What's In Your Cart? Linky Party

Going back to school will be much easier after you've shopped the TpT Back to School Sale happening August 4-5! Everything in my store will be 20% off (including bundles) and don't forget to use the promo code BTS14 to save even more!

Jenna at Speech Room News has her linky party posted where you can find out what other people have in their shopping carts!

First, a peek at some new things in my store that you might be interested in. Click each picture to be taken to the description. 

My Speech-O-Graphy craft activity:

 

Building Block Sentences:

 

Speech & Language Zoo:

Now, here's a look at what's in my cart so far:

Nicole Allison's Nonfiction Texts for Fall: I have her spring/summer packet and it's great!

Denise Polley's Reader's Theater for Articulation, Language, and Fluency: Targets articulation and language skills all at once!!

Natalie Snyders' Language Progress Monitoring Tool Lower Level: I already have the upper level one and I have no doubts this will be great!

I know I'll be adding a few more things. I'm having trouble deciding though! Don't forget to check out Jenna's linky post to see what everyone else plans on buying!

Awesome Therapy Find

Browsing in Target, I stumbled upon an awesome toy!

Disclaimer: Affiliate links are included for your convenience.

It's called Magic Jinn Animals (cost less than $5 too). He's a cute little guy who tries to read your mind. You think of an animal and touch his nose. He then proceeds through a series of questions to try to figure out what animal you're thinking of. Examples include "does the animal have stripes, is it a feline." Yes, I stood in my kitchen and tested it. No, nobody else was home, so I didn't look too crazy. 

The above picture on the box shows what kinds of answers you should give to Magic Jinn. If you mess up you can return to the previous question he asked by saying "go back." He guessed the animal I was thinking of!

Fabulous, right! Now, how will I use this in therapy?

-Target auditory processing - you have to listen to the questions and answer appropriately

-Look up various animals and discuss traits, categories, basic WH questions prior to playing with Magic Jinn
-Use it in conjunction with my latest product (Speech & Language Zoo). There's a section that provides nonfiction details about various zoo animals!

I did a quick search on Amazon and found this one, plus there appears to be one for food, which I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for.

 

What do you think? I'm excited to use this!

Take A Trip To The Speech & Language Zoo [giveaway]

I haven't posted about any new activities in quite awhile, but I'm super excited about this one! It's time to take a trip to the zoo, but this zoo is a little different than your typical zoo. First, you print out a zoo map (2 pages) for each student. Tell your student to circle the animals he/she will be visiting based on his/her goals. 

You can print the ticket page and give each student a ticket for answering correctly or print the whole page and have them color in a ticket each time they answer correctly:

Below is a description of what skill each animal targets:

-Giraffes: Articulation (pg. 7-11): Use with any articulation deck or app. Each card has a task. All cards are designed for word level, but can be altered for phrase/sentence level.

-Alligators: Synonyms & Antonyms (pg. 12-18): Some cards have a pair of words (decide if they are syn/ant) and some cards have one word and the student lists either a syn/ant.

-Elephants: Categories (pg. 19-23): Some cards have a category; students should name items that fit. Some cards have items; students should name the category.

-Flamingos: Idioms (pg. 24-28): Each card has an idiom in context; students discuss the meaning.

-Gorillas: Inferences (pg. 29-33): Each card features a short description and a question that requires inferring.

-Hippos: Similarities & Differences (pg. 34-38): Each card features 2 items; students state similarities and differences between them.

-Kangaroos: Attributes (pg. 39-43) Each card features an item; students name a set number of attributes.

-Koalas: Past Tense Verbs (pg. 44-50): Each card features a verb; students should make up a sentence using the past tense of the verb. Regular and irregular verbs are included.

-Lions: What Doesn’t Belong (pg. 51-55): Each card features 4 items; student should state what doesn’t belong and why.

-Monkeys: Main Idea (pg. 56-60): Each card features a short story; students should state the main idea.

-Pandas: Prepositions (pg. 61-64): Each card features a panda in various locations; students should state the preposition (4 each for on, in, under, above, between, in front, behind).

-Parrots: Plurals (pg. 65-68): Each card features a picture of items; student should state the plural form of the item. Includes regular and irregular plurals.

-Peacocks: Was/Were (pg. 69-74): Each card features a sentence; student should fill in was or were. Visual included to remind students when to use each form. 

-Penguins: Is/Are (pg. 75-80): Each card features a sentence; student should fill in is or are. Visual included to remind students when to use each form. 

-Walruses: WH Questions (pg. 81-85): : Each card features a WH question; student should answer the question.

-Turtles: Recalling Details (pg. 86-90): Each card features a sentence to read aloud and a question that requires the student to recall details. 

-Tigers: Analogies (pg. 86-90): Each card features an analogy; students should explain their answer.

-Rhinos: Create A Sentence (pg. 96-100): Each card features 2-3 words; students should create a sentence using all words on the card. 

-Snakes: Social Skills (pg. 101-105): Each card features a question that focuses on social skills. Student should role play or answer the question. Some are zoo related, others are not.

