Yummy Apple Trees!

Fall is coming and I thought I would share one of my favorite oral motor activities.  I know that the link between oral motor movements for speech vs. non-speech tasks is controversial.  However, when I was in grad school, oral motor exercises were thought to benefit speech development.  In my practice, I have seen children show improvements in articulation, expressive language, and feeding abilities after participating in an oral motor program.  With that said, many years ago, I started using this activity in preschool classrooms as a Christmas activity.  I figured I'd give it a fall twist!

If you're not a strong proponent of oral motor tasks, you can use this activity to target sequencing, following directions, color concepts, etc.  For this activity, you will need:  large bowl, stirring spoon, paper plates, marker, popsicle sticks or plastic knives, frosting, green food coloring, and circle shaped cereal (e.g., Froot Loops).




To start, you draw an apple tree on a paper plate (or you could draw a Christmas tree).









 



Next, you need to make some green frosting!  When I did this as a class activity, I mixed the frosting ahead of time. Since I was doing this activity with just my son, I had him mix the frosting (1 tub vanilla frosting + several drops of green food coloring = enough for about 10 trees).













Now you can "paint" your tree.  We used plastic knives.  Popsicle sticks work great too!

Once painted, you can add your apples (or ornaments if you are doing a Christmas tree).  Since we are doing an apple tree, we picked out just the red Froot Loops. (WH questions! What grows on an apple tree? What color are apples? Where do the apples grow?)













Voila!  We have a very cute apple tree:















Now comes the fun part...You get to eat your apples!  I have my students hold the plate out in front of them and use their tongues to lick the apples off the tree.

Matthew loved this activity (even though he's not a huge fan of frosting) and he literally licked his plate clean!



On a Side Note...



We ended up with a ton of extra frosting, so we decided to make apple tree cupcakes as well.  We used M&Ms for the apples on our cupcakes.  While the cupcakes were in the oven, we did a color sort activity with the M&Ms:











Once cool, we frosted our cupcakes and put on some "apples."

 In the end, they looked (and tasted) great!

Since there are different colors of apples, we made a variety of apple tree cupcakes (though they probably look more like apple bushes!):

Do you use oral motor activities within your therapy sessions?  

Do you feel they are beneficial to students?

Summer Fun Barrier Game

I follow quite a few speech and language blogs and I love reading about activities/ideas/experiences/struggles/challenges, etc. of other SLPs!  Living in New England, you sort of take it for granted that September = Back to School.  I'm realizing that many of you actually head back to school in August.

Since many of you will be back at school during what is technically the summer, I created a summer-inspired activity!  You can use it as a barrier game (*see below if you're unfamiliar with the concept of barrier games), or as a simple following directions activity ("Put the girl with the purple swimsuit in the pool").  You could also use the pictures as a prompt for a "what I did during my summer vacation" conversation.

Graphics by Scrappin' Doodles

*Barrier Games:
 Barrier games are great for listening comprehension and expressive language.  You can play one on one with one of your students, have 2 students play, or have 2 teams of students play.  For a barrier game, you will want two copies each of the background scene and the game pieces (one for each player/team).  You may want to laminate the background scene and game pieces for durability. Cut out the game pieces.

background scene

game pieces

To play, put a barrier (open file folder, large book, etc.) between the two players/teams.  Have one player/team set up a scene using the game pieces.  Then they describe their scene to the other player/team, who tries to recreate the scene exactly.  The more specific the descriptions, the more accurate the recreation.  Once completed, you can remove the barrier and discuss what is correct or incorrect, discuss where communication breakdowns occurred, and brainstorm what the students could have done to improve the outcome.


Grab a copy of the Summer Fun Barrier Game here.  As always, if you download, please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

New Facebook Page

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Still Getting Ready...

Finished the hanging organizer made from my last post!  Here it is:

Cute, isn't it?

Getting Ready...

If you didn't already read this, I'm starting at a new school in September.  I'm excited, but stressing!  My stress has nothing to do with the job, the school, my new co-workers, or any of that.  My stress ALL stems from the fact that I have not yet been in to set up my new room!  Have you seen this floating around on Pinterest or Facebook:

Just substitute "classroom" with "speech room" and this is me!  Now, the problem is that I added 12+ years of junk much needed therapy materials to a lot of materials that were left behind (I'm replacing a wonderful SLP who has retired and left behind lots of great resources).  I haven't been able to get into the school yet, but I have been scoping Pinterest, perusing back to school items at Target, Walmart, K-Mart, and The Dollar Store.

