Phonatory Control

Building phonatory control in students is an important foundation. Students learn that "voice is power" through simple lexicons:

/AH/ for "on", "want" (turning the voice on)

/M/ for "more" or "me"

/H/ volitional voicing

Activities that have a high success rate for my students and building volitional voicing include:

Belefun

Belefun is Elefun's Younger Sister. Turn the game on and watch the butterflies come out. Feed the butterflies to Belefun for continual fun.

Lexicon: /ah/ for "on", "want", "out", "in", /mmm/ feeding, "more", "me"

Scarves

Scarves are a great way to add movement to your session during music during music or interactive book. Have students wave them left to right, make waves, squish the scarf, move it fast and slow. 

Students can track the scarf to incorporate head tipping/turning into the session to activate their vestibular systems.

Read the beloved story "Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and follow directions using scarves or cloth like items. Great for engaging pre-school

Grab my FREEBIE to incorporate scarves functionally into a story activity to promote focus and attention during academic tasks.

Students will:

-Cross midline

-Track items with head tips/tilts

-Track items with eyes to decrease eye fatigue due to screen time

-Recall the sequence of events

-Follow directions

Spin it Again

Put gears on a pole and watch them spin down. Pull the pole from the base and watch the gears spin off to the ground. Flip blue base to choose a wobbly or sturdy bottom. 

Can be used for simple motor phoneme warm-up. 

PROMPT Lexicon: ah/on, up, go, me

Tunnel

Tunnels can be motivating and regulating at the same time. Students can: 

-Crawl through to retrieve desired items from inside

-Stand and wear it like a pop up hamper

-Roll balls through to have a pass

Yoga Ball

"What happens at the hips, affects the lips" the great PROMPT instructor Tracey Kellner.

When working with non/low verbal kids I try to get them moving as much as possible. Consult with the OT/PT and see what they do with the student. 

-Bounce on a ball

-Roll over the ball (on belly/on back)

-Scooter

-Swing

-Gentle spinning (pick them up or in a chair)

-Crawling through a tunnel

-Animal walks

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 and Attentional Supports

Students are frequently referred for a speech and language screening due to teacher reports that "they just don't listen."

Ruling out any hearing loss, behavioral issues and true language challenges, let's discuss why this is most likely not the case. Our vestibular systems are responsible for providing our brain with information about motion, head position, spatial orientation and motor functions such as balance and head stabilization. The eyes and the ears are connected, do you turn down the radio when you're lost?!

Academic tasks that require moving eyes and coordination can manifest as attentional symptoms, therefore look like a student "just can't listen" when in reality they're having difficulty focusing with their eyes.

• Visual Fixations: sustained focus
• Tracking: following a moving object
• Con/Divergence: shifting gaze from teacher to work
• Quick Localization: visual attention shifts in space to monitor
• Saccades: attentional shifts needed to read/monitor

When a student is having difficulty using their eyes they will start to utilize other parts of their body. Eye strain/fatigue will bring in the use of their head/neck/back, and cause postural deficits. Resource allocation means that they are on output NOT input, which is essential for absorbing information for academic tasks. 

There are plenty of simple activities to incorporate into your speech and language sessions to support visual skills:

Eye Found it

The 6 foot board game is a collaborative style game where players work together to all reach the castle before the clock strikes midnight. Students can follow directions, target vocabulary (I use the Expanding Expressions Tool (EET) to describe the items on the card) and answer WH questions. 

The compact card game is a fast pace competitive search and find activity. Students race to see who can find the objects on their cards. When the object is found, a new card is flipped and play continues. 

PROMPT Lexicon: I see it, I did it, I am, me, I do, character names (Pooh, Woody...), Counting numbers

Hiding Break

Fighting eye fatigue after many hours of screen time can help regulate students (and teachers!)

Students can use their hands or cover themselves in a blanket. Keeping eyes open and staring into the blackness will bring better benefit for eye fatigue.

*IMPORTANT: Make sure students wash their hands prior to putting them over their eyes.

Hit the Hat

The hammers have suction cups and the hats are different shapes, patterns with blue or red borders. Students roll the dice and race to locate the correct hat. Game can be modified to eliminate boarder color for more winners. Students can take turns rolling the dice and describing the hats for others to find.

PROMPT Lexicon: hat, hit, did, it

Track Slow Objects

Use bubbles, balloons or juggling scarves in sessions to support visual and language needs.

Keepy Uppy: Have students tap a balloon to keep it up in the air

Bubble Pop: weighted wand for popping bubbles slowly (duct tape a small weight to the end of a stick)

Throw and catch juggling scarves

PROMPT Lexicon: /ah/ (want, exclaim excitement, again), /mm/ (more, me), bop, pop, go, oh-no

Vision Boost

Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to keep your eyes healthy. A vision boost is an easy way to accomplish this task.

One arm straight, one arm bent and shift your eye gaze (ONLY your eyes, no moving your head) from near to far points 20 times and then switch your hands and do another 20 looks. 

Conquering Your Interview: Make a Great First Impression

Are you looking for a new job this new year? I've been on many interviews and I actually quite enjoy them. I have created a FREE product available in my TpT store of every interview question I have ever been asked. I would write them down in the car before driving away. Then I studied them for my next interview. 

