Can I Take Your Order?

I have several young students working on following directions and receptive language. With this age group, we also do A LOT of pretend play. I decided to create a restaurant/food themed receptive language activity that I dubbed "Can I Take Your Order?"

First, print a "tray" for each student:

Then cut and laminate the food item cards and place all face-up in the center of the table or room. You can print a copy of the food items for each student if you're just beginning to work on these skills or use only one set to make it more challenging. There are a total of 16 different food items. 

 The SLP can act as the "customer" and tell the students which 3 items to grab and put on their tray. I also put the pictures on the cards, so that younger non-readers can take turns being the customer. This can serve to work on expressive language or articulation!

Grab this game HERE! 

To win a copy, enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chain Letter Link-Up ROUND-UP

In early December, I decided to see if any speech bloggers would be willing to participate in a "chain letter" in which I interviewed 4 bloggers. They then were asked to interview 2 other bloggers to continue the chain. I thought it would be a good idea to try "round-up" all the interviews to have in one central place. These are the links that I've received so far:

1. Carissa (Home Sweet Speech Room) interviewed Rachel Jones (Let's Talk SLP): http://homesweetspeechroom.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html 

2. Carrie (Carrie's Speech Corner) interviewed Jenn (Crazy Speech World) and Brea (Let's Talk Speech Language Pathology): 
http://carriesspeechcorner.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html

3. The Speech Ladies interviewed Natalie (Just Wright Speech) and Leslie Lindsay (Leslie 4 Kids) 

http://www.thespeechladies.blogspot.com/2013/01/chain-letter-link-up.html?m=1

4. Amy (Major Speech Pathology by a Minor Girl) interviewed Danielle (Sublime Speech) and Whitney (Let's Talk)

http://majorspeechminorgirl.blogspot.com/2012/12/thank-goodness-forthe-chain-letter-link.html

5. Lindsay (Word Nerd Speech Teach) interviewed Tej (Let's Talk Speech Language) and Amy (Major Speech Pathology by a Minor Girl)
http://wordnerdspeechteach.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html

6. Speechy Musings interviewed Lauren (Busy Bee Speech) and Felice (The Dabbling Speechie):

http://speechymusings.wordpress.com/tag/chain-letter-link-up/

7. Kristine (Live Love Speech) interviewed Tatyana (Smart Speech Therapy) and Jennifer (Speech Universe):

http://livelovespeechkl.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html

8. Brea (Let's Talk Speech Language Pathology) interviewed Communication Station and Alexis (Practically Speeching):

http://www.letstalkslp.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html

9. Lauren (Busy Bee Speech) interviewed Kristina and Cindy (The Speech Ladies) and Mia (Putting Words In Your Mouth):
http://www.busybeespeech.blogspot.com/2013/01/chain-letter-link-up.html

10. Maria (Communication Station: Speech Therapy LLC) interviewed Nanette (Speech2Me) and Kristin ([Simply Speech.]):
http://communicationstationspeechtx.blogspot.com/2012/12/slp-blogger-chain-letter-link-up.html

11. Nanette (Speech2Me) interviewed Rose (Speech Snacks) and Liz (Speech Lady Liz):

http://speech2me.blogspot.com/2013/01/slp-chain-letter-featuring-speech.html?m=1

12. Maureen (The Speech Bubble) interviewed Kristin ([simply speech.]):

http://thespeechbubbleslp.blogspot.com/2012/12/chain-letter-link-up.html

If you've participated and want to be added to this list, 

email me a link to your post at 

teachspeech365@gmail.com! Let's keep the chain going!

Conversation Comics

As SLPs, we work on social skills A LOT! I'm always trying to come up with new and exciting ideas to accomplish these goals. Hopefully, some of you will benefit from my latest idea:

Conversation Comics!!

