Bobbing our way into Spring!!!
I knew I should do something “springy” in my speech room. I just didn’t want to go all flowers and birds. So I decided to use an app called Bobbleshop. Here’s the almost completed result: (I don’t know if I can get my whole caseload on one side of my door but I’m going to bobble as many as I can!)
The green grass was cut from Smart-Fab. I was lucky to win several rolls of this material on their Facebook page. The letters and cutouts were free from our school supply room.
The Bobbleshop app was free when I found it. They have other versions you can check-out too.My students are in grades K-3rd and we had a lot of fun with this activity. I could see with older students taking more time and fine tuning the faces to really look like themselves. Or how about taking an actor, cartoon character, etc. and creating them … then posting them and have others guess who.
My therapy goals: (yea I really did have some)
1. following directions
2. turn taking
3. choosing parts and deciding if they were making them look the same or different from their real self
4. understanding vocabulary and concepts- bobble head, giggle, larger, smaller, darker, lighter
5. emotions- eyebrows, eyes and mouth can make different expressions
6. joint attention- it was fun to see the kids help each other and giggle together
7. humor- is it silly or not silly, one of my students just didn’t understand why others were laughing and why it was funny so that was a whole lesson (to be expanded upon)
8. I am going to print off smaller versions and use these as characters in stories, game pieces and whatever else pops into my twisted brain. I’m thinking Mad Lib like on the whiteboard. I also have items from Think-a-lot that I use to create stories and including these cute characters will add a new twist.
So take this idea and add your own twist!
Cindy
My ABC’s Favorites from 2012
2012 may not have been my best year but I’m keeping positive and hoping for only the best in 2013 for all! Reflecting back I do have a number of things that helped me in my therapy sessions this past year.
is for APPS: This is a hard one to narrow down to only a few-So in no particular order and not necessarily new in 2012 here we go…
Custom Boards– my go to app to create materials. I like the flexibility to use the symbols within the app, adding your own pictures or finding pictures on google. I can even make materials within a therapy session with the students, save it and print it for them to take home immediately.
Rainbow Sentences – an app that helped my students on so many levels: syntax, following directions and for a couple it motivated them to verbalize.
Articulation Scenes – yes I use many traditional articulation apps but this one is different- my students begged to play this one! They loved earning trophies and wanted to do all the sound scenes even though those that were not their sound errors.
Social Quest– an app that helps work through a variety of social scenarios – I like that there is not one correct answer and allows for flexibility
Conversationbuilder Teen – this is an app geared for older students and I used this more with clients I see in the speech clinic. I loved how the conversations looked like text messages and were in teen language. The version I used for the students at my school is called Conversation Builder.
Story Pals – is a reading comprehension app for short stories and follows with a quiz. You can even create your own stories and quizzes.
Question Sleuth– this app can be used to work on categories or asking questions to decide what item was hiding the star. You can add your own images and create your own categories.
Talking Train is a new app from all4mychild. I use it for sequencing, vocabulary and storytelling. You can draw a picture or add an image on 3 train cars. Record a story or words for each train car and tap go to send the train on its way.
Syntax City – an app to work on pronouns, plurals and more. I like how you can have a group of students working on different skills and levels at the same time. My students were so diligent and proud to see their report cards improve after each session. For my less verbal kiddos I used apps by Hamaguchi.
is for Books and Blogs:
I love my Kindle app. I have downloaded many free books for my reading pleasure. But also free ones to use with kids in therapy. One source (more for me than therapy) that shows free apps is- BookBub on Facebook. Another source I use is Amazon and search for free kindle books for kids- lots of choices! I also get free book option from the blog No Twiddle Twaddle
There is a plethora of SLP blogs and SLP Facebook pages this past year. I had listed some on the side of my blog but have not been able to keep up with all of them. What a wonderful way to get new ideas and connect with SLPs!
is for Connections:
I work with a wonderful group of SLPs, special educators and regular educators in my school district. This is a shout out to only two of them for making conncections and helping me make it through 2012.
Liz is an Occupational Therapist who allows me to do groups with her. We have worked together long enough what if you were observing a session it might be difficult to tell who is the OT and who is the SLP. We combine motor and language using obstacle courses, theme units, letter of the week and more.
Laura is a special education teacher who has a one of our site based autism classrooms. She is someone who is such a gentle teacher even in the midst of tantrums. We can collaborate about student needs and come up with ideas to work on together. I never worry if I need to change my schedule with her students. I enjoy working within her room and learning from each other.
