It's Only Thursday...

Ever have one of those weeks when you have been super busy but then realize it's not Friday yet?  That's me today.  I've had a busy week.  Basketball Monday night...Online book party Tuesday night...Endless planning, website designing, "social media butterflying" (that's a word-not really but it could be) Wednesday night and(probably) tonight too... Then I realized I hadn't blogged about this week's activities!!!  What??!!  That's one of my favorite things to do!  So I will be giving you the condensed version of "Cookie Week."

Since I have mostly boys on my caseload, we only read "If You Give A Mouse  A Cookie."  No boys were going to ask for "Clara the Cookie Fairy." (boo, I like that book!)

We started out the week with the book and a drill reinforcement activity.  I needed to get the kiddos back in the swing of therapy after the holidays. You can find all of the activities in the blog here.  The second articulation activity we completed was a "Roll and Say" sheet.  The child rolled the die, found the matching one on the worksheet, and produced the word correctly that number of times.  Then the child colored/dot painted a picture in the row.  The kids really loved doing that!  I think we might be adding this one to our usual routine.  

 

As for language activities, we had a couple of school age coloring sheets.  The early childhood kids loved their stuff!!  Language for school age kids included working on irregular past tense verbs in sentences and categories.  We colored chocolate chips on a cookie as the client made up sentences using the irregular past tense verbs.  We also colored cookies when we could name 3-5 items that belonged in a given category.



The little guys had a field day with our activities.  Since some of my clients cannot follow the book of the week, I made a book that could go along with that is more simple (but could be used with it.)  You can find "Cookie, Cookie What Do You See?" on my TpT store as well as the "Mouse has..." board.  We practiced different language concepts using the Melissa and Doug Christmas cookie set and the Counting Cookie Jar.  The last activity we had was a simple category sort using food, animals and clothing.

 

Well, I started this post on Thursday.  It is now Friday at lunch time.  The blog struggle was real this week!!  Here's to a more organized and productive week next week!!

 

Melissa



Aww Man, It's Monday!

Don't we all think that after a long holiday weekend?!  I had tons of things I wanted to get done during my time off...got maybe half of it done!  I got a couple of home projects done but to be honest I didn't pick up my computer once!!  I had big plans to get all of my December activities done and posted to TpT, catch up all my notes and reports, and organize my office.   But then it got cold and the hubs lit a fire in the fireplace and the kids found movies to watch.  Needless to say none of my work stuff got checked off.  Funny how the warmth of a fireplace can zap the motivation right out of you!

 

This week our theme is cookies.  It's always a fun week.  When I worked in the clinic setting, we were able to bake cookies and decorate them.  Since I am a traveling therapist now, I don't get to do that.  We do play a game called "Cookin' Cookies" though.  It's a form of memory that the kids love!  You have to gather all your ingredients from the recipe card to make your cookies (or win the game!) 

Our book is "If You Give  A Mouse A Cookie" but I also like to use "The Best Mouse Cookie" and (for the girls) "Clara, the Cookie Fairy."  Our activities this week are centered around "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."  I even bring the little mouse from the book with me to finish up the week. 

We have dot sheets, coloring activities and even a little take home game for articulation.  As always there will be a more in-depth post about articulation and language activities later on in the week.

Today's post is short and sweet.  After all, it is the Monday after a break.

Until next time, keep 'em talking!
Melissa

Thursday Thoughts on Language: Food!!

Let's be honest...one week from Thanksgiving, we're not thinking about work or cleaning or even Christmas shopping!  We are all thinking about how much food we are about to consume!!  This week's theme on Thanksgiving food has not helped at all!!  I've spent the entire week talking about turkey, salads, veggies (yuck!), and desserts!!!  Do you know how hard it is to speak when your mouth is watering?!

Our language activities have been just as fun as the articulation ones.  I mean did you see the activity I posted about yesterday?!!?!!  I liked it so much it got it's own post!

I made this little pronoun activity since I have several that needed to work on using "she."  The great thing about this one is you can also turn it into an articulation activity for the short sentence level.  Plus I also used it to address "what" questions asking the question "What did she eat?"  AND I used it to work on increasing MLU with 3 word phrases and vocabulary.

 

Since I did not write the preschool post this week, I am adding the cute little book we read here.  Some of my little guys aren't old enough to follow the main book of the week.  Sometimes, I am wanting to emphasize certain vocabulary.  I made a little book for this week along with a naming/identifying food SMUSH board.  "Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Pie" is perfect for working on food vocabulary! 

