Conversation Builder Teen

Well, Kyle at the Mobile Education Store has done it again! Incase you haven’t seen it yet, you need to check out the Conversation BuilderTeen App. Awhile back I did a review for the Conversation Builder app. I am still using that app so I was very excited when when Kyle contacted me about the teen version!

This app is very similar to the Conversation Builder app, in that it allows teens to practice having multiple conversation exchanges. But BEWARE! The content is most definitely for an older and more mature population! What I love most is that Kyle made it possible to pick and choose which subjects you want your student to participate in. This way they are not participating in a conversation that may not be appropriate for their age.

There are over 300 conversations you can participate in! The topics range from school, sports, entertainment, to bullying, relationships and sarcasm.

 I love the group conversation feature. So often I focus on teaching students to have a conversation with just one other person, so this allows then to practice talking to a group.

As always, you can record and e-mail conversations for your data!

To watch a video tutorial go here. If you have used this app be sure to leave a comment and tell us what you think!

You can purchase this app from the iTunes store for $29.99.

Speech Cards Pro

I don’t know about you, but I always get excited when I see a new speech apps on the market! (And after the Exhibit Hall at ASHA there are so many I want to try out!) The following is a review of the Speech Cards Pro App by RWH Technology. They provided the app, but the thoughts are all mine! Scroll to the bottom to enter a giveaway for a free copy of the app! J

 

There are a few articulation apps already out there but one thing that sets Speech Cards Pro apart is that you can upload your own pictures to create an artic deck! I had a lot of fun with this feature!

You can create your own deck by adding in pictures from your camera roll (pictures you have taken with your iPad) or add to a deck that is already there by adding your own pictures and words/phrases/sentences. I did both! Each deck holds up to 20 cards.

 

 

 I added pictures to the initial P deck.  (Please don’t judge my photography skills! I obviously need lessons from many of you!)

And I also created an Initial D Deck and instead of words I did sentences.

 

Already on the app are animal, food, initial P words and CVC words. For me, the one drawback is that there were not more phoneme decks loaded on the app. I would love to see more phonemes and/or categories added in the next update!

It also allows you to track your student data (Yay!)

This app is very versatile and you can make it fit your needs. For example, I have student who is working on remembering names of his family and teachers. I took photos of the people and put their names in the deck. This student is not working on articulation, but I was still able to use this app! I am all about getting more bang for my buck!

Overall, I think this app is a wonderful resource! It is a bit time consuming to create your own artic decks, but I liked that my students had a new set of words to practice. It also gave me a chance to get creative! Look for this app in the iTunes Store! Also, if you are still unsure about purchasing the app download the Speech Cards Lite App first!

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Winter Activities

Well, with Thanksgiving over it is officially time to start thinking about winter and holidays! Oh my, I get overwhelmed just thinking about all that needs to be done! To help lighten your load a little, we have created a few winter activities to use in your classroom! We hope they will help you save planning time!

Ornament Rhyme

We have had such a big response to our Dr. Seuss Rhymes and our Candy Corn Rhymes that we created Ornament Rhymes! Just print, cut on the white line, and laminate. Then it is up to your students to put the ornaments back together by matching the rhyming words. This activity includes 20 ornaments for your children to match! Learning to rhyme teaches children phonemic awareness, syllable awareness, how to recognize word families, how to decode words, and other skills!

 

To grab this activity visit our TpT store.

Winter Grammar: Singular and Plural Nouns

 

Help your students grasp the difference between singular and plural nouns! In this activity each student receives a singular and plural game mat.

 

Take turns drawing snowflake cards and placing them on the correct mat.

 

But watch out for snowman cards! Some snowmen will cause you to lose your cards and others will give you an extra turn!

 

This product is 10 pages. Grab it in our TpT store!

Don’t forget the FREE game addition! You can get it here! These cards help the students remember the difference between singular and plural nouns. I call them ‘cheat cards’!

Winter Sequencing

 

Practice sequencing skills with this activity! Each player draws a card and must correct sequence the event.

 

For example, a player must sequence how to make a snow angel. They might say, “First you lay down in the snow. Then move your arms and legs back and forth in the snow. Last stand up and see your imprint of an angel in the snow!” But be on the lookout for penguins that will swipe all your cards!

 

This activity is 5 pages and includes sequencing ‘cheat cards’ for each player. Get it here! And don't forget on Monday and Tuesday we will be participating in TpT's Cyber Monday and Bonus Tuesday Sale! Our entire store will be 20% OFF! And if you use the promo code CMT12 you recieve an additional 10% off up to 28%! What a great deal!