The other connections that have brought smiles, knowledge and new experiences all came from social media. I have “met” so many SLPs on Speaking of Speech, Perkilou Therapy Group, Facebook and twitter. Meeting many of these SLPeeps and others in person at the ASHA convention was energizing! So shout outs to Mary H. (speech adventures), Sean S (speech techie), Jonathan F, Dean T, Barbara F, Kyle T, Rosie S, Lucy N, Tiffany W, Ramya K, Eric & Kelly S, Jeremy L (speech guy), Shareka B, Kim L (Activity Tailor), Heidi, Meghan, Karen, Jill, Megan S, Milo and more!
One thing I try to remember is you never know how big a small connection can be. A smile, a thank you, holding a door, a “I like your shirt” or stopping by to say hello just might bring a rainbow to someone’s rainy cloudy mood.
Allow me to be a little nostalgic- When I first entered the SLP field I was fresh out if college with my bachelors degree as MN had not yet change the requirement for needed Masters degree. We did not have phones in our rooms, Internet, social media, blogs or TPT sites. If I wanted to consult with another SLP I had to try to get on the one phone in our school and hope I could reach the SLP at her school (almost impossible). OR I could hand write a note and send it out through inter-school mail and wait for a week or so for a response. Now we can connect via many channels: cell phones, texting, Facebook, face time, twitter, email, blogs, etc. So how lucky are we!
is for all the other Speechie Stuff I liked: (nope not listing something for every letter of the alphabet!)
Of all my posts about therapy ideas my favorite was my Reduce, Reuse, Recyle. I think I liked this because it was so spontaneous and the kids really took charge of the sessions. It also made me smile as they tried to figure out directions for right and left as they sat across from each other! Looking at my blogs stats for the past year it looks like the one with the most hits was my Can You Sea Me Now.
TPT– Teachers Pay Teachers is a site where I can purchased great therapy materials for a few dollars or less. Now you can find many SLPs selling creative therapy games, flash cards and more. Many SLPs also sell products on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) site. Check out the resource list that Jenna Rayburn of Speech Room News has put together: SLPs on TPT Resource List
Ok more nostalgia – “back in the day” when I first started working in the schools we either had to wait for a catalog to arrive and hope there was a budget to order materials. The process of submitting a request on NCR forms and hope you could press hard enough to be legible through all three sheets and then wait for a few weeks until the item(s) arrived was often frustrating. The other option was creating your own materials without cute clip art. It might involve hand drawings, creating hand written dittos or if lucky using a typewriter and hope you did not make a typo! The copy machine was rare and it only used this really slippery paper that you could not were really write on.
The other option was a huge projector that would project a page onto the wall. You would trap paper on the wall and trace the picture then color it later. Anyone remember what this was called? I couldn’t find a picture. It was not an overhead projector. It was a huge clunky machine.
I have not been able to post to my blog as I had intended or as often as I had in the past. It doesn’t really matter why but what should be the direction I take now. As I look at all the new blogs it makes me feel comfortable keeping mine to what I feel I do best- provide therapy with a twist. That to me is taking something and turning it into a therapy tool or lesson. So in this widening world of bloggers I will continue to add my own twist.
Happy 2013 everyone! Keep on connecting! I’m off to buy some duct tape to go with a therapy twist I have stuck in my mind!
Yippee Ki Yay!
Maybe this should be titled Yippee Ki YIKES!!! If it’s August then that must mean my summer vacation is galloping away. So I should be fetching me some tissues and fussing. But… I’m not….yet. It’s been a lazy summer with not many projects or routines so I’m looking forward to some structure again. In the meantime my blog has been ignored this summer so I’m getting back on my horse and writing a new post.
I decided to work on my Cowboy/Cowgirl/ Wild West unit. It is only a start but I wanted to share what I have so far. I have more items at school that will be part of this unit so stayed tuned.
I created cards to use for a memory or go fish game.Wild West Lasso game – Print two copies Wild West card backs– print on the backs of the Lasso cards
Another inexpensive resource: Perkilou cowboy set
Here are some links I lassoed to learn how to talk like a true cowboy/girl: Old West Slang; Cowboy Code; Slang and Legends
Apps: Here are some apps to make any cowgirl Appy!
There was a fun Pecos Bill storybook app from Ruckus Media but I do not see it in the app store anymore.
That’s all for now Pardner! It’s time to russell up some grub. More to come later!
