Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble

I love Halloween. There's no real rhyme or reason to why I love the spookiest holiday out there when I'm a total chicken who screams at the sight of even the smallest of the small spiders. The only Halloween movie I'll watch without wimping out is Double, Double, Toil and Trouble featuring the Olson twins.

I have several fun things to share with you this month, but I thought I would kick it off with an idea born from Walmart. 

I found these little zombies in the big bins of Halloween party goods. I couldn't resist buying three packs (of 4) for .97 cents each. I blame liking creepy finger puppets on my grandmother. She always had a supply of them (aliens) when I was younger. It brought back lots of pleasant childhood memories, which is one of my rules of thumb when shopping for therapy supplies. Children can still find wonder in these tiny little objects even if we do spend more time waving I-pads and computers in their faces rather than actual toys. The zombies will serve mostly as a reinforcer for the younger groups, but my older students will have to earn them in a more game-like approach. 

I created a short file called, Zombies Among Us, which focuses on syntax. It's black and white so my students can color the zombie face for the correct part of speech using Colorful Semantics. We're focusing on nouns, verbs, and adjectives so the color choice is limited to orange, yellow, and purple.  I also threw in some describing tasks in the hopes of getting them to spark up conversations with each other. They earn a zombie for every 3-5 cards they complete. I plan on letting them swap a task card by giving up a zombie in the hopes of avoiding the terrible "I don't know." 

If you are daring enough to witness my artistic capabilities with the zombie images, you can download the freebie here.  

Vocabulary is going to the leaves.....

All the leaves are falling down

Falling down, falling down.

All the leaves are falling down,

It is fall time.

They are yellow, red and brown,

Red and brown, red and brown.

They are yellow, red and brown.

It is fall time.

Take the leaves and crunch them up,

Crunch them up, crunch them up.

Take the leaves and crunch them up.

It is fall time.

One bag of fabric leaves from the dollar store, one black sharpie, and Googling fall vocabulary words.

Deciding which words are Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. 

Write on the leaves with paper underneath in case of ink bleeding through the thin fabric.

Wrap them up and pick some books.

Use them with the Expanding Expression Tool.

These are the ones I'm leaning towards this year:
Fall Book List
1. Mouse's First Fall (PreK-1st)
2. Let it Fall (PreK-1st)
3. It's Fall (PreK-1st)
4. Leaf Man (PreK-3rd)
5. Fall Mixed Up (PreK-?)

Thanksgiving
1. The Littlest Pilgrim (PreK-2nd)
2. Ten Fat Turkeys (PreK-1st)
3. I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie (PreK-2nd)
4. Thanksgiving Is... (2nd-5th)
5. If You Were At the First Thanksgiving (2nd-5th)
6. If You Sailed on the Mayflower (2nd-5th)

It's smashing time!

I like to believe that there is a little hidden superhero in all of us. Mankind is able to overcome some terrible stuff --plagues, wars, discrimination-- and we are able to eventually celebrate our victory over the adversity in our lives. Children are no less concerned with "good" and "evil/bad" than adults even though they typically have a much less cynical view of the world around them. 

So, I am embracing the tiny speech superheros in my life as they struggle (and succeed) in overcoming the challenges of articulation and language delays. 

One new superhero story picked up on a recent Goodwill shopping trip for .75 cents. 

The alphabet isn't going to miss out on the superhero action either. We're going to learn about everything superhero style. (Amazon has a pretty good selection of superhero books.)

Hulk hands for superhero sound smashing fun....

We're also smashing objects that don't belong in a category. My older kids will soon be smashing the parts of speech too. There are just so many fun things to smash in our language laboratory this year. 

An ode to chipper chats....

I have been slowly amassing Super Duper's Chipper Chat series every time they have a 50% off sale. I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on them...

 I was a little disappointed with the Auditory Processing Chipper Chat. It comes with a book & CD that have all the task cards rather than the pre-made laminated cards we're all used to. As a school-based therapist, it is not exactly the most convenient thing in the world to make & laminate cards for a store bought material. I had to back all of my cards with poster paper and try to make them evenly cut. Not cool, Super Duper, just not cool. I still haven't managed to get all of the cards made and it's almost October. However, I do have to say that the cards do have some good activities even if they have been a pain in the behind. My favorite are the recalling sentences and paragraphs as you can tie those into wh-questions.

 The Social Skills Chipper Chat comes with various picture scenes and little paragraphs in its handy-dandy manual. I printed out copies of the little stories and have adhered them to poster board as well. Once they are laminated, I plan on hooking them to a key ring for easy use. I do like the targets with this product and the bright visuals. I plan on using it to supplement my social skills lessons so the kids don't get sick of coloring books.