I've started a couple of projects that I can't wait to use in my new room.  (I also couldn't wait to share them!)

I found these really cute magnetic storage containers from Dollar Tree:

While I love the pink and grey, I'm stuck with some red furniture (you'll see when I can get in there and post pics).  So I decided to go with a black/white/red color scheme.  Add some duck tape to these containers and Voila!  The red one looks pink because of the flash, but trust me, it's red. :)

Next, I found some great cork board tiles at Ocean State Job Lot (a New England store like Big Lots).  I thought they were a little boring, so I added some scrapbook paper and ribbon....

Here are some close-ups:

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest from Keen on Kindergarten using oven burner covers:

I found some oven burner covers at Dollar Tree, but saw some larger pizza pans that I liked better.  I bought those and spray painted them black.  It's hard to tell the size difference here, but they're about the size of a small pizza (14" or so).  I bought 3 in total.

I still have some other projects I'd like to work on as well:

Laura from Oh, How Pintearesting! posted this cute speech-inspired sign.  If only I knew how to count!  As I was looking at her page again, I realized I bought a frame with only 4 openings.  UGH!  I'll have to figure something out.  (SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!)

And how cute are these clipboards from Mod Podge Rocks!?

I bought the file folders to make this awesome organizer from ReMarkable Home:

So much to do, so little time!  Now to get in there and get organized!

What are you doing to get yourself and your room ready for the start of school?

Baseline Data ~ Start of School Activities

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.com for your convenience.

Can you believe it's already August 1st?!? Summer is slowly fading away and soon school will be starting up again.  The start of a new school year is always a bittersweet moment for me.  While I don't LOVE seeing the summer end, I do love meeting new students, starting a new year with fresh ideas, and collaborating with all of the wonderful classroom teacher with whom I have the pleasure of working.

Typically my first week or two of therapy includes collecting baseline data.  I do not collect data during each session (WHAT?!?), but more likely once per month.  I find I can get more trials in if I'm not worried about marking pluses/minuses and taking language samples.  So, for the start of the school year, here are some of my favorite activities for baseline data collection:

 

I Love School!

1.  "I Love School" written by Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern.

The pictures in this story are simple and bright.  The text tells the routine of a typical school day - "I love the bus that comes this way.  To take us where we'll spend our day."  I usually read this story within small group sessions (3-4 kids), then have each child take a turn retelling the story...and there's a baseline language sample!  The inside cover art (front and back) shows a chalkboard with drawings on it (e.g., ruler, glue, scissors, cat, bus, etc.).  I use these pages for receptive/expressive vocabulary.

You can download a copy of my language sample form here.

  
2.   WH Chipper Chat (Classy Questions Game Board) by Super Duper Publications

Most of the students on my caseload are working on answering WH questions.  This game is one of my all time favorites and a definite "must-have" for SLPs! I have yet to have a student who was unwilling to play this game.  They put forth their best effort to earn chips and they all LOVE to clean up with the "magic wand!"  The book that comes in the kit gives sample questions, listed by WH word (Who, What, When, Where, Why).  This game is perfect for taking data on WH questions!

3. iPad Vocabulary Activities

I've already posted about this, but you can use apps like Choice Board Creator to quiz students and establish baseline data.  See my post about this app here.  You  can also use your iPad's Camera Roll and Google Images to create goal specific albums for data collection (e.g., plurals, pronouns, possessives, etc.).  See that post here.

"Touch your nose"

4.  Following Directions Bucket

Many of my students also are working on following directions.  Depending on their level, they may be working on single step, or 2-3 step directions.  For this, I adapted a worksheet (I'm not sure of the origin) that was used by one of my colleagues.  I use a baby-wipe container to store all of the materials. 

You can download the data collection sheets here:

1.  Following Single Step Directions 

2.  Following Two-Step Directions in Sequence

3.  Following Three-Step Directions in Sequence 

5.  Articulation

For my students who have definite articulation/phonology difficulties, I typically use the Quick Screener by Caroline Bowen.  For students who may have just a few sound errors (and when I'm asked to screen someone with decent intelligibility), I tend to use the Articulation Screener of the Preschool Language Scale - 4.  I know that there is an updated version of the PLS, but I really like the Screener on the 4th edition.  I don't score the screener, but I do use it to determine target sounds. 

What are you planning for baseline data collection?