LOL or Letting Others Lead or maybe Leaning On Lazy says it best
I had plans…
I had lots of plans…
I thought about lots plans….
So why haven’t I acted on these wonderful plans? Well first motivation went on vacation then diligence kept taking naps so I talked myself into nothing. In the meantime all the plans floating in my head began to materialize like magic. How can this be I wondered? Did I send telepathic thoughts out? Did I mention it in another blog posting? Hmmm… then I remembered that SLPs are creative and often share the same brain. So the ideas I was going to work on this summer have already been created by others. Oh darn oh shucks pass me another margarita tissue. My mottos have always been to share and don’t recreate a new therapy material if it is already out there.
Plan one: to make new cards for my guess who game but guess what there have been others who did this for me! Check out this one: Speech Room News
Plan two: make cards for my candy land game but here are ones that are already completed: Candy Land Language Cards and Candy Land Articulation cards
Plan three-ten: …. I forgot what they were but I’m sure they are brilliant. I’ll just wait until someone else blogs about them. You know it’s nice Letting Others Lead once in a while.
So now that “my plans” are done what is left to do besides sit on the deck, read and enjoy my summer vacation?
So while I am enjoying the day here are some oldies but goodies that you might not have explored on my blog pages.
Articulation Ideas and Materials
I promise to be back with some new ideas once I can find where Motivation is vacationing. In the meantime here are some fun apps I am playing with this summer in private therapy sessions and on my deck!
Articulation Scenes– great way to practice sounds- here is more information I wrote for Smarty Ears on how I use this app: Articulation Scenes Ideas
StoryPals– stories with comprehension quizzes plus you can create your own stories
iBernard HD or iBernard – great for social skills- what is he thinking, what will happen next etc.
Are you BOARD? UNO I am! Plus a giveaway!!!
I love using my iPad and many games are now an app. But I still have all these card and board games in my speech room. Do I give them away? Do I re-purpose them? Do I toss them? Do I leave them in the cabinet and forget about them?
Since my speech room is small I was given a cabinet to use in another location. It is close but I decided to house my theme unit boxes and some of my games. The access to these games is a little tricky since they are stuffed into the “theme cabinet.” I did make a list of the games to help remind me but… I think I need a better system.
I had thought about putting the game boards into picture frames but decided to try some other ideas floating around in my head. So…I took home some of my games that included a game board or that I could pull out of the cabinet easily.
I put hole reinforcements on the two corners of the game board that were being drilled. We left the game boards folded so we were able to drill through two corners at once. Be sure to drill on a board and not your counter! I was lucky enough to have my husband drill the holes. I think he got nervous when I has asked him where the drill was…LOL. But you can easily do this yourself too. After drilling I placed hole reinforcers on the front and back of all holes. Now if this is all you want to do you can hang the boards from hooks in your therapy room and store the pieces in small containers. OR you can check out the next options.
FYI: I did not end up drilling holes in the Hi Ho Cherry-O or Chinese Checkers games. They did not have the flat game boards like the other games shown in the picture above. I’ll come up with something else for them.
I purchased several options to attach to the game boards. The dry eraser sheets and photo magnet sheets were purchased at Office Depot and the felt sheets at JoAnn Fabrics.
Option 1: Dry Erase Sheets
This was super easy- just peel and stick. The sheets can be removed easily. Now here are my ideas for this option.
1. Use as a dry erase board…duh
2. Use as a barrier game- the board bends in half and can be placed horizontally or vertically. You can take turns giving directions on what to draw. You can also use window clings like the spiderman ones shown and place them on the board and give directions. You can even combine these two ideas; for example- draw a house in the middle- put the black spider on the left side of the house- put spiderman on the top of the house, etc. Once the directions are completed you can lay the board flat and look at the results side by side.
spiderman window clings
Option 2: Magnetic Sheets
I used 4″x6″ photo sheets but there are larger versions available which I think would be even better to use. These are not as easy to remove and reuse. This could be uses as a barrier game with magnets.
Option 3: Felt
I used felt sheets and a glue stick and double-sided tape. I used the glue stick but I think the double-sided tape would be enough- just be sure to add tape across the middle and along the edges. This is an option for attaching pictures with felt or velcro backings (the hook part). You could use this to create stories, learn vocabulary, etc.
If you have room you could hang several boards next to each other to create a bulletin board effect. There are calendar dry erase sheets, cork sheets and larger magnetic sheets that would be options to try.
Option 4: Game Savers
While searching for ideas for storing games I came across this site- OBH Enterprises. They have a great product called GameSavers. These are plastic containers that are used to store your game boards and game pieces. The boxes come in three sizes to fit most games created after 1998. The boxes also include stickers to attach to the box for easy identification. I was happy to receive two of the GameSaver boxes to test. So here is my disclaimer: The boxes were given to me for free but my review is based on my own experience.
The larger electric blue GameSaver box is made for games like Monopoly, Life, or Risk etc. It is has a built-in money tray. I was able to put two games in this container- Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders and still close the lid. It measures 16 x 11 x 2.5 inches The game board must smaller than 15.75 x 10.5 x 1/2 inches (double folded rectangular or square boards) and game pieces cannot be thicker than 2 inches in at least one dimension. This sells for 13.50 on the OBH Enterprise website.
The second box I received was the juicy orange midsize container. This size holds games like Candy Land, Chutes and Ladder, Clue, Stratego, Parcheesi, Charades for Kids, Scrabble, Jigsaw puzzles, Legos and more. It measures 16 x 11 x 1.5 inches. The game board must be smaller than 15.75 x 10.5 x 1/4 inches (Single folded rectangular or square boards) and game pieces cannot be thicker than 1.25 inches in at least one dimension. This one sells for 11.50 on the OBH Enterprise website. I was able to put two game boards (checkers and Word Trio) and the pieces in this box and close the lid.
The snazzy purple GameSaver box holds games with double folded square boards The board must be smaller than 10.5 x 10.5 x 1/2 inches (Double folded square boards) and game pieces cannot be thicker than 1 inch in at least one dimension. I did not receive this size so my information is based on what can be found on the OBH website. It measures 16 x 11 x 1.5 inches. It can hold games like Aggravation, Clue Jr., Charades for kids, Dora the Explorer, Family Feud, Monopoly Jr., Parcheesi, Scrabble Jr., Sorry, Scene-It DVD, Trivial Pursuit DVD and more. This sells for 11.50 on the OBH Enterprise website.
I found these boxes to be light weight, stack and store easily. It was easy to recycle bent and broken boxes and replace them with these GameSaver boxes. The GameSaver boxes come with one label per game. There are times I store my boxes the long way and times I store them the short way. So the only thing I added was an extra label on one side of the box. Now I have lots of options on ways to store my games. I will hang a couple on hooks but I can still store the pieces in my GameSaver boxes. I will store others in the GameSaver boxes. One of the great things about these boxes is they are the same length and width which helps a lot when storing goes together. No more trying to stack game boxes of different sizes that just never fit together and can become an annoying puzzle to figure out which piece goes where. It looks like I will be ordering more of these once I get back to school and dig out the rest of my games. FYI my Hi Ho Cherriy-O and Chinese Checkers games did not fit into the GameSavers containers. So be sure to read the will my games fit on the companies web page. The company also makes a product called BeachPack which can be viewed on their website.
GIVEAWAY TIME…
I have a 25.o0 gift certificate to buy products on the OBH Enterprise website.
Enter now through 7/13/12 by clicking on this link to enter: Rafflecopter giveaway
The gift certificate will be mailed to the winner.
Please! No more ideas… really… I’m going to lose my marbles! ;)
I may be in the minority but please don’t post anymore ideas on Facebook, Linkedin, newsetters or your blogs. I am over run with too many ideas. Don’t even mention Pinterest!! I put my blog posts on there but I don’t dare to look around at any other pins or boards. Being an SLP for 35 years I have lots of materials and resources so I don’t need anymore…really …..no I’m serious….this time… 😉
My school year is ending on June 8th. I am starting to mentally pack up my room and I’ve already run out of nooks and crannies. How can I store it all? Yes my iPad is wonderful and has a wealth of apps that work great in my sessions. BUT…I have a lot of other great stuff too. I’ve talked about downsizing in past posts but I still have many things (ok maybe TOO many) that I want to keep. I promise I will use them…pinkie swear. In the meantime I will do my best to organize, pack up and get ready for summer break.
So what do I plan to do this summer?
1. Relax
2. Play and explore with my grand-daughter – who is now 6
3. Work in private therapy
4. Write blog posts and articles for Smarty Ears Therapy Corner
5. Share more therapy materials/ ideas on my blog
6. Maybe even start a Facebook page for my blog… I’ve been encouraged to do this but what should the page be called??? Send me your ideas!
