Using Written Language to Improve Spoken Language (and Vocabulary!)

Sometimes speech therapy can get monotonous. Working on the same sounds, using the same games... it can get a little boring. Which is probably why we find ourselves constantly perusing the Dollar Spot at Target and searching Pinterest on a regular basis. We are always looking for new, engaging activities. Sometimes the things we think are boring old activities, are actually something new and fun to another therapist. So today, I want to share with you an activity I've been using for years to teach and engage my articulation students. 

If you have worked in an elementary school setting, you have probably heard the term, "rainbow writing." If you're unfamiliar with it, rainbow writing is having a student write a word multiple times, in different colors. It gives great opportunities for lots of repetition and their papers just look so colorful. Typically this was done with sight words, but I started using this technique with articulation words in my speech sessions. When I was in the schools, I had a rainbow writing center that I used with my groups. (If you're interested in using centers in your speech sessions, here is a blog post I did on the (informal) research project I did on speech centers back in 2013.)

To make this activity as easy and low-prep as possible, I created a "Rainbow Doodles" printable packet. In this packet, each sound is listed in words in the initial, medial, and final positions. Have your students rainbow write these words as they practice them. Multisensory learning (seeing, hearing, saying, etc) can enhance learning and help with processing the information. When the child hears his/her therapist say the word, reads the word, copies the word (multiple times), and says it out loud, they are engaging all their senses. 

A 2019 study posted by the ASHA Wire looked at how written form during instruction aids vocabulary learning. The results of the study showed "strong evidence that the presence of a word's written form leads to improved learning of its spelling and spoken form. There is also some evidence that it may lead to better learning of a words meaning." 

When I read this study, it made me think of using the Rainbow Doodles activity in therapy. Instead of just repeating words produced by the therapist, seeing the words can help the child with spelling. Seeing the letters in the word and associating letter names and sounds is directly related to articulation skills. The article written on the study also mentioned that "a small number of studies have also shown that the presence of a word's written form benefits vocabulary learning in children with developmental language disorder, autism, down syndrome, and reading difficulties." Vocabulary is the foundation of language and comprehension. It's directly associated with listening comprehension, reading, writing.... all the skills we work on as speech therapists! 

You can download a copy of my Rainbow Doodles packet by clicking on the image below. (This is actually a very old activity I have had on TpT for years. I recently gave it a facelift and added some more sounds to it. If you already own it, go re-download it!)

Happy writing!!

Source: https://pubs.asha.org/doi/full/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-VOIA-18-0135

2 Goals, 1 Therapist......Working on Articulation& Pronouns in the Same Session!

Over the past 11 years as an SLP I have seen so many students qualify for speech, but not language therapy. Either their scores aren't low enough to qualify in their school setting or their language difficulties don't show up on the test they are given at that time. But, after working with them on their articulation skills and having conversations with the child, you can hear that many of them also need some help with grammar. I have found pronouns to be a big part of that.

A research study done in 2013 showed that "a difficulty in the acquisition of grammar can interfere with the ability to communicate successfully and may flow into other grammar and language-based tasks." As SLP's we want our students to communicate at the best of their abilities. In the study, children were provided play-based grammar instruction that was made up of teaching, modeling, prompting, recasting, and then given feedback on their productions. The children in the study made great progress, however, they did find that children were less likely to make progress when they had articulation errors that affected the sound or sound pattern needed to produce the targets.

I have been trying to incorporate grammar instruction into my articulation therapy sessions, without taking away the from the actual articulation therapy. I have done this through reading books, modeling through play, and structured activities that can target both goals at once. Because so many of my students needed pronoun practice in addition to articulation, I created an interactive activity that can work on both goals at the same time.

 The activity includes mats for speech sounds in the initial, medial, final, and combination positions. There is a mat for each of these sounds to use in a sentence with the he, she, him, her, they, or them pronouns.

 The mats are left open ended enough that you can use these in many different ways to meet your student's individual needs. Since making this, I have laminated them and used them as smash mats (smashing a ball of PlayDoh on the target as they are practiced), stacking mini erasers on the words as they practice, I've stamped dot markers on them, kept this file on my iPad as a no-print activity, and even taped them to the wall and shot nerf gun targets at the words! Whatever gets your students motivated, do it!

I am a private therapist and see all my students one on one, but these mats would be great for mixed groups since you can print one for each child and their individual need during a group lesson. 

I have this entire packet available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

Click on the image below to check it out. 

Resource: Smith-Lock, K. M., Leitao, S., Lambert, L. & Nickels, L. (2013). Effective intervention for expressive grammar in children with specific language impairment. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 48(3), 265–282. 

Articulation Cut & Paste!

Raise your hand if you have a lot of students on your caseload that need hands on activities to keep themselves focused during speech? I try to incorporate movement and fine motor opportunities as frequently as I can in my therapy sessions. Research has shown that movement increases blood and oxygen flow which positively affects cognitive development. Plus, how many little ones can sit still at a table for 60, 45 or even 30 minutes?

 Because of all the wiggles I was getting, I decided to create a new cut and paste articulation packet for my students. Each page has a visual for mouth placement for correct production. I find this very helpful during sessions to point to as a reminder during practice. 

 Each page has 10 target words for each articulation sound. I purposely chose 10 words to make it easier to get to 100 repetitions before the activity is finished! (Research has shown that a high number of trials is needed to have success in therapy sessions) Have your student practice the word 5 times before they color it and 5 more times before he/she pastes it. You can even add 5 more in there before the child cuts the pictures out!

 There is a version of this activity for readers and a version for non-readers. The reader version includes words and pictures. The non-reader version is pictures only. This will help your students feel a little more independent when completing this! 

 This packet can be used in individual therapy, group therapy, or even sent home for homework. I have it available in my TpT store now. I can't wait to hear what your students think of it!

Click on the image below to see this activity in my store!

Using The Mitten in Therapy!

I live in Florida, but lately it has felt like it should be snowing here! My native blood is not used to temps in the 40's! (I know, I am a total baby to all you Northerners!) But most of the time we are still wearing shorts and enjoying the beach in January, so snow is often a foreign concept to my students. I try to incorporate as many books and activities I can that will help them understand what winter is like in other parts of the world. 

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience. This means if you purchase something using my link, I may receive a small commission. 

For years I have been using The Mitten by Jan Brett. I love this story because it gives great opportunities for story sequencing and vocabulary.  In the past I have always used print out characters from my story companion unit, but a few months ago I came across an adorable felt set! I found it on Facebook from a mom and daughter team called Pharmgal Crafts. 

It's easy to use one story or a theme and stretch it out over a few weeks!  This doesn't mean you have to read the book every time, although the kids do love hearing familiar stories. I have been able to use this mitten and character set to story sequence, practice following spatial directions (in, under, etc), and throw them into my "snowy" sensory bin! They kids love these and make story re-telling so much more fun. I also have a free Mitten smash mat that I like to use for sentence expansion, descriptive words, and vocabulary review.

I often use story books with my articulation students as well and my language kids. Books give you so many opportunities to practice good articulation. Sometimes we go on a 'word hunt' as we look and listen for words in the story with our target sounds. Other times I will read the story aloud and purposely mispronounce target sounds for my students to catch. Having your older students read aloud to you is a great way to practice carrying over their productions into reading. And since I am a sucker for a fun theme, I created Mitten ART-ticulation worksheets to go with this story! 

This is such a fun story to use in therapy. If you don't own the book, you can snag it on Amazon for under $4, here! What are some of your favorite winter themed books?

       

Putting the ART in Articulation!

My students absolutely LOVE completing crafts during speech sessions. They love it because they get to take something home they are proud of. I enjoy it because they are focused and working hard during the entire session. 

I also love a good no-prep,print and go craft. So, a few months ago I created some cactus color-by-word articulation worksheets, appropriately named ART-ticulation! My students enjoyed them so much that I started creating them for the upcoming holidays! These have been great to send home as homework as well as use during therapy sessions. 

I personally one work one on one with my students, but since all the pictures turn out the same, these work really well for mixed articulation groups as well!

At the moment I have ART-ticulation worksheets for the following themes:

Cactus

Pumpkins

Monsters

Turkeys

Santa

Snow Globes

...but I just download another giant bundle of clipart for these, so many more are on the way!

You can check all of them out in my TpT store, here!

Words to Stick With! Homework Freebie

I am a big fan of sending home speech folders. Not just for sending homework, but for communication with the parent. They need to know what we are working on and hear about their child's progress so they can help him or her, too. Last year I wrote a post about what I include in my speech folders, you can check that out here. 

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience. This means if you purchase something using my link, I may receive a small commission. 

But in addition to the communication aspect of speech folders, I do like to send homework once a week. Nothing major. Nothing that will take up a lot of time. But something that will help the child practice his or her goals when they aren't with me. I am a huge fan of simple things to send home. I am also a huge fan of pretty colorful things. So, with those two things in mind, Words to Stick With was created! Plus, I am totally digging the cactus right now... along with pineapples and flamingos :)

The cacti are actually a font from A Perfect Blend.

 3 slips fit on a page and they are black and white so they are friendly to your color ink! Don't these look awesome on AstroBrights paper?! 

To use these, just print and cut! I leave these in the front pocket of my therapy binder so I can easily grab one when I need to. It takes 10 seconds to fill these out and send home in their speech folder. And they are the perfect size to put up on a refrigerator and keep up all week to practice!

You can download these for FREE in my store, here!

How I Teach With Smash Mats!

I really should take stock out in PlayDoh. Seriously.  I have used PlayDoh to help my students reach more goals than any other toy or material. They love it. And I don't blame them. It's squishy, it's fun, and it's super motivating. With the love of PlayDoh so high amongst my students, I decided to make some activities that would help them learn as they played. And this is how Smash Mats were born!

My original goal for Smash Mats were to simply teach vocabulary. After we read story, I would name a target vocabulary word, and the child would smash a ball of PlayDoh on the picture of the word. Simple, yet effective! It was a great way to keep data on receptive and expressive vocabulary. But then so many more on the spot, teachable moments happened while using the mats. And now, the use for smash mats has grown to reach so many different areas and therapy goals. Here are a few examples of how I am currently using the mats....

Articulation, Apraxia, and Phonology. I created smash mats for every consonant, blend, and diphthong. I have my students practice their target word before they smash a ball of PlayDoh on the word. But I have been able to use smash mats to target articulation even with my vocabulary mats. If a child is working on the /s/ sound but we are using the under the sea mats, I will have them say, "I see a crab" or "I see a shark." 

Answering Wh-Questions. I created a whole packet just for Wh-Questions. Having the visual available is great for younger children or those just learning the concept of answering who, what, where, and when questions. 

Asking Questions. This can often be a tough concept to teach. We ask our students questions all day long. But how do you teach a child to ask us questions? I have had a lot of luck using smash mats and letting the child be the teacher. Start with a simple imitation, but let them ask you where the target word is on the mat, "Where is the bat?"

Story Sequencing. This has been so much fun. After we read a story, I love using the smash mats to help my students re-tell and sequence the story. The visuals of the characters and vocabulary words are so helpful for them.

Pronouns. Using he/she/him/her/them/them can be a tricky concept for so many students. Why not make the learning process more fun with PlayDoh? My students have a blast finding the picture that matches the description then smashing a ball of PlayDoh on top! I also have used it expressively by having the child describe the picture using correct pronouns before the smashing begins!

Sight Words. These mats were created specifically for one of my students that hated practicing sight words. Enough said!

Categories.  This has been a very effective way to teach about items that belong in the same category and items that don't belong!

 

Now with all these mats, how do you store and organize them? I use a binder. I print, laminate, and hole punch the mats before I stick them in my binder. It's easy to store them this way and very easy to take with me as I travel to see my students! Smash Mats are so much fun and definitely something I will continue to use to help my students reach their  goals!

It's Time to Ditch the Treasure Box!

As educators that work with children, we naturally want to reward them for their successes. Especially when working with students with special needs, the smallest gains should be celebrated! When I started my career in the school system, I used a treasure box. I would spend my own money and buy trinkets from the dollar store on a regular basis. I eventually got tired of spending my own money on "junk" that probably got thrown in the trash a few days later.

Fast forward a few years, and I started using Brag Tags. These were fun, motivating tags that my students could proudly wear or have displayed in the speech room whenever they met a goal or did something pretty amazing. 

 Now that I am traveling to different homes, schools, and daycares to see my students, brag tags don't quite work. I still love the idea but needed something a little more travel friendly. This is when Brag Bracelets were born!

These bracelets are very easy to keep with me as I travel to each student. I print them, cut them out, and store them in a plastic container (a large zip lock baggie would work, too). I made them black and white so they are ink friendly but super fun to print on colorful paper! Another fun idea is printing them on white paper and letting your student color them before they proudly display their bracelets of honor!

 I created 44 different Brag Bracelets with a fun Emoji theme (who doesn't love Emojis?!) and added them to my store for you to enjoy with your students, too! If you would like to see any other sayings added, please send me an email and I can add more to this packet. You can check them all out, here!

 I hope you have an amazing year with your students!

Zoey & Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows!

This post contains Amazon Associate links for you convenience. 

Have you tapped into the Zoey and Sassafras book series yet? If you haven't, and have children or students in the K-4th grade age range, you must! Zoey is a little girl that, like her mother, can see magical mystical creatures. They come to the barn in the back of her house and ring a tiny doorbell when they need help. 

 On my way home from Portland last week I read the first book in the series, Dragons and Marshmallows. I absolutely fell in love with this book and can't wait to share it with my students. I think I am going to start reading a chapter with Kenzie (who's 5) before bed each night. Since I loved the book, and knew my students would too, I created a story companion to go along with it.

 I have included a story map, 2 compare and contrast activities, and an Herbivore or Carnivore animal sort. In the story, Zoey had to figure out if one of her sick creatures was an herbivore or carnivore so she knew what to feed it!

 I also included a science journal because Zoey kept notes on her creatures in a journal. Give your students a specific animal to journal about or let them write down observations they see when venturing outside the classroom. I made my journal with brown paper bags and ribbon. It's left pretty open-ended so you can do a lot of different things with this journal. I also made it color paper friendly because I am a huge fan of Astrobrights paper!