 

Summer Reading

graphic by Teach4Real

Remember being a kid and getting the dreaded Summer Reading list?  I think the thought that passed through my mind went something like this:  "I can't believe they expect us to read books over summer vacation!!!  Really?!? We're supposed to be on VACATION from school!" 

I think it's funny that now, as an adult, having summer vacation means that I get lots of time to READ!  I don't remember when the change happened, but I know I'm not the only one who went through this and now loves to read!  So, this is my summer reading list for this year:

If you're anything like me, you're always looking for something good to read next.  So, my question to you:  What books have you read and enjoyed this summer? What books are next on your "To Read" list?

Sharing the Love

I am so honored that Laura over at Oh, How Pintearesting! nominated me for two blog awards. They are:

and

Here are the rules:

For receiving One Lovely Blog award, I have to:
1. Follow the person who gave me the award, which I am already doing.
2. Link back to the blog -  Oh, How Pintearesting! (If you haven't checked it out, Laura's blog is a mix of Speech Therapy, Pinterest ideas, and Disney!)
3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers and let them know that they have received the award.

For receiving the Versatile Blogger award, I have to:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated me - done
2. Include a link to their blog - Oh, How Pintearesting! (in case you missed it the first 2 times)
3. Include the award image in my post - above
4. Give 7 random facts about myself - below
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award
6. When nominating, include a link to the blog
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

Seven random facts.
1) I collect Potato Heads.
2) I am completely addicted to iced coffee (made w/ my Keurig) with Archer Farms Sugar Free Caramel Syrup.  Bonus:  I never really drank coffee before I got the Keurig, now I try REALLY hard to limit myself to 1/day.
3) My favorite color is pink.  When I left one of my former places of employment, they gave me a "pink party." Ironically, I was the only one NOT wearing pink!
4) I watch the Super Bowl more for the commercials more than for the game.
5) I still love swings! 
6) I'm impatient...when I start something, I want to finish it immediately (and have it be perfect at the same time)
7) I hate silence…If I’m home, either the TV is on or I’m listening to music. I even fall asleep with the TV on.

Here are the 15 blogs I'm nominating for these awards:

1.  Playing With Words 365  
2.  Let's Talk Speech-Language Pathology
3.  Simply Speech
4.  Crazy Speech World
5.  Chapel Hill Snippets
6.  Consonantly Speaking
7.  Little Speech Corner
8.  Public School SLPs
9.  Speech Time Fun
10.  Sublime Speech
11.  Talk it Up
12.  Live, Speak, Love
13.  Cindy L. Meester's Blog
14.  Murphy the Dog Blog

15.  Skinnytaste

Back to School Sorting Activities

We're smack in the middle of summer, but just walk into any store and you'll see that the start of school is right around the corner!  Now's the time for all of you teachers and SLPs to find some great bargains!  Here are some apple and bus cut outs that I found at the Christmas Tree Shops for $.69 each:

Cute, right?  So what to do with them?  I decided on some sorting activities.  For the apples, I used Custom Boards Premium by Smarty Ears to create pictures for eight different categories:  vehicles, clothing, animals, toys, letters, numbers, colors, and shapes.  I used the 3x3 template for 9 total squares:

Toys

 

 

I laminated and cut out the pictures, attached velcro to the apples and pictures (so I could change categories if I wanted to).  Then, I found a picture of a bushel from Google Images and added category headings, printed and laminated.  The final activity looks something like this (I couldn't fit all of the categories into the shot, but you get the idea):

For the buses, I decided to do a sound discrimination activity for my articulation students, but it's the same basic idea.  I used Custom Boards to create word cards for t/k and w/l.  I removed the words so there would not be a visual cue:

L words

Again, I laminated, cut, and attached to the buses using velcro.  I found a school house picture in a graphics collection on TPT (here).  I added one letter (T, K, L, W) to each of 4 school houses.  Students working on auditory discrimination of target sounds can then sort words between the target sound (e.g., K) and the common error sound (e.g., T).  The final product looks like this:

How would you use the apples and buses?

One month down...

image by Melonheadz Illustrating

Just noticed the date. Carrie's Speech Corner is officially one month old! One month down, 14 posts, 1000+ page views! I'd say that's a good start! I've gotten some nice comments from some of you, but I know that there are more people reading than are commenting. So, like all of the students we service, I need some feedback!

          What have you liked so far? 
          What haven't you liked? 
          What would you like to see more/less of? 
          Any suggestions for materials you would like to see posted?

As always, thank you for reading!!!