Kid Quotes

Kids really do say the funniest things, don't they?  Every now and then one of my students says something that just makes me laugh.  Sometimes I post these things to my Facebook page.  I decided to start a new feature here on the blog and share some of the funny things I hear in my speech room!

The other day I was finishing up a speech session with two boys working on articulation/phonology.  We had just finished using Phonological Processes by the Virtual Speech Center (check back next week for a review!).  One of the boys noticed a stylus in my iPad case.

Boy #1:  Mrs. Manchester, why does your iPad have a pencil?

Me:  So I can draw pictures if I want.

Boy #1:  You can draw PICTURES on an iPad?!?!

Me:  Yeah, do you want to try?

Now I pull up Hello Crayons and draw a few purple squiggles.  I hand the stylus to the boy and get this:

Boy #1 (as he's drawing):  This one is me (on the right)....And here's you Mrs. Manchester (in the middle)...and now Boy #2 (on the left).  This is you with all your curly hair!

Me:  Boy #2 do you want to try?

Boy #2:  Yes.

Here's his drawing:

Boy #1:  What is it? Is it me?  

Boy #2:  No.

Boy #1:  Is it Mrs. Manchester?

Boy #2:  No.

Boy #1:  Is it (proceeds to name several kids in their class)?

Boy #2:  No.

Me:  Is it a person?

Boy #2:  Nope.

Boy #1:  Then what is it?

Boy #2:  Well, it's magic and it's secret and I just can't tell you!  

(Code:  I have no idea, I was just scribbling!)

Hee hee!  What's the best "explanation" of a drawing you've gotten in your speech room?

App Review & Giveaway: Auditory Processing Studio

I don't know about you, but I'm finding that my caseload is comprised more and more of students with auditory processing difficulties.  Well, recently I was given the opportunity to try out Auditory Processing Studio by Virtual Speech Center Inc.

This app was created by a certified speech and language pathologist.  It is designed for adults and children ages 7 and up who exhibit Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) or other auditory processing disorders. According to the app description, "this research-based app implements the bottom-top approach to treatment of auditory processing disorders and focuses on improving auditory processing through auditory discrimination, auditory closure, and phonological awareness activities. Users can also introduce background noise to help children or adults practice their listening skills in a noisy environment."

Using the App:

There are four buttons on the Home Screen (above):

Reports:

Auditory Processing Studio will collect data from your session.  This is where you can access that data. You can view your data by activity or by date.  

  

You have the options of printing the information (if your iPad has AirPrint capabilities) or emailing the information.  I tend to email reports to myself and print from the email.

Info:

Tapping this button will give you a written description of the app, as well as instructions for use.

From this screen you can also visit the Virtual Speech Center's website, sign up for their newsletter, and visit their Twitter and Facebook pages.

Settings:

You guessed it...this is where you customize the app's settings to your needs.

Options include -

• User Alternate Count:  This option is for alternating between multiple users.
• Enable Audio:  I'm not sure why you would not want to use audio on an app targeting auditory processing, but regardless,  you do have the option of turning audio off.
• Show Instructions:  With this option, you can have written instructions included.
• Automatic Paging:  Selecting this option will move you forward to the next item after a response is given.
• Random Paging:  This option will give you randomized items rather than a predictable sequence.
• Enable Reward:  You can turn the reinforcement on/off
• Award Counter:  You can customize how many correct responses a student needs to get before they earn the reward.
• Enable Background Noise:  You can turn on background noise (generally white noise) to target figure/ground.
• Background Noise Volume:  This adjusts the volume of background noise should you choose to include it.
• Background Noise:  Here you can select one of five options for background noise (basic white noise, beach sounds, birds chirping, etc.).

Start:

Once you "start," you will add/select students.  You can select more than one student per session.  

Add Student

Select Student(s)

Once you select students and tap "next," you must select activity(s).  There are three main activity categories.  They are...

