Take Out Topics for Articulation Carryover

One of the hardest things I face as a speech-language pathologist is coming up with effective ways to get my students to generalize their articulation skills to their spontaneous speech.  Anyone else find this difficult???  It seem that they master their sounds in structured treatment activities and even during games, but yet they struggle to make that final leap to using them all the time.  Frustrating!  Here's one thing I'm trying:

Take Out Topics for Articulation Carryover is designed to help students generalize newly mastered speech sounds to their spontaneous speech by using structured conversation topics.

Students bring home a takeout box filled with cards that help facilitate use of their target sound in conversation, along with a Helpful Hints page for parents that explains how to use them.  The cards look like this:

***As of July 2016, this product has been re-designed. Same content, new look! Read on...

Each card either asks a question or instructs the student to tell about certain objects.  Target words are highlighted in blue.  The student takes out one card at a time from the box and reads the card, being careful to use the target sound correctly.  The student then answers the question, again concentrating on saying the target words correctly.

The cards are meant to be a starting point for a conversation around a topic.  Encourage the student to add more to the conversation by asking questions about the topic or sharing the student's opinion about or experience with the topic.

The parent or SLP using this activity should try to have the student use the target words as many times as possible in their responses for each card.  Many of the cards instruct the reader to start or end with a particular phrase, but some do not.  For the ones that do not, try to suggest phrases or sentences to use to help facilitate more opportunities for target use. For example, the card in the photo above instructs the student to tell three things about a golfer and a skater.  You could instruct the student to use separate sentences for each detail and to begin each sentence with, "A golfer/ice skater..."

I send home 10 cards at a time rather than filling the box with 30 cards all at once.  I also practice some of the cards with the child during our treatment sessions so he or she will be familiar with the topic and (hopefully) be more successful when this topic is drawn from the box at home.

This set targets vocalic /r/ in the final position of words and is available at my TPT site.  It includes 30 conversation starter cards, instructions for use, labels for the box and a Helpful Hints page for parents or professionals.  Chinese takeout boxes are readily available at craft stores such as Michaels and usually cost around a buck apiece.  You could use any small box or envelope if you don't have a takeout box...it just won't be as fun.

Guess what?  You gave me feedback, and I listened!  Due to popular request, I made a set of cards for the /ch/ sound that are ready to go!  This set contains 40 cards:  20 initial /ch/, 10 medial and 10 final.  You can find it here.  I'm working on other card sets, too, so check back again soon.

What do you think of this idea?  I'm planning to make more for other sounds and word positions, but I'd like to know what you would use.  Please leave a comment and I'll see what I can come up with.

Have fun!

Pam

Scratch-Its for Rewards

"Miss Pam, is it a sticker day or a prize box day?"

This is the question I hear most often from my kiddos.  They just love to dig through the prize box to take home a treasure at the end of our session.  But here's the dilemma:  I do not offer prizes every session (but I DO offer stickers) and I have no real system for determining which days are prize box days, except that I try to offer it once per month.  It often depends on how many prizes are left in the prize box and if I've had time to shop.  But, the kids are relentless in their asking, so I came up with a solution to develop a system.

My solution:  Sticker or Prize Box Scratch-Its!  Let me tell you how they work.

First, I made several different reward cards and printed them on card stock.  I've got snowmen, monsters...

 ...winter...

...fire station and camping.

Next, choose a card and write "sticker" or "prize" in each of the circles with a black pen.  Choose random locations for each, and make each card different in terms of placement of the "prize" words.

Fill in the circles using a white crayon.

I color over the words a couple of times, making sure there's a nice layer of crayon wax on top of the words.

Then, paint over the top of the crayon wax using acrylic paint.  I chose light blue, but you could use any color you'd like.  The paint tends to dry streaky, so I usually apply 2-3 coats, especially over the middle of the circle to be sure to cover the words.

Let the paint dry for at least an hour.  Then you're ready to go!  I let the kids chose their own reward card, write their name on it and keep it in their chart.

This solution is working really well for me.  I don't need to keep my prize box stocked enough for all the kids on my caseload to hit it in one week, and it's not my decision as to whether it's a prize day or sticker day.  No more needing to explain my rationale!  Whew!

Would you like to give this a try?  You can download my reward cards here.  If you do download them, let me know what you think.  Graphics for these cute little charts are from Scrappin Doodles and KPM Doodles.

Have fun!

Pam

Kicking and Screaming

That's me, right there in that old photograph, kicking and screaming because I wanted to go swimming. That's my dad, the man with the smile as he gently tries to put my shoes back on and take me where I don't want to go.

I'm kicking and screaming again, after all these years.

My dad passed away on January 3, 2013 after a 13 year battle with cancer that left his body with literally no immune system.  He gave it a valiant effort, but in the end, the fight was just too large and his body just too weak.

I boarded a plane on January 2 to fly across the country to be by his side in his last days.  I'd never been down that road before, that road that ends with losing a parent, and I found myself kicking and screaming as I was being dragged down it against my will.