7. Think about next year …a little
8. Oh dare I say it explore Pinterest…maybe…. ok I probably will
In the meantime I packed away my Ocean theme from my last blog post and my room is looking a little bare. The kids are complaining. Wait… I did leave the sand pail with the liquid water beads out…hmmm. Ok a couple more ideas but I’ll try to make these easy and disposable.
So since I mentioned losing my marbles here is what I plan to do with them!
Water Beads or Liquid Marbles: I have found mine at dollar stores. They have only had the clear ones but they do come in colors. I use these in sensory tubs or in this case a sand pail. For the last week of school here is how I will use it before I “lose my marbles.”
a. Just play with them- they feel wet and the squeals from the kids are so cute! We can include a few adjectives to describe them for a language goal.
b. Add items and try to find them (without looking) – paper clips, hard marble, dice, any small trinket. Language twist: talk about the sizes and shapes; Articulation twist: use small laminated words or cards instead of trinkets; Fluency- create a sentence for the trinket or card with easy speech.
c. Add plastic letters or numbers- Pull out an M think of words or summer things that start with M- Pull out a 4 and think of 4 words or sentences using your sound(s) or draw 4 articulation cards or draw 4 vocabulary cards
d. Put a few outside in the sun and make predictions on what might happen to them… I don’t know but my guess is I will be finding out one of these sunny days!
e. Brainstorm a list or find pictures of other things that fill up with water…. pool, water balloon, etc.
There you now have five ideas to use until the end of the school year!
Enjoy and then to downsize just ..
1. Put all the trinkets you used back in your desk where you probably found them in the first place
2. Put the articulation and vocabulary cards back into their boxes (or if you used ones on an app in your iPad just close it!)
3. Return the plastic letters and numbers to the teacher you borrowed them from
$. Toss the liquid marbles or put them in baggies and send them home with kids…nice surprise… maybe! Or use them at home in vases for fresh cut flowers.
4. Save the sand pail and take it home – you can use it as intended but I see a slushy drink with a little paper umbrella added to mine!
- Last Summer Fun!
Can you SEA me now?
We have been swimming in the ocean in my speech room. Well at least figuratively. All the kindergarten classrooms have an ocean unit so I knew it was a perfect time to dive into my ocean theme boxes. It has been fun opening the boxes and rediscovering games, books and more. Honestly I am finding by “themeing” my materials I am using them more effectively.
My kids had been so excited about our Pirate Unit that when I took it down they were very sad. Then they asked if I was going to put them on my board again just like in our pirate ship. So this is what I came up with… I used the app I’m in! Traveling. This is a free app but to get the all the scenes it costs 1.99 which I needed for the beach scenes. I took their pictures and added them into the app. Check it out below!
Don’t you just love the parachutist’s face! I did not ask him to make that face but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to do something special with it. I found a parachute picture and glued his face onto it. The can you sea me now board was created using brown paper for the beach, blue for water, yellow for sky and an orange circle for the sun. I used the I’m in! Traveling app and cut out out the pictures to glue on the “sea board.” This time I did not add all my students but so far no one is complaining!
I used the beach cut outs on the bottom of my door to work on describing. One student chooses an item with “their eyes” and then gave two clues before the others could guess. You can download the pictures here: Ocean Pictures
Games we played: I am including links to Amazon (if available) but most of these I purchased elsewhere.
1. Splash! This game is fun play the rules but I never stop there. The toy dolphins included in the game we’re a fun tool to use with my students. After learning Dolphin facts we could have our toy dolphins act them out.
2. I created another He/She board like I did for the pirate unit but this time using the beach theme. You can download it here: ocean he -she
3. I created an Ocean Bingo game using Custom Boards. You need to print out each bingo card. Print one extra card to cut apart and use as the calling cards.You can download it here: Bingo A Bingo B Bingo C Bingo D Bingo E Bingo F Bingo G
4. There are some fun and inexpensive ocean/beach materials at Perkilou Products that we used- Ocean Adventure, Beach Barrier Game
5. Piranha Panic is a game that I picked up at a thrift store and had proven to be a favorite.
6. Splash Attack is a fast paced game and relies on quick visual discrimination.
7. Spongebob Squarepants Splash n Roll Game– who doesn’t like Spongebob!
9. This was a great tool to work on as a team. I had the students ask their partner for the pieces they needed. ” I need a small yellow rectangle.”