This is my last post about Thanksgiving food.  I know most of my school SLPs friends are out all next week.  Not going to lie...I'm a little jealous!  But I have a short 2 day week next week so I think I will manage!!

Until next time, keep 'em talking!
Melissa

 

Thanksgiving Dinner in Speech!

I have done this craft for the past couple of years.  Each year, I change it up a little but have never been completely happy with it...UNTIL THIS YEAR!!!!  You know how you do a craft with your clients (or your own kids) and you think, "That turned out cute but it would look better if I did..."?  That's how this craft is for me.  I really liked it but always wanted to do more.  I gathered my materials just as I do every year for this craft but it hit me on the way to the first client this morning.  MAKE THEM LIKE THE OLD LADY!!  Hello!!  After the first few kiddos, it has been a HUGE hit!!  The kids laugh and think they will get as big as the old lady in the story.  Here's what we did:

I gathered brown and white construction paper to make the turkey leg and dinner roll.  I used 4 cotton balls as mashed potatoes with a small yellow square as the butter.  I glued yellow pony beads as corn kernels and green pony beads as peas.  Of course, what's a good dinner roll without butter?  So I cut a small yellow square for butter on it too.  We sprinkle just a touch of poultry seasoning (which none of the kids think it smells good!) on the turkey leg.  Everything was glued onto a small paper plate.  The small paper plate was glued a 9x12 piece of orange construction paper.

To address articulation:  I still drilled the kiddos with their target words if they were at word level.  To get a food on their plate, they had to say their target 5x.  Some of my kids are at phrase/sentence level so this is where we used the sentence above the food.  The kids would say their sentence 3x correctly after we glued the food onto the plate.  The sentence was "I know a little boy/girl who swallowed (corn.)"  Only at the very end did we read the entire sentence with all the foods listed.

To address language:  We worked answering "what" questions such as "what do you want?" and using 3-4 word phrases to answer those questions like "I want corn please."  If you are working in a group setting, you could easily work on table manners at this time.  Kids would have to say "Please pass the (potatoes)."  You could even put the different "foods" in plastic serving dishes and prepare the table as if it were a real Thanksgiving dinner!!  (Man, times I wished I worked in a school setting!!)   Spatial concepts are easily addressed.  "Where do you want the corn?"  Answers could be "beside the turkey," or "between the peas and potatoes." 

Sorry I had to take a break from the regular "Wee One Wednesday" post.  This activity deserved it's own post!!!  It is so much fun!!  You can change up the foods too.  One year we used elbow noodles as macaroni.  You could cut strips of green paper to make a salad.  Get creative with it!!  Then come back and tell what you did!!

Until next time, keep 'em talking!!
Melissa

The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie Preview

This is seriously my most favorite week in November!!  The kids love this book.  I have a ton of fun prepping the materials for the week.  It's just fun!  We have fun talking about all the Thanksgiving food that is we will be eating in the next week.  I love to hear from the kids about what they eat on Thanksgiving.  It's always an interesting conversation.  When I was a kid, I only ate the macaroni and cheese (and it had to be a certain kind!).  So you can say that I tend to relate with the kiddos who have mac and cheese with chicken nuggets!

To go with our book this week, we have a slew of activities such as the kids' favorite, the dot sheets!  I made two for the week but I am not sure if we will use both in therapy or if one will be given for homework.  I have a school age kiddo working on understanding the concepts of "before" and "after" so, I developed a worksheet to help teach "before."  Since I am trying to teach a new concept, I prefer to teach it one at a time.  A few other kiddos are working on using pronouns.  I developed an activity to work on using he/she in sentences.  I made 2 boards-an old woman and an old man.  The kids placed food cards on them and tell who "ate" the food.

For my little ones, I made a book to help teach basic food vocabulary for Thanksgiving.  There is also a matching playdough SMUSH mat to go along with the book.

 

If you are lucky enough for this to be your last week of therapy before the holiday next week, have fun!  If not, you can still have fun!:)

 

Until next time, keep 'em talking!

Melissa



Thursday Thoughts on Language-Stirrin' Up Some Fun with Turkeys

We've had sooo much fun this week with turkeys!!!  The kids have enjoyed the activities.  More importantly, they have worked really hard on their goals and continue to make great progress!  Several of the language activities I used this week were talked about in Wednesday's post since they were basic vocabulary.  But they do focus on language goals so they are worth mentioning in this post too.  If you want to see what they were, go check out the post.

