Speech Room Staples {Linky}

Hi Everyone!

My buddy Shannon over at Speechy Musings is hosting a "Speech Room Staples" linky party!  One of my goals for this school year is to get back to blogging and I figured this is the perfect opportunity for me to start up again.  Check out her original post and some other link-ups HERE.



Here are a few of my go-to favorite TPT purchases:


1.  Language Progress Monitoring Tool - Lower Level by Natalie Snyders

I really can't say enough about this. I've been using the overall screening portion included to gather baseline data on my language students. I love that it includes pretty much all of my most common IEP objectives as well...perfect for gathering information at progress report time!



2.  Itty-Bitty Books for Articulation by Schoolhouse Talk

These are just great for a quick therapy activity when introducing a new sound or reviewing a mastered sound. If you're working in a group, you can focus on drill with one student at a time while the rest are coloring their pictures.  They are perfect for home practice as well!



3.  Language Dice by The Buckeye Speech Path

If you haven't noticed my theme here, most of my go-to activities are black and white.  I'm splitting my time between two schools this year and I need to be highly portable!  I love this language dice game for a few reasons, most notably that there are a ton of different targets.  Also, I can snap a picture of a page using my iPad (or screenshot from DropBox) and open in the Doodle Buddy app. The students can mark off their items right on the iPad and I never needed to make a trip to the copy machine!


4.  No Print Bundle Pack by Nicole Allison

No-print/No-prep activities are a must for traveling therapists! I love the variety of activities in this bundle and the kids love that they can "play" on the iPad!


I have a few go-to favorites from my own store as well.  Here they are:


1.  Seasonal & Thematic Dot Reinforcers

I like these because I have two options...I can grab dot markers or stickers and use the black and white version. Or I can print/laminate the full color sheets and use my bingo chips and magnetic wand. The kids love these activities and I can use them with any target!


2.  Feed the Penguin Activities:

I know this probably looks more seasonal than most of the others and you might be thinking, "How can a seasonal item be a speech room staple?"  Well, kids just love to feed things! You can print different animals for the kids to feed (like the shark I printed to go with a fish/shark book):

I actually have three different Feed the Penguin Activities in my TPT store. Here are the links:

1. Feed the Penguin: Bilabial CV, CVC, CVCV words (FREEBIE)
2. Feed the Penguin: Articulation Pack
3. Feed the Penguin: Language Pack  (I also have a money saving bundle of the language and articulation packs, which can be found HERE).


I hope you find this post helpful!  What are your speech room staples? I'd love to hear from you!

Easter Roll & Colors

Hello! Long time, no see!!  I feel like I'm so out of the blog loop lately!  I've been busy at work and at home and I just have to say that I'm so grateful that other bloggers have been creating some amazing materials to make my planning life so much easier!  I've been ALL about the no-print and no-color-ink products that my bloggy buddies have created! They've made my life so much easier!

I'm starting to plan for the spring now and I wanted to share some print and go worksheets I made for mixed groups!

There are three different worksheets that are designed to be used with various targets and in mixed groups.  There are 6 spaces on which to write targets for the student.  Students will roll a die and complete the task on the corresponding line (e.g., say a target word, provide a definition, provide a synonym, etc.). If correct, they can color a portion of the picture that corresponds to the number they rolled.

Each of the three worksheets has a different level of difficulty. The Easter Egg Sheet has one space to color per number/target: 

The Bunny Sheet has two spaces per number/target:

The Easter Basket has 5 spaces per number/target:

The Easter basket is probably your best choice for articulation practice so that your students can get multiple productions in a session!

These worksheets can be downloaded for FREE in my TPT store.

Let me know what you think and what you're going to use the worksheets to target!

Speachy Feedback Linky

It's that time again! Time for another Speachy Feedback Party!

I've joined up with Nicole over at Speech Peeps to reward one lucky TPT customer for giving helpful feedback!  This month's winner is TPT user stover87.  She left this feedback on my SLP Planner and Data Collection Binder:

Thanks for the feedback stover87! You have won a product of your choice from my TPT store (excluding bundles).  Please email me at cmanchester57@gmail.com to claim your prize!!

Educator Evaluation for SLPs: Student Learning and Professional Practice Goals

Background for graphics provided by: Cutesy Clickables by Collaboration Cuties

I’ve done a few posts now where I’ve mentioned my student learning goal and professional practice goals for the Educator Evaluation that many districts have adopted. A decent number of people have asked me to share some information regarding my SLG and PPG. Last year was the first year my district used this evaluation method. In effort to stagger plans, some of us were to develop 1-year plans and others developed 2-year plans. I was on the one-year plan. This is good for you because I’ve now had to write TWO plans!

