Peachie Speechie

There is a new fad-toy every year or so. I get to see all of them since I work in an elementary school! Remember Silly Bands from 2010? Those were a favorite of mine. This year it’s the fidget spinner! Students everywhere seem to be bringing these things into class, spinning them constantly on their finger or desk. Some people claim they increase focus, but many teacher claim they are a huge distraction and an annoyance at school. Principals are going as far as banning them in certain counties. 

I see these crazes as an opportunity to increase student motivation by using a high interest item in the classroom. Instead of banning them, why not use them? 

I’ve heard teachers complain about students playing with spinners instead of completing classwork. This is clearly a problem. But what if the classwork could incorporate the spinner? Then you’d have students excited to be using their new favorite thing while learning at the same time. Win win! 

I’ve created worksheets that incorporate the fidget spinner into activities targeting sight word recognition, reading CVC words, letter recognition, number recognition, math facts, and speech-language skills! You can download these pages by going to PeachieSpeechie.com and clicking “materials”. 

 As a school-based SLP, the end of the spring semester sometimes feels like a blur of paperwork and meetings. Sometimes, it gets stressful. I’ve got a list of 5 things you can do to make a difficult day a little better: 

1. Have a pizza delivered to your speech room! Sure, you may have a mountain of progress reports to write, but now you also have a pizza to eat while you write them. Ta da! Better day already! (There is a place near my school that sells pizzas with gluten free crust, dairy free, soy-free cheese, and tons of veggies! Plus organic sauce. Pictured below) 

2. Walk out! Outside, that is :) Even just a few moments of fresh air will be helpful. If you can, take some students out for therapy at a picnic table instead of in the speech room! 

3. Look through your happy file. What? You don’t have a happy file? Make one! A happy file is a file of career highlights - items from work that make you smile. Every time you get something like a kind thank you note from a parent, a congratulatory email from your boss, or a smiling photo of a student on the day they graduate from speech, put it in a file! Label it “happy file”. Look at it on rough days to remind yourself of why you love your job so much. 

4. Hug someone! Someone that would be receptive to a hug, of course. :) I’m lucky to work with my best friend, my son, and tons of huggable students. High fives also work. 

5. Incorporate Playdough into your therapy session! Squishing the dough is stress reducing and my students typically behave better when they’re doing a hands-on activity. Not sure how to work play dough into your session? I’ve got a whole blog post about that you can read here. 

It’s 10:45am and you are on your way to your second IEP meeting of the day. You haven’t had time to see your regularly scheduled students much less finish your coffee. By the time you get out of your IEP, you’re dragging. You need fuel. You need a nice little blob of energy to make it through your next few sessions. I’ve got just the recipe for you! And I use the term “recipe” loosely. When I make these things, I just start pouring and mixing and I never measure things so the measurements I’m giving you are approximate. But don't worry - these are easy to make and pretty difficult to mess up. Oh, and did I mention they are healhty-ish? Yep- dairy free, soy free, and gluten free! 

Ingredients: 

1 c. almond meal 

1/4 c. coconut flour

2 ripe bananas

1 c. nut butter (I like cashew butter best!)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 bag of dairy-free, soy free, gluten free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand is my favorite) 

1 little splash of coconut milk 

Directions: 

Mix almond meal and coconut flour together. Then add bananas and smush them with a fork. Add eggs, nut butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Last, add the chocolate chips. If it seems dry, add a splash of coconut milk. If it seems too runny, add a little more coconut flour. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. 

These treats don’t spread out and get crispy like regular cookies. They keep their blobby shape and have a deliciously chewy texture. They have just the right amount of protein and sweetness to give you the kick you need between sessions or before heading in to another hour-long meeting. Oh, and they also pair well with a big glass of wine after work :) 

The Frenzied SLPs are linking up to share new things we will be trying this year. Something that will make our lives a little easier. Mine sounds small and simple, but will make a big difference in my life. Ready for it? In 2016 I will try to wake up 20 minutes earlier every day! 

I have a terrible habit of rolling out of bed after snoozing my alarm several times and rushing out the door, often skipping breakfast or forgetting something. This year I want to wake up 20 minutes earlier so I can ease into my morning with a cup of coffee and feel more prepared to start the day. 