This is a super fun book that will definitely keep your students engaged. You can download a FREE copy of my story companion, here! Can't wait to hear what you think of Zoey & Sassafras, too!

Gone Fishin' for Good Speech!

Maybe it's just me, but I have a habit of rotating therapy games. Since I am a traveling SLP, I can't carry my entire inventory of games on me at all times (trust me, I have tried!) So I tend to carry the same game or two around with me for a few weeks before I switch it out for another. 

(This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. That means if you purchase something from Amazon using my link, I my earn a few bucks!)

Lately, this Let's Go Fishing game has been a HUGE hit and requested daily. When the kids love a game this much, my first reaction is to create an activity that will allow them to use the beloved game while working on their goals at the same time. 

So I created Gone Fishing for Articulation Mats! To play, have your students take turns fishing. When they catch a fish, have them put the fish on the mat on top of one of the target words. They can practice the word or make up a sentence for the word, depending on their skill level. But there really are a ton of ways you can use these mats, I have even used them as smash mats!

My daughter got this game for Christmas last year and loved it so much, I knew my students would too. I found the game on Amazon for $7.99! You can check it out, here.  Happy fishing!!

My Favorite Therapy Game, KAPOW!

I am constantly on the hunt for any fun ways to get my students excited about therapy, especially articulation. I have a love/hate relationship with articulation therapy. There is so much room for creativity when planning your sessions, but the games and crafts can get old quick. 

(This post contains Amazon Affiliate links which means if you purchase something from my link, I may get a few bucks!)

For years I have been playing a game called Kaboom! If you haven't heard of it, it is simply a game that requires popsicle sticks and a container. Target words are written on the popsicle sticks. Students take turns choosing a stick out of the container (I use a recycled 32oz yogurt container.) If they say their word correctly, they keep the stick. If they don't they put it back. (Now here comes the fun part!) If they pick a stick that says KABOOM on it, they have to yell KABOOM and put all their sticks back. So simple, right? But I swear the kids LOVE this game and you can elicit SO many good speech sounds in a short amount of time... data win!! I did not come up with this game, another fabulously creative teacher did, but I have seen this game used for letters, sight words, addition facts... anything!

The best part about this game is that it can be used for SO many goals. The bad part about this game was that I was purchasing way too many sticks and running out of room to store them. You can check out my blog post about this game from 2013 here. This was when I first started using the game and my baggie method of organizing the popsicle sticks were working. Throw in some mixed articulation groups and 7 different Kaboom game versions and that method quickly failed me.

So flash forward to 3 years later and I finally came up with a way to organize my sticks. In fact, the new and improved game I now call, KAPOW! Only requires 25-30 sticks. I created target pictures/cards that I organize in a binder and attach to the sticks with velcro. (I bought a giant roll of velcro dots on Amazon for under $15)The game can be changed in a snap depending on what goal you are addressing.

I am so excited to have this new and improved version of the game and I am very excited to share it with you! You can download KAPOW from my TpT store by clicking, here! 

Data Tracking Made Easy for the Traveling SLP!

Being a private SLP that travels to see children in their homes and schools definitely has it's perks. I love the one on one attention I can give each child. I also love being able to see them in their environment and really work on language experiences that are important to them. Plus, no car duty!

But like any good thing, there are also drawbacks. For example, today we are expecting a tropical storm and the roads are flooded. So I am home with a cup of coffee blogging... well I guess that's not such a bad day. But in all honesty, one thing that has been difficult for me is keeping good data records while being in a new place every hour. I really love when students can keep track of their own data. It gives them a sense of ownership and motivation towards their goals. When I was working in the schools I had data charts that the students worked on weekly displayed on the walls.  I can't really wallpaper my car with those. So after brainstorming ideas, I came up with mini goal tracking books!

 These goal books are small and kept together on a binder ring. But they pack all the punch of what I was missing from my classroom. On each data ring I have a graph for each individual goal I set for them as well as a written goal set by the student. The student set goal is probably my favorite page of the book. It gives me a really clear picture of why each child thinks that he/she is in speech and what is important to them to work on. Maybe it's working hard on their /r/ sound when they read out loud in class or maybe it's using good social skills at lunch. If it's important to them, it's important to me!

 The individual goal graphs have been a total timesaver when it comes time for re-evaluations. It's so convenient take out that particular student's goal book to report on goals. I have been guilty of falling into a rut of working on the same goals for a long time and neglecting others. Since each goal page has it's own page on the ring, it's very easy to see which goals still need to be addressed. Win, win!

Since these goal books are small, I have been able to keep them in a small container with a lid. That way they don't get messed up and don't take up much space while being stored in my car. 

You can download you own copy of these books in my TpT store, here!