If you’re new to my page, I just want you to be aware that the majority of my caseload consists of preschool students. Because of that, you might not choose to work on the same goals, but they should give you an idea for your own goals!

For the 2012-2013 school year, I had a number of preschool students who had significantly reduced Mean Length of Utterance (MLU).  I decided to select a cohort of students who had an MLU of less than or equal to 2.0 for my SLG.  I'm not sure if other districts have the same type of plan, but we are required to submit our SLG and PLG for approval, then create a plan that includes action steps. This is a basic outline of that plan. The "due dates" of the steps are included in parenthesis.

Student Learning Goal:

By June 2013, 80% of an identified cohort of students with a BOY Mean Length of Utterance in Morphemes (MLU-M) of less than or equal to 2.0 will increase their MLU-M to 3.5 or greater as measured by language sampling.

Action Steps:

1. Obtain language samples and calculate BOY MLU (By 9/30/12). 

     *BOY = Beginning Of Year

2. Identify cohort of students with MLU of less than or equal to 2.0 (By 10/30/12)

3. Implement activities to target the following morphological structures/sentence types:

a. Plural -s (by 12/31/12 )
b. Subject-Verb (by 1/31/13)
c. Subject-Verb-Object  (by 3/31/13)
d.Prepositional Phrases (by 5/31/13)

4. To demonstrate effectiveness, by Progress Reporting Period 2 (March 2013), 80% of students in the cohort should see an increase in MLU to 2.75 or greater. 

5. For each student in the established cohort, I will provide home activities for parents to complete to facilitate carry-over of skills at least 4x/student during the 2012-2013 school year.

*2 activities sent by 2/28/13
*1 activity sent by 4/30/13
*1 activity sent by 6/20/13

Professional Practice Goal:

I will increase my content knowledge of Evidence Based Practice in the area of increasing MLU in preschool students by researching methods and establishing 4 different activities based on those methods by June 2013.

Action Steps:

1. Research evidence-based instructional strategies that target increasing MLU in preschool-aged students. Identify a minimum of two instructional strategies for use in therapy.

*By 12/31/12, search the American Speech-Language Hearing Association’s online database for articles related to preschool MLU.
*By 2/28/13, compile binder of resources for increasing preschool MLU containing at least 5 articles from journals or websites.

2. Develop/create activities to target the following morphological structures/sentence types:

a. Plural -s (by 12/31/12)
b. Subject-Verb (by 1/31/13)
c. Subject-Verb-Object (3/31/13)
d. Prepositional Phrases (5/31/13)

3. Research/trial at least 5 different iPad applications that are designed to (or can be adapted to) target morphology/sentence structure using the FIVES criteria.

*2 apps by 2/28/13
*2 apps by 4/30/13
*1 app by 5/31/13

I did share some of the activities I created for this project in previous posts. You can find them below.

• Penguin Plurals
• Penguin Plurals Home Practice Sheet
• I used the Leprechaun's Prepositions cards from my St. Patrick's Day Preschool Language Pack to target prepositional phrases.
• Also, you can find information on the FIVES criteria on Speech Techie's site.

I'm on a 2-year plan now, so my timelines will look a little bit different.  However, my caseload does change every year, so I wanted to reflect that!  For this go-around, I chose a cohort of students on an IEP for language delays/disorders (e.g., NOT articulation).  I also selected students in the 4-year old program that will be going to kindergarten in the next school year.

Student Learning Goal:

By the end of each academic year, 75% of students in an identified cohort (language delayed/disordered students in the 4-year old preschool program) will demonstrate an increase in vocabulary and describing skills (using the Expanding Expression Tool) to be able to state 5 or more attributes/features of 6 pictured objects.

Action Steps:
1. Identify cohort of students. (By 11/27/13) 

*We had a late start getting our plans in this year!

2. Obtain baseline data through the informal assessment (students will name and identify characteristics of 6 familiar objects presented in pictures) (By 11/27/13 )

3. Become familiar with the Expanding Expression Tool by reviewing manual (Ongoing)

4. Implement activities to target the individual beads on the EET strand:

a. Green (by 12/31/13)
b. Blue (by 1/31/14)
c. Eye  (by 3/31/14)
d. Wood (6/20/14)
e. Pink (1/31/15)
f. White (6/20/15)

5. To demonstrate effectiveness, by Progress Reporting Period 3 (June 2014), 75% of students in the cohort should be able to state 3 or more attributes/features of 6 pictured objects.
*Obtain informal assessments 4x/year (BOY, Progress Report 1, Progress Report 2, EOY).