First, we have to meet our characters: Corey, Jasmine, Mark, and Dana:

There are 54 cards with "comic book" like speech bubbles. One character says something and the gray bubble is left blank for the other character's response: 

This activity can be rather open-ended! You can discuss appropriate vs. inappropriate responses, "on" and "off" topic responses, etc. You can even have your students act out the scenarios and add on to them! I wanted something that would act as a starting point that could be taken in several different directions, depending on the needs of your students. 

There are 54 scenario cards, plus 8 blank ones (see below):

If this is something you can use, get it HERE!

Enter below for a chance to win this:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Auditory Memory Tips

One of my favorite areas to work on is auditory processing skills. I find that a lot of kids (and adults) have difficulty with auditory memory. I often start by focusing on memory for numbers, words and sentences before moving on to paragraphs, etc. 

I like to teach compensatory strategies and then spend some time practicing them, while discussing with the students which strategies work better for them (some students do better with different strategies):

1. Rehearsal: I tell students to practice number/words/sentence under their breath or in their heads. 

1. Elaborative Rehearsal: This strategy works well for remembering words. We practice making up silly sentences with the words to help us remember them. For example, if the words are: flower, rock, pillow. I would say, "I put a flower and a rock under my pillow." 

3. Mnemonics: I teach this strategy using words also. For the above example, I would have the student write "F, R, P." Depending on the words, you could also rearrange the letters to make a word. For example, if the words are: hair, apple, toy = HAT.

4. Visualization: Telling students to "make a movie in your mind" sometimes helps them put meaning to a sentence or words. For example, the sentence might be "The girl with the blue shirt was running." I would tell the student to close his/her eyes and visual a girl with a blue shirt running. For words, I might  tell the student to visualize a table with all the items on top of the table. 

5. Chunking: This strategy works well with numbers. So if you are given: 4, 3, 5, 8 = tell the student to remember 43 and 58. 

When students become adept at using these strategies, I make it more difficult by throwing in an unrelated question before asking them to repeat the numbers, words, or sentence.

An example of this:

SLP: The words are banana, computer, and slide. 

Student: should be using a strategy of their choice to recall the words

SLP: What's your favorite color?

Student: Red.

SLP: Now what were those words I told you?

This shifts their attention and challenges their memory skills! 

Below are some handouts that might be helpful for parents/teachers to help explain auditory processing and auditory memory:

http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/243_AuditoryProcessing.pdf

http://www.parent-childservices.com/handouts/classroom_management_capd_.htm

http://www.nathhan.com/audvishowto.htm

http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/331_Auditory_Memory.pdf

How do you work on auditory processing/memory skills?

Multisyllabic Shamrocks

I am continually trying to give my followers what they want! I began doing multisyllabic activities with Multisyllabic Reindeer and Multisyllabic Hearts. Some people requested words with more syllables, so I included 4 and 5 syllable words in the heart activity. Some people also requested having pictures for younger kids, so I think I've managed to accomodate all requests with Multisyllabic Shamrocks. 

Word list:

Sorting placemat:

2 syllable words (18 cards):

3 syllable words (18 cards):

4 syllable words (18 cards): 

 5 syllable words (18 cards): 

*Disclaimer: Finding pictures for some of the 5 syllable words was rather difficult, so your students may need help with some of these!*

Point cards that students can draw after saying a word correctly (print 2-3 copies):

Get it HERE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yes & No Fiesta

Some of my students have difficulty with yes/no questions. I decided to re-use the fiesta theme and created Yes & No Fiesta. 

See yes and no visuals below:

There are 2 levels to this activity. Level 1 cards present a question with a visual, such as "is this a turtle?" The yes and no visuals are included on the cards:

Level 2 cards have the question only with the yes and no visuals:

There is also a simple game board:

There are 40 cards for each level, giving you a total of 80 yes/no question cards! Get it HERE!

To win a copy of this, enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Scream For Comparatives & Superlatives!

I  reached 350 followers on TPT and thought that deserved something for all of you wonderful people! Thank you so much for visiting my blog, store, and/or Facebook page! 