10. Finding Nemo Storytelling Game
Create an Ocean in a Bag:
This is an activity I did last year and repeated again this year with my site based autism classrooms. I found all the materials at the dollar store. The sand was different this year and made more of a mess. I liked the gravel like sand I used in the past but it was not there this year. I’m sure you can look around and find lots of options for your bag! I first used my iPad to look at an Ocean Video. We talked about what we find in an ocean and then created our own ocean in a baggie! Here is the visual I used: Ocean in a Bag
If you would like to see another great idea for an ocean in a bag check out Jenna’s post at her Speech Room News blog!
My Room-
This time I bought a large ocean mural from a dollar store and cut it in half. I put the whale on my wall and the undersea half on my white board.
The green sand pail has liquid marbles inside. I bought ocean erasers and put one set inside the pail. The kids take turns trying to find matches by touch or sometimes we just pull one out and talk about the sea creature. The erasers and liquid marbles are both from the dollar store. We used the large conch shells to listen to the ocean (a great way to get it really quiet for a minute!).
Apps – here are some of the ocean apps we splashed in!
My Ocean Friend ( iPhone) My Ocean Friend ( iPad)
To the Sea (iPhone) To the Sea (iPad)
Ocean Animals for kids (universal)
Lettermen go the seaside (universal)
Splish Splash Inn Splish Splash Inn HD
Fisherman and the Goldfish Fisherman and the Goldfish lite
Sunny Bunnies Sunny Bunnies HD
Josh and Emma go to the beach (iPad)
Little sub abc learn to spell (iPad)
Deep Sea Submarine HD Deep Sea Submarine (universal)
Lalla Funny Stickers Sea World (universal)
Little Mermaid’s Surprise (universal)
Shape Collage – this is what I used to create the images at the top and bottom of this post
Now it’s your turn to add your own twist!
Cindy
Pirate invasion!!!!
I am finding that I really enjoy doing units of fun in therapy. To me a unit of fun is choosing a theme and pulling in all my books, games, apps and whatever else fits and then doing therapy as usual…sort of. I tend to stick with a unit for at least two weeks. I found one week was too short when you look at it through my students’ perspective. I am lucky to be full-time in one building but my students may only be in my room 1 or 2 times each week. I see some of them in other rooms too. So if you do the math that’s not a lot of exposure to a theme’ofun. Besides once I start a theme I keep finding more “stuff” treaures that I can add.
Anyway ….
Me speech room has been taken hostage by PIRATES! We’ve been practicing our meanest “ARRGs” and “AYE’s.” It started on my door. I took pictures using the Pirate Ninja app (.99). You take a picture and use the app to add a pirate hat. This was a problem solving activity involving making choices- do you want to smile, make a pirate face, look mean, etc. then they had to choose which pirate hat (3 options) they liked the best. For my door I printed off their pictures and glued them on construction paper. I then added pirate sayings. Here are the ones I used in Word format so you can make changes or add to them: pirate bubbles or in PDF format: pirate bubbles pdf. I used a pirate hat cut out at the top of the door that I found on another site: Pirate Hat
Then I realized I would not be able to put all my speech pirates on the door so…
This is the white board in my room. I am not an artist so I did a quick search and found how to draw a pirate ship here. I used brown tag board, vanilla construction paper and a brown marker to outline. As my ship began to fill up I added a dinghy and attached it with several pieces of yarn that I twisted to look like a rope. I added a few gold coins, a ring and treasure map. I found the shark, octopus/squid a whale and water in the Pirate Puzzles app (.99). I did a screenshot of each, printed and cut them out. There are still a few stowaways I need to add.
While checking to see what to call a group of pirates I came across two options: tango and crew. I like a tango of pirates- can’t you just imagine that! Think Jonny Depp…yah now you got it me matey!
Here are some of the materials I used and displayed for the unit.
Here are some of the activities: The pillowcases came from a set of 8 that I found at party store on clearance. I used these in a group wih my OT. The students worked in pairs. Not only were they working on fine motor skills but a whole lot of cooperation was going on! The pirate paintng book I found at the dollar store. The paint is on the bottom of each page and the kids wet it with a cotton swab to color. I used this to work on following directions. Warning: 5 & 6 year olds tend to tip paper cups of water which led to another problem solving task!
There is a wealth of materials about pirates so it is an easy unit to find materials. I love the inexpensive materials found at Perkilou Products. Here is a link to the pirate materials but be sure to checkout the freebies and other resources. Pirate Set You can see one of the game boards in the pirate painting picture above.