1.  Auditory Discrimination.  This category  has 16 levels with activities like "Picture identification of minimal pairs - initial consonants," "Same vs. different minimal pairs - final position of words," "Identifying presence of specific initial sounds in words in yes/no format," and "Identifying nonsense words in sentences."

2. Phonological Awareness.  This category has 16 different levels with activities targeting "Identifying presence of rhyme in yes/no format," "Identifying multiple words that rhyme with a target word," "Blending of syllables," "Identifying number of syllables in a word," and "Orally identifying each phoneme in a target word."

3.  Auditory Closure.  This category has 17 different levels, including:  "Generating missing words at the end of sentences - popular songs, nursery rhymes," "Generating missing objects in the middle of sentences," "Generating missing final syllables in single words," "Generating missing final phonemes in single words," and "Generating missing initial phonemes in words embedded in sentences."

Game Play:

Now that you have configured your settings, entered your students, and chosen your target activities, it's time to play!  Once you start, you will be shown a little clip by a guy named "Andrew," who will provide verbal instructions to your students.  (You can choose to skip this intro if you want).

Here's a sample screen from Auditory Closure Level 1:  Generating missing words at the end of sentences - popular songs, nursery rhymes:

Because this app is targeting auditory skills, very little visual feedback is given (unless you choose an option with .  Sticking with the theme of a recording studio, the green bar in the middle shows a pattern of movement as the auditory stimulus is provided.  You can record the student's response by tapping the record button (red circle on the left), play it back by pressing the play button (green triangle on the left), or repeat the instruction.  You can keep track of accuracy by tapping the green check (correct response) or red X (incorrect response), both found on the right of the screen.  For some items, you can hear a correct verbal response (the speaker icon on the bottom right of the screen above).

Example of item with visual cues:

In this sample screen from Auditory Discrimination - Same vs. different consonant minimal pairs - initial consonants, you can see that, for some of the activities, the student is required to tap the screen to respond.  For these activities, accuracy is automatically tallied.

Notice the drums below the recording buttons?  These indicate progress toward reinforcement (if you chose to include this option).  For this session, I opted to have the student participate in the reinforcement activity after 5 correct responses.  What's the reinforcement?  They get to participate in the recording studio by playing instruments!

 Pros:

• This app is very comprehensive in targeting Auditory Processing Disorders.  With three main categories and 16-17 levels within each, you could use this app for months without repeating activities! In addition, because of the number and variety of activities, you are likely to find some activities that are challenging for your students and others with which your students will experience success.  Being successful is highly motivating for many students!
• The inclusion of Phonological Awareness activities makes this app appealing to not only SLPs, but also Reading Specialists and Special Education teachers.
• Auditory Processing Studio is EVIDENCE-BASED!  
• The ability to adjust/remove reinforcement.  Students respond differently to reinforcement and it's great to have the option to increase the frequency or even to remove all together!
• Data collection and reporting.  
• The ability to add background noise makes tasks more challenging, and more like real-life situations.

 Cons:

• Some of the "popular" songs and nursery rhymes were unfamiliar to some of my students ("Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" comes to mind).  Because of this, I didn't necessarily want to mark them as incorrect when they had no prior knowledge.
• One of my 7-year old students with auditory processing delays experienced a good deal frustration because he was used to having more visual stimuli, especially from iPad applications.  Because of this, he kept asking to end the activity and move along to others.  Although I understand why little visual input is provided, clinicians should be aware that younger students may get frustrated by this.

The Bottom Line:

Auditory Processing Studio is a great app for targeting CAPD and other Auditory Processing Disorders.  With this app, you can target auditory discrimination, auditory closure, and phonological awareness.  If you have students with CAPD or auditory processing disorders, you will definitely want to check out this app!

Auditory Processing Studio is $29.99 in iTunes.  You can enter to win a copy for yourself using the rafflecopter below!

Disclaimer:  Although the Virtual Speech Center provided me with a copy of Auditory Processing Studio for the purpose of this review and another for the giveaway, the opinions expressed are mine alone.


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App Review: Reading Rehabilitation Toolkit

Recently I was contacted by Jonathan at Smarty Ears about reviewing two of their apps to target reading skills.  Since the majority of my caseload is preschool, I asked Jonathan if he would agree to let one of my co-workers use the apps and write the reviews.  He was kind enough to agree.  

This review is written by Jennifer Malloy, MS, CCC-SLP.  Jenn splits her time between an elementary and middle school in my district.  Take it away Jenn!

I was lucky enough to review another amazing app - the Reading Rehabilitation Toolkit from Smarty Ears ($9.99 in iTunes). I currently use many Smarty Ears apps in speech and language therapy daily so I was extremely excited to review this app!

This app is a great tool to increase student’s reading fluency as well as reading comprehension.

It allows both quick play as well as creating users. If "create a user" is selected, data is tracked and recorded by day and level.  After entering the student’s name, the student is able to select an avatar. There are many avatars to choose from!

**BONUS:  Selecting an Avatar is a great way for students to use descriptive words to select a 

specific avatar.  I don’t let them point to select, a selection is made my using your words!

The next screen allows the user to select one of six levels of difficulty. The six levels (as described in the ABOUT section of the application) are as follows:

1. Word-Images match: This activity provides users with one word on the screen, which they must attempt to read and identify the corresponding image.
2. Image-Words match: This activity provides users with one image and they must identify the corresponding word among several words.
3. Phrase-Images match: This activity provides users with one phrase and they must identify the corresponding image.
4. Image-Phrase match: This activity provides users with one image and they must identify the corresponding phrases among several phrases.
5. Read and Answer: Users must attempt to read simple questions and answer based on the provided scenes.
6. Phrase Building: This is the activity that integrates reading and writing. Users are now able to attempt composing the simple phrases used throughout the application on previous activities independently by placing words on the screen.

Word Images Match:

The first level, Word Images Match, allows student to read one word and select corresponding picture from a field of 5.  After selecting the correct corresponding picture, the student records him/herself reading the target word.  The app allows user to track student’s progress.  After attempting to read the target word the follow options are available to track data: 1. Unable to read aloud  2. Read with assistance 3. Read independently.

Image Words Match:

The second level, Image Words Match, allows the student to look at a single picture and select the target word from a written field of 5. Again, after selecting the correct corresponding word, the student records him/herself reading the target word.  The app allows user to track student’s progress.  After attempting to read the target word the follow options are available to track data: 1. Unable to read aloud  2. Read with assistance 3. Read independently.

Phrase Images Match:

The third level, Phrase Images Match, allows the student to read a small, three word, phase and select the corresponding picture from a field of 5.  After selecting the correct corresponding picture, the student records him/herself reading the target phrase.  The app allows user to track student’s progress.  After attempting to read the target word the follow options are available to track data: 1. Unable to read aloud  2. Read with assistance 3. Read independently.

Image Phrase Match:

The fouth level, Image Phrase Match, allows the student to see a single image and select the target phrase from a written field of 5. Again, after selecting the correct corresponding phrase, the student records him/herself reading the target word.  The app allows user to track student’s progress.  After attempting to read the target phrase the follow options are available to track data: 1. Unable to read aloud  2. Read with assistance 3. Read independently.

Read and Answer:

The fifth level, Read and Answer, allows the student to look at a picture, read the question, and select an answer from a written field of 5.  The field contains 5 single words that answer the “wh” or “how” question presented with the picture. When an incorrect selection is chosen an unfriendly chime is sounded.  The student receives a checkmark and an uplifting sound when the correct answer is selected.

Phrase Building:

The sixth, final level, Phrase Building, allows the student to look at a picture and create a phrase using three words.  If the words are arranged in the incorrect order that unfriendly chime sounds again. If the words are placed to make the correct phrase, an uplifting chime sounds and a checkmark appears.  After selecting the creating the correct phrase, the student records him/herself reading the target phrase.  The app allows user to track student’s progress.  After attempting to read the target word the follow options are available to track data: 1. Unable to read aloud  2. Read with assistance 3. Read independently.

Likes:

• It is very versatile I used this application with both my middle school students as well as my home health care clients.
• User Friendly: Easy to navigate while using and while reviewing data.
• Increases with levels of difficulty.
• Progress tracking and data collection.

Dislikes:

• None that I can think of!

The Bottom Line:

I really enjoyed using this app. It is straight forward and user friendly, two aspects I look for when using apps for speech and language therapy.  I liked that the students were involved with selecting avatars and recording their voices. This avatars and voice recordings increased the students’ focus and interest. 

~Jenn

PS, To watch a video tutorial and see Reading Rehabilitation Toolkit in action, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Disclaimer:  Smarty Ears provided a copy of Reading Rehabilitation Toolkit for the purposes of this review and giveaway.  However, opinions expressed are those of the SLP who provided the review.

St. Paddy's Day Round-Up! (and a Sale)

St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching! So, it will be the theme of my therapy sessions this week.  What exactly will I be doing you may wonder?  Well here goes:

1.  "Something Green" - This is one of my all time favorite St. Patrick's Day activities!  It comes from the book "Listening for Basic Concepts All Year 'Round" (Linguisystems).  It's a story about two bears.  One wants to be in the St. Patrick's Day parade.  To do so, he must find something green to wear on his head.  He searches and finds a snake, olives, a pickle, and many other things before he finally finds a green hat.  The kids LOVE this story!

2.  St. Patrick's Day Preschool Language Pack - This is one of my TPT products.  I plan to use the Leprechaun Prepositions cards and All the Colors of the Rainbow in my language groups.  I will use the two open-ended activities (Leprechaun's Hat and Board Game) in my articulation groups.

3.  "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover!"  I'm combining some activities for this story!  I purchased the book companion from Crazy Speech World's TPT Store.  I will be using the sequencing mat and vocabulary cards while telling the story.  I will also use the mini-book so that students can take home for additional practice.  I printed THIS activity from Katie at Playing With Words 365 last year.  I typically use these with my youngest kids as they get into the story more when they get to feed the lady!

4.  St. Patrick's Day Pronouns TPT packet by MrsParker.  This activity targets his/her and he/she pronouns...a major need for the kids on my caseload!


Those are the activities that I'm using with my caseload.  If you're looking for more, or ideas for older kids, check out my St. Paddy's Day Pinterest Board.  There are a TON of resources and materials out there!


Finally, many of your favorite Speechie bloggers (myself included) will be hosting a St. Patrick's Day sale on TPT.  Everything in my store will be 15% off on March 17th!  Happy Shopping!!!

Are you planning St. Paddy's Day activities in your therapy room?  What activities are you using?

Resource Review: Speech Language Assessment Checklist for Preschool Children

Recently I did a guest post for Tatyana over at Smart Speech Therapy, LLC on working with preschool students who have significant special needs.  (Missed that post? Check it out HERE).  Since I spend most of my time in preschool, Tatyana asked me to check out her newest resource:  

Speech Language Assessment Checklist for 

Preschool Children 3:0-5:11 Years of Age.

There are many tests out there designed for use with this age range.  However, not all tests are appropriate for all students.  So, Tatyana devised this resource "to assist speech language pathologists in the decision making process of how to select appropriate assessment instruments and prioritize assessment for preschool children."  Using this resource, you will be able to select appropriate tests to best assess a child's skills, as well as eliminate administration of irrelevant tests.

This resource is a 9-page pdf document. It comes with directions, a checklist to be used as part of the referral process (to be filled out by the child's caregiver and teacher), suggested tests/test batteries, and a supplemental caregiver/teacher data collection form.

The "Speech and Language Assessment Checklist for Preschool Children" is a comprehensive checklist that looks at the following areas:

1. Receptive Language
2. Memory, Attention and Sequencing
3. Expressive Language
4. Speech (Pronunciation)
5. Voice
6. Resonance
7. Phonological Awareness Skills
8. Social Skills
9. Problem Solving Abilities
10. Executive Function Skills

Once the handouts are returned, the SLP can more effectively decide which testing instruments should be administered.  

If a caregiver or teacher selects a great deal of areas of difficulty, Tatyana has included a Supplemental Data Collection Form.  This will allow caregivers/teachers to track a child's behavior for a specified amount of time.  Ratings are given on a 4-point scale (Always, Often, Sometimes, and Rarely).  Based on this form, the clinician would choose assessments to target the most severely impaired areas.

Pros:

• The checklist included is a handy way to get parent feedback on a child's speech/language abilities and difficulties.  Additionally, obtaining feedback from a teacher is critical.  I can't tell you how often I assess a child who shows a significant difference in skills across settings!  
• Using the checklist can help you avoid over-testing a child to the point of frustration.  
• The supplemental data collection form is great for more significantly impaired children.  Many children who may require the use of this form may not have sufficient attention/persistence for testing tasks.  This can help get a picture of the child's pockets of strengths and weaknesses.

Cons:

• If you work in a school setting like I do, you may have a limited selection of tests available.  Still, I believe this checklist is a great way of obtaining parent and teacher feedback regardless of whether or not you use the resource for test selection.

You can find out more information on this time-saving resource HERE.  Find out more information about Smart Speech Therapy, LLC by visiting Tatyana's Blog and Facebook page.

What test(s) do you currently use for the preschool population?

Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Verb Tense Activity

Hey all!  I've got another new product in my TPT store.  It's called "Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow: A Verb Tense Activity."  This activity is for those kids who have a hard time recognizing and using appropriate verb tense.

Contents: 

• Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Mat

• 48 Action Cards with sentences (16 images, each with sentence in past, present, & future tense)

• 48 Action Cards without sentences (3 sets of 16 images)

• 16 Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Game Cards

• 16 Game Play Cards (Lose a Turn, Take an Extra Turn)

There are basically two options for game play...

•

•Game Play Option 1:  Use the Action Cards with sentences and the Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Mats.  Have students draw a card, read the sentence, and place it on the appropriate section of the mat.  Players that draw a Game Play Card will follow the direction on the card.

Action Cards without Sentences

Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Mat

Game Play Cards

•Game Play Option 2:  Use the Action Cards without sentences.  Have students draw an Action Card (e.g., boy blowing bubble) and a Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow card (e.g., Yesterday).  Students will then generate a sentence combining the two and using appropriate verb tense (e.g., “Yesterday the boy blew a bubble.”). Players that draw a Game Play Card will follow the direction on the card.

Action Cards with Sentences

Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Game Cards

You can view this item in my TPT Store.  

PECS Part 2: Online Resources

A while ago, I shared how I organize my PECS reinforcers.  (Missed that post? You can see it HERE).  Many of you expressed interest in more information on using the PECS system.  I'll be honest, it's taken me a little while because I've been trying to figure out exactly what that would look like.  I want to give you a decent amount of information, but I also do NOT want to violate any copyrights!

So, I thought I'd share a few online resources with you:

1. Pyramid Educational Consultants is the "home" of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and their website provides a TON of information!  Including:  Evidence Based Practice articles, sample IEP objectives, sample lesson plans, sample PECS images, webcasts, workshop information, links to Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes (PECS - did you know that there is an app for that!?!).
2. The Autism Society has an article that's a great overview of the PECS process.
3. This run-down from DePaul University outlines the six phases in a simple and clear manner.  Perfect for printing and keeping in your room!
4. There's even a Wikipedia article on PECS!
5. Ready to move on to computer assisted Assistive Technology?  Try these free downloads from Children's Hospital Boston.  Scroll down a bit and check out the Dynamic Display Examples!  I had a student who absolutely LOVED the "Chase Me" activity!

