Cozy Up with a Great Book

"Young children who heard the same book multiple times retained a new word better than children who were read different books containing the same word."

Numerous studies have shown that storybook reading promotes later academic performance, reading fluency and print knowledge. A study in 2011 by Horst et. al. was the first of its kind to explore how being read to influences young children's ability to learn new words from storybooks. The lack of research in this area is particularly surprising given how frequently young children are read to during their everyday preschool experiences. The study found that repetition of storybooks is important for learning new vocabulary from books. Young children who heard the same book multiple times retained a new word better than children who were read different books containing the same word. 

Reference: Horst, J.S., Parsons, K.L. & Bryan N.M. (2011). Get the story straight: Contextual repetition promotes word learning from storybooks. 

KUDOS to @midtownspeechnyc for this special instagram post, if you're not following along click this link to check her out!

Here are the books I read on repeat for my students during Winter. 

Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner

Read the story of what Snowmen do at Christmas.

-Compare/contrast our Christmas traditions to the Snowmen's

-Search for hidden items on every page; mouse, T-Rex, cat, bunny and a Santa face.

*Tip: Searching for hidden pictures is great for visual skills needed for attention, reading and writing!*

Sneezy the Snowman Maureen Wright

Sneezy the snowman enjoys winter fun with his friends, but keeps sneezing!? His friends make attempts to help him warm up, but keep melting him.

Pair the story with the amazing melting snowman, build the snowman and read the story. Watch what happens!

-Sequence

-Cause/Effect

-Categories (things that are hot)

*Tip: I have students discuss items that are hot, and then illustrate a sentence as to why Sneezy may have melted*

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Nikki goes on a winter adventure and loses a snow-white mitten from Baba. Forest animals find the cozy mitten and all squeeze in.

-WH questions

-Sequencing/recall

-Following directions

-Oral motor (put it on, ball, bam/smash, put it in)

*Check out @simply_speech and her FREEBIE smash mat companion*

Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

Add this fun story to your Valentine's Day sessions. Rapunzel is too far away to quite make out what the Prince is trying to say. This is a hilarious hit in my speech sessions as we read the story of miscommunication.

-Sequencing/recall

-WH questions

-Rhyming

-Yes/No questions

-Vocabulary

-Create your own story

*Book companion can be found on TPT by SteamPunk Speech*

*Tip: pair this story with card game Sleeping Queens and Lover's Leap found on www.thelisteningroom.com*

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tommie DePaola

National Pancake Day is typically in early March. We celebrate every year in speech with this story and flippin' fun activities. This wordless story is great for any age. Early one morning the lady wakes up and decides to make pancakes, but keeps running into problems. 

-Problem solving

-Create grammatically correct sentences

-Sequencing/retell

-Vocabulary

-Oral motor (she can make it, she needs..., go out)

Sweet, Sweet Certification

I have made the leap from "Trained" to "Bridged" to "crazy"...I mean "Certified"! Totally worth it. I have been certified since Fall of 2015 and I am still learning. Things are much more "second nature" now and I feel way more confident in the lexicon and overall practice of PROMPT. The certification process was stressful and tedious, but I learned a lot in 4 months.

Advice:
*Work with a mentor.
*Be organized; schedule, highlighters, post-it notes.
*Prepare for the unexpected; children get sick-things come up. Leave yourself extra time to get things done.
*Clear space on your computer and recording devices.
*Learn how to work "google drive" prior to the process.
*Have multiple cameras taping for the inevitable "out of space" or "random" stop.
*Use your resources.
*Be confident. You're going to make mistakes, but this is always a learning process-not meant to be perfect.
*Don't be afraid to make these mistakes.
*ABR. Always Be Recording. ALWAYS!
(The client won't want to stick their face into the camera every second and you are bound to tape something magical. Like when mine accidentally poked me in the eye, and then 3 months later, in a different video, poked me in the eye...with his toe. $10,000? America's Funniest Video? Of course I'm going to split it with the kid! <----it's in writing now.)

Peek-a-Boo I'm back

Using visuals I can use this for a great listening activity.; for auditory-visual therapy. The animal hiding behind the door makes a sound and the door shakes so it's a good visual for the hearing impaired! Animals include the usual farm friends: horse, cow, sheep, chicken... and some funny new friends: owl, rabbit, llama! From a closed set I show the pictures of the animals and have the child guess which animal they hear in the barn.