-Lizards: Nonfiction Passages (pg. 106-108): Each card contains information about a zoo animal. Use these to answer questions related to the information, summarize, or recall details. 

-Frogs: Problem Solving (pg. 109-113): Each card contains a situation with a problem; students should discuss how to solve the problem.

-Cheetahs: Asking Questions (pg. 114-118): Each card contains a prompt; students should ask an appropriate question.

-My Favorite Zoo Animal worksheet (pg. 119): Use this worksheet to have students write about their favorite animal. Look up facts or use some of the facts on the lizard cards.

-What Did You Do At the Zoo? Fill In Mini-Book (pg. 120-121): Use this mini-book to write about what animals you visited and why. Print the cover page (pg. 120) for each student and as many animal pages (pg. 121) as each student needs. Cut and staple the mini-book together. 

All the cards are the same size. I recommend printing, laminating, and putting each set on a ring for easy grab and go! Examples of cards:

There is a mini-book that your students can complete which will reinforce what they learned:

This is a HUGE 120 page packet. While the price tag may seem a bit steep, it's something that you can use year round and over multiple sessions, which will make planning much easier!

Click the picture below to be taken to the item:

I'm so excited about this product that I want to giveaway a copy to a lucky follower! 

Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What Can A Smile Do?

Graphics from www.graphicsfactory.com and font by Krista Wallden

It struck me the other day while I was waiting for a friend - the power of a smile can be great. I tend to be one of those people who will offer a smile at passersby just because. Not always, but frequently. I think it's one of those things that people have lost a little bit of now that we have smartphones and iPods and such. We spend a lot of time looking down or zoning out with headphones in instead of connecting with the people around us. I am guilty of doing things on my phone sometimes, but I really, really try not to do it all the time.

We teach social skills. We talk about nonverbal language, like facial expressions. There is a lot to discuss and teach to our students who may find it difficult to figure out the nuances of nonverbal language. We should probably take the time to talk about looking at people as you pass and smiling. It can be a way to start a conversation or show that you're approachable and friendly.

I believe that a smile can brighten someone's day. It takes little to no effort on your part to offer someone a smile. Haven't you heard that it takes more muscles to frown that it does to smile? So today while you're out and about, smile at someone. It actually might not have that much of an effect on them, but it just might have a positive one on you!

Thrifty Finds Linky

Disclaimer: Affiliate links are included for your convenience!

Jenna at Speech Room News is hosting a Thrifty Finds Linky. I also frequent thrift stores a lot and occasionally find some awesome goodies. Below are Amazon links to some of my favorite things I've found, since most of my stuff is packed up in boxes.

1. Beware of the Dog: I found this gem at a local thrift store and it's been a hit. Be careful with this game if you have younger kids who scare easily. You push the the dog back and he snores. You have to get the bones out of his dish without waking him up. If you do wake him up, he jumps up and barks. I've had some kids who LOVE it and some who are quite terrified!

2. Pop the Pig: I found this one at the same thrift store and the kids go bananas for it. So do fellow teachers for some reason...haha. Feed the pig the burgers and press his head. Watch his stomach get bigger and bigger until he POPS!

3. Holey Cow: This is a card game that features funny pig dressed up as various things. Each card has a bunch of holes and you're supposed to put two cards together and count how many holes you see. There's a game board, but we have played by putting marbles on the holes, discussing the names of the cows, and other ways.

Those were my favorites this year! Don't forget to check out what gems other bloggers found here.

How Do You Use It? Linky

Disclaimer: Affiliate links are included for your convenience.

Post-its!!! I love them. All sizes, all colors, name brand, and off brand! Here's how I like to use them:

1. Keeping tabs on E.I.P.: I like to use post-its on my folders so I can check things off as I go, plus I write the chronological age on one so I don't have to keep figuring it out.

2. Retelling: When I'm starting to work on retelling stories with students, I like to put 4-5 on the table. We write characters, setting, problem, solution, and events (or a combination of those) on each post-it and fill it out as we read the story. It's a graphic organizer that you can move around. Sometimes I'll write events that happened in the story on each post-it and mix it up to have the students put the events in the correct order.

3. I use post-its on my desk to write reminders to myself.

4. I stick post-its in books to remind students of important events that happened or I'll use my Story Telling Stickups (free).

These are some of my favorite post-its:

 

Make sure you check out Miss Speechie's original post to see how other SLP bloggers use post-its!

Pronoun & Verb Popsicle Sticks

Hello July! I can't believe June flew by so fast. Maybe it was because we were in school for most of the month. This freebie is something I made a couple months ago and have used a lot, so I thought I would share. I call these Pronoun Popsicle Sticks. Cut out and laminate the circles and affix to a popsicle stick. I put them all in a jar and had my students pluck them out. We practiced pronouns, verbs, auxiliary verbs, etc. 

It was a great way to shake things up a bit! I hope your summer is off to a great start! I know I have been a little quiet lately, but that's because I've been busy attending weddings, preparing for ESY and trying to get a little pool time! 

Grab your copy by clicking the picture below: