10 Speechie Things I'm Thankful For

Since this is the time of year that people think about what they're thankful for in life (not that you shouldn't think about it every other time of year), I thought I'd share a little about what I'm thankful for at work.

I thank the Lord so much for a great job that I love.  Not everyone gets one of those.  Even though it can be stressful at times, there are a few things out there that help make my job easier!  Here are some of those things:

1.  TPT

I am super thankful for a place to find so many ideas and products specific for my kiddos' needs.  My therapy is totally not the same without it.  :)

2.  Amazing SLP Bloggers

I love reading my SLP friends' blogs and getting new ideas and inspiration from them.  Plus, I know I can contact them anytime I have a question or need advice.  Most of us are happy to help anytime you need something.

3.  Fabulous co-workers

I'm beyond blessed with coworkers who are happy and funny and ready to help our sweet students.

4.  Portable Therapy Center

Do you have this?!  It's awesome!  This fun little gadget has a mirror, dry-erase board, velcro board, pouches, and pocket chart.  SO helpful!  I use it all the time.  You can find it on Super Duper HERE.

5.  Flavored tongue depressors

Haha.  I wouldn't be able to fix /r/ without tongue depressors, and my kids wouldn't put them in their mouths if they didn't taste like popsicles.  :)

6.  Board games

Love my game closet.  The kids love them, and it's nice to pull out a game every so often when you want to bump up the motivation in therapy.

7.  Books

Of course, I am so thankful for children's books that are colorful and appropriate for working on language skills.  I love that I can adapt them for what I need and use cute TPT companion packs to work on a variety of skills.  :)

8.  Hanging file folders

These are perfect for anything.  I organize my paperwork, worksheets, or whatever in these.  This one is from the Container Store and is collapsable and portable.  Cute right?  And functional.

9.  Stickers and candy

Sometimes you need to bribe children.  It's real life lol.  ;) Sometimes you have to use something they want to get them to try harder.  Whether it's stickers, candy, or tiny toys/games, there are days that you have to use anything and everything to get them to work!  I am thankful for these things.  ;)

10.  My IPad

Last but not least, I am super thankful for my IPad.  All of the awesome speech and language apps make my life SO much easier!

That about wraps it up!  What speechie things are you thankful for?  :)

Love It & List It: Artic Apps

I'm linking up with Jenna over at Speech Room News today to share a few of my go-to articulation apps.  I usually use the same artic apps, so I'm loving these great posts to get some more suggestions.  Just click the image below to jump over to SRN's linky party!

Here are my top 5:

1.  Articulation Station

This is a great one that I'm sure most of you are familiar with.  One of my favorite things about it is the story level.  There are level 1 and 2 stories that kids can read with their target sound, once they're at the reading level.  :)  Check out the free version to see how it works.

2.  Articulate It

This is my go-to artic app.  I love the flexibility and data this one gives you.  You can choose syllable number, phonological process, sound, and even flip between utterance length while you're working.  Read more about it on this blog post.

3.  Articulation Scenes

This is the app my kids always ask to play lol.  It's the most fun and engaging of the artic apps I have.  They like to find the pictures with their sound and earn trophies lol.  This one is also great for my fluency kids too!

4.  Open-ended Articulation

I heart this app so much for my carry-over kids.  It has all of the later sound that I mostly use at this level as well.  You can read more about it on this blog post.  :)

5.  Apraxia-ville

I like this one for my little preschoolers that need those basic syllable practices.  It's got cute visuals and a variety of options to customize for your kiddo.  Read my review of it here.

These are the apps I use the most.  You can check out more over at Speech Room News!  What are your favorite artic apps?

S-peachy Feedback - November!

It's s-peachy feedback time again!  I'm linking up with Nicole over at Speech Peeps to help say THANK YOU for all of your fabulous positive feedback.  :)  Just click the image below to head over to Nicole's blog and check out the party.  You never know if you're a winner!

Here's my TPT feedback winner for this month!  The person with the username "speechtherapy" said this about my Articulation Booklets:

Thanks, speechtherapy, for the thoughtful feedback!  You can choose anything you'd like from my TPT store for free!

To read more about this product on my blog, click HERE.  To visit my TPT store, go HERE.

Thanks so much to all of you who make purchases from my store.  I appreciate all of your sweet comments.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit {FREEBIE}

Only a few more working days and then it's Thanksgiving break!  And in my speech room, we are all about Thanksgiving-themed activities until then.  Luckily, lots of your SLP friends have made fun materials to help you this season.  So be sure and stay with me to the end of this post to see a list of Thanksgiving freebies that you can snag!

You might already know that I love using Biscuit books, so naturally we are whipping out Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit this season!

I've also got a cute new mini-companion for you to go along with this book!  Check it out!

It comes with vocabulary from the story that I like to velcro to the pages.  *Side note:  Check out how I do this in my previous Biscuit posts...like this one or this one. 