The category SMUSH board was a good activity for several ages.  I used it to introduce simple categories (such as find the things we eat) with the little guys.  But with my older kids, we follow the directions as listed.  It helps because I have some little friends (that's what I call my clients) that struggle to independently come up with items in a category.  This is just a different way of sorting. 

Some of my elementary age clients are working on developing sentences and using past tense verbs correctly.  One of my little friends is having an especially hard time with formulating sentences with a given word.  However, we completed the irregular past tense verb activity in the book buddy in no time!!  His parents were blown away that he had formulated and written all 4 sentences!!  With this activity, the child colors the irregular past tense verbs RED and the other verbs are blue.  Then he takes the "red feathers" and writes a sentence with each verb.  You can find the activity in the book buddy.  

Also in the book buddy is a spatial concept activity.  Very similar to the one in the owl book buddy, you give a child the picture scene.  To work on receptive skills, give clues like "which turkey is in the tree?"  To work on expressive skills, ask the client "Where is the pink turkey?" You should get a response similar to "behind the wagon."  In this picture, we smushed playdough when he found the correct turkey.

 

Until next time, keep 'em talking!

Melissa

 



Wee One Wednesday-Turkeys and Tots

Using turkeys this week has been fun with the little ones.  For starters, I am teaching a new vocabulary word-TURKEY.  Most young kids do not know what a turkey is or looks like.  Plus, it is super cute to hear a 2 year old try to say "Gobble, Gobble."  I wasn't really happy with my book for this week so I made one for the little guys.  It is similar to the "Brown Bear" format.  The kids picked up the rhythm of it immediately.  For some of my little guys with Autism, I saw their faces light up as if to say "Hey I know this one!"  I call it "Red Feather, Red Feather, What Do You See?"  It works on colors as well as answering "what" questions.  I kept it short so that it would keep their attention and not give too many words at once.  I also made a "SMUSH" board that goes with the book to work on colors.

The kids saw their favorite activity make a return this week-SMUSH boards.  I call them "SMUSH" boards because the little ones love to say "SMUSH!" as they smush playdough on the pictures.  This week my primary target is food!  I started with fruits last week.  Those appeared way too easy for several of my little friends so I added vegetables this week.  That should stump them!  You can also use these boards to work on goals such as describing qualities.  An example would be "What vegetable is red and grows on a vine?"  I added a simple category board as well to some of the sessions.  It was just recently added to the TpT store.  

Another favorite with the kids is the sensory bin.  I added seasonal vase filler balls (glittery orange and green), small fake apples, acorns and corn and a few feathers.  Then I added the plastic fruits and veggies we have been working on.  If you don't have the plastic ones, you could add laminated pictures of the foods you want to address.

The craft we do at the end of the week is similar to the articulation take home activity.  Except we glue the feathers onto the back of the bag.  Little ones must use words to make requests of the items they need.  Most of my little guys are seen at home.  They aren't in daycare so they don't crafts everyday.  They enjoy the actual process of making something.  The looks on their faces when we are done is enough for me.  They are so proud and SO EXCITED to show mom, grandma, dad or the babysitter!  Which of course ignites more expressive language!!!

Until next time, keep 'em talking!
Melissa

Thursday Thoughts on Language-OWLS

So by now we have covered the books, articulation and preschool speech activities all centered around the owl theme.  Though I use several of yesterday's ideas in therapy for language, some of my older kids don't care for them as much.  So I am bringing you some of my "school age" therapy ideas to use in the owl theme.

"Little Owl's Night" is still age appropriate.  I used it up to about 3rd grade (depending on the child).  For my language kids, I like to ask questions while we read.  These questions will be VERY SIMILIAR (aka almost the same!) to the ones I ask after the story.  But I like to use this time to discuss what is happening in the story and keep the kids engaged.  After we finish the book, we play "Little Owl's Night" Story Comprehension board game.  (You can find it in the book buddy.) Pretty simple-at each turn, have the child answer a question about the story.  You will need a die and pieces to play.  Whoever reaches Raccoon first wins!

Another language activity we have is the Irregular Past Tense Match Worksheet.  (also in the book buddy).  I like to teach irregular nouns and verbs in patterns if I can.  Some don't fit and I categorize them as the "Just Memorize Me" verbs.  The worksheet in the book buddy focuses on the "ew" verbs such as "blew, drew, flew, etc."  The fun thing with this worksheet is you can print 4-5 and laminate them.  The kids can use dry erase markers which they think is more fun anyway.  Then just wipe away and use for the next session.  After they have matched up the verbs, have them write sentences using the past tense verbs.

