Games That Get A LOT of Trials

Who plays games in their therapy room? I'm sure you may cringe if you hear your students say "we play games in speech!" Those are the moments that I wish I could just slap this sticky note on the back of the child after they say that (hehe):

But I digress...

I have found that some games really are great for getting a lot of trials out of my kids. These are currently my favorites (click on the pictures to get to the Amazon link):

1. Don't Spill The Beans: get a bean for every 3-5 words, etc.

2. Mr. Potato Head: have a race to see who can build their potato the fastest. Earn a body part for every 3-5 words, etc.

 

3. Spot It: have a race to find the matching items after 3-5 words, etc.

4. Marble Run: have a marble race after 3-5 words, etc.

5. This is not so much a game, but I've found it works WONDERS. I bought these "coins" awhile back from Oriental Trading Company. For whatever reason, kids LOVE earning these coins. I give them a cup and we see how many coins they can earn. This would work well with pennies, bingo chips, etc. 

What do you use in your therapy room to get a lot of trials? 

May SLP Link Up

Laura from Oh, How Pintearesting did a link up back in March. She decided to do another for May, and I'm happy to participate. See her blog post here for instructions on how to link up! 

For my part, I'm doing the following this month:

Buying: summer clothes! I think I have an aversion to buying winter clothes - maybe it's because I hate being cold! So I really like shopping for summer clothes. 

Hearting: wam weather! Can you tell I really LOVE summer?!?! The weather has been getting steadily warmer where I am. I love to be outside in the summer. 

Sharing: BSHM information. Check out my free graphic here! There are so many great bloggers sharing information throughout the month that it's hard to keep up. I love bringing attention to our wonderful field and helping co-workers understand what exactly we do.

Making: freebies and some other fun products. I like to reward my fans with freebies whenever I can! I'm so grateful that people like what I took time to create. Make sure you like my Facebook page to be notified of giveaway winners, sales, freebies, and more!

What are YOU doing this May?

{Review} Spring Monsters Inferencing Pack

I am excited to do another product review swap! This time it is with Lindsey of WordNerdSpeechTeach. I am reviewing her Spring Monsters Inferencing Pack. It seems I usually have several students working on these skills and her packet offers a ton of different kinds of activities. They all feature cute, spring monsters too, which my students loved!

I have not even tried out all the activities yet because there are so many great ones! So far, I have used the "what will happen next? cards, the "what am I?" cards, the "who am I?" cards, and the "what am I missing?" cards. 

Examples of each type of card are below:

What Could Happen Next?:

 Read My Emotions:

 Emotion Charades:

What Am I?: 

Who Am I?:

What Am I Missing?

How Do You Know?:

I've used some of these activities with a variety of students and ages. The youngest was 7, the oldest was 17. Making inferences is such a hard skill for a lot of my students. The nice thing about these cards is that you can use them for vocabulary development, auditory processing, social skills, etc. This makes the packet go a long way! A lot of my students really need visuals or choices, so I simply provided them when I could. 

Pros: 

-I love the ability to use this with multiple ages and skill levels

-I love that there's some blank cards to create my own

-The graphics are adorable

-There are so many different activities, I haven't even used them all yet!

What I Altered:

-I printed these using the multiple page option. The cards were still readable and I saved some ink. Score!

-A LOT of my students require visuals and/or choices, so I needed to provided these for most of my students

Definitely a versatile packet to grab if you need to target inferences! Thanks to Lindsey for doing a product review swap!

700 Likes Party + Giveaway + Freebie!

I want to take this time to thank everyone who has downloaded/purchased items from me! I'm grateful that other SLPs have enjoyed using what I have created. The SLP community is one of the most supportive that I've come across. To further thank everyone for their support, I have some fun things in store!

1. True & False Farm [forever freebie]: feedback is appreciated if you download!

2. Giveaway: 2 people will win their choice of any item from my store - enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3. A flash freebie tomorrow (Sunday 5/12) so keep your eyes peeled! 

