Appy Hour

Toca Boo

The power is out at Bonnie's house due to a terrible storm. Help her move through the house and scare her family! Explore different rooms, turn sinks and lights on and off to build suspense and even stop to snack on plums, spicy pepper and soda to fuel your fun!

-Map skills

-Following directions

-WH questions

-Oral motor practice (pa/pop, ma/mom/mama, boo, pop up, toot, go, baby, down, in, behind, under, Bonnie, sisters, brother, grandma, grandpa)

*Check out the print companion and Boomcard companion I made for this game*

Toca Kitchen 2

Cook up some fun in your speech sessions with this app. Help feed the hungry customers by preparing different foods. 

-Following Directions

-Make sentences

-Pronouns

-Commenting Like/Dislike

-Oral Motor words/phrases to use (ah/mmm, uh-oh, ya/yes, no, hot, pot, pan, not, can, eat, gone, make, done, eat it, can cut it, can eat it)

*My students enjoy using the hard print items and Boomcard companions I made for this app*

Pet Doctor

Take care of all the pets in the office, feed them and put them to bed.

-Discuss cause/effect

-Identify body parts/injuries/doctor equipment

-Commenting

-Oral Motor practice (oh no/uh oh, boo-boo, go home, eat it, put it on)

Pair the app with a simple matching activity (I found this one years ago at the Target dollar spot) or Henning Lohlein's "All Better Book". 

I incorporate additional fine motor skill work by playing "save the animals", where they are trapped in rubber bands. 

-Take the rubber bands off

-Clean the animals with a spray bottle

-Place tape or real band-aides on the injury

Toca Doctor

Help the patient with all their injuries.

-Cause/Effect

-Inferencing (How did they get hurt?)

-Body parts/labeling

-Health/Wellness

-Oral Motor practice (boo boo, uh-oh, put it on, take it out, help, all done)

Toca Store

Open the store and choose the items you want to sell. Students can take turns being the cashier and the customer.

Describe categories & functions of items

Expand vocabulary

Social communication/turn taking

Oral Motor practice (I want, I choose, put it in, need it)

*Pair with companion boomcard activity for additional support/practice*

Zoombinis

Use logic, analyze data, spot patterns and hone problem-solving skills with 12 perilous puzzles and four levels of difficulty. Great for upper elementary, middle school and high school students. 

-Intro video (wh questions, story comprehension)

-Problem solving

-Teamwork

-Identify details

-Follow directions

-Express ideas 

*For iPad only, you won't be able to find it if you search on your phone*

Listening Language

Dingle Dangle: Listening and Language! I love this app it is so adorable and silly. There are two different activities: players can listen to instructions (in noise!) or build their own scarecrow.

This app was created by the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) by listening and spoken language specialists.

I love to pair this app with the story "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything". I use this with a lot of my students.

We color and cut out the pieces and make puppets. They have to listen to the sounds of the pieces and make their puppet do the actions

Shoes say "clomp clomp"
Pants say "wiggle wiggle"
Shirt says "shake shake shake"
Hat says "nod"
Gloves say "clap"
Pumpkin says "boo!"


       

PROMPT:
Phonatory Control: "ah" for on, "mm" for more
Labial-facial control: boo, shake, oh no!
Lingual control/sequenced: clomp, wiggle, clap, nod

LANGUAGE: sequencing, following directions, recall story, describing

      And the mouse went ::click click::

"Poppers"

Choose from a variety of animals: cow, horse, pig, fish, alien, squirrel, moose! Push the ball in and aim it at the target *Children need constant supervision...don't let them pop it in their face.

We laugh, we cry, we do a little math! Very fun and entertaining.







PROMPT:
phonatory control: ah, ha, ha-ha, mmm (for more)
mandibular control: up, on, pop
labial-facial control: up, pop, on, moo (is the name of our cow), oh-no, push
lingual control: on, top, in

Language:
-Follow directions to aim at different targets
-Follow directions to pick a special colored ball/animal

Pragmatics:
-Turn taking
-Don't point it at people/yourself!

Don't be a party pooper in speech...play with some "Poppers"

Celebrate November with a Salute

This time of the year many teachers are teaching vocabulary for the big holiday in November. I'd like to take this time to remind you of a very important group that gets forgotten in the hustle and bustle of turkey season...the veterans. I've laid out my November plan in hopes to spread the love to our brave soldiers and of course express my gratitude!

I introduced the topic of Veterans Day with vocabulary: honor, respect, thankful, salute, celebrate, faithful, loyal, serve.


I work in a school for the Deaf and hard of hearing and targeted auditory skills by counting syllables for words from arlenesandberg.blogspot.com:

Words included 1-4 syllables: world, war, peace, wreath, sailor, parade, solider, salute, medal poppy, November, 11th, veterans, memorial, ceremony, military.