I have created a fun ice cream themed activity for comparatives and superlatives. I plan to keep it FREE through the weekend. If you download it, kindly leave feedback! 

The goal is to stack a vanilla scoop, then chocolate scoop, then strawberry scoop with similar adjectives: tall, taller, tallest. There are 24 ice cream towers. 

Print a couple copies of the cone pages (to save paper and ink) or print 8 to have enough to play all at the same time. 

Students need to draw cards and match corresponding ice cream scoops. For a fun expressive language twist, pick any vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry scoops and make a silly sentence or two.

For example: tall, bigger, shortest

I was so tall that Mom had to buy me bigger shoes. My brother was the shortest kid in his class!

Get it HERE! 

Mirror-SYNANT

My mirror activities have been a hit, so I'm in the process of creating more. Mirror-TIC: K, G has been posted and takes the same format as the other Mirror-TIC activities. 

Next up, Mirror-SYNANT! 

I experimented with a more language-based one with Mirror-CATEGORIES (it's free!), so I thought I'd try another one. SYNANT stands for synonyms (SYN) and antonyms (ANT). 

You get a word list with 27 pairs of each. Each word is on a camera, so this game can be play in a couple different ways. Have students try to find pairs by choosing 2 camera cards, or have students pick up a camera and provide a synonym/antonym. See word list below:

Green cameras are antonyms:

Blue cameras are synonyms:

Half page HW sheets are also included for additional practice at home:

Get this HERE! 

Possessive Pronoun "their" Add-On

I had a request to add on to my possessive pronoun "his" and "her" sort, so the wish was granted! I just added a "their" activity to my TpT store, which you can get HERE! 

It looks similar to the other sort. See an example below:

I also included a "their" visual with a reminder of when we use "their."

I also thought that it would be a good idea to bundle these together and offer it to any new followers who may want all three at once, which you can get HERE. It includes all the same pictures as the originals and you save $1.00.

Pin the Conversation on the Heart

I haven't done too many holiday themed activities, mainly because I'm new and trying to build up more activities that can be used year round. This is one that I couldn't resist, plus the clipart is from a fellow speechie (the dabbling speechie: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The dabblingspeechie)! 

I give you: Pin the Conversation on the Heart!

This activity focuses on 4 areas of socials skills: compliments, asking for help, greetings, and ways to end a conversation. 

I used 4 different colored conversation hearts with one for each area. 

Visuals that can be hung on the wall and gone over prior to the lesson:

There is a page of 6 blank hearts (see below). Print 4 copies of each color (total of 24 hearts). Cut them out and place some of them on the wall. I recommend doing at least 2 different heart colors at a time.

There are 24 little squares with colored writing (see below for an example).  The color of the writing corresponds to the heart color for easy identification for the SLP/teacher - but your students don't have to know that! 

The idea is to "pin" the "conversation" on the heart! The green hearts are compliments so your students should be putting these phrases on green hearts. To make it more challenging, blindfold the student and have them head towards the wall. Once he/she has "pinned" the conversation on or close to a heart, you can discuss whether or not it's on the right color. There are 24 cards for each social skill. 

Get a blindfold and grab this activity HERE! 

For a chance to win this activity, enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday means a freebie (this week anyway)!

Don't you love when a bolt of inspiration hits you in the middle of a therapy session? This happened yesterday for me. I was doing a session with a high energy student and we were using a one hole punch. Interestingly, it was for a craft that didn't end up working out (oops - my fault). This student really seemed to like "punching" holes out and suddenly it hit me. We headed over to the computer and I quickly made up some punch cards, which amounted to a paper that we cut out with the heading XXX's Punch Card. I let him take them home and said he could punch out the holes after saying 3 words. He loved it so much, I decided to create some cleaner ones. 

You can get this freebie by clicking here! Simply print as many as you need. 

Giveaway!