It's hard not to feel stressed, but I loved talking about all the great and amazing things I did/can do. It's a free brag session. Here are some of my personal beliefs during interviews.

Tips and Tricks:

• Arrive 15-20 minutes early, if you're on time...you're late
• Dress for the job you want, not the job you have
• Invest in a good outfit (a suit if you can), bag and a pair of shoes that make you feel like a boss
• Check out portfolio folders to hold extra copies of your resume/cover letter, pad and pen
• Mint chapstick or lipgloss can help with after lunch breath if you're squeezing in an interview after lunch
• Talk slower than you think you should, being nervous you naturally speed up. Slow down!
• Stop and take a pause. Gather your thoughts. Avoid saying "um", "like" and other fillers
• Talk about experiences and successful moments in therapy, show them what you can/have done
• Be prepared. There are common questions you can have answered prior to the interview
• Ask questions at the end of the interview, you want this to be a good fit for you too

*Don't forget to ask about parking when you're scheduling the interview and how many resumes they may need you to bring.

I wore this to my graduate school interviews (Suit dress/blazer combo from H&M). 

Grey/Black/Blue are classic colors for an interview, you can never go wrong when you wear them. 

I always wore pearl studs and my hair up in a pony tail so I wouldn't futz around with it.

Simple black shoes with a larger heel were comfortable and easy to walk in.

I love this interview bag, found it on Amazon (Anne Klein)

This was the outfit I wore for all my clinical fellowship interviews, classic black and I would swap out the shirt underneath (Suit from Macy's and top from NY&CO).

*Different colors represent different features of a person. Blue is said to show the person is trustworthy and loyal!

Check out a portfolio folder to hold all your needed papers, and even put little notes to yourself to help you with talk points during an interview.

I went to Ireland and bought myself a special brooch that I wore for a conversation starter!

These are the outfits I wore after I had received my CCCs. I would wear the pink outfit (LOFT) for a second or final interview and the red one (from NY&CO) with more modest shoes for demo lessons (never knew when I had to chase down a student). I wanted them to remember me. 

*Wear a watch, it shows that you are reliable and prompt!

Resume/Cover letter Tips:

• Research the facility and take key words from their mission statement and use those words in your document
• Use bold and italics to help organize visually on the resume
• Use the cover letter to tell elaborate on why they should bring you in for the interview
• Bring extra copies of your resume and cover letter

Example of write up for private practice/homecare

Example of write up for school

Parting Advice:

Before the interview take 2 minutes to power pose! These poses below when held for 2 minutes have been scientifically proven to increase serotonin (the feel good hormone) and decrease cortisol (the stress hormone). They're very easy to incorporate into your day!

• Stand up straight with your hands on your hips, like WonderWoman
• Sit in a chair and place your feet up on the table
• While standing lean on/over a table with both hands

FOLLOW ME AT:

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)

Bon Appetit: Toca Kitchen 2 app companion BUNDLE

 

This product is useful to target various speech, listening and language goals during sessions. Students can follow simple and complex directions, work on expressive and receptive language skills via pronouns, commenting, identifying food items as well as target activities for daily living by sequencing orders through cooking. 

This product includes 

-45 WHO questions

-20 WHAT questions

-32 HOW questions

-22 opportunities to make grammatically correct sentences

     10 unscrambling sentences

     12 create your own with target conjunctions

-22 items to describe

     6 pre-teaching slides

     10 Level 1 sorting descriptions

     12 Level 2 fill-in descriptions

**Click on the pictures to see a preview of the items**

Find this product on

  TPT

and 

BoomCardLearning

The Doctor is in...

Anyone else celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday?! I love incorporating real world items into our therapy sessions. The students love making a mess, so in honor of the great Dr. Seuss we make "oobleck". We learn about Dr. Seuss and read a short biography, I read a truncated version of "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" by Dr. Seuss (the original takes over 30 minutes for me to get through!?) and then I present them with the science experiment.

Oobleck is a 'non-newtonian fluid'. Viscosity is the rate at which something pours. Water pours quickly and honey or syrup pours slowly. These liquids have a constant viscosity, it will never change. Oobleck pours both quick AND slow!?

When made correctly Oobleck can be molded into a ball and have properties like a solid, and when released will "melt" in your hand like a liquid.

Oobleck is a 2:1 ratio

2 cups cornstartch

1 cup water

TIPS:
*I love to find youtube videos to help the students see what should happen, before starting.
*Use disposable bowls and spoons for easy clean up.
*Buy the rolls of plastic tablecloths to work on, then just throw everything out.
*If the oobleck is too hard add water, and if it is too wet add more corn starch!
*If the oobleck spills over and out, let it dry it will turn into powder and you can easily vacuum/sweep it up!


PROMPT: *I created a short "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" on my SMARTboard, I can change the words/phrases/sentences to achieve my various targets!

LANGUAGE: scientific method, following directions/steps, math fractions

PRAGMATICS: sharing items, turn taking for measuring, following rules

Oo the messes you will make!