I love the Melissa & Doug matching game and pair a simple barn toy to finish our FARM-tastic session.



LANGUAGE: follow directions, prepositions, matching

PROMPT:

Mandibular control: baa
Labial-Facial: boo, moo, peep, woof, meow, baa, me, push
Lingual: one, two

Old McDonald has nothing on me!

Hungry for Summer!

Here's a few activities that keep my clients compliant and engaged throughout the entire session! Read the book, make some art and of course play on the iPad!

READ THE BOOK:
I've been on a "Hungry Caterpillar" kick!  First I read the story to my clients and tell them they will read the story.  All my Pre-Schoolers tell me, "But I can't read!" I assure them they can!  Then using felt pieces I made (A.C. Moore sells iron on paper! I just scan and iron onto white felt) my clients "read" the story.  It's great to see how proud they are when they finish and I get to tell them they read the story!

*Leave a comment with your e-mail address and I can send you a copy of the pieces so you don't have to scan!*

ART PROJECT:
A fun companion activity we do after is we make our own symmetrical butterflies.  Using scented dot markers (Wal-mart!) we make dots and designs and fold our paper in half to make symmetrical designs.  The kids think it's neat, I love the dot markers cause they don't make a mess and we get to explore some sensory integration with smell!

*Remember those great markers your elementary art teacher let you use! Check out all their products*

INCORPORATE THE BELOVED iPAD:
I was able to grab this app during a free app sensational sale (Check it out)! I have my kids follow directions and practice counting!

ARTICULATION
need, dot, more, me, same, mmmm, one, two

Mandibular control: dot, need
Labial-Facial control: more, me, same, mmmm
Lingual control: one, two

LANGUAGE

sequence; first/next/then/last, labeling (food items), counting, answering/asking "WH?", predicting ("What do you think yellow will smell like?"), follow directions

Smell ya later!

Make your own bubbles

Sunny days are ahead. My clients and I have been enjoying the weather during our sessions.  One of my new favorite activities is making bubbles.  That's right 4 easy steps to mixing up your very own bubble solution. I have included the recipe below, however I just estimate and add soap/glycerin until the solution is making bubbles that last.

1 gallon of water

2/3 cup of Dawn or Joy dishwashing liquid (Joy works better)

3 to 4 table spoons of glycerin (available at drugstores)

stir

*ta-da!* 

(recipe courtesy of Newsday 7/27/11)

PROMPT: labial-facial, mandibular, lingual control

pop, more, oh-no, gone, wand

LANGUAGE: sequence (cut out pictures above to make cards), WH? questions, requests, action words (stir/mix, pop, run, reach)

PRAGMATICS: turn-taking

Have a towel handy, things can get messy! 

(But not dirty, cause it's soap!)

Self-Study PROMPT Project: Flinging Frogs

Are you trolling the internet trying to find examples of PROMPT technique therapy? Trying to figure out how to plan and implement all the great new things you've learned through a PROMPT technique workshop?! Look no further. I want to share my PROMPT self-study activity and plan with the world.

This is my FAVORITE activity.  I work on these goals with a variety of clients, and everyone loves this game! (Bought it at Target for less than $5).

Check it out, see what you think! Let me know! If you like this one, try my Tea Party activity too!

Stage:	III. Mandibular control (with anterior lingual and labial-facial control mapping)
Plane:	Vertical
PROMPT Types:	Parameter, surface, some mapping
Words:	Put, on, me hop, top, pad, he, in
Phrases:	“Put in”, “Put on”, “Oh-no”, “He hop”, “On Pad”, “On top”, “He hop on”, “One, two, hop”
Materials:	“Big Little Game” Flinging Frogs
Procedure:	·      Set up pool and lily pads.  Prompt child to say “put on”.  ·      Repeat until lily pad tower is complete. ·      Divide Frogs.  Prompt child to say “me”.  Take turns choosing frogs. ·      Make frogs hop. Prompt child to say phrases depending on where frogs land.  Alternating turns. ·      Clean up materials.  Prompt child to say “put in”.
Turn Taking:	Clinician and child will take turns for the entire activity.  Clinician will model words/phrases during her turn. *Please note video edited to allow for maximum PROMPT technique viewing
Variation:	Use similar game “Flying Frogs” or “Pop-up Pirate”; target words change from “hop” to “pop”.

GOOD LUCK! KEEP PROMPT-ing!

