Wipe Out Artic & Has/Have: Therapy Ideas

Popping in to share a couple therapy gems that worked well for me this week!

First, I hope you have one of these:

And by "these" - I really just mean the magnetic barrier for the barrier games from Super Duper. I bought it way back when Super Duper was still holding their 50% off weekly sales (really wish they'd bring that back) and it continues to be one of my best purchases to date. I use it for tons of things, not just barrier games. 

Idea #1: Earlier this week, I shared this picture on my Facebook page. It's how I worked on has/have with one student. I had little magnets from something else and it was fun to stick them on and then tell who had what. Obviously, I am a very good artist...just kidding!

Idea #2: Wipe Out Artic: This "game" would be appropriate for kids who have nearly mastered the word level of any sound. It worked with a first grader, I just read the words and had her repeat them as quickly as she could.

I wrote a bunch of words on one side of the board. I had a timer and an eraser on hand. I told the student we were going to see how fast she could get "wipe out" all the words. I set the timer and off we went. In order for me to erase a word, she had to articulate it correctly. If she didn't, I moved on to the next word without erasing it. We went through the list until all the words were gone. I wrote another set of words on the board and we did it again and she tried to beat her time.

That's it for now! Hope you're enjoying your Saturday so far!

S.A.L.L. for ALL: Fall [giveaway]

Did you see it? The latest thing to hit my store? I'm quite excited about it because I'm hoping it'll make planning much easier for fall. Perhaps another season might follow if people are interested!

It's 110+ pages FULL of fall themed material that is broken down by 4 themes: apples, pumpkins, leaves, and football. Did I mention it's CCSS aligned? There are activities that should work with K-5th grade students. Individual activities within each theme vary; however, in each theme there are nonfiction passages, 2 stories (one for K-2, one for 3rd-5th), and open-ended articulation activity, and a simple craft activity. 

The following CCSS are targeted in this packet:

K.L 1b. Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs

K.L 5c. Identify real life connections between words and their use

1.SL 6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation

K.L 1f. Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities

1.RL 1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text

1.L 4a. Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase

K.SL 6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly

2.L 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases

K.L 5a. Sort common objects into categories to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent

2.3.L 1b. Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns

1.RL 9. Compare and contrast the adventure and experiences of characters of character in stories

K.L 1e. Use the most frequently occurring prepositions

3.L 5a. Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases 

K.L 5b. Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites

K.L 5d. Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action by acting out the meanings

2.3.L 1d. Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs

You can see all the different activities in the TpT listing and by downloading the preview. Here are a couple more pictures to give you more of an idea:

This is an idiom matching game, you can also choose to play without the answer choices:

These helmets are for comparing/contrasting:

These leaves are for irregular plurals:

Roll a die and cross off an antonym (synonym page also included):

You can win a copy by entering below:

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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:

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Get More Trials!

Yesterday, I tried something a little different with a couple students that I don't normally see together. With March being a Code Red month, my "schedule" is all sorts of wonky (if you're not sure what I mean by Code Red, check out the link to get your own SLP Mood Decoder). Two students were working on completely different goals (one was the /r/). I was using Step Up To R from Linguisystems, which is a great step by step program for the /r/.

*I purchased this resource myself. Opinions expressed are mine from using it!*

I wanted to be able to drill the student with the /r/ and still work with the other student on what she needed. I flipped the book open to an initial /r/ page that had a grid with words. I told the student we were going to play a game and she was in a competition with herself. When I was working with her, I put a magnetic chip (from Chipper Chat) on each square when she said a word correctly. After we got through all the words, she counted up the chips and wrote down the number. Then she practiced by herself in front of the mirror while I worked with the other student. It was a good motivator and she really tried to get more chips the next time around - and I got a ton more productions that I think I normally would have!

I will definitely be using this method again! It can definitely be used with other skills - be on the lookout for a new activity that uses this idea!

Carryover Linky

Jenn from Crazy Speech World started a linky party for carryover. This is an awesome idea because I think it's an area that our students can really struggle with. Similarly, I'm sure SLPs are banging their collective heads against the wall when we KNOW our kids can produce their sounds perfectly in our rooms and forget all speech-related things when they walk out the door.

Here's some of the things I do:

1. I did a Clinical Skills Confidence post back in August about this very subject [freebie alert]. This post gives some helpful tips about carryover, including nonverbal cues (which are my go-to method). 

2. Now that I'm back in the schools, I will sometimes "drop in" to classrooms to check up on students. It's funny when some of them will automatically start paying more attention to how they're saying words. I have also placed visuals on the students' desks to remind them of correct placement.

3. At my school, the kids broadcast the morning announcements onto TVs in all the classrooms. Getting your students to do this is a great way to take speech outside the therapy room!

4. Have your students find a peer "artic" buddy, who can help them monitor their speech in the classroom! Keeps them accountable when you're not around!

5. Tongue Twisters are a great way to start working on carryover - check out one of my first TpT products that works on these here!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does! 

Daily Lang-Tic Tasks: 180 Tasks to Enhance Language and Articulation

This year in my speech room, I want to have a quick language and/or articulation task that students complete at the beginning or end of the session. Why? This should allow me time to quickly check over homework, while simultaneously fostering independence in my students and giving them more practice with their speech/language skills. 