Teaching tongue placement for speech sounds can be tricky! I have always enjoyed shaping Play-Doh into a tongue shape to teach placement (you can grab free tongue-making instructions in my TPT shop), and I have always enjoyed playing Crocodile Dentist in articulation sessions as a reinforcement. So, I am surprised it took me so long to put the two activities together! 

We molded tongues out of Play-Doh and discussed placement for our target sounds. Then, we stuck that tongue in Mr. Crocodile’s mouth! I molded the tongue and asked questions such as “What sound is he making? K or T?” and students answered. I was so happy to hear students explaining how they knew the answer! One student said “He is saying K because the tongue is up in the back!” Moments like those are what I live for in therapy sessions. The kid gets it. And is beaming ear to ear as he explains how to say his target sound. 

We left the tongue in the crocodile’s mouth during drill practice as a visual reminder. 

I am linking up with the Frenzied SLPs again to share some easy Halloween activities you can do this week in therapy! You’ll need candy for these. 

(1) Describe the Mystery Candy

Skills Targeted: Formulating questions, syntax, turn taking, inferencing, using adjectives to describe

In a small group of students, give one kid a piece of candy in a brown paper lunch bag. This student peeks in and sees what candy it is, but doesn’t tell the others. The other students have to ask questions to get clues about what is in the bag. Is it chocolate? Is it chewy? Is it pink? The student holding the bag answers the questions. Whoever guesses correctly gets another mystery bag and the game starts again. 

(2) Candy Comparison Taste Test

Skills Targeted: Comparing and contrasting, using adjectives to describe, categorization, sentence formation 

Give students a few different candies. They don’t have to be big - maybe one M&M, one candy corn, and one gummy bear. Before a student can eat a candy, they have to describe it. In detail. They need to tell me the color, shape, size. How does it feel? Can you squish it in your hand or is it hard? Does it roll across the table or stay in one place? We talk a LOT about the candy. Then they can eat it. Actually, they usually eat a different piece that hasn’t been bounced and rolled around the table. Once we have described & tasted all of the candies, we compare and contrast them. Which one was stickier? Which one tasted better? Which ones were round? Which ones were sour? 

(3) Super Sweet Following Directions

Skills Targeted: using prepositions, following multi-step directions, sequencing

Give students a small pile of assorted candies. Then, give them directions for what to do with them. That’s it. Super easy. For example, “Put the chocolate bar under the lollipop” or “Before you pick up the candy corn, shake the box of nerds”. It is amazing how attentive and eager to follow directions my students are when their reward is a ziplock of candy at the end of the session! 

I don’t give my students candy and treats all the time. Many weeks are spent doing worksheets, flashcards, story activities, and such. So, I don’t feel bad about spoiling them with sweet treats during Halloween week. And just a reminder: Check to make sure that the students don’t have any food allergies before doing activities like the ones listed above.  Head on over to Annie Doyle’s blog to see the rest of the Frenzied SLP linky or to link up yourself!  Have a spook-taclular week! 

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It’s fall, y’all! The Frenzied SLPs are blogging about fall themed articulation therapy this week! I’m happy to be linking up to share some of my favorite way to address articulation during these lovely fall months. 

1. Outdoor Therapy

When the weather is nice, I like to take my students outside and have therapy on the picnic table near the playground. I just pack up whatever I was going to use (flashcards, games, worksheets, etc.) and set it up outside! My therapy room is small and windowless so getting out in the fresh fall air can make an ordinary therapy session a fun and refreshing experience. The change in scenery also provides many opportunities for using target speech sounds in conversational speech. Focusing on the /l/ sound? Just Look at the Leaves that are faLLing aLL over the pLayground! :) 

2. Fall Articulation Challenges

Articulation challenges are kind of my thing, so I couldn’t write this post without including them! I like to challenge my students to achieve 100 productions of their target sound during a therapy session. I do this using my (FREE) challenge mats! Fall themed mats that I have available include the Football Challenge, Candy Corn Challenge and the Pumpkin Challenge. Students earn a candy corn or candy pumpkin (or just color one in on their mat) for every production. These mats have always been extremely motivating to my students which is why I continue to develop new challenges and use them year after year. 