APP-Y HOUR: TalkBoard

TalkBoard: $16.99

TalkBoard allows you to access your iPad's photos and utilize them in a custom board! Make a 1X1 board, or a 10X10 board! Add pictures, text, timer (for scan feature), branching (have app move from one board to another with the tap of a finger!) and of course sound!

This app has helped me many times when a client has forgotten a communication device, or did not have one accessible. In less than 5 minutes I was able to create a personal board for the client!

Self-Study PROMPT Project: Toca Boca Tea Party app

I was able to work with wonderful mentors who helped me complete my PROMPT technique self-study project! I wanted to share an activity, as it's difficult as a new PROMPT trained clinician to find inspiration and ideas for PROMPT technique therapy!

Use the Toca Boca Tea Party app:

Stage:	V. Lingual Control (with labial-facial mapping)
Plane:	Anterior/Horizontal
PROMPT Types:	Parameter, surface, complex, syllable some mapping
Phonemes:	/t/, /d/, /n/
Words:	On, tap, set/put, tea, eat, need, me, one, oops, more
Phrases:	“Need tea”, “Need one”, “Oh-no”, "put out"
Materials:	iPad with Toca Boca Tea Party app
Procedure:	·      Turn on the iPad.  Prompt child to say “on” ·      Locate app.  Clinician takes turn to model “tap”.  Clinician prompts child to say “tap” to enter game. ·      Set the table.  Clinician prompts child to say “set” or "put/put out".  Clinician and child take turns to set a total of 3 plate(s)/cup(s)/dessert(s). ·      PARTY! Clinician and child participate in a tea party where they sip drinks, eat food and sometimes spill their tea. ·      Clean up.  After tea party is finished, Clinician and child will take turns loading the sink.  Clinician will prompt the child to say “put in”.
Turn Taking:	Clinician and child will take turns for the entire activity.  Clinician will model words/phrases during her turn.
Variation:	Use a real toy tea set

Good Luck! I hope this helps you in your own PROMPT journey!

APP-Y HOUR: Bubbles

Bubbles (.99 cents)

Totally worth the money. I have used this app for EVERYTHING! I use this app with children who are unfamiliar with the iPad.  I have had a lot of success with teaching skills used, such as drag/tap with the appropriate pressure.

Reinforcement (earn the game)

**Teach pre-iPad skills (drag and tap with the appropriate amount of force/pressure)

Articulation: (labial facial control, mandibular control, lingual control)

         -"Pop" 

         -"More" 

         -"oh-no", "uh-oh"

        -"Me"

Language:

         -Turn taking (You make bubbles, I make bubbles)

         -Requests (More bubbles please!)

         -WH?

Pop-on friends.

APP-Y HOUR: Glowcoloring

Glowcoloring

I love to use this with one of my school aged clients.  We practice writing spelling words, and she loves to pick a color to write in (one only, otherwise we would be picking colors ALL day!)

This is a great app not only for free-hand drawing, but for coloring/worksheets! Yes. You can import any picture from your photo album and bam! Boring old sheet because super fun and exciting with colors and stamps.  I use Dropbox to store all my exciting papers.

What are you waiting for. "Glow" and download it!

APP-Y HOUR: Questionit

Questionit (LITE/$24.99)

Users answer: who, what doing, where, when questions.  There are different areas to answer these questions: sorting, sentences (basic/advanced) and paragraphs.    Within the areas there are 3 levels.  Level (1) is easy and color coded for easier sorting, Level (2) is medium as only the borders are color coded and Level (3) is the hardest with no color hint.

I have used this with various students (preschool, school aged, adolescent and even adults!) The school aged students don't even know they're learning "WH" questions and categorization skills! We are able to learn and have fun.

Can you believe they pay me to have fun?!

APP-Y HOUR: PEPI Bath

PEPI Bath: (Lite, $1.99)

PEPI Bath allows the user to work on activities of daily living.  There is a choice between a boy and a girl.

In the LITE version there are 2 scenes available.  Laundry and brushing teeth.  The upgrade provides an additional 2 scenes: toilet and bath.

Users can wash and hang their clothes during the laundry activity.  Then at the sink the user can: brush PEPI's teeth/hair, trim their nail, wash their hands and blow their nose!

This apps provides opportunities to: follow directions, sequence, use pronouns (he/she/his/her) and discuss ADL's/bathroom behavior.