Professional Practice Goal:

I will increase my content knowledge of Evidence Based Practice in the area of vocabulary skills in preschool students by researching developmental norms and the Expanding Expression Tool (EET), as well as creating/finding and implementing 6 different activities related to the beads on the EET strand by June 2015.

Action Steps:

1. Research evidence-based instructional strategies that target vocabulary development in preschool-aged students, including the Expanding Expression Tool.

*By 12/31/13, search the American Speech-Language Hearing Association’s online database for articles related to preschool vocabulary development.
*By 6/19/14, compile binder of resources for increasing preschool vocabulary containing at least 5 articles from journals or websites.

2. Develop/identify activities to target the individual beads on the EET strand:

a. Green (by by 12/31/13)
b. Blue (by 1/31/14)
c. Eye (by 3/31/14)
d. Wood (by 6/20/14)
e. Pink (by 1/31/15)
f. White (by 6/20/15)

Freebie Alert:
The informal assessment sheets I am using to track student performance can be downloaded as a freebie HERE.  My plan is to have students describe 6 different objects 4x in the year...Beginning of the Year (BOY), Progress Report 1 (PR1), Progress Report 2 (PR2), and End of the Year (EOY).  My plan is to repeat the first 6 words at the end of the year to get a good estimate of progress.  My prompt is "Tell me everything you know about a ___" and I give the student the EET strand. The sheets look like this:

For those of you who are new to the evaluation system, I hope this information is helpful!  I think once you have one evaluation cycle "under your belt," it will be easier to write and implement new plans!

I'm curious...Is your district following this evaluation system or are you doing something different? If you are doing a similar evaluation system, what are your SLGs and PPGs?

What's in Your Cart? Linky Party

I hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving break! I know I am! I haven't done anything work or blog related...Until now that is ;)  You probably already know that the big TPT site-wide sale is coming up Monday and Tuesday.  

Today I'm linking up with Jenna over at Speech Room News for her "What's in Your Cart?" Linky Party!

Here's what's in my cart for the big sale:

• Naughty or Nice List Social Skills for Speech Therapy by Whitney of  Let's Talk!
• L Listening Center Power Point by Kristin of Simply Speech
• Christmas Grammar Activities for PK/K by Expressly Speaking
• Winter Themed Speech and Language Packet by Speechy Musings

Now that I've shown you what's in my cart, I want to share some of my recent best sellers:

Seasonal & Thematic Dot Reinforcers: Print out the Christmas and Winter pages and use in conjunction with your trusty artic and language cards.  Here are a few sample pages:

20 Seasonal & Thematic Game Boards: Here's another packet designed to be used to spice up your drill work!

If you're torn between these two, I've placed them in a money-saving bundle...and YES! Bundles are included in this sale!  Check out the Seasonal Open Ended Bundle here.

Last, I wanted to share some of my all-time most popular. These are the items that are best selling and/or most wish-listed:

• Feed the Penguin Articulation Pack, Feed the Penguin Language Pack, and Feed the Penguin Bundle (containing both the Articulation and Language versions) have been consistently popular - even in the summer months!
• Mouse Gets the Cheese: A Following Directions Game is my #1 most downloaded item.
• Out of This World Vocabulary Fun is a companion for the first three beads on the EET strand.
• Receptive Language Bundle: This money-saving bundle contains Mouse Gets the Cheese and my #1 most wish-listed item, Snappy Snapshots (not to mention Greetings from Summer Camp and Receptive Detectives).
• Gingerbread Speech and Language Unit: My #2 most wish-listed item. 

What's on your wishlist???

S...Peachy Feedback Linky

I feel like I haven't written a blog post in a long time.  Here are my excuses reasons for that:  I'm in the middle of writing progress reports. You know how that is!  As if that isn't bad enough, I've also been sick with a cold that just won't go away (and my son and my husband both caught it too).  Also, I feel like this has been my busiest school year yet. I hope to write a post on that in the near future.  Anyway, you know how Nicole from Speech Peeps hosts a monthly S...Peachy Feedback Linky?

Well, I'm a little late to the party (the linky is closed), but I still wanted to participate.  The purpose of this linky is to reward TPT users for leaving feedback that is detailed and helpful to other buyers!  This feedback was left on my Out of This World Vocabulary (An EET companion):

TPT user jztjzt, you won a free product from my TPT store (bundles excluded)! Send me an email at cmanchester57@gmail.com to claim your prize!

If you didn't win my prize this month, head over to Speech Peeps to see if you were the winner for another blog/store!