3. Fall Books

My first couple of years as an SLP, I didn’t use many books with my articulation groups. I felt like reading a book was wasting precious drill time and I often just pulled out the flashcards and got right to work when my articulation groups came in. Now, I love using books with my articulation groups. My older students that are working on their target sounds in sentences and connected speech can often read the book to me while I take data! My younger students or students working at the word level enjoy listening to the story and then practicing the words on the page that have their sound in it. I have a large collection of fall books in my therapy room. Some of my favorites are:

-The Ugly Pumpkin 

-Pumpkin Jack

-Pumpkin Town

-Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie

-The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Articulation therapy is my favorite. I enjoy my language groups, but I always find that I am more excited about the artic sessions. And fall is my favorite time of year. So, articulation therapy in the fall is one of the best parts of my job and something I always look forward to. 

To see the whole linky or to add your own link, head to Annie’s blog, Doyle Speech Works!

As school starts back up, I am getting myself ready for another year of fun, learning, and of course data collection! I am thrilled to be joining the Frenzied SLPs to share with you some tips for making data collection quicker and easier!

1. Make a Data Binder

I know that some people have had success keeping data sheets in individual student files. I start the year off my making one big data binder for all of the students I see. I use tabbed dividers to organize the data sheets by grade. That way, when I am seeing a group of two or three students I can easily flip to their sheet to take data without having to fumble with files/folders. My binder just sits on my table all day with all of the data sheets I need tucked inside. 

2. Stack the Cards

Whenever I use flashcards with my students we make two piles on the table. One stack for accurate responses and one for inaccurate responses. At the end of the session, we count them up, get a quick percentage, and scribble it down in the data binder. This works best with Webber cards or something like that but I also do this with the cards when we play Candy Land. I like doing this because I don’t have to have my data binder open on the table the whole time. I can be totally focused on the session and then just deal with the data quickly at the end. 

3. Make the kids take their own data! 

Yep. I make my students take their own data sometimes. And they don’t mind! If I give them a dry erase marker and tell them they can write on the table they get SO EXCITED. Sometimes I tell them whether to put a “plus” or a “minus” and sometimes during articulation groups, we work on self-correction and awareness and I let them tell me if they think they produced it accurately or not. Either way, they enjoy picking a marker and writing on the table. They even enjoy wiping the marks off the table at the end of the session! Sometimes the littlest things are the most motivating!

To make data collection a little easier for you this year, I’ve got a free data binder cover and data sheets for you in my TPT shop! 

These firework crafts are great for getting into the 4th of July spirit! They are listed in order of difficulty level, starting out with the easiest one. 

1. LEGO FIREWORKS

This is by far the easiest way to make fireworks! Very little prep time and super simple clean up. Simply pick out all of the red, white, and blue Legos and put them into a container. Then, instruct the child to make a firework! You can target  multi-step directions or basic concepts (size, color) by providing specific instructions such as “Add a big blue Lego” or “Add a red Lego before adding a white Lego”. 

2. POPSICLE STICK FIREWORKS

This craft requires three popsicle sticks per child, paint (red, white, and blue), hot glue, and glitter. Target sequencing events by having presenting a finished firework and asking them to think about what would need to be done first, second, third, etc. Paint the sticks, add glitter and hot glue them together! We added a star sticker on top for extra sparkle. 

3. PLAY-DOH FIREWORKS 

This one is messy. Messy, but fun. Grab a container of white Play-Doh and add red and blue glitter. Knead the glitter into the Play-Doh until it is evenly distributed. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out stars. Add star shaped confetti (available at party and craft stores) and voila! Sparkly Play-Doh fireworks! 

4. PERLER BEAD FIREWORKS

Perler beads bring back memories of my childhood and I was excited to use them to make fireworks with my little ones. I had forgotten the time and patience required to align these tiny beads onto the base! I would recommend this craft for older kids. My 7-year old LOVED it and successfully made the fireworks pictured. My 3-year old became very frustrated. This craft also requires using an iron to fuse the beads together so be cautious that little ones do this with an adult. 

I spotted pinwheels at Target for $1 a piece this week. It’s funny how SLPs don’t see things for what they are. I didn’t see a regular pinwheel. I saw a therapy activity! Oh, the possibilities! I left with five of them. 