 The Wh- Questions Chipper Chat. Honestly, I haven't looked at this one yet because I've been trying to make cards for the other two. It comes with a manual instead of target cards as well. I think by this point, I may as well admit that I read more about what each product targets than the fine print that talks about the cards being something you have to fix on your own. Part of me really just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. I know it has gotten outstanding reviews on their site as well as by other bloggers. I'm just going to trust their opinions and my own positive experience with my district's copy of Wh- bingo (I LOVE that game).

 The Vocabulary Chipper Chat.....How many ways can I say how much I love this product? Probably not enough. I don't use any of my Chipper Chats on a regular basis as I like maintaining their novelty and I just prefer book based therapy. However, the Vocabulary one has terrific cards that can be used for multiple targets. I like the category cards as I use those to talk about similarities and differences too. The context clue one is a little too hard for my students right now, but hopefully we'll work our way up to it this year.

 The Artic Chipper Chat is the most used out of all of my collection. I've had it for about a year now and love using it for phrase and sentence level practice. My articulation groups are always very competitive. I don't know if that's because I have them keep tallies with me or if it's just that entertaining. Whatever the case, I love using this as a motivator when drills get to be too much.

The best part about the Chipper Chats are the magnetic chips and the wand. Super Duper even sales them separately so you could make your own boards if you want.

An exercise in field trip confusion...

I have a student who shouts field trip whenever a bus is around. It doesn't make much sense since that grade hasn't gone on a field trip yet. They aren't even planning one in the near future. Chalk it up to just being one of those odd "teachable moments" that thankfully comes with a co-teacher. We're both researching field trip activities and how to differentiate it from the regular school day. 

First off, I made a coloring book about a zoo field trip. The last three pages are movable pieces that you can color and glue to craft sticks. It is available for free on the Miss Thrifty SLP facebook page for fans-- just look for the fan freebie tab. (It's just an experiment to see if I can actually get the app to work.)

Secondly, I've been browsing the internet to find picture books about field trips.

1. Blue's Fruit Field Trip.

2. Franklin's Class Trip.

3. Our First Field Trip. 

4. Clifford's Class Trip.

5. Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip.

6. The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon. 

7. Field Trip Day. 

8. The Berenstain Bears' Class Trip. 

9. The Complete Zoo Adventure. 

10. Amelia Bedelia's First Field Trip. 

Versus bus books

1. School bus. 

2. Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

3. I'm your bus. 

4. The School Bus Driver from the Black Lagoon. 

Here is a helpful A-Z handout on Adaptive Books. I found a book on Tar Heel Reader about going to the Zoo and How do you get to school? I really like taking actual photographs and turning them into books. I can't do that for this lesson so Tar Heel Reader helps make up for that. 

P.S. For those of you working on Medicaid, I also have another paperwork freebie for you. Grab your copy of Medicaid Checklist here.

Love it and list it: Vocabulary Edition

When I think of working on vocabulary goals, I always try to reflect on ways I learned new words as a child. Did I always enjoy sitting through a book? No. There were times when I just wanted to go outside and play with the kindling stack in the garage. 

I admit that I am a huge fan of books to target most language goals. There are not many sessions where I don't pull out a book to target a goal in some manner. They are my number one go-to with my two DIY crafts coming in tied for second place: Story Rope and EET circles. However, I also love to watch my younger students come out of their shells through play. It's an opportunity for me to really see the things that have stuck and things that might need some help. Also, I have several students that will simply shut down because they feel intimidated by adults. My solution to targeting a versatile range of vocabulary for K-1st graders is Dollar Tree figurines (and yard sale knick-knacks). It's just a much more laid back approach that they simply can't resist.  

Beginning of 2012-2013 school year with my one little container.

My collection has grown considerably with every dollar store trip...lol 

As far as my favorite purchased material, I would have to say that Super Duper's Vocabulary Chipper Chat is my favorite for my 2nd-4th graders. I splurged and bought several of their items while they were on sale. I like the Vocabulary Chipper Chat the best out of what I have now. The cards are organized by target and the magnetic chips are a great motivation for those competitive kids. I end up using the cards for multiple concepts and pull in my EET circles when needed. I think it puts a little more organization into days when nothing seems to go right.
 

Conversation junction, what's your function?

It's always fun when you have to figure out how to combine teaching two seemingly unrelated things to a group. My brain may as well be permanently set on School House Rock. I'm teaching grammar and social skills in one thirty minute block. It's not the hardest thing to combine, but I always end up wondering if there is a more efficient way of teaching both at once. My chief concern is that my students are going to get lost in the sea of rules that govern both topics. The best way I know how to address the two areas with equal focus is to make all of my social skills activities based on writing tasks. 

Conversation Junction is similar in format to the My Feelings Diary that I recently made. I wanted to keep them complimentary so my students will be familiar with the style even though this one is more geared towards upper elementary. It's one less thing on their cognitive load if they already have an idea of my expectations.

Grab a copy of Conversation Junction here.