Spotty Internet = Absent Blogger

I have only been on the internet when I can access the internet for more than 20 seconds at a time. About a week ago, my router started doing some odd things and it officially stopped working a few days ago. Last night, my husband went and got us a new router so that I could enter into the world of blogging yet again. Okay, he went to get a new router for more than just that, but I have missed sharing what I've been up to. Unfortunately, that router did not work at all, so about an hour ago, we started the process all over again. I have working WIFI now!

I love to celebrate birthdays! I love to celebrate any occasion, but birthdays are fun for me! My birthday will be here in less than a week, so in the spirit of my birthday, I thought I would share what I have created to celebrate the birthdays of the students I serve! 

I have created two birthday packets. You guessed it! One for boys and one for girls. They are generally the same, just a different color scheme and some different clip art. Essentially, I have created at least 6 different birthday card templates and some lined pages for writing encouragement throughout the year. Along with these, I have created calendars that can be used to keep organized! I am a neat freak and have a very Type A personality, so I write the birthdays on the calendar, put each page into its own plastic sleeve and then focus on the birthday cards. I print out the number I need, cut them to size, fold and laminate. I like to use permanent markers, so I'm able to write on them after laminating just fine! I only choose to laminate because I think they look better than a typical piece of paper folded together. Just a preference! Anyway, once they are laminated, I put the number of cards needed in the sleeve behind the corresponding calendar page. If you are interested you can find them here (for boys) and here (for girls)!

I have also created a listening comprehension activity involving apples. It focuses on WH questions in an fun/interactive way! Best of all, it is FREE! =) You can download it from my TPT store here! Let me know what you think!

One more thing...I have a FB page that you can find if you search Little Speech Corner. I tend to inform those that have liked the page when I have published a new blog post, but recently I have begun to post information about free apps that I believe could be beneficial in the therapy room. Most of the apps are not free for a very lengthy period of time, and some change almost instantly after I post them, but they are free when I post them to the page. If you can use them, great! If you can't, they are free, so you aren't out anything!

Happy Wednesday!

Back to School Goodies!

I attended a back to school picnic for new hires tonight. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of the teachers I will work alongside, but also to get to know the big wig..AKA: The Superintendent. I found myself filled with anxiety as I was introduced to him, but he was super sociable. I was relaxed in a matter of seconds! In the school district I resigned from, I was one of 3000+ employees. In the school district I am entering, I am one of 400 or so. That is a huge difference and the picnic tonight was another reminder of this. 

I have a few things I want to share with you! I have created three documents that I plan on putting in my students folders. Some of my students do not have a speech and a language goal, so some folders will only have two documents, but you get my point! =) They are a parent contact log and a language and/or speech goal page. I follow many bloggers, and Kristin, at [simply speech], shared a student data sheet that I loved! I modified it a bit with my own personal twist, but she gets all the credit for the idea! Thank you Kristin! It is what I am calling my language and/or speech goal page. Here are the documents.

I wanted a contact log that I could put with each child's folder. Because we don't have an IEP facilitator, or someone who sends out prior notice forms and such for IEP meetings, I wanted a form that I could use to track all of my contacts with parents. I had a general "log" for all students previously and it took some time to figure out how many times one parent was contacted vs another.

I set up a bar graph type of system on the speech and language goal forms for two reasons. 1) The students can own how successful they are. 2) I see my students at least twice a week based on how their IEPs are (again..I'm new so I am entering in to someone else's setup). This will allow me to track percentages once a week rather than every session. If I don't get to it EVERY session, I won't lose sleep over it, but at least it's a possibility!

I have also created an "expectations" poster that I will hang in my room. I have stapled a sticker chart into each folder. I like the idea of keeping one's sticker chart out of the sight of anothers for privacy reasons, so I chose to staple. It's just a personal preference! Here is what I have for my "expectation" poster at this point. I have not printed it yet because it is ever changing, so please share your thoughts. 

 

Because I appear to be long winded tonight, I am going to end this with a freebie I just posted on my TPT store! I wanted an activity to use with my students during our first (or second) interaction with each other. I loved the use of M & Ms in icebreakers as a kid, so I chose to create an activity based on my memory. I am entering a district where the mascot is a tiger, so a pawprint only seemed appropriate! 

And...one more thing! To go alongside this pawprint activity, I plan on using what Jenn shared at Crazy Speech World in a different way. I plan on using these pawprints with my students names in the pad portion of the paw. In the outside portion, I will have them color/draw/write whatever describes them best! I will then hang these outside of my room as my first attempt at wall decor! The paws will look something like this (before the great color is added)!

Find the documents at the following links:
Parent Contact Log
Speech Goal
Language Goal


Enjoy!

Thank you!

I am just over a month (by a day) into this fun adventure called blogging! I wanted to take a minute, while I am at my in-laws, to thank you for supporting this blog and sharing your thoughts with me along the way. As the school year gets going, I am excited to share with you the items I am creating to use with the kiddos I serve. Because this is celebrating one month, I wanted to share a freebie with you. 

