Engaging Articulation Practice for Speech Therapy

Hi speechies!

First of allllll, thank y'all so much for your sweet words about our new home - I can't wait to share a furnished home tour SOON!

Anyway, today I wanted to share an activity that I've been doing with my kiddos in speech that is a HIT!

We've been playing a game called THE ALPHABET SHUFFLE (for my older kiddos) or THE ALPHABET BOOGIE (for my younger guys) - same game, different names.

So I printed out sounds (single phonemes + blends) on Astrobrights paper, laminated them, and cut them out. 

To play:

• Lay cards on the ground (face up)
• Play music and have the kids dance or march around the cards
• Stop the music and make sure the kids know to STOP on a card when the music STOPS
• Have each kiddo tell you the letter, the sound, and a word that starts with the sound that they landed on

For my lower kiddos I usually just have them give me a word that has the sound in the initial position. 

For my higher kids I will give them a category and have them give me words that have the sound in the initial, then medial, then final positions. 

So for example, if a  higher kiddo stops on the "s" I would have them say "S makes a sssss sound." Then I would ask them something like, "What is a food that starts with the ssss sound?" They could say something like soup. Then I'd ask, "What is a food that has the ssss sound in the middle?" They could respond with popsicle. Then I'd ask, "What is a food that ends with the ssss sound?" They could say something like rice.

The kids have been SO engaged with this game and it gets in some good artic practice! We also tie in turn taking and conversation skills (when we're trying to brainstorm words that have the sounds).

Here's a little peek:

Let me know if you try this out with your kiddos!

Editable Assignment Tracker FREEBIE!

Hi speechies!

I've had quite a few of y'all reach out to me asking if I could upload my assignment tracker template soooo I made that happen :)

This is how I keep track of all of my assignments for all of my classes. I like having all of my due dates in one place. Plus it feels SO good crossing them off when they're complete!

I went ahead and made this a freebie in my TpT store - you do need a program that allows you to edit PDFs to edit it. I use Adobe Acrobat.

You can grab yours here!

Enjoy!

Say It or Think It Social Filter Activity for Speech Therapy

Hi speechies!

Have you signed up for my weekly email?! I just started it this weekend and I'm really excited to deliver one email a week to your inbox with ALL things TSS :) Join the tribe by clicking here - I promise not to spam you!

ANYWAAAAY. Today I want to share a SOCIAL THINKING activity with y'all! In my high school groups we are working on learning when to say things vs. just think them - aka we are getting in tune with our SOCIAL FILTERS!

I came up with 20 social thoughts to read to the students. They are going to listen to the thought then hold up the "THINK IT" speech bubble if they think it's a thought they should keep in their brain or the "SAY IT" mouth if it's a thought they think they should say out loud.

I'm really excited to implement this activity this week! I try to come up with REAL LIFE social scenarios so that they carryover the skills into their everyday lives.

You can grab this activity in my TpT store!

What are some ways that you teach using social filters?

How to Stay Organized in Grad School

Hi speechies!

I shared this over on Instagram and I got really great feedback so I wanted to make sure I shared it over on the blog, too!

It's no secret that managing grad school classes + work + life is tough. It's also no secret that organization is my love language so I wanted to share with y'all how I organize all of my materials for my graduate courses.

• CLASS TO-DOS LIST: This template is in my TpT store. I write down all of the assignments/readings that I want to complete each day for each class. Seeing a daily breakdown of the work that I need to complete really helps me stay on top of everything.
  
• PLANNER: I am using a planner from Horacio Printing this year and I LOVE the simplicity of it! There is a master to-do list each week on the left page and on the right page (shown above) you can see each day. On the left side of weekly spread I write down any events that I have to do that day (class meetings, appointments, etc.). On the right I put post-it notes with anything that is due. Each class is assigned a color. This is great because if an assignment due date changes I can just pick up the post-it note and move it...no white out or scribbling out over here!
  
• MASTER ASSIGNMENT LIST: I like to have every assignment that is due throughout the semester for each class all in one place. I put them in date order. And y'all...it is SO satisfying to cross them off once you turn in the assignment. Seriously!

I hope this helps you stay organized this semester!

Winter Themed Speech Therapy Activity

Hi speechies!

Is it just me or is January kind of an awkward month for therapy in schools? October-December is packed with holiday themed activities that are fun and engaging for our students.

Then we go away for winter break and return in January to cold weather and are expected to jump right back into it.

We only got 1.5 weeks for break this year so I wanted to make sure that the first activity that I came back to school with was engaging, motivating, and exciting for the kiddos. I give you:

I came up with a game called SLIDING SNOWBALLS and my kids went totally crazy over it. So crazy that we're playing it again next week! You can grab your SLIDING SNOWBALLS game in my TpT store!

Here's the rundown:

- I printed out an igloo, laminated it (mine is from Teaching in the Tongass), and hot glued it to a tissue box.

- I put together 5 stacks of question cards: opposites, synonyms, wh- questions, categories, and social skills. Each stack has 20 question cards.

- I wrote the 5 categories on a piece of paper, balled them up into "snowballs" and put them in the brown paper bag.

- The kids take turns drawing a category out of the bag and then answering a question from that stack. After they answer the question they get to slide the snowball (aka a pom pom) into the igloo. We keep track of points on the white board.

Y'all, THEY LOVE IT!

Let me know if you try this activity with your kiddos! I'll use this through mid-January then I'll be busting out ALLLLL of the emotion activities for Valentine's Day!

Make sure you're following on Instagram + YouTube so you don't miss any of my activities!