It has recently come to my (and other bloggers') attention that we really shouldn't be doing giveaways on Facebook. That doesn't change the fact that I will still be holding giveaways, I just have to do it through my blog instead! I will post a link on FB directing you here. If you really want to stay up-to-date, follow my blog via email - 

there's a link to your left, right at the top!

With that said, giveaway time! To win a download of your choice, enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Two Speechies Tangled Together: Teach Speech 365 and Major Speech Pathology Fun by a Minor GIrl

I am honored to be involved with Amy from Major Speech Pathology by a Minor Girl for this Tangled Tuesday event! This is another great way to connect SLPs and help each other make decisions about what to buy on TPT. There are freebies, so keep reading!

Amy from Major Speech Pathology Fun was kind enough to review my Unlock the Key Words activity. 

Amy's Blog: http://majorspeechminorgirl.blogspot.com 
Her email: majorspeechminorgirl@hotmail.com
See Peanut Butter Jelly Time with Figurative Language here!

*I currently work at a private practice and have a lot of younger kids, so I don't work on figurative language as much. I have experience working in the schools though, where it was a common goal. My review will be based on how I would use this activity if the need arose.*

The goal of this activity is to make as as many PB&J sandwiches as possible. The student picks a card from a pile and uses the figurative language phrase in a sentence. If used correctly, the student gets to keep the card. Whoever has the most sandwiches at the end wins. There are 48 cards included, plus 8 bonus cards. 

Below is an example of what the figurative language phrase cards look like:

Below is a picture of the bonus sandwich cards:

Prior to doing this activity, I would probably take a couple sessions to pre-teach some of the phrases. Figurative language was such a difficult concept for some of my students to grasp when I worked in the schools. I definitely think they would've enjoyed this activity as a way to spice it up. For some of my students, I might provide answer choices or short scenarios to go along with the phrase. 

For example: for "eat like a pig," I might say this: "Joshua gobbled up 2 hamburgers, a large order of fries, and a pie for dessert. He thought to himself, 'I'm eating like a pig!.' What does "eat like a pig" mean?" If the student needed choices, I might say: "Does it mean to 'eat small amounts of food' or 'eat a whole bunch of food?'" When working in the schools, I often had mixed ability groups. I love that this game could easily be adapted for any level. I could provide scenarios/choices for those who needed them and not for those who were more advanced. 

I really like how there are varying levels of figurative language too! Some phrases are  more common and might be easier (i.e. big as a house, swim like a fish), while others require more critical thinking (i.e. clear as crystal). 

Another thing that I really like is the variety of figurative language phrases that are included. Further lessons could focus on sorting similes vs. metaphors, etc. I definitely think my students would enjoy this activity! This would be a go-to activity if I returned to the schools!

Major Speech Fun provided a freebie for fast food WH questions that you can grab HERE!
Both of our activities are on sale right now too!

Check out Major Speech Fun's blog for more fun and engaging activities!

Mirror-TIC: SH, CH, J

I plan to make more Mirror-TIC activities since I've gotten some great feedback about them! If you're not sure what I'm talking about, you can check out Mirror-TIC: TH and MIrror-Categories, which are both FREE! 

Next up is SH, CH, and J!

These work the same way as the other mirror activities, with the same clipart! I figured it's better to stay consistent with these, so you can always find them easily.

There are 12 cameras (with words and pictures) for each position of each sound, for a total of 108 cards. There's a word list:

Blue cameras are "SH":

Orange cameras are "J":

Green cameras are "CH":

The same FLASH game strips are included. Laminate and give one to each student. After saying 3-5 words correctly (or less/more depending on your preference), the student can cross off a camera. The first one to make it to the FLASH win!

I also included HW sheets. There are cards that can be cut out and held up in front of the mirror. Each sheet features words used in this activity, plus they are broken up by position (initial, medial, final). There are 4 half sheets for each position/each sound, giving you a total of 36 different sheets! Example below:

If you need an /r/ activity, you can get Mirror-TIC: R too! I'd love to hear if your students like these!