Facebook Giveaway

Quick!

 

Like our Facebook page and enter our Halloween giveaway! You could win our Halloween Sequence game or the Candy Corn Rhyme! We will pick 2 winners! A ll you have to do is:

 

1. Like our Facebook Page

2. Post our giveaway publicly on Facebook

3. Leave us a comment on Facebook

 

It will only last for a few hours! So enter before we turn into  pumpkins! Ready GO!

Language Guide

I send home speech homework once a week (another post on homework coming up soon). Sometimes it can be hard to find language homework, especially for my little ones. Earlier this year I started making a language guide for each month to send home and the parents seem to like it. The guide gives the parent language ideas and topics to discuss with their child as they do everyday activities instead of sitting down and completing a worksheet. Hopefully if it fits into their busy schedules they will make time to do it!

 

The guides suggest things such as categorizing the food you see in your kitchen (fruits, veggies, meat), or comparing and contrasting the weather. I encourage my parents to keep the paper up on the fridge all month as a visual reminder. It has worked great for my pre-school and Kindergarten students.

To get the October and November language guides for free go here. To get the entire 12 month set, a blank guide, as well as a parent letter from the SLP or classroom teacher go to my TPT store. Let me know what you think!

To see similar language guides check out Speech Gadget’s ideas!

Donors Choose

Have you heard of Donors Choose? I first heard about it from Whitney over at Let’s Talk.

 

I must confess yesterday I had written a post and was all ready to talk about the project I had created on the website. I had planned to humbly ask for donations for materials to better serve my students.

 Then something amazing happened! I received an e-mail stating that my project had been FULLY funded in just ONE WEEK! I was FLOORED! Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards those that donated their hard earned money. Working in the school can be tough, but I am so encouraged by those who supported me because they believe in me and my students. An e-mail confirmed that my materials have been shipped and are on their way to my school! I cannot wait to use them!

I would encourage anyone in the public school setting, who is in need of materials, to consider creating a project with this site!

How have others generously supported you and your students? Please share!

A special thank you to FutureSLPs.com for supporting this project!

Artic Pocket Game

Congrats to Tammy H.! She won our iSpot Pro app giveaway!

Let’s face it. Sometimes there is just not enough time to prep for therapy and come up with a cutesy game to entertain our kids. Or sometimes there is no more ink (this is the equivalent to gold in my school district), and teachers are hoarding paper because the supply is low and when it’s gone, it’s gone folks.

Well if you have a pocket chart, then I have an artic idea for you!

Ok... no judging my board. It is really just a white board that someone had put tons of tape on and it was hard to write on. One day I just couldn't take it anymore and I covered it up. Still a work in progress. Just focus on the mini pocket chart! 

Place your articulation cards in your pocket chart. Explain to the students that you will say a riddle. The first person to guess what the riddle is while using their good speech sounds gets the card. Whoever has the most cards in the end wins. Don’t know about you but as long as my students are working to ‘win’ something they work so much harder! The riddles can be simple such as ‘something we eat at a birthday party”. The answer is cake.

This activity is especially great for spontaneous speech. I could not think up a catchy name for this, so if you have an idea let me know!

What easy, no prep and no ink games do you like to play with your kids?

iSpot Pro

It’s time for an app review! As always, the code was given to us, but the opinions are all ours!

I always love apps that encourage language and thinking. And iSpot Pro does just that! The player must first pick from 5 game packages. Then he or she will choose a level. There are 3 levels for each package and 5 games per level. The player will see a screen similar to this.

 

 

Then they must spot the differences! (Does anyone else remember when games like this used to be in the Saturday kids section of the newspaper? I loved trying to spot all the differences.)

 

The student will know how many differences to look for based on how many question marks are on the bottom of the screen. Once they find the differences the red question mark turns into a green check! If you run into trouble you can touch the light bulb at the bottom of the screen for a hint.

 

These pictures are great prompts to talk about differences/similarities, compare/contrast and sometimes absurdities.

I also have a couple of high school students on my caseload who have suffered from a TBI, so this was a great memory game for them to play! Overall, I found that this game was best for my older students (4^th – 6^th and high school). The differences in the pictures were too subtle for my little ones.

To find this game go to the app store and purchase it for 99 cents or enter our GIVEAWAY to win a free copy!

Summary

Things I like: I really like that it is colorful and eye catching. And I like that it really makes the student concentrate.

Things I would like to see in an upgrade: Easier levels with more obvious differences for my little kids to find.

Enter the giveaway below!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teachers Pay Teachers

Have you heard of the Teachers Pay Teachers website? If not, this is something you MUST take a look at! I love getting new materials and I think getting them cheap is even better! This site allows teachers to sell products they have created for their classroom. Therefore, I think that these products are the best because they were made by people who are in the classroom daily and most of the products have been tested in a real classroom! Some things you can download for free and others cost between $1.00 and $5.00 (sometimes the price is higher; it just depends on the product.) And the best part is SLPs are selling materials they have created for therapy!

In fact, The Speech Ladies have just opened up a store! To see our store go here or click on the Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) button on the right side of the screen. And to celebrate we are having a sale! Everything is 10% off! There is not much to look at right now, but we have many more products coming your way! Everything you see was created specifically for my caseload, so it has been tested on real students! If you are struggling to find materials for a certain area, please let us know! Also, take a look around the site because there are some other fantastic SLPs selling excellent products as well!