One more freebie for you: This is game I made to go with the pirate theme: pirate game
Apps: I am not listing prices as they may have changed. There are lots of Pirate apps out there. These are a few I won, were free or purchased.
Pirate Ninja – this is what I used for turning me students into pirates
Pirates band of misfits movie app
Are you going buggy this time of year?
This time of the year is always busy with evaluations, IEPS, progress reports and with the end of the school year deadline to complete it all. So what a better time to bring in things that can “bug” us. I have had a nature unit that was “bugging” to get into my room. So we have been reading, talking and playing with all things nature-like including bugs, camping, creepy crawlers and more. We have been playing games, reading, and learning new concepts related to nature, bugs and camping.
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. Jigsaw puzzles- I picked put the Bug Picnic puzzle at Goodwill for .99 cents. I used it with several groups. The first group were kindergarteners so we worked on “flat, smooth and corner.” They tried to find the pieces that fit these concepts and even found some that “fit together.” The next groups worked on “matching” colors and team work to find pieces. I figured there was probably some missing pieces and that became a “problem solving” activity for the last group when they finished the puzzle.
2. I love the Magna Puzzles– the one we used had bugs. I bought it at my Autism Shop quite a long time ago. I believe you can find these puzzles on Amazon. They are complicated so I made a photocopy of the finished puzzle as a guide. The groups work together and I sit back and interject as little as possible. This was the first time I used this with younger kids (1st & 2nd grades) and they really did amazing! I also used the Busy Beetles never-ending puzzle as another collaboration activity.
3. The game the kids literally screamed when playing and begged to play each time was Picnic Panic. This game is from 1992 and I bought it on e-bay a few years ago. I always hate to show you items that might not be available anymore but this one is just so much fun! Here is an old video from the 90’s.
4. The bug masks were picked up in the dollar section at Target. We wore them on bug hunts in my tiny speech room (I taped bug pictures and plastic bugs around the room). Sometimes we wore them just because!
5. Other games we played: Ants in the Pants, Can ‘o Worms (like monkeys in a barrel), and the Ladybug Game (another thrift store find).
6. We even had bug races down my cabinets. I found mine in the dollar section at Target. We raced to articulation and vocabulary cards at the bottom of the cabinet.
7. Camping out- we threw a sheet over the speech table and used our mini flashlights to do some of our therapy sessions. We even moved the campfire and marshmallows into our tent (see picture of my cabinet). To make this I used a wooden bowl I got at a garage sale and cut red & orange construction paper into flames. I wanted to use tissue paper but there was not the right colors left in our art supplies. I used long wooden sticks and glued cotton balls on the ends. When we were “roasting” our marshmellows I put one of the mini lights into the “fire.” (I found these at Michael’s)
8. A few years ago myself and another SLP received a grant to create story bags. One that we made fit perfectly with this theme- PJ Funnybunny Camps Out. We created the activities to be used with students and their families to use at home but now I use them mostly within my therapy sessions. I am sharing this one with all of you!
Pages 1-6 were laminated and placed into a binder: pg_1_Parent_letter PJ camping, pg_2_Inventory_List_for PJ camping, pg_3_Suggestions_for PJ camping, pg_4_activities_PJ camping, pg_5_vocabulary_PJ camping, pg_6_artic_ideas_for_home PJ camping
The labels were taped onto plastic bags that hold the cards. labels for PJ Camps Out, Backpack page to color/outline, cut a slit to slide cards into and laminate: Backpack with slit, Cards to use for sequencing story:PJ Camping sequencing cards
The game board template- color or outline, laminate and tape two sides together: Game board 1, Game Board 2 Ideas for camping snacks: Snack recipes
Vocabulary picture cards and definitions- cut apart and laminate for matching games: vocab matching 1 definitions; vocab matching 1 pictures – We used two sets of the picture cards for a matching activitiy and one set of the picture cards and definintion cards for another activity.
We tried out some apps and found a few that we liked the best:
Chipper apps: Let’s Go Chipper, Chipper Matching Game, Sally the Salmon, Chipper in the Parks, Bruce the Slug
Books: When the lights go out, Dandelions e-book, Backyard at Twilight, Milly and Molly Go Camping, Buffy and the Butterfly
Exploring: Fotopedia National Parks, Project Noah
Games: Bugs and Buttons, Bug Builder, Bugfest, Boogie Bugs Mobile, Bye Bugs, Butterflies iBlower
Just fun!! Butterflying
Do you need a four slice toaster?