I explained what Veteran's Day was and we made flags out of hand prints. Some of the terminology used on the poster is from a pin I found on pinterest (http://www.mylifeasathirdgradeteacher.com/).

November 11th: a day to honor those who have served and are currently serving in the military

What is a Veteran?
-A person who has fought for our country
Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard

What do they do?
-Protect our country!
-Fight for our freedom!

I used "The Wall" by Eve Bunting and created my own reading comprehension questions based on the student's goals (i.e. main idea, recalling details, sequencing).





My older kids (5th-7th grade) get a kick out of my "Speechgram". We created usernames in the beginning of the year and I post a new picture every week. The kids can ask questions and write (grammatically correct) comments! It's fun to see what the kids come up with, and they are all super motivated to write! This is my friend Bridgett, she is a marine.

#who #what #when #where #why #how

(We are still working on the grammatically correct...and spelling)

Now for my favorite. Writing to Bridgett and her soldier friends. Operation Gratitude is always looking for letters to soldiers! Collaborate with your OT friends for a super fun writing a letter lesson! It was a fun process for the students and they were excited and motivated. I broke down the process into parts and really drilled ASKING and ANSWERING questions. I created statements (i.e. "My favorite movie is Frozen.") and had the students create their own questions; What's your favorite movie? Who is your favorite character? Again, since I'm in a school where Auditory Verbal is a big component of speech; I asked questions presented orally only and incorporated it into this part of the lesson.

It was an easy way to transition into Thanksgiving; as we were all feeling very thankful for the brave men and women in the military.

THANKS for reading.

Heads Up...I'm back!

After a long hiatus, I'm back. Hoping to connect with some parents to help them chose and use apps and activities for speech therapy!

So, this is one of my new FAVORITE games. Of all time. Ever! 

Ellen DeGeneres is a DeGenuis! A simple "Heads-bands" type game, keeps kids and adults entertained while working on various speech goals.

Players can pick various categories (I use "just for kids", cause there's a smattering of everything: people/places/things). Place the iPhone/iPad on your head and the other players describe the item! If you are able to guess correctly turn the iDevice down, if you are having trouble you may pass it by turning the iDevice up/over your head.

LANGUAGE:

Expressive: adjectives, describing, antonyms, synonyms, using word finding strategies

Receptive: (understanding all the above!), word finding strategies, follow directions

*Follow directions/understanding figurative language: I always use the phrase "It's over your head" (you don't get it) to explain the correct/pass rules. 

PRAGMATICS:

turn taking, controlling voice volume & remaining in your seat (things can get crazy!)

Just keep playing. Just keep playing.

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!)

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: 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.

APP-Y HOUR: Bamba ice-cream/burger

 BAMBA: Ice-Cream (FREE)

Pick your flavors: vanilla, chocolate even robot and rainbow! Pick toppings: sprinkles, gummy bears, zombie?! Create all the different ice-creams you want. Baskets of ice-cream. Ice-cream on waffles! Don't eat too fast, you'll get a brain freeze!

 BAMBA: Burger (FREE)

Create your own fast food creation.  Burger. Soda. Fries. Put whatever you want on your burger.  Cheese, ketchup, toilet paper. Fill your soda up, make french fries, pay and eat it up! You even get a fun kids prize.


These are both simple food making apps. My kids love them for the silly factor (Vanilla ice-cream with unicorn on top, don't mind if I do).  Another one of my favorite triple threats: Articulation, language, pragmatics.

Articulation/PROMPT:
Stage 3 Mandibular: top, hot
Stage 4 Labial Facial: mmmm, yum, more, me, tap, pay, eat, cup, bun
Stage 5 Lingual: hot, top, tap, paid, eat/ate, cone, cut, bun
Stage 6 Sequenced: eat it up, pay now

Language: sequence, follow directions, WH?, yes/no questions (expressive/receptive)

Pragmatics: Sharing, asking appropriate questions, "What would you like on yours?"

APP-Y HOUR: The Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs (by the Nosy Crow) $5.99

For all you Harry Potter fans, another great British cast is here! "Three Little Pigs" is a fun and interactive tale.  It allows the user to read it themselves, have it read to them as well as read and play.  Tap the characters to hear what they have to say; all in a British accent.

For you reading up on this with the iPad2 and more current generations of iDevices, you can blow into the speaker to help the wolf huff and puff!

**Be careful; during a rousing reading of this, one of my little friends huffed. puffed. farted.**

This is a fun and timeless story.  Target pre-literacy skills, sequencing, following directions, WH?, pragmatics (feelings/bullies).


Happily ever after. The end.

APP-Y HOUR: Lazoo

LAZOO: let's color (FREE!)
LAZOO: squiggles (FREE!)

That's right folks. Free. This is another triple threat: articulation. language, pragmatics.