Of course I could use them to work on airflow, but I also envisioned them being used in articulation therapy groups. So, I grabbed my velcro dots and got to work. There are six petals on each pinwheel, so I printed out six pictures of items that started with my target sound, /k/ (I used Smarty Symbols). I stuck a scratchy velcro dot on each pinwheel petal and a fuzzy dot on each picture. Ta da! Done! Now to get to the therapy part. 

To use the modified pinwheel in therapy, simply have the child blow the pinwheel as usual and watch it spin around. When it stops, whichever picture is on top is the one that has to be practiced. The child practices the word several times and then blows the pinwheel again! This activity is very simple and also very portable. This gives you the opportunity to use it outdoors, in a therapy gym, on a bench outside the cafeteria...anywhere! And because the pinwheels are so inexpensive, you can give one to parents and encourage home practice. Using a pinwheel in speech therapy is a lovely change from flashcards and makes for a fun decoration in the classroom when not in use. 

Summer is here and it is 93 degrees today in Georgia! While I believe that kids need plenty of unstructured free-play time, I like sneaking in word-practice activities when I can. Today while playing with my own soon-to-be second grader, we came up with a summer time game called Water Balloon Words! This is a perfect game for parents to play with their children or for SLPs to use with students in summer therapy. You’ll need some chalk, water balloons, and a towel (because you’re going to get wet!).

First, write target words in circles on the ground with chalk. Then, hand the child a pre-filled water balloon and ask them to toss in onto the ground. The student has to say the word that corresponds with the circle the balloon lands in. For articulation practice, I would have the student say the word 5-10 times. I was doing sight word practice with my son so I only had him say the word twice.

But what about prep time?? Yes, filling all those water balloons and making the game board with chalk does take some time. However, it doesn’t take any longer than printing, cutting, and laminating an activity from Teachers Pay Teachers & the kids will thank you for it!

A wet, active, outdoor activity like this is not only extremely motivating for little ones, it also gives them so many opportunities to practice language skills! My three year old was not practicing the target words, but he was eagerly requesting “more balloons” and describing “big splash!” And with the heat we are having this summer, I was happy to get a little wet!

Warm weather makes water play the perfect summer activity for speech and language development! So grab any large container (or a fancy water table), fill it with water, and start having fun! Here are a few ideas for you: 

1. “Duck, please!”  Work on requesting items and asking for assistance with wind-up water toys.

2.  Work on basic concepts! Focus on size, color, and shape by using  sponges. You can cut brightly colored dish sponges into shapes and have students match them or sort them into piles. 

3. Articulation practice! Water toys are particularly great for working on /s/ and s-blends. Rubber ducks need to be squeezed so they can squirt water, which is exactly what my little man is doing in the picture above! You can also target /f/ by finding fish in the water.

4. Sink or float? Have students collect a few items from around the speech room or playground and have them predict whether they will sink or float when plopped into the water bin. Of course, you will want to check the items before they get tossed in just to make sure they are water proof!

5. Adjectives! Water play allows for lots of describing. Is the water cold? Are your hands wet? Is the rubber duck slippery? 

Hands on experiences such as water play hold students’ attention while also allowing for many communication opportunities. 

Play-Doh is great for use during speech therapy sessions because it is cheap, fun, and can be used to target pretty much any speech and language objective.  I also love the way it smells. Here are some of the ways I use it in therapy, organized by target skill.

Articulation & Phonology

1.     Teach tongue placement by making tongues out of play-doh! This helps build awareness of the different parts of a tongue and provides a visual for tongue shape.  I have found that this works particularly well for teaching /r/ and have a free printable for teaching /r/ using play-doh that you can grab in my TpT shop.

2.     Make a Play-Doh Articulation Pizza! I use the Play-Doh Pizza Smash product by Courtney Gragg of PSST! Let’s Talk. This product has mats targeting 23 different phonemes! You squish play-doh pepperonis on for every accurate production.

3.     Jessica Solari from Consonantly Speaking also has Playdough Mats for Articulation in her TpT shop. These mats present a situation that targets a specific phoneme! For example, to practice /s/ someone is sunbathing and they need a sun in the sky! and the student practices their sound as they add the items to the mat with Play-Doh.

