Quick Craft #1

I am trying to tackle a few of my pinterest inspired crafts. This one came from all of those eye sticks that teachers are posting for reading. 

The alphabet stick project is useful in a couple of ways:

    1) Sound-letter correspondence

    2) Simple CVC words (though I don't have any duplicate letters)

    3) Most importantly naming tasks. Tell me all of the things you can think of that start with A, B, C, etc....

    4) Sorting tasks with articulation sounds for sound discrimination.  

All of my materials came from the dollar store with a total cost of $2. I just had to peel and stick the letters to the foam sticks. It took a grand total of 5 minutes to accomplish this project.


P.S. I just watched the documentary below and found it to be fascinating. It's all about perspective no matter what the delay/disorder happens to be.

“Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” ― Dr. Seuss

Greetings world! Blue W and Strong R are pleased to meet you. 

I love tricks that come to me at the spur of the moment, particularly ones for articulation. I love articulation therapy. It's a challenge that never gets old as kids can do some pretty funky stuff with their sound errors. 

Challenger= /r/ initial placement with two kiddos in the same group.

Normally, I have a peer in the group model the correct production of /r/ for them to start off. We use the mini mighty mouth to talk about how our tongue gets ready for the sound (I have found that putting playdoh on the roof of the mouth helps them understand just how far back their tongue is supposed to be when it touches the roof of their mouth) and the mirror. This has helped, but I am getting sick and tired of the old "talk like a pirate" example when the productions aren't good. So, I came up with the brilliant idea  of telling them that the /r/ sound is heavy. Like really, super-duper, awful heavy...They have to be strong "muscle men" to lift the /r/ with their tongues. It started with me "attempting" to lift the table while I said the /r/ in isolation. I lifted it up just a touch when I said the correct production and struggled when I said a /w/ instead. It surprised them to start with, but the words "muscle" and "strong" quickly invoked some sort of manly competition. 

Make that /r/ strong!!! You can do it!
P.S. "Mouthy" is a .25 cent find from Goodwill that I let the kids share while I use my mouth puppet 

I had them practice their "strong" /r/'s by lifting random things in the room while phonating. Glue bottles and tape dispensers seem to work fairly well. When they are ready to attempt the task without the tactile cue, you can just visually cue them by pretending to lift something heavy or pointing between your designated "strong" and "weak" production symbols. I use the action figures but you can easily use pictures. It has worked like a charm so far.

P.S. I totally told my kids that Santa watches them from the cameras in the hallways today. It seems like every group has been fighting over whether Santa is real or not except for my kindergarten groups. The Santa cameras cured the problem real quick. Yay for being able to focus on speech again! (Though I do feel somewhat bad for lying...lol.)

A blast from grad school past..Language Acquisition charts

I'm looking back at my old graduate school work right now. I was so proud of compiling all of these charts when I first started.  

Preschool Phonology Chart- Syllabic Structure Processes

Preschool Phonology Chart- Phonological Processes

Preschool Phonology Chart- Sound Acquisition Chart

Preschool Morphology- Brown's 14 Morphemes

Preschool Morphology- Brown's Stages

Preschool Morphology- Additional Features

Preschool Semantics Chart- Semantic Roles

Preschool Semantics Chart- Acquisition Strategies

Preschool Pronouns Chart- Strategies for Acquisition

Preschool Syntax Chart- Embedding

Preschool Syntax Chart- Sentence Development

Preschool Pragmatics Chart- Vocabulary Development

Preschool Pragmatics Chart- Conversational Skills

Preschool Pragmatics- Narrative Skills

What's for lunch?

One of the issues that I struggle with as an SLP (and a less active person in general) is trying to eat healthy. I usually have about 15 minutes to each lunch when all is said and done. This was an epic fail last year as I turned to leftover pizza and calorie laden snack foods.

At the beginning of this school year, I made it my mission to find a healthier alternative so I can re-lose the weight that I have gained from the past three years. (I lost 40lbs back in college so I know it can be done with hard effort and limiting my favorite stress eating foods.)

Here are a few of the things I have tried:

Not a lot of tuna but decent.

Probably my favorite choice

My 2nd favorite

The key to frozen foods for me is to find ones with lower amounts of sodium. My family has a long history of heart disease and I don't want to be another number on the list. Healthy Choice has some of the better selections in that requirement. However, I get sick of eating them all of the time so I try Smart Ones to add a little variety.

I recently started back walking to get more exercise. I'm not the running type and am too embarrassed to drag myself into a gym at this point. It is really hard to get the motivation to do any kind of exercise after work, which has definitely been an unexpected struggle. Ah, life!

Anyone have any suggestions or stories of how they have found a healthy balance?

My thoughts on....the CASL versus the CELF-4

This post is inspired by all of the re-evaluations I have to do this year and the ones I have already gotten done.

At my school, I test the majority of the students with the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- 4th Edition (CELF-4). It was the test that I used for the majority of graduate school and the only multi-topic one that I have on hand at my school. (I have to borrow everything else from the other SLPs). Needless to say, I have a pretty good relationship now with this test. I really loved this assessment tool when I first started out. It covers syntax, following directions, retell, and pragmatics to hit the high points. My feelings towards the test have dampened a little over time as I've come to realize how much of an emphasis it places on syntax. It is not easy for students from lower socio-economic statuses or English as a Second Language to do well on this assessment. Granted, the test isn't supposed to be easy per say...but it really makes some of the kids frustrated. The students I test are so stressed about every test they take and I feel really bad for them as the tasks get increasing harder. I usually give them "brain breaks" to help ease some of the tension.  