Tell your occupational therapist friends! Drawing shapes/lines to create a picture that is put into motion.  Wonderful app to work on a variety of goals.

Articulation: Tons of pictures with many possible words to work on.  At the end of drawing you press the "go" button and your picture is animated!

Language: WH? (What's coming out of the hose? What color? yada yada yada)

Pragmatics: Turn taking, **spoiler alert** there is a picture of a toliet, and you can flush whatever you'd like down.  It tells you to "draw poops".  Personally, I avoid this one picture.  But there are certain situations where this would work (i.e. potty training, fear of pooping).

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? What about an app!?

APP-Y HOUR: Monster at the end of this book & Another monster at the end of this book

Monster at the End of this book $4.99
Another Monster at the End of this book $4.99

Bought the first "Monster at the End of the Book".  HAD TO HAVE the sequel.  My students love this interactive book.  Following Grover and watching him do silly things to stop you from turning pages makes everyone smile.

Help knock down walls. Take off paper clips, remove glue and untie knots to turn the page and forge ahead to the end of the book!

Another triple threat: articulation, language, pragmatics.

Articulation: Various opportunities to work on a variety of sounds.  Some that I target are: anterior linguals, labial-facial control, mandibular control. (knot, no, oh-no, AH!, mommy, go)

Language: WH?, following directions, sequencing

Pragmatics: Users are forced to wait to touch the screen and patience is required (some of the pages are slow to re-load, and slow according to impatient 3 & 4 year olds).  This is a great book to talk about feelings too! Grover is scared to go to the end, and other feelings are mentioned (happy, embarrassed).

So check under your bed, grab your favorite blanket and join Grover and Elmo for a fun adventure!

APPY-Y HOUR: Toca Boca Doctor

Toca Boca Doctor:$1.99

Best part about this app; there is a LITE version.  Try it out and when you love it splurge and buy it!

I use this app with my 3 year olds (mainly boys).  They can't get enough of it.  It's great for speech and occupational therapy.  There are various games that you play and help fix a patient.  Bloody nose. Shots. Cuts/Scrapes. Lice. Indigestion. Broken bones. Splinters.

Yes this game has a gross factor component.  But it makes me laugh (side effect of hanging out with preschoolers all day).  Be prepared to hear some rude body noises (burps & farts) and see some cartoonish blood.

This is a versatile app. It's a triple threat: articulation, language pragmatics.

Articulation/PROMPT lexicon for mandibular control, labial-facial control and anterior lingual control:

boo-boo, oh-no, out, put, on, ow/owie, tap, man, head, eat, feed, need

Language:
WH? (What happened? What do we need to do? What color band-aide? Who do you ask for help when you're hurt?)
Expressive: "I need help" (the mazes are a little tricky for the younger kids, great way to request assistance!)
Receptive: Make matches, find the same shape during puzzle activities

Pragmatics:
"Excuse me" (good for providing a script! Everyone makes silly sounds, just have manners and say "excuse me" when you do)
Social Story pairing for going to the doctor/dentist.

"SOUND OFF"

Our bodies sound off all the time.

What noises we can make!

It happens when we're fast asleep,

or when we're wide awake.

Hands clap and slap, and fingers snap.

We cough and sneeze and snore.

Our hungry stomach growl for food,

then rumble for some more.

Our feet tap and our bones go pop.

Our lips smack and they slurp.

But most unusual of all

is when our bottoms burp!

Susan D. Anderson

(From Miles of Smiles 

edited by Bruce Lansky

illustrated by stephen carpenter)

APP-Y HOUR: Toca Boca Tea Party

Toca Tea Party $1.99

Out of the hundreds of apps I have downloaded, this is my favorite!

Invite 3 people (or stuffed animals) to a lovely tea party.  Set the table with plates and cups, choose snacks and enjoy! During the party you can make spills and clean up the mess.  Everyone at the party can simultaneously play!

I haven't met anyone that does not enjoy this app! All my preschoolers beg for "tea party"! We have so much fun, and I can integrate both language and articulation goals into the game.

Language: Answer "WH" questions (What color plate? What do you want to drink? What do you want to eat?)

                Ask "WH" questions **the dreaded will "comprehend and use "WH" and yes/no questions** The way I have elicited questions from my students is through some tough love.  When they try to give me a dessert I reply "I don't want that" until they finally ask, "What you want?"**

               
Pragmatics/manners (Only eat off your plate, offer tea/food to the other guests/asking questions).

I have recently become PROMPT trained.  I have created a brief lexicon to use for this app:

Mandibular: /a/, /ae/, /u/, /o/
Labial-Facial: /o/, /i/, /u/
Anterior Lingual: /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/

me, tea, two/to/too, need, one, eat, oh-no, oopps, set, put, on

In the wise words of Marier-Antionette, "Let them eat cake!"