Wednesday, May 20, 2015

SLPs Love Yard Sales



As a Preschool SLP, I absolutely LOVE yard sales. I love finding some cheap, cheap toys to use with my kiddos! About two weeks ago, our town had their city-wide yard sale weekend. I took FULL advantage of this by grabbing some goodies. 

I found this jungle - which was perfect for a particular student I have that LOVES jungles and jungle animals.


I have no idea what it was really used with. All the little toys that went with it were gone. But for $3, it was a steal! I had a bag full of superheroes and a basket of jungle animals that were a perfect fit. We've been practicing spatial concepts with this baby! 

Superheroes were "on" stumps...

"in" stumps...

"in" caves...

at the "top" of trees...

at the "bottom" of trees. 

They flew through the jungle and over the jungle, too. We had a blast with them! 
And then of course, there was the Transformers Fire Station for $5.. 
This thing makes a ton of cool noises. I used it for spatial concepts too - going up & down the elevator, up & down the fireman's pole, through the doors. But it was also great for some basic concepts like open & closed, up & down, and "same" vs. "different." It was also fantastic to "feed" the transformer cards as we finished them - articulation cards, language concept cards, and grammar drill cards all went into the Transformer's "mouth."
I also scored a Thomas the Train Mat with a Train for $10.

Once again - spatial concepts galore! We talked about going over & under bridges, through tunnels, etc. We could also talk abut places in the community. I also paired them with card sets. Kids completed the cards and then loaded them up in their train car. When they got a certain number of cards in their train car, they could take the train for a trip around the tracks before picking up another "load." 

I also scored some dress up fireman hats and a bag of random action figures. I am excited to use these toys in the upcoming weeks to jazz up therapy before the end of the year. I am also excited to see what other finds I can get throughout the summer. A nice rotation of motivating toys always makes therapy a little more fun! 

What is the best yard sale find you've ever used in therapy?

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Freebie! Articulation in Conversation Jenga!




I noticed that a lot of my posts lately have been Linky Party posts! I love a good Linky Party, but I thought I'd share an activity that has been awesome for my kids working on their speech sounds in conversation - Conversation Jenga! It's super easy to make and all the prompts are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for FREE!

It seems like when my kiddos reach the point they’re working on their speech sounds in conversation, we start running out of things to do. Therapy can start to become a little boring. So I brainstormed some ideas and thought up “Conversation Jenga!” I’ve been using it with my kids for a while now and they seem to LOVE it! And it was so simple! This FREEBIE tells you exactly how to make the game yourself and it includes 100 question prompts! 









BONUS ACTIVITY: I have two other sets of these Jenga blocks – one with articulation words and one with phonological processes. On these sets, I was able to write a word on all four sides. The phonological process set has final consonant deletion, stridency deletion, fronting, and cluster reduction words. My articulation set includes /s/, /r/, /l/, and “th.” I wrote each set of target words in a different color sharpie. For example, /s/ words are written in blue, /r/ in green, /l/ in red, and “th” in orange. When working with mixed groups I can tell each child which color word they will be saying based on their target. Since there are four words on each block, I am guaranteed that the student will pull a block with their target sound on it.  


Hope your kids enjoy this game as much as mine have! :) 

Monday, May 11, 2015

Smashingly Good Feedback!

Today I'm joining a linky party over at Speech Peeps to show my appreciation of the awesome feedback I received during the TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale last week. 



I received a lot of encouraging and positive feedback, but I especially loved this comment!
So, if you are Nicole Oscar, email me at jessica.strang1@gmail.com to get your free product from my store!

Also, to say "Thank You" for your purchases and for supporting my store, I'd like to give away a free set of my Do-A-Dot Articulation, Phonology, and Language Crown Craftivity to some lucky SLP! 

Just comment below and follow my blog to be entered. I will choose a lucky winner on Friday May 15th, 2015!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Chicken Soup for the SLP Soul: Funny Edition Linky Party!