4.     Use Play-Doh balls on the table to illustrate syllables in multisyllabic words! The child can squish their finger into the balls as they say each syllable. Practicing the word “strawberry”? Make three little balls and squish-squish-squish!  

5. Spider Smush mats are fun because students can smush the spider after practicing their target sound! When they are done, they can admire their mat full of dead spiders. Gross? Yep! But kids love that kind of thing. 

Sequencing  & Following Directions

1.     Use simple shape-cutters and a rolling pin to make Play-Doh cookies! Have students talk about what you need to do first, second, etc. When they have finished their cookies, have them re-tell the steps!

2.     Target following directions by giving specific cookie decorating instructions. For example, “Roll some pink Play-Doh into a ball and put in on top of  your cookie”

Answering WH Questions

1.     I am crazy about the WH Question Smash Mats by Simply Speech! The student has to answer a question before smashing a Play-Doh ball into the circle that contains the answer!

2.     Make a few simple shapes out of Play-Doh (a snake, a ball, etc.) and then ask questions about them. Where do you play with a ball? What does a snake eat?  

Fluency

Use Play-Doh to illustrate bumpy vs. smooth speech for fluency therapy!  Make a bumpy line and a smooth line on the table! Grab my product titled Play Dough Fluency: Activities for Children Who Stutter in my TPT shop!

Social Skills

Smartmouth SLP Heidi Britz has a collection of Social Skills Squish mats that target skills such as maintaining appropriate personal space, having a calm body at school, and thinking about other people.

Behavior/Reinforcement

1.     Play-Doh is a great behavior reinforcement tool! It can help keep fidgety hands busy so students can focus on the lesson. I have had success by giving a small blob of it to each student at the beginning of the session with instructions to keep in in their hand and squish it quietly while listening . (It has also resulted in students squishing Play-Doh into their clothing so really it just depends on the kid!)

2.     TpT seller Cats Say Meow has a set of Behavior Reinforcement Play-Doh mats. I am a crazy cat lady so I am particularly fond of her “feed the kitty” mat!

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM)! This is the perfect time for speech-language pathologists to increase awareness about our profession and scope of practice. Sure, we could make a powerpoint and present it at the next faculty meeting but we are more creative than that! Instead of just providing information, what if we make them ask questions? What if we leave them curious about our profession and eager to learn more about it? That leads me my list of 5 silly ways school-based SLPs can increase awareness during BHSM.

 (1) Thicken the coffee in the break room

(2) Write your messages and emails in IPA

(3) Ask colleagues whether they produce retroflexed or bunched /r/

(4) Change your Facebook profile picture to a picture of vocal folds

(5) Bake cookies and leave them in the teacher lounge… along with instructions on how to swallow them safely (chin tuck!)

 When your coworkers ask you about these crazy things you’ve done, that is your opportunity to teach them about what you do! Engage in a discussion about the importance of our job and the variety of areas we are trained in.  Because let’s face it – nobody wants to stay after school and read a powerpoint.

Disclaimer: Don’t worry work-friends, I won’t actually mess with the coffee :)

(P.S. If you’d like to be extra festive at work this month, check out hundreds of speech pathology shirts, mugs and more at peachiespeechie.com! They are great conversation starters!) 

I’m sure glad this is a bloghop because I don’t have much of a poker face! I’m happy to be teaming up with my SLP friends to bring you this fun hop & chance to win a $50 giftcard!  

 So here are my two facts and a fib – can you spot the lie?!

 A)  I have 4 tattoos

B)  I can’t look at the seeds in a bell pepper because it grosses me out

C)  I built cat ledges around my living room for my cats to walk on

 Take your best guess! For clues, you can check out my instagram page @thepeachiespeechie

 Hop to the next blogger, Speech to the Core to see if you can spot her fib? 

EDITED TO REVEAL THE TRUTH!!! 

A) FACT. I do have 4 tattoos! My first (and biggest!) tattoo is a large dragon on my back. I can’t wait to get more soon. I’m fortunate to have a job that doesn’t mind a little ink. :)

B) FACT. I have Trypophobia. It is an intense reaction to small things kind of bunched up together. Pepper seeds, honeycomb, etc. just disgust me.