Thank you again to everyone! :)

{Review} At A Glance Charts: Narrative Assessment

I was happy to be asked to do a product review for Tatyana Elleseff of Smart Speech Therapy, LLC! She is reviewing my APP-ealing Functional Communication activity, so be sure to head over there and read her review. Keep reading for a combined giveaway opportunity! I am reviewing her At A Glance Charts: Narrative Assessment:

I know I often have difficulty assessing narratives in the students that I see. There are so many different factors involved in narratives that it can often become confusing! That's why I was so happy to see this presentation. These are easy to grab quick reference charts, which is great for busy SLPs. The following charts are included:

• sequencing ability
• microstructure
• macrostructure
• story grammar
• perspective taking ability
• narrative ages and stages
• episodic structure
• types of cues

Tatyana does a great job of breaking down each part into easy to read charts. One of my favorite charts included perspective taking vocabulary. For example, for cognition, she includes "know, think, remember, guess." My other favorite chart was the narrative ages and stages chart. Below is an example:

I often forget what children's narratives SHOULD look like at various ages. This will definitely become my go-to reference during assessments! This is a nice reference for CFYs and seasoned SLPs who want to be sure they are assessing narratives correctly. Please visit her blog for more great, informative resources such as this one!

If you'd like to contact Tatyana, she blogs at Smart Speech Therapy:

Website/Blog: www.smartspeechtherapy.com/blog/

Store: http://www.smartspeechtherapy.com/shop/ FB Resource Page: www.facebook.com/SmartSpeechTherapyLlc Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/elleseff/

Email: tatyana.elleseff@smartspeechtherapy.com 

I am giving away a copy of APP-ealing Functional Communication and Tatyana is giving away a copy of her Narrative At A Glance Charts, so make sure to visit her blog to enter both giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Clinical Skills Confidence: Using the ipad as a therapy tool

Clinical Skills Confidence: using the ipad as a therapy tool

Raise your hand if you love the iPad! Now raise your hand if you're sometimes unsure how to EFFECTIVELY use it in therapy! My hand was raised for both questions (in case you're wondering). 

I love how motivating the iPad is for some students and how you can quickly grab the interest of some kids by simply saying "iPad." I don't love how it can sometimes become a struggle to pull language out of kids when they become engrossed in a game or activity. I don't claim to be an expert on this subject, but I will share my experiences and when/how I use the ipad. 

Typically, I'm using the iPad for different reasons with different kids:

1. Reinforcer/reward: For kids that I can motivate by promising a break using the ipad, this is simple. Set a timer for a certain period of time and earn a "break" (also timed) on the ipad. This can work for individual/group sessions.

2. Articulation: I have a few different articulation apps on my ipad that are great for articulation drill. I like to change it up during a session, so I usually will go back and forth between cards and the ipad.

3. Specific apps for specific goals: There are several apps that target specific skills that I use. For example, Super Duper Publications has a number of their fun decks available as apps. Some of the most frequently used in my therapy room include: What Are They Asking?, Yes or NO, and What Would You Do At School? 

4. Apps not specifically designed for speech therapy (gasp!): My all time favorite app to use in therapy is My PlayHome. Which is probably why I created an app companion packet (check it out HERE). I do plan to create more! I know that I struggle with how to use apps to targets goals, so I wanted to create a go-to packet for SLPs to have at their fingertips for several different goal areas. Other apps that I love to use are books - since they are interactive and fun. That doesn't mean I don't love using "real" books too!

When I DON'T use the iPad:
-with children younger than 4 (generally), unless I have exhausted all other options 
-if the child becomes too preoccupied with using it 
-if I think it will result in "i-tunnel-vision" meaning the child doesn't hear me talking, doesn't respond, and/or completely tunes the world out

I really still like to use cards/board games/TPT materials or "regular" therapy tools whenever I can. I love the iPad for many reasons, but sometimes it's not my go-to item!

How do YOU incorporate the iPad into your sessions?

Snail-y Sequencing

I have found that targeting sequencing prior to targeting oral narratives helps my students organize their thoughts and formulate more cohesive stories. So I decided to create Snail-y Sequencing (click on the picture):

This targets 3 step sequencing:

And 4 step sequencing:

I also included blank cards for you to add your own! To make sorting a little easier, each card within the same sequence has the same shape so that you can easily find the ones that go together. There is a mat with 3 and 4 boxes for your students to put them in order. What do you think? How do you teach sequencing and oral narratives?

Better Speech & Hearing Month

I'm a couple days late ushering in Better Speech & Hearing Month! I hope you all have fun things planned for therapy and your work settings to raise awareness for our wonderful field. I am doing a few guest posts on other blogs and have some fun freebies, giveaways, and other things lined up. Don't forget to like my FaceBook and Pinterest pages to stay up to date on everything.

*Sidenote: I just updated the FREEBIES page with the latest freebies that I've posted. 

And now, something to honor BSHM!