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! 

Some of my favorite low cost therapy activities!

I did a guest post for Carrie's Speech Corner about my favorite low cost therapy ideas! 

Check it out!

You can grab a copy of the freebie I included HERE! 

What are your favorite low cost therapy activities?

Expressive Fiesta

Just finished a new expressive language activity using the same "fiesta" clipart as the Formulating Questions Fiesta! I call this new activity Expressive Fiesta and it targets older students. While it's labeled as an expressive activity, it can also be used to target WH questions, vocabulary skills, auditory comprehension and sequencing. 

First you need to cut out these 6 pictures and affix them each to a side of a die:

Then each student is given a worksheet like this:

Students will roll the die and pick up a corresponding detail card. The cactus means you pick up a WHO card, the guitar means you pic up a WHAT card, the maracas means you pick up a WHERE card, the chili pepper means you pick up a WHEN card, and the sombrero means you pick up a WHY card. The student then fills in the details on the worksheet. Examples of the cards are below. WHO, WHAT, and WHERE cards  have pictures!

Once the details are all filled in, the student creates a story. He/she can write it out or verbalize the story. Other students might be asked to re-tell the story or asked questions about it. An example page is included in the activity:

Let me know what you think!  You can get this activity HERE!

Happy New (SLP Materials) Year!

Just a reminder, I am participating in the SLP New Year sale January 2-3 (the genius idea of Kristin from [simply speech.])! ALL of my materials will be 20% off!! 

See all my materials HERE!

I have posted a lot of new materials in the last few days in an effort to get more up prior to the start of the sale. Here's a quick summary of the activities I haven't had a chance to do blog posts on yet:

• Bee-utiful Antonyms: Similar to Bee-utiful Synonyms freebie, but double the amount of antonym pairs!
• Click! What's the Pic?: Targets receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive Game: orange camera cards have a description of an item that corresponds to a green camera card. SLP/student reads description and finds the corresponding green camera. Expressive Game: student chooses a green camera and describes it so that a peer/teacher can guess the item
• Formulating Questions Fiesta: Targets asking WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY questions with fun fiesta theme!
• Homework SMILES: Grammar and Articulation: Large homework packets with no graphics. Each HW sheet is a half sheet that can be easily copied and sent home for more practice. 
• Mirror-TIC: R: Targets /r/ in its many forms, but you have to hold the cameras up in front of the mirror to read it correctly! Cameras with words only and words/pictures included!
• Pick a Pocket Auditory Memory and Figurative Language: Auditory memory targets words and sentences. Figurative language targets similes, metaphors, and idioms.

Hope everyone had a great time ringing in 2013! Here's to making 2013 a great year! :)