More EET Fun: Beads 2 and 3 {Out of This World Vocabulary!}

Over the summer I broke down and bought the Expanding Expression Tool.  I had been skeptical about purchasing the EET because I wasn't sure how well my caseload of preschoolers and kindergarteners would get it.  We've been going through each bead on the strand one at a time.  (If you missed my post about the first bead, Green-Group, you can see it HERE.  Two weeks ago we did the second bead (Blue-Do), but I never got a chance to write about it before now.  This week we're doing the third bead (Eye - What does it look like?).

Blue-Do:
Essentially, with this bead you're working on object functions.  We worked on (1) describing the function of common objects that you might find around the house or the classroom, and (2) listing objects you might need to perform a specific task.  Here's a preview:

"What do you do with...?"

"What do you need to...?"

I used the space-themed game from my Seasonal and Thematic Dot Reinforcers to make the activity more fun!

Eye - What Does it Look Like?
Not going to lie...I've been doing a lot of ground work in my sessions for this activity.  This is an area my kids really struggle with - using more than one attribute to describe.  So, we've been doing some fun activities to target using attributes of color, shape, and size to describe.  Here are some of them:

• Orange Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin by First Grade a la Carte (using color + object)
• Shape Monster Book by Chit Chat & Small Talk (using color + shape)
• Shape Monster Craftivity (using color + shape + size):

Basically for this craft, I pre-cut shapes (large for bodies, small for eyes, nose, mouth) and used my Cricut (Paper Doll Dress Up Cartridge) to make small and large hands and feet.  The students had to request their parts using color plus shape and/or size descriptors.

Now that they have the idea of using those attributes, we are pulling out the cards from my Out of this World Vocabulary packet.  Here's a sample:

PSSST! I included poster charts for kids to use to help them remember colors, shapes, and sizes:

Green-Group:
Since I was creating a packet to accompany the EET, I added a category activity. You can use this activity for category naming and sorting:

And there are some game play cards to increase the fun/competition/motivation!

If you missed my last post, we're creating an EET "caterpillar" as we go through the beads. Here's what it's looking like these days:

The activities described above can be found in my TPT store:

Out of this World Vocabulary Fun

Seasonal and Thematic Dot Reinforcers

Are you using the EET with preschoolers and kindergarteners?  What activities/strategies have you found to be most helpful?

S...Peachy Feedback Linky

Hello!

Today I'm joining up with Nicole of Speech Peeps for a super fun Feedback linky!  If you haven't heard of it yet, this is the linky where you get rewarded for leaving feedback on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I wasn't able to link up last month because I had too much going on in my life to write a post, so I wanted to make sure I took the time to link up this month!

The winner of the "S...Peachy Feedback" this month is (fittingly) SLPeachy who left this comment on my Apple Trouble Book Companion:

We just finished up with our Apple Trouble unit. I ended up using the activities for several sessions and the students really enjoyed it. This has become one of my favorite books and seems to have it all - sequencing, vocabulary, context for describing and more. Thank you for taking the time to put this together!

SLPeachy, you won a free product from my TPT store (bundles excluded)! Send me an email at cmanchester57@gmail.com to claim your prize!

If you didn't win my prize this month, head over to Speech Peeps to see if you were the winner for another blog/store!

Seasonal Open Ended Dot Reinforcers

So many of us plan our therapy sessions around themes and my Seasonal and Thematic Open Ended Game Boards has been a big hit! (Thank you to everyone who has purchased this and/or any item from my store!).  I love being able to stick to themes AND vary targets for my students, so I created some more seasonal/thematic open ended activities...Seasonal and Thematic Dot Reinforcers!


First, there are 20 black and white (read:  NO COLOR INK NEEDED!) pages.  These sheets have 80 circles per page. The circles are filled with seasonal/thematic icons (apples, pumpkins, etc.) and there is one blank sheet as well. These can be filled using crayons, bingo chips, bingo markers, or small stickers.

Apples:

Pirates:

Variations of Use:

1. Students can fill in one dot per articulation production or language target practiced. (These pages have 80 dots/sheet)
2. Students can roll a game die after they perform a specified task and fill in the corresponding number of dots. The first student to fill their page is the winner.
3. Use the blank page. Have students fill with small stickers (the kind used for sticker charts). You can use as a behavior reinforcement as well.

Next, there are 13 Colored Dot Reinforcers. You can print and laminate desired pages and have students fill in the dots using bingo chips or tokens.

Halloween:

Thanksgiving:

Bubbles:

If you're interested, you can access this packet in my TPT store (HERE).

I've also added my two Seasonal and Thematic Open Ended activities into a value priced bundle, which can be found HERE.

Enjoy!