The pack also includes WH question/comprehension cards...

Sequencing sheet focusing on beginning, middle, and end of the story...

And an open-ended worksheet that can be used with any target.  

You can grab this freebie HERE!  

I've also compiled a list of several Thanksgiving FREEBIES from all around blogland and TPT for your convenience!  Take a look at what your super-talented SLP friends have made for you!

-Free worksheet preview from this pack from Speech Therapy Games

-Thanksgiving Language Craftivity from the Speech Bubble

-Turkey Categories from Speech Room News

-Pilgrims and Indians from Speech Room News

-Pilgrim Possessive Pronouns from Speech Time Fun

-I'm Thankful for TH freebie from Teach Speech 365

-Super Turkey open-ended game from Crazy Speech World

-Fingerprint Turkeys from Putting Words in Your Mouth

-Smash and Smell Spices from All Y'all Need

-Print and Play Thanksgiving from Gold Country SLP

-Build a Turkey Syntax freebie from Speech2U

-Thanksgiving Token Boards from Tech 'n Talk SLPs

-Articulation Turkeys from Carrie Manchester

-Thanksgiving Themed Bingo from Carrie Manchester

-Thanksgiving Artic Mad Libs from Super Power Speech

-Thanksgiving Artic Word Search from Super Power Speech

-A Feast of Turkey Topics from Speech Snacks

-My Hungry Turkey from Expressly Speaking

-A Plate Full of Thanksgiving Craftivity from the Dabbling Speechie

-Fall Reinforcer from Miss Gator Speechie

Hope these help some of you finish out your week or 2 in speech before the Thanksgiving break!  If I missed any more freebies, feel free to leave a link in a comment below!!  

Preschool Quick Probes FREEBIE

Do you ever just need to gather some quick data?  Usually around progress report time or when I go to write a new IEP, I want to make sure and probe my kiddos to get the most current data on them.  

Soooo I developed these quick probes to help me with my little ones.  They have been a big help, especially since I have so many kindergarteners on my caseload this year!  Check out Preschool Quick Probes.

This packet comes with 6 slides that address functions, categories, basic concepts (levels 1 and 2), associations, and prepositions.

You can either use this by printing out the slides as cards or by pulling up the file on your iPad and using it that way.  :)

There are specific directions and how-to prompts for each task.  Since most of my little ones have similar goals, these were perfect!

Grab this pack at my TPT store for FREE!!  Yay!  I love feedback, so be sure and let me know what you think.  :)

Enjoy!

Oldies but Goodies: Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  I love the family, food, football aspect of it as well as the big kick-off into the holiday season.  Today, I'm sharing a few oldie posts to help you celebrate in your speech rooms! 

In case you missed them before. . . 

1.  Thanksgiving Articulation

My kids love this one!  The clipart is SO cute, and it's been updated and revamped, so if you already own it, be sure and redownload.  I've added a quick artic game as well as made the words more visible. Check out my previous blog post about it HERE.

2.  Thanksgiving Fluency

This one is also revised to help make the cards more visible, plus I added a few extra.  Be sure and redownload this one as well!  This blog post tells more about it.

3.  DIY Thanksgiving Trees

My kiddos had so much fun last year decorating these trees.  It includes a freebie word list of Thanksgiving-themed words as well.  Read more about it at my blog post HERE.

4.  Thanksgiving Pie Vocabulary

I use this game all the time, not just during Thanksgiving.  It targets vocabulary skills that I'm always working on with my students, so it has really come in handy!  Check it out at this blog post.

Hope some of these help you and your kiddos!  Be sure and stay tuned for more fun Thanksgiving ideas on the blog!  

Carry-Over Strategies Linky

It's another linky party!  This time I'm joining Crazy Speech World to talk about my favorite things to do for carryover.  Be sure to click the graphic below to head over to Jenn's blog for more fun carry over ideas!

When it comes to carryover, it seems like no one strategy works across the board with every child.  Sometimes you have to try different activities and environments and lectures to move them across the carryover hump.  Here are some of my favorite things to do with them.

1.  Carryover Activities for Articulation

Luckily, I have a product that targets areas specifically for carryover of sounds.  Four different activities are included for each sound, so you have different things to try.  I have used the mess out of this, and it really seems to get my kids out of their comfort zones and practicing their sounds in a variety of scenarios.  Check out more of how I use it HERE.

2.  Mini M&Ms or Nerds

What's more motivating than candy?!  Lol.  Sometimes this is the miracle worker that makes kids all of a sudden do what you've been trying to get them to do for weeks.

Here's how I use the candy. . . I tell the students that they can have the entire mini box of nerds or mini bag of M&Ms at the end of the session (start off with at least a handful).  Then I tell them that every time I hear them say a sound incorrectly, I get to eat one of their candies.  We proceed to