As I’ve mentioned in past posts we are in the process of getting our house ready to sell. This has meant lots of purging, packing and painting. We really don’t need a three-story 5 bedroom home with 4 bathrooms anymore. What we want is a cottage on some warm island but…..
So in this on going progress of painting, purging, packing and pulled muscles my husband states that he wants a two slice toaster. Huh? We have a toaster. It can toast four slices at once. And the slots are even made for bagels with pictures on how to load them correctly. So why do we need a new toaster? In our quest to downsize I guess you start looking at everything differently. Although we probably will not be running out to replace our toaster anytime soon it did get me thinking about wants and needs.
My present therapy room at school is a barely a two slice toaster begging to be a four slicer. It’s packed and crowded. I am constantly trying to reduce materials. There are many things I want to keep but do I NEED them. It’s complicated. In the world of a Speech Language Pathologist we work with many different disabilities. We need lots of materials to meet the variety of student needs we see every day. Some days “my” plan doesn’t sync with the student’s plan so I need to be able to quickly reach into my bag of tricks and pull out a different rabbit. It’s difficult to do this while trying not to step on feet or fingers or whatever body part may be on the floor. But I make due and my iPad does help a lot. So enough about the room maybe (fingers crossed) next fall I will get to move into a larger space that has elbow room. Maybe it will even have a window…. dream on….
In the meantime I have been having fun using themes to target IEP goals. Fairies, goblins and gnomes just left to return to the forest where they have better views and elbow room. I’ve heard pirates plotting, cowboys/cowgirls galloping around, jungle creatures growling and nature budding all outside my almost two slice toaster speech room. I’m wondering how they will all fit!
So back to wants and needs. Here are a few apps that I are on my need list–
I have around 2000 apps and I use them in many ways. Book apps are wonderful for comprehension, vocabulary, joint attention, etc. There are game apps that I use for turn taking, following directions, vocabulary and problem solving. So to narrow my App NEED list down to just a few is difficult.
But first just my observation about apps and their cost. I know I have gotten very comfortable buying apps for .99 or 1.99. But when it gets more expensive then I may skip it or really weigh if I need or just want the app. Now think about looking through a catalog for therapy materials. I don’t skip earmarking a page just because something is over 1.99. The same eye should be used when looking at apps. Yes, the iTunes “catalog” has thousands of apps ranging from free to several hundred dollars so we may skip some of the more “expensive” apps in favor of others. Now compare a 39.99 app and all it offers to something similar from a catalog that may cost more… then make your decision to buy or not.
1. Custom Boards Premium by Smatry Ears- this is my number one go to app. I use it to create lots of therapy materials, visual schedules, game boards, books, pictures for kids to cut out and paste onto a project and so much more. To get inspired check out the cute book that Deb Tomarakos alias Speech Gadget made- Easter Freebie
2. Articulation apps- I have 3 main ones that I use. I like to rotate them with the kids and sometimes in the same session. They can keep data which saves me time. They are: Articulate it!, ArtikPix and Articulation Station.
3. Rainbow Sentences– I use this app to work on syntax/grammar. I also have been using it with some of my kids are less verbal and have had some amazing success. They are matching the colored words to the colored lines. I’m finding that they are saying longer strings of words when they record the sentence in the app. I also use the other apps from Moblie Education Store.
4. Apps from Kindergarten.com work great for vocabulary and working on grammar/syntax. I recently used this app to work on he/she along with has and is. I used magnetic dishes along with magnetic chips (from super duper). You can see the set up below that I used for one group. They touched the he or she picture and moved up: HE has puzzle beads. They repeated it for she and received a chip to put into their dish for each correct sentence. It made a drill type exercise a little more fun. The dishes were bought at the Northern Tool and they came 4 to a package. They can be found at auto-parts stores or amazon.
5. My newest apps I am use for language skills are Language Adventures, Go Togethers, and Hamaguchi apps.
That’s just a few of the apps that are on my what I need list. It can change to match the needs of the kids I work with at school and in the clinic. I often get asked to show someone my favorite or the “best” but it really is dependent on what you NEED them for and how YOU use an app. What’s on your need list?
P.S. Our house is now on the market and after all the painting and scrubbing I NEED a massage and a manicure! Ok ok I want them.
Cindy L. Meester's Blog- Speech Therapy with a Twist 