So, I decided to give the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language a try during my most recent re-evaluation.  

I really like the larger variety of subtests that it offers and the flexibility. It is still going to challenge students but I think the variety lessens some of the frustration. My student also seemed more confident than many of the ones who endure the CELF-4. The easy chart that tells you what to do for each age group is a life saver:

Age	3-0 to 4-11	5-0 to 6-11	7-0 to 10-11	11-0 to 12-11	13-0 to 17-11	18-0 to 21-11
Comprehension of Basic Concepts	C	S
Antonyms		C	C	C	S	S
Synonyms			S	S	C	C
Sentence Completion	S	S	S	S	S	S
Idiomatic Language				S	S	S
Syntax Construction	C	C	C	S	S	S
Paragraph Comprehension of Syntax	S	C	C	S
Grammatical Morphemes			S	C	S	S
Sentence Comprehension of Syntax				C	S	S
Grammaticality Judgment			S	S	C	C
Nonliteral Language			C	C	C	C
Meaning from Context				S	C	C
Inference			S	S	S
Ambiguous Sentences				S	S	S
Pragmatic Judgment	C	C	C	C	C	C

The hardest part of this test was figuring out the scoring manual. I got really confused with the layout of the scores and had to re-score it after consulting with the other SLPs in my district. That's definitely my biggest complaint with it.

I'm pretty sure I will be experimenting more with the CASL in the months to come. It's always good to open yourself to new tools.

Another post from the wonderful world of manipulatives

I feel like many of my posts are a reflection of how I am building up my "tool box" so why not just show the world the literal one. 

I absolutely love these 3 drawer containers. It was only $3 at Salvation Army and I have another one for paperwork from Goodwill. I taped construction paper to the  inside to hide the contents from little distracted  eyes. The kids NEVER notice it until I pull out a drawer.

These are the figurines that I use for associations. I try to keep the drawers based on their purpose so I don't have to search for specific things. The middle drawer contains items that are too large to fit into my phonics drawers. The top drawer currently houses Christmas stuff. I'll eventually have to use it for extra phonics pieces too.  

Phonics box from an old shop organizer. It's made of out some kind of really heavy metal so it doesn't tip over easily. 

I do actually have a reason for showing you all of these pictures. The figurines are useful in a TON of ways and I got the idea from a category box that the district purchased for one of the previous therapists. I noticed last year that they loved just holding the little objects and it made those items more concrete. The articulation decks and giant Webber book are great, but most of those items are things that my students cannot connect to on a personal basis. I want them to have something solid to connect words to. I started this project last year and it has really grown over the past 3 months. I buy most of my figurines from the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Party City, Paper Factory, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General. I recently picked up three things from Target too. 

Recently, I discovered a new use for my figurines (outside of articulation, categorization, wh- questions, describing activities, and utterance expansions). I am teaching regular and irregular plurals to a bunch of very unimpressed kids. *insert McKayla Maroney faces here*  I could probably try teaching plurals while hanging upside down from a trapeze without success. The only they enjoyed was writing with expo markers which I learned from my plurals activity. I accidentally left the figurines out on my table this week and they wanted to look at them. Well, they aren't going to get to look at them without doing something so I grabbed an Expo and quickly started a sorting activity. They had to tell me whether the item's plural form was a "quiet" s, "noisy" es, or other. I also had them write out the new word. They were laughing and commenting on how many of the items ended up in the -s column by the end of the session. 

A sample of my most recent purchases from Dollar Tree and Target. 

I love random moments of quick inspiration. 

What's in your prize box??

The prize box....

The one item in my room that can bring screams of joy or tears of unhappiness (when they watch a group member get to go and it's not their day).

But, but, but....I want to get a prize too!!!

Apparently, the kids aren't the only ones who stress out over the prize box. The subject of the actual prizes has come up in several discussions among the SLPs in my district. What is appropriate? Is candy better than toys? How often should they get prizes? Where should I get the prizes from?

Here is what I do:

1. Look for discounted items at local party supply stores (namely, the Paper Factory and Party City)
2. Shop the party section of Dollar Tree so I can get larger packs of items
3. Shop the party section of Walmart for discounted items
4. Buy a few hot wheels cars when they are on special at Walmart or Walgreens
5. Buy still packaged McDonald's toys from Goodwill/Salvation Army for .50 cents

My most recent purchases for my prize box. Playdoh, hot wheels, rings, watch, party packs, and mini purses.

Some stuff that I've held back for a month. I don't like to put everything in there at one so there is always a mix of things.
Here you can see crowns, lockets, a craft kit, frame, and jump rope. 

I am terrified of buying candy for my prize box due to the unknown. There is just too much of a risk of giving a child with allergies the very thing that they aren't supposed to have or they get mad when their friend picks out something they can't eat. I don't want or need that kind of drama in my life. The only candy I will give my students are Smarties as reinforcers for kindergartners. The older kids just get sticker charts.  

My students have to earn twenty stickers to visit the prize box. They have the opportunity to earn two per session (basically 15 minutes of good behavior towards each). This roughly equates to one trip per six weeks with the exception of Christmas when they all get a free trip. They also have the opportunity to earn an extra day via my "Kiss your brain" jar. They have to work together to fill the jar with 400 pom pom balls. Most of the other SLPs in my district have a 5 sticker policy. I guess I'm just stingy but I don't want my students to become so dependent on the prize box. It shouldn't be their sole motivation (neither should the games and that is a battle that I fight constantly as is).