I realize this might need tweaking throughout the year and won't always happen, but that's ok.

Introducing Daily Lang-Tic Tasks:

(click the picture to be taken to the TPT link)

The concept is simple. There are 180 pages that look like the picture below:

Red pictures frames have a language task, while blue picture frames have an articulation task. 

Display these somewhere in your room. You can print all pages and display one each day OR download and pull one on up on your iPad each day.

Language tasks include: comparing/contrasting, describing, unscrambling sentences, grammar, WH and how questions, inferences, prediction, categories, social skills, multiple meaning words, problem solving, and object functions.  

Articulation tasks require access to articulation decks. There are repeats of these tasks, only because it's difficult to come up with 180 different articulation tasks. The goal of these cards was to get more trials! There is a blank page included for your to add your own. 

I realize that for some students the task of the day might not exactly hit one of their goals/objectives. I tried to make the language tasks broad in nature and tasks that would generate language. You can have your students do the tasks out loud so you can hear them, write them down (language task), or maybe have them record themselves so you can listen later. 

What do you think? Is this something you'd utilize and how?

Clinical Skills Confidence: Articulation Carryover

EEEKKK...carryover. I think it might be the most difficult aspect of articulation therapy. Why?! It requires students to take responsibility for their speech and self-monitor, which can be very difficult for some of our kids. I posted back in February about an idea for carryover that is loosely based on the game Red Rover, Red Rover. Check that out (and grab your freebie) HERE!

I've approached this skill in many a different way in the hopes of finding something that works more often than not. Alas, all kids are different; therefore, not all of them respond to the same things! Some ways that I have tried include:

1. When we first start this skill, I take a session to teach students to be aware of my speech and listening for errors. I purposely make errors to see if they can catch me. 

2. I give a number of coins (usually 10 to start with) and taking one if I hear a mistake. Usually, I start this by reaching slooooooowly towards the coin, giving the student ample time to correctly produce the word. After we've been doing it awhile, I'm less forgiving and also provide them with less coins to start with.

3. We record a narrative sample and then listen to it. I have the student count how many errors he/she made. This is more difficult to do in group sessions though.

4. The student and I agree on a nonverbal cue that I will use if I hear a mistake. Some have included tapping the table or touching my ear. I find this often works well at the beginning stages. I like that it is nonverbal, because a parent/teacher can incorporate this into daily interactions when they hear mistakes. Older children get tired of hearing someone verbally correct them all the time, so they like that this involves no talking! 

How do you work on carryover for articulation?

Five, Fast, & Fun: Open-Ended Games

I asked on my Facebook page what types of activities you wanted for the end of the school year. Many people responded with "no color ink and no laminating." Among some other responses that made me laugh! :)

So I created Five, Fast, & Fun! It includes 5 different games that all involve no color ink or laminating - which means no-fuss prep for you!

These are the games:

1. Cool Kites

2. Fancy Flowers

3. Summer Sandals

4. Beautiful Butterflies

5. Sweet Scoops

To play all games, you need a standard 6 sided die, crayons/markers, and glue. The directions are pretty simple. After the student answers a specific number of questions, he/she rolls the die and colors in the corresponding color(s) or patterns. The Cool Kites directions are shown below:

Give each student a copy of the following pages:

They color in a kite, cut it out, and glue it to the page. Easy peasy! They are great for groups - it gives the students something to do when it's not their turn. You can write words on the items for articulation/vocabulary practice at home too! Hope this helps with the end of the school year craziness!

Grab it HERE! Comment below and I'll pick someone to win these games on Wednesday (5/1)!

Busy Weekend! Psst...freebie

Happy Easter, Passover, Spring Break to you all!

Decided to throw a freebie your way in the form of April Fool's Articulation (which is very similar to my 100th Day Articulation that people seemed to like). Click the picture below to be taken to the April Fool's activity and see an example below:

Some other new products in my store are: Multisyllabic Flowers and Mirror  - Summer Shades. Click on the title pages to be taken to the product! For Multisyllabic Flowers, I included some cards with pictures and some without, in an effort to get everyone what they needed:

Mirror - Summer Shades focusing on auditory memory and organization. Each pair of "shades" has 4 words that have to be rearranged to formulate a grammatically correct sentence. 

Hope you enjoy!

Red Rover, Red Rover: Carry My Artic Over!

Who remembers playing the game "Red Rover, Red Rover" as a kid? Well, we all know how difficult it can be to find new and motivating ways to work on carryover skills for articulation when a student has mastered words, phrases, and sentences.

This is a game that needs to played with a group. Divide students up into teams and have them stand across the room from each other. Depending on their sound(s), each student may have a different "chant" in order to take their turn in the game. Begin by giving each student 10-20 Super Duper or other articulation cards with their sound. Then let the fun begin!

For example, if the student is working on the /s/ sound, he/she would start by saying, "Silly Susie, Silly Susie, send a _____ over." The student has to fill in the blank with a word from one of their cards. If said correctly, they drop the card on the floor. Students take turns in a round-about fashion. The goal is to be the first one to drop all their cards. You don't actually "send" anyone over, but it should still be fun!

To save you time (who has enough anyway?), I have put together a free download with the "chants" for every sound!  

Send yourself over and grab it! 

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!

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