The days that followed are nothing but a blur now.  I'm back at home after twelve days, feeling like I'm slogging through mud.  I'm trying to decide which road to go down now.  How does one go down any road when their world is no longer the same?  I'm kicking and screaming yet again, at the thought of carrying on with the tasks of every day life that seem insurmountable right now.  How will I do it?  Hopefully with grace and perseverance, as was modeled by my dad, one day at a time.

In the meantime, please know that one day soon I'll be back to posting on a regular basis.  For now, please keep me in your prayers.

Pam

Snowman Slam! Game

My kids and I had so much fun with Santa's Cookie Slam! Game that I made a snowman version with a twist.  This game has the basic same idea as the Santa version, where players race to slap cards that match an instruction card.  The difference is that in the snowman version, each player collects their cards on a game board.

This is one of four different game boards, each with a unique snowman to build.

Players must collect the six pieces that match the ones displayed on their game board.  The game is designed for 2-4 players.  If you only have 2 players, the players take turns turning over an instruction card so both players can see it at the same time.  If you have 3-4 players, one player is selected to play the role of the reader and he or she reads the cards to the other players.  The reader must make sure to keep the card hidden  from the other players' view so the instructions are auditory instead of visual. This player does not collect cards.

Here is an example of the instruction cards:

...and the pieces to slam and the instructions.

Snowman Slam can be used to target a wide variety of goals, including:

     * Following auditory instructions

     * Auditory and visual processing skills

     * Articulation 

     * Language skills:  use of descriptors, colors, winter vocabulary, auxiliary verbs, plurals

     * Early Literacy:  instruction cards include colors and pictures, making it easy for even pre-readers to "read" them

     *Social skills:  turn-taking, winning and losing

This game includes 4 game boards, 24 matching cards, 24 instruction cards and instructions for play.   Here's what it looks like when it's all set up:  

You can download this game here.

Have fun!

Pam

Snowman Articulation for /R/ and /S/

Those /r/ and /s/ blend kids of mine just keep progressing and needing harder stuff to practice, so I created these:

and...

Here's what they look like:

Each card features target words in single words, phrases and sentences.  The /r/ set contains 13 pages of snowman cards with 8 snowmen on each.  Targets include initial /r/, medial /r/, final /r/ (OR, AR, AIR, EAR, ARE, EER, ER and IRE) and /r/ blends.

The /s/ set contains 10 pages of snowman cards.  Targets include initial /s/, medial /s/, final /s/ and /s/ blends /sk/, /st/, /sn/, /sp/, /sm/ and /sl/.  Each set contains a sheet of blank snowmen for you to customize.

They've been working great for me during treatment and the kids really seem to like them.  I also print off a set for them to take home for homework and send them home a page or two at a time.

You can find these snowmen here on my new TpT site.  I know, I went over to the "Dark Side" and joined TpT!  I promise I'll still offer plenty of freebies here, but I needed to find some way to offset the cost of all my graphics purchases and the time I spend creating all these materials.  Not to mention that my son just got engaged and I foresee wedding expenses in the future!  So please be kind, and visit me there.

Enjoy!

Pam

My Favorite Snow Books

I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow, which fuels excitement like none other here in the Portland Metro area.  What is it about snow?  Is it the fresh, clean newness of everything it covers?  Is it the novelty?  Is it the promise (or hope!)  of a day of play followed by a mug of steaming hot chocolate in front of a fire?  Whatever it is, it is just plain wonderful!

Guess what else it does?  It makes me want to pull out all my favorite books about snow.

Here is my All Time Favorite:  First Snow by Emily McCully.

This is a fantastic picture book that tells a story about a family of mice that go sledding on the day of the first snow.  The beautiful pictures do most of the storytelling, with just a little text on each page leading the way, making it a perfect book for targeting language skills and inferencing.  Many of my kids identify with Bitty, the smallest mouse who is scared at first to go down the snowy hill on her sled, but then wants to go again and again and again.  It is a delight every time I read it.

Another of my favorites is Snow Bugs by David Carter.

This interactive Pop-Up book is always a hit with the kids!  It features many wintery activities such as skating, having snowball fights, sledding and even snowboarding.  It's great for working on those /S/ Blends and a whole variety of language skills.  I can use it with practically every child on my caseload.

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner is another great one.  It tells the story of what snowmen might do at night, which includes snowball fights, skating, making snow angels and drinking cold cocoa.

 CC over at If I Only Had Super Powers made a wonderful unit as a companion to this book.  You can check it out here.

What are YOUR favorite books about snow?  I'd love to add them to my collection.

Let it snow!!!


Pam

I See My Snowman Emergent Reader

Today I'm sharing a little book I wrote for my emergent readers working on /S/-Blends.  It's an 8-page book that you can quickly print, cut and use in a matter of minutes.

You can head on over to my TpT site and download it for free here. The snowman graphics are from Scrappin Doodles and the snowflakes are KPM Doodles.

Enjoy!

Pam