The Dabbling Speechie is hosting a Linky Party that is just too funny to pass up! SLPs are gathering together to share some of the funny things that kids have said to us over the years. I've been reading through them and enjoying some good ole belly laughs! Check it out if you're in need of a pick-me-up! 

Anyway, here is my funny story:
I currently work in a school district that has a large population of Spanish speakers from all over the world - Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican, Panama, and the list goes on and on. I learned Spanish as an adult and completed a Spanish minor during my undergraduate course work. I would not be considered bilingual, but I have a nice sized vocabulary and working background knowledge to make my job a little easier. I can carry on some basic conversations. Anyway, at the beginning of the year, I was helping my Pre-K get students where they needed to go on their first day of school. One little girl was SPRINTING down the hallway. I told her several times to slow down and stop running, but she kept going. I finally realized that she couldn't understand the direction I was giving her. So I repeated it in Spanish for her. 
She immediately stops and gives me a very confused look. 
She says (in Spanish), "You know Spanish?"
I say (in Spanish), "I know a little."
She replies (in Spanish) "But you're white."
 Well, yes sweetheart, I am white. Thanks for noticing.
 
The funny thing about all of this, is am notoriously pale. Here's a picture of me:
 
 I am so white that I almost glow in the dark. :) I definitely don't resemble you're stereotypical Spanish speaker. Anyway, hop on over to The Dabbling Speechie to see what others are sharing! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, May 4, 2015

Teacher Appreciation Sale Linky Party!

 

Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting a Teacher Appreciation Sale on May 5th and 6th! Just use the code "ThankYou" to get a discount! My store will already be discounted 20% during the Linky Party as well! Talk about great savings! Now would be a great time to purchase my Summer Articulation NO PREP Packet to get you through the rest of your articulation therapy sessions - or to send home as summer homework! 
 NO CUTTING, NO GLUING, NO LAMINATING - JUST PRINT AND USE! The only additional materials needed are dice & crayons (bingo markers - optional). 
 This packet includes 230 pages of activities - 10 activities (one of the activities takes 2 sheets, the rest are single pages) for /s/, /z/, /s/ blends, prevocalic /r/, vocalic /r/, /r/ blends, /l/, /l/ blends, “th, “ “j,” “sh,” “ch,” /f/, /v/, /k/, /g/, /t/, /d/, /p/, /b/. There is also a blank set of activities for customizable therapy - just write the target words in or use them blank by pairing them with pre-made articulation or language flashcards! These summer themed worksheets are perfect to wrap up your end of the school year articulation therapy sessions. They are also perfect to send home for practice over the summer.

You can also check out my Spring Themed version here.

If you would like to WIN a FREE copy of my Summer NO PREP Articulation Packet, comment on this post and follow my blog! I'll pick a lucky winner on 5/6/15!

And this sale is another great opportunity to get Spanish Articulation Flashcards at a deep discount for any of those bilinguals on your caseload!

Here is what I am super excited to purchase:


Articulation Smash Mats from Simply Speech. She has these available for several different articulation sounds. And with the way my Pre-Kindergarteners LOVE play-doh - I know it will be a big hit!

I'm also LOVING these Core Vocabulary Units for AAC Users from Trista B Therapy Materials. She has several of them targeting different themes!


I'm also have a few things on my list from Speech Room News - Imagine that!

One of which, is her newest product! 

I think the possibilities with this activity would be ENDLESS!
And, since there is a possibility I'll have more junior high and late elementary aged kids on my caseload next year (and because I love targeting social skills!), I think I'll also purchase her In Your Shoes Activity.







Speech Therapy also has some speech & language bundles that look pretty awesome. I'm eyeballing this End Of Year Themed packet. 



  
Head over to Speech Room News to see what others are looking forward to purchasing! :) And be sure to link up and share what goodies you are looking forward to purchasing! 

REMEMBER! If you would like to WIN a FREE copy of my Summer NO PREP Articulation Packet, comment on this post and follow my blog! I'll pick a lucky winner on 5/6/15!

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!