiful Synonyms (It's a Free-BEE!)

I thought it was time to do another freebie! This one targets synonyms. While it's winter, I thought a hint of spring/summer would be welcomed. I call it Bee-utiful Synonyms and the concept is very simple. There are 25 "bee" cards and 25 "flower" cards with words. Match a "bee" word to a "flower" word that means the same thing:

For example, cold goes with freezing, speak goes with talk.

Buzz on over and get it HERE! 

Thanks for visiting my blog, Facebook page and TPT store. I really love reading all the comments and feedback! :)

Spruce Up the Shirt Following Directions Game

Sometimes I go looking for specific clipart for an activity, but sometimes I see clipart that I really like and try to come up with a corresponding activity. In this case, it was the latter. I was perusing www.mycutegraphics.com (I love her graphics!) and came across these T-shirts. BINGO!

I love activities that gets kids up and moving, especially for following directions. 

I give you: Spruce Up the Shirt - 2 Step Directions!

There are 8 different colored shirts. Print out, cut and laminate for durability. Place one side of Velcro in four places on each shirt. Hang the shirts on the wall. 

These are the items your students will be placing on the shirts. Cut out, laminate and place all cards on a table so that all are visible:

Below is an example of the 2 step directions in which students have to place one item and follow an "action" direction (these cards have BLACK writing):

I also included 2 step directions that involve placing 2 items on different colored shirts (these cards have BLUE writing):

Each shirt will have 4 items on it when completed. An example:

Play the games separately to avoid confusion! I also included blank cards to add your own. You can get this HERE! 

Predicting with Pies

I knew I wanted to do an activity featuring prediction skills. I found some cute pie clipart at www.mycutegraphics.com and decided it would be perfect for this activity! This activity features 3 different types of predicting:

 Cherry Pie Cards: Given a short scenario, students predict what might happen

next

 Chocolate Pie Cards: given 3 items, students predict something you can do with

these items (ex. peanut butter, jelly, bread – make a PB&J sandwich)

 Pumpkin Pie Cards: Given steps of a sequence with one step missing, students

decide what step is missing 

There are 24 cards for each activity, giving a total of 72 cards!

There is a visual with reminders for students what to do on each card. 

Cherry Pie Cards: Predict what will happen next

Chocolate Pie Cards: Given 3 items, predict what you can do with them

Pumpkin Pie Cards: Given a sequence of events, decide which step is missing

A simple game board is included in the event that your students enjoy games!

You can get this activity HERE!

Don't Say It Game - A Different Vocabulary/Language Activity!

I love the idea of adapting commercially available games to use in therapy. I based my new activity off the games "Catch Phrase (TM)" and "Taboo (TM)" to get: Don't Say It - Describing Dash. It's a vocabulary building/expressive language game where students have to draw cards and describe the given item, BUT they can't use the word(s) on the card! The game is leveled in that beginners are not supposed to say the first word given. For more of a challenge, students can try to describe the word without using the first word or the word in the parentheses. For example, the word is "donut." The "don't say it words" are "circle" and "sweet." The student could say this item is round, you eat it for breakfast, it has a hole in the middle and sometimes has frosting.

The game is broken up into categories: food, animals, household items, sports items, and school items. There are 30 cards for each category, plus a blank card for you to add your own. There is also a picture of each item plus the written word. The cards for each category have different colored outlines for easy identification. Students earn "coin" with points after completing a card. At the end of the session, the student with the most points wins. 

Food category cards have a red outline:

Animal category cards have a green outline:

Household category cards have a blue outline:

Sport category items have a purple outline: 

School category cards have an orange outline:

Each category includes a blank page to add your own word and "don't say it" words:

Print 2 copies of the "coin" pages. Students earn coins after completing cards:

There is a "describing words" visual with other game play hints, like using another word that means the same as the word you can't use (say round instead of circle). Plus, students can use gesture to act out the item on the card (like charades!):

You can get this game HERE!

Syntax Slip-Ups

I found some clipart from Graphics From the Pond that featured kids holding up their "work." I immediately knew that I had to do something with it because it was so cute! I brainstormed for awhile before finally deciding to tackle a syntax/grammar activity. I frequently work on grammar skills (as do all SLPs) and have found that often the first step is having students identify if a sentence is RIGHT or WRONG before expecting them to fix the errors in their speech. 

Based on this idea, I created an activity called Syntax Slip-Ups. 

This activity focuses on the following common grammatical mistakes:

• auxiliary verbs is/are (24 error cards and 12 fill in cards)
• irregular plurals (24 error cards and 12 fill in cards)
• irregular past tense (24 error cards and 12 fill in cards)
• subject/possessive pronoun agreement (24 error cards and 12 fill in cards)
• “I” vs “me” (24 cards error and 12 fill in cards)

Total of 180 cards!

Visuals for each different grammatical structure are included. Examples below:

Error cards (black outline) feature a sentence with an error. SLP or student can read the sentence aloud, identify the error, and then fix it. Below is an example of the auxiliary verbs (is/are) activity. 

Below is an example of the subject/possessive pronoun activity. A lot of my kids have difficulty using the correct possessive pronoun (using his for a boy, her for a girl, their for a group of people):

Once students are good at identifying and fixing the error, move on to the fill in cards (green outline) which requires the student to fill in the correct targeted grammatical structure. Example below is from the auxiliary verb activity, so the student decides whether to fill in "is" or "are."

You can get this activity HERE!

Get Your Key (words)!

I've had many a student struggle with identifying the main idea in a passage let alone a sentence. Upon closer examination, I usually find that students have difficulty identifying the main idea BECAUSE they have difficulty deciding what the key words are! We spend some time learning how to identify key words, which involves a discussion regarding which words are "important" and which are "not important." To accomplish this, we cross out the words that are "not important," leaving us with the key words. I created an activity called Unlock the Key Words, which focuses on identifying key words in 1 and 2 sentences. 

Each “key” card has 1 or 2 sentences.  After students find the key words, they search for the “lock” card that matches each sentence. If students are more advanced, SLP can remove “lock” cards. Answer key is included, so students may check their own answers.

Red Outline cards: 1 sentence (42)

Purple Outline cards: 2 sentences (42)

*84 cards total*

This is how I typically have students identify key words:

"What's a KEY Word?" visual included in packet:

Answer Key included, student can self-check answers if you are working in groups:

1 sentence "key" strips are red (42 total):

1 sentence "lock" cards with key words:

2 sentence "key" strips are purple (42 total):

2 sentence "lock" cards with key words:

Simple game board is included if your students enjoy playing games:

You get a total of 84 different sentence strips, which gives you a nice variety. If your students become adept at identifying the key words, you can remove the "lock" cards altogether. A fun extension activity might be to bring in a bunch of actual locks and keys and take turns figuring out which keys work in which locks!

You can get this activity HERE!

Catch the Categories (free for a limited time)

I decided to create an activity involving categories, knowing that it's an area that most SLPs target on a regular basis. See what I came up with:

There are 10 category sheets that can be printed out and laminated as whole sheets. Each category sheet will be filled with three red balloons and there is a fourth space for students to come up with another member that fits the category. I wanted to make this both a receptive activity (sorting cards into the categories) as well as an expressive activity (naming another member). 

The red balloon cards should be cut out and laminated. They each have a picture and correspond to one of the ten categories.

Answer key below with all 10 category names/members:

This activity will be FREE, but only until Wednesday 12/19, so "catch" it while you can HERE!