I am working on a baseball/softball theme. I have been inspired by my sister-in-laws state softball tournament. My hometown is also the home of the 14 year old national softball tournament, so I have been speaking "softball" for a good chunk of time this summer. In the midst of all the chatter, I have spent time creating various game board/place mat activities. This is a glimpse into the articulation portion. I am planning on creating cards for a fair amount of sounds, so if you enjoy this activity and want the remainder sounds, leave me a comment and I will get back to you! =)


Here is the game board:

Here is an example of the cards

My goal is for each sound to contain:
- 3 pages in the initial position - one syllable
- 3 pages in the initial position - two or more syllables
- 2 pages in the medial position
- 3 pages in the final position

For now, here is this activity with the K & G sounds available. 


*Update* I began working on another activity with the same theme and realized I did not put game play instructions or variations in this post. I thought they were in the PDF I uploaded, but I uploaded the file without them, so they are not. Here they are:

Game Play

As always, cut and laminate the pieces for durability. If you are able to print on cardstock, that is recommended, but definitely not needed!

You will need dice and game pieces!

Strike Out space = Lose your turn!  Slide = Go again!

Students roll a di.

**I use the dice from super duper because they only use numbers 1-3, but you could use standard dice if you wanted to! Do as you please! =)**

Once the student has his/her number, they move their game piece the number of spaces and say the word they draw that number of times. Continue play until one of your students reach the finish line!

Variations of Play:

-      Have the students use the word at their level – phrase, sentences, etc.

-      Allow your expressive language kiddos to play this as well! It could be played the same way, but they are to make a sentence or explain the word they see!

-      If you are working on antonyms/synonyms, pull out the cards that are applicable. 

Thank you, again, for taking time out of your day to read some of my thoughts about a passion and joy of mine. I hope somewhere along the way, you have, or will find, something that is beneficial to you and the kiddos you serve!

It is finished!

After a long and busy week, I have finally completed the project I anticipated would take only a few days. I am excited with the end result and plan on creating a few more things in the next few days. For now, I wanted to let you see what I have created.


I have created a game board to be used with target cards covering multiple categories. The categories include synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, heteronyms, homophones, inferences, yes/no questions, categories, WH/How questions, cause/effect questions, and expressive language tasks. The game board looks like:

It is a little different than this, but it saved me from trying to copy/paste it all over again to create an image! The changes include changing the Start/Finish to "Go!" and you can see the characters in the rollercoaster cart.


The cards look similar to this:

If you are interested in seeing all of the category options, you can go to my TPT Store and see the preview document.


I have decided that 81 pages of cards was as much as I could take up to this point. I plan on creating some basic concept cards at the request of Deb at SpeechGadget in the next few days. I didn't forget about your request Deb!


A few of the language targets can be found in individual game form on my TPT store as well, if you are interested. At this point it is only the WH question target, but more will be added as the evening continues.


An articulation game is in the making as well! It will hopefully be done in the next few days, but I won't make another promise I can't keep!


Onto the freebie! I have created two activities that allow for sentence creating to take place. One is focused on adverbs and the other adjectives. As you can see, your students can make their way around the activity mat creating sentences. The student with the most accurate sentences, at the end of the session/activity time, is the winner. This is the created for adjectives:

The other activity is a sorting activity focusing on grammar. Sorting areas include: nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, and adjectives. Tickets are included with some options for sorting, but I have a few other ideas to provide.
1. Have the students use a dry erase marker and write in the words they can think of that belong in those categories.
2. Have the students formulate sentences that include words in the categories. If you do this, you could have the students each use a different color dry erase marker and they could tally their score along with grammatically correct sentences.

To get your freebie! Click here! I hope you enjoy it! If you have any thoughts/comments/suggestions, feel free to leave them here! I would be happy to know what you think! 

Adverbs, anyone?!

I believe it is safe to say that I struggle with maintaining attention to any given task. I can't even count on my fingers and toes how many times I have tried to focus on things around my house today. Instead of completing the various tasks that await me, I find myself sitting and creating new tools for various targets. This was a light bulb moment I had while sorting my laundry, so after I had a load of light-colored clothes in the washer and a load of dark-colored clothes in the dryer, I began to create this activity focusing on adverbs.


Be creative and use it however you wish, but I plan on using it in the following way:
1. Give each student a different colored game piece.
2. Bring out the famous Super Duper die that only allows a student to roll up to 3.
3. Have the student roll the dice and the treasure map they land on provides a word that needs to be made into a sentence. For example, if a student lands on "always". The sentence could be "I will love you always." 
4. For every sentence that is formulated accurately, the student gets a point. The student with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. 


This is a pirate themed activity. Side note, I found a lot of pirate-themed items at Party America while I was there collecting gag gifts for my mother-in-law. If you are a theme unit person, you might want to check out your local party store! =)


Here is where you can find the FREE download. Please let me know if you aren't able to access it for some reason.