And if you purchase something, be sure to leave feedback for that seller. Each time you give feedback you earn TPT points. Each point is worth so much money and once you have enough, you may cash in your points to buy a product! To read more about how this works, click here.

From time to time we will use the blog to feature different products we have available in our store, but don’t worry we will still continue to post about other things as well! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to hear about our newest products first, as well as some special giveaways! (Hint: You may see a TPT giveaway on Facebook soon!)

To celebrate the opening of our store we have created two Halloween themed games!AND EVERYTHING IS 10% OFF!

Halloween Sequence

 

 

In this activity a student must draw a card and then sequence the given activity (example: tell your friend how you bob for apples). The game also includes cards to loose or gain a turn and a sequence cheat sheet (the cheat sheet reminds the student to use words such as first, then, next and last).

Candy Corn Rhyme

 

This activity is very similar to our Dr. Seuss rhymes. Just print candy corns on cardstock, cut apart on the black lines between the colors and laminate. Then have the students put the candy corn back together by matching the words that rhyme.

As always we greatly appreciate your support and feedback!

Be sure to check in next week for an app GIVEAWAY!

Your Lifestyle and Your Hearing are Related

Welcome our guest blogger John O’Connor!

My name is John O'Connor and over the past few years I have become more and more interested in hearing loss. My father and grandfathers are affected by hearing loss along with many other family members. I feel that there is a general lack of understanding around the issue and it is our job to spread awareness when we can. I am a full time husband and father, part time outdoorsman and new blogger. I have an extreme passion for healthy aging and living a healthy lifestyle. Check out my new blog Blogging With John O.

Your Lifestyle and Your Hearing are Related

The way you live can affect your hearing. From the small things you do each day to larger things that affect your way of life, there are many different ways for you to prevent hearing loss and enjoy better living. Before you need to wear a hearing aid or hearing aids, you should take these healthy changes into consideration. By keeping these tips in mind, you will be able to be healthier and happier without having to worry about your hearing.

Diabetes is a condition that millions of people are currently dealing with. Even young children are being diagnosed with type two diabetes on a routine basis. What most people do not know is that diabetes can cause hearing loss in individuals with the condition. Oftentimes, diabetes is both preventable and reversible. You can prevent and reverse diabetes by watching your weight and what you eat. Try to avoid eating too much sugar and stick with an eating plan that is routine every single day. For example, eating at the same times each day will help you to keep your blood sugar in check. This will help you to avoid diabetes and prevent hearing loss.

High blood pressure is something else that millions of people all over the world deal with. Chronic high blood pressure that is not being treated can cause hearing loss. The best way to lower blood pressure is by taking certain types of medications and using techniques that reduce stress in your life. For example, yoga and other exercises can reduce stress on a daily basis. You should find an exercise program that is perfect for you so that you reduce your stress and prevent hearing loss in the process. You will find that this helps you to live a healthier life in general.

You can also prevent hearing loss by making small adjustments to your everyday life. If you tend to work around heavy machinery, you need to be wearing earplugs at all times. You can buy these earplugs for a reasonable price from just about any drugstore in your area. Even using a mower or a lawn tool requires that you wear hearing protection so that you do not damage your ears. You should speak to your doctor if you are afraid that you are beginning to have hearing loss and want to know what you can do about it.

Many people also lose their hearing over time due to the fact that they listen to very loud music or they wear headphones and blast music. You can prevent hearing loss easily by simply turning your volume down. You don't have to blast your music all of the time and you could be damaging your hearing when you do. You will want to keep these tips in mind when you are trying to protect your hearing and live a long and healthy life without hearing loss. The way you live can affect whether you hear clearly or not.

Welcome to the Speech Room

Welcome to the speech room! I always enjoy seeing other speech rooms so I wanted to share one of my rooms. I travel between two schools and I am fortunate to have a room at each place. I know some therapists are stuck in closets, workrooms and even in the hallways.

I inherited so many materials!
See the yellow folder on top of the red bookshelf? That is where I keep student's homework folders. I send homework once a week. The students return the folder to this spot and know to pick it up next time they come. When they return it they get an extra sticker (reward chart shown below). I know a lot of therapists struggle over if they sould send homeowork or not. My advice is to just not stress about it. Some kids are super about doing it and others will never do it. I only replace a lost folder once a year, after that it is up to the student. However, I do document who completes homework and who does not. This way if the paretn is concerned about their child's lack of progress I can encourage them to work at home with their child.

Please notice that the first two shelves are nice and organized, but the rest are a hot mess! Ha, ha!
I love the leopard picture above the bookshelf! It was made by a special needs student and given to me by my sweet mother.
 And the green bulletin board above my desk was a DIY project. Thanks Pinterest!
Let me just brag about my school... they got me a new computer AND a new printer!!!!! In the special ed world this NEVER happens! And y'all I didn't even know I was getting anything. I just walked in one day and there it was! Best. Day. Ever. Now if I could just get ink to appear on my desk...

On my whiteboard I have a calendar, rewards chart and my class rules. Students must earn eight stickers for a trip to the treasure chest. Stickers are given for following the rules and bringing homework back. The popcorn box holds my artic cards within easy reach.  Notice my Chicka Chicka Boom Boom worksheets on the right! Thanks Speech Room News!
I am so grateful for my window! I didn't get a good picture of it, but it makes my room so bright! My room at the other school does not have a window. Can you say dungeon? Hope you enjoyed your tour!
What is your favorite thing about your classroom?