Hope you find these useful!

PS, Need more resources for working with students with significant special needs?  Check out the Guest Post I wrote for Smart Speech Therapy!

Speechie Freebies 1-Month / 1000 Followers Giveaway!

Hey all!  As you probably know, I am one of the collaborators on Speechie Freebies. We started our collaborative website to bring our readers free, downloadable materials to use in speech therapy sessions. As of March 1st, we celebrated not only a one-month anniversary of the launch of the website, but over 1,000 followers on Facebook as well! As a thank you to our followers, we would like to celebrate with a giveaway! Read below to learn about the awesome gift cards and Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) products we are giving away!

1st Winner: 

$25 TpT voucher, $10 Amazon gift card, $10 iTunes gift card, WH Question Cards Pro iPad application, and all of the TpT products from the list below.

2nd Winner: 

All of the TpT products from the list below.

3rd Winner: 

One TpT product from the list below of your choice.
The TpT products included in this giveaway are as follows (donated by the following):

- Speech Room News:  There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick book companion
- Crazy Speech World:  Up, Up, and Away Phonology
- Speech Time Fun: Word Finding Fun at the Circus
- Carrie’s Speech Corner:  Receptive Detectives
- Sublime Speech:  I "Mustache" You a Question
- [simply speech]:  Synonyms are Sweet
- If Only I Had Super Powers:  "Three Billy Goats Gruff" (Speech/Language RTI and Dynamic Assessment Unit) 
- Kids Games For Speech Therapy:  Preschool Language Pack - Pronouns

Gift cards and vouchers were donated by:

- Kids Games For Speech Therapy
- Let’s Talk Speech Language Pathology
- Consonantly Speaking

WH Question Cards Pro was donated by:

- Super Duper Publications


This giveaway runs from March 4th – March 8th, 2013!  Make sure you enter via the Rafflecopter for your chance to win! Thanks again for all of your support!

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Book of the Week: The Three Little Pigs

OH BOY!  Do I feel behind!  I'm guessing I'm not the only one, but March is gearing up to be the craziest month imaginable! I was hoping to post this on Thursday, but life got in the way!  Anyway, the book I used in my language lessons this week was "The Three Little Pigs."  The version I have is by Alex and came with finger puppets and a story-telling glove:

We read the story using the finger puppets as props.  And then I had the students reenact the story.  I also used these cute houses from Jenna's (Speech Room News) Three Little Pigs Book Companion.  They're the houses from the Reinforcer Game.  I attached them to butter tubs so they would stand up.

Here are the pigs in their completed houses:

And the wolf on his way to the second house:

As a follow-up, we used the Top/Middle/Bottom activity (also from Jenna's packet).  Although my version does not have a Mama Pig, the second pig is a girl, so these graphics corresponded quite nicely with my puppets!

I also used the comprehension cards from Jenna's packet.  I placed them in my cauldron/Leprechaun pot/soup pot and had children reach in and draw a card for their turn.

I wanted to share some of the responses I got to this question:  "If you saw a wolf, what would you do?"

• "I would scream"
• "I would cry"
• "I would run"
• "I would spray him in the face with water" (lol!)
• "I would quickly build a brick house!" (my favorite!)

Aren't kids the best?!?  

We also used a couple of iPad apps for follow-up:

The Three Little Piggies by Kids Academy Company (Super cute interactive storybook version of the tale!)

The Three Little Pigs Story Chimes Match Game by Story Chimes.  (Matching game that corresponds to the Story Chimes version of the story).

I know there are several versions of this story.  I want to know:  What's your favorite version to use and what are your favorite follow-up activities?