Big kids still like to play with playdough occasionally.  So I made a scene with owls in different places.  You could actually print two copies, laminate and use as barrier games.  You give the direction and the kids have to find the owl you are talking about.  Or you can flip it...have the child give the description to work on expressive language.  (I even use it with my little guys to help them understand spatial concepts.)  This activity is called "Where is Little Owl?" and it found in the book buddy.

The last activity is "Is That My Tree?" is a category game.  The trees are the category names.  The owls have different object names written on them.  Set out the trees on the table.  As the child pulls an owl from the envelope, have him tell where the owl belongs.  At the end, talk about each category and make sure the owls are in the right trees.  This activity is new to the TpT store!

 

Wishing everyone a great end to the week.  Until next time...Keep 'em talking.

Melissa

Wee One Wednesday- Owls and Little Ones!

I work with a wide age range of kiddos.  With the wide age range, comes an even wider variety of kiddos.  I enjoy it that way.  Yes, it may take me longer to plan or gather activities.  But I like that each session I do is different and keeps me guessing!  Plus, it's nice to not do the same thing over and over all week.

I am dedicating Wednesdays to my younger kiddos.  These are kiddos are younger and benefit from a more play-based, interactive, sensory-seeking type of therapy.  Some of kiddos with Autism participate in these activities as well.  The book we are using this week is "That's Not My Owl.." (It was previewed in Monday's post.  Click here to buy it!)  As I've said before, the textures engage the kiddos.  They can actually feel what "rough" is!  The "touchy feely" textures keep the kiddos engaged and they follow along with the story.

After we read our book, we have a variety of activities that I bring in.  Since most of my littles are working naming/identifying basic objects, I chose foods as my concentration this month...it is the season to over eat right?!  I made "Playdough SMUSH!" boards like the one below.  Oh. My. GOODNESS!!  These are the best!  I cater them to the vocabulary I need to address.  This one is for -ing verbs  but I also made ones for clothing, forest animals, and fruits.  I like them because I can use 1 board but target different things.    I can work with labeling the fruits with one kiddo.  The next session might be identifying the fruits as I name them.  The 3rd session might be "Wh" questions like "what fruit can be red, green or yellow?" or categories (find all the red fruits or find all the fruits that grow on vines).  Possibilities are endless!  Plus the kids LOVE saying "SMUSH" as they smush a ball of playdough on the picture!

Another fun interactive activity is adapting the freebie on the TpT store.  Even though I have used it for articulation, it can be easily adapted as an interactive game for early language kids.  I used it to work on colors (each owl was colored a different color), 3 word phrases using "in/out" such "in the tree."  Turn a paper lunch sack into a tree with some green paper.  Give the child the direction of "Put the (orange)owl in the tree."  Then once they have followed the direction, ask the child "Where is the orange owl?"  They may need cueing to answer with "in the tree."

Hope everyone is enjoying Owl week as much as I am!!
Until next time,
Keep 'em talking,
Melissa

 

Monday Preview: Whooo is ready for November?

Good morning everyone!!  Anyone else ready for cooler weather and tons of yummy food?!  Me too!!  To start out November, I added a new theme to my calendar-OWLS!  I've kind of been in an "owl mood" for about a year by adding a few to my home décor.  But then I found a cute owl book at one of my daycare centers'  book fairs and thought, "I have to add this to my themes!"  (Actually I found 2 books!!)  Some of my older kids will hear "Little Owl's Night" by Divya Srinivasan.    It's a precious little book about an owl as he flies through the night.  It is great for talking about nocturnal animals.  (I came up with a "book buddy" to use with this book and it has been added to my TpT store.)  You may be wondering what a "book buddy" is.  It is a bundle of speech and language activities that are centered around a particular book.  It comes complete with an articulation list, comprehension questions, open ended games and other activities.

My younger kiddos will hear "That's Not My Owl..."  It's from Usborne books and I love these!!  (So much so that I have become a  distributor for them!)  I love that my young ones can actually "feel" describing words with these books!!  I am currently working on a set of activities that could be used with this age group.  My little ones with Autism benefit from these books as well.  How can you teach what "soft" is without feeling it?!   This book takes away the abstract thinking and gives the kiddos a concrete example of the describing words. 

 

Hope these give you some ideas to help start your November!!  This theme is wonderful because it is really appropriate throughout the fall.  Keep up with the blog posts this week because I will be adding more information about each activity that we do.  Be sure to follow along on Instagram (speechchicktherapy) and on Facebook!

 

Until next time...

Keep 'em talking!

Melissa