Hope you enjoy these winter activities! As always, let us know if you use them!

The Source Counseling for SLPs

Today we are excited to have a guest blogger Dr. Hope Reed! She is one of my former graduate professors, so I can personally attest to the fact that she is not only a great SLP, but also a professional who really knows her subject matter! We have asked her to share about her book The Source for Counseling for SLPs. Counseling is a subject that can be easily overlooked yet it is crucial to our profession. How have you incorporated counseling into your practice?

 

Hello, fellow SLPs and SLPs-to be (AKA CSD students)!

I have been asked to participate in this blog and share my knowledge regarding the evidence-based topic of counseling patients/students and their caregivers. I am passionate about counseling! I believe that if we take care of caregivers (i.e., parents, spouses, and so forth) that we better care for our patients/students, too. Neidecker and Blosser (1993, p. 247) stated it best, in my opinion: “Without counseling, therapy alone would be ineffective.” Speech-language pathology is a science, or WHAT we do. However, great clinicians have also figured out something else…that there is also an art to what we do, or HOW we do it, and that is counseling.

Picture from www.linguisystems.com

 

My experiences with counseling began when I was an undergraduate student at Alabama A & M University, as I was required (and gladly so) to take a course entitled Counseling Parents of Exceptional Children during my senior year. I went on to work in the public schools and home health care and found those to be “rich” territories for counseling. A requirement at the end of my doctoral program at Nova Southeastern University was to complete a counseling course, as well with the late Dr. Larry Bloom. My happiest moments and greatest successes, professionally, are direct results of my knowledge and grasp of the importance of counseling, meaning that I not only must attend to my patients’ communicative, cognitive, and swallowing needs, but I should and must also address their emotional needs and those of their caregivers. I must balance doing so without sacrificing my own mental health and happiness in the process (i.e., suffering from burn-out, assuming/taking on the problems of others as my own, and learning that what I do for a profession is NOT who I am as a person).

There is a great demand for more information about counseling in our field, and LinguiSystems (LS) recognized this fact several years ago. I have published an ASHA-approved online continuing education course as well as a guide about counseling (both are free, available from the LS Website in their FREE for YOU section). These items became so popular that LS then asked me to write a full book (also available on CD), published in fall, 2011: The SOURCE for Counseling for SLPs. The link to this product is provided below, and there, you will find a product demo and other information.  http://www.linguisystems.com/products/product/display?itemid=10690

I invite you to learn more about counseling, knowledge that will help you to be a better clinician, no matter your work setting or patient/student population!

Picture and biography from www.aamu.edu

Biography:

 Dr. Hope Reed earned her doctorate in speech-language pathology from Nova Southeastern University and her masters in speech-language pathology and bachelors in special education/speech-language pathology from Alabama A&M University. Dr. Reed is an Associate Professor and has served the program since 2002. She teaches child language, counseling, and methods/materials coursework. Dr. Reed is the only Certified Orofacial Myologist in Alabama and operates the world’s first university-based clinic for children and adults with orofacial myofunctional disorders. Her research encompassing counseling patients with communication and swallowing disorders and their caregivers, health literacy, and minority success in higher education has culminated in the publication of numerous books and articles. Dr. Reed is frequently invited to present at state speech and hearing conventions on the topics of counseling and PRAXIS passage.

 

Minimal Pairs Ice Cream Scoops

We know it may be too cold to think about ice cream where you are, but The Speech Ladies LOVE ice cream even in the middle of winter!

 

Introducing Minimal Pairs Ice Cream Scoops! This activity targets minimal pairs. It is great for auditory discrimination and to work on articulation. It may also remind you of the Foam Scoops Game (I still use these all the time!).

To use this activity just print on cardstock, cut and laminate. Then give each student a cone. Blank cones and scoops are included in the download so that you can target other sounds too!

 

Then the SLP can read the word on the scoop and have the student identify which cone it belongs with. Or you can have your students read the scoop. If they say the word correctly they may put it on their cone. If they say it wrong, they must give the scoop back. The student with the most scoops wins!

 

This game is also a great opportunity to talk about flavors. I am always so surprised that kids have a hard time naming flavors. They usually just call it the color, for instance ‘brown’ and ‘white’ instead of chocolate and vanilla.

 

To get this game go to our TPT store. Enjoy!

Post about ASHA 2012 coming soon!

Puppy Pronouns

Don't forget to stop by our TPT store to grab materials while they are 10% off!

Several of my students are working on pronouns, so I created this Puppy Pronouns Activity! Just print, cut and laminate!

 

How to play: Give each student a game board.

 

Then take turns drawing cards. If the student is able to complete the sentence with the correct pronoun then they get to keep the card and put it on their game board! If that pronoun is not on their game board, then the card goes to the bottom of the stack!

 

 

 

The first player to fill up their game board wins! This activity also includes ‘cheat cards’ that lists the pronouns used for boys and girls. There also 2 wild cards that can go on any spot on the game board.

Have fun playing and learning about pronouns! You can get this in our TPT store! And as always let us know what you think!

Also, if you will be at teh ASHA Convention this week be sure to look for us! We are very excited about meeting fellow bloggers and readers!

Thanksgiving Freebie

To show how grateful we are for each of you we made a Thanksgiving freebie!

Just print on cardstock, and cut out each turkey and feather (when you are done cutting you should have 7 feathers for each turkey) and laminate for durability!

Then have your students match the feathers to the correct turkey according to the category. This is also a great opportunity to learn new vocabulary, ask and answer WH questions!

 

To grab this freebie go here! Hope you enjoy! Let us know what you think!

How Do You Do Homework?

Happy Election Day! We hope that everyone got out to vote today!

After reading about how Kristin at Simply Speech set up her homework folders, I wanted to share my system too! And I hope you will share how you do homework! Please leave a comment!

At the beginning of the year each student gets a speech folder. I include a “Welcome to Speech” letter that gives my contact information and encourages parents to work on their child’s speech at home. On one side of the folder I staple a contact page (that I got from Speech RoomNews) so that the parents and I can write notes back and forth. I write down when their child has done a great job or if there is something specific I need them to focus on at home.  This is a great way to connect throughout the year, and since it is written out it also serves as a form of documentation.

 

My speech kids get one sheet of homework a week. If they bring the sheet back completed and signed by their ‘helper” then they can add an extra sticker to their sticker chart. They also earn stickers for good behavior/ participation in speech. Once they have 8 stickers they go to the treasure chest!


Sticker Chart

 

If a folder is lost, I will replace it only ONCE. But for the most part, my students are good about keeping up with it. This system motivates most of my kids to work on their speech /language at home. But I still have a few that don’t do their homework. I don’t stress about those. I have given them the opportunity and incentive, what they choose to do is up to them!

Treasure Box

How do you do homework?

Teachers Help Teachers

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Sandy!

If you are looking for a way to help other teachers and SLPs who may have lost materials due to the storm, here is a fantastic way to help!

 

Laurah Jurca over at The ESOL Odyssey has come up with the great idea of Teachers Help Teachers! If you have a TpT ot TN store then you can donate products/ materials to others in need! To learn more about it visit her post on teachers help teachers.

If you are interested click the “Teachers Helping Teachers” button above and fill out the form.

The Speech Ladies have donated some products and we hope you will too!

2 Myths and a Truth

I created 2 Myths and a Truth from the old game 2 truths and a lie. Have you ever played? I just switched it up! GIVEAWAY at the end!

 It is really simple! In my version a player picks a card and reads 3 facts. Each card has 2 myths and 1 truth about stuttering. The player who picks the card must decide which fact is true! If they choose correctly they get to keep the card. If not, they must put the card in the bottom of the stack. But watch out! An owl might eat your snail and you will have to put all of your cards back in the pile. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

 

 

I created this game specifically for one of my 5^th graders who stutters. Last year was his first experience with speech therapy. We worked very hard on all of the ‘tools’ he could use to produce smooth speech and he really started catching on! However, when the new school year started I realized I had neglected to teach any facts about stuttering.

For whatever reason, it had not occurred to me to remind of known facts such as ‘more males than females stutter’ and ‘there is no known cause for stuttering’. (To learn more about stuttering be sure to visit stutteringhelp.org) I realized that was a major FAIL on my part when I overheard a conversation between him and another speech student. It went something like this:

Student A: "Why do you come to speech?"

Student B: "Because I stutter."

Student A: "Oh. How come you stutter?"

Student B: "Because my grandmother locked me in a room and made me watch a scary movie when I was little."

YIKES! RED FLAG! I might have taught fluency techniques, but I had failed to teach about stuttering in general.

And please let me add that I spoke with Student B one on one later that day and he confessed that his grandmother did not lock him in a room. He just didn’t know what to say when people ask why he stutters. Since then I have done a lot of educating on facts and spent more time on how he feels about his stuttering.

To get this game go to my TPT store.

One lucky winner will get a copy of 2 Myths and a Truth! To enter leave a comment with you e-mail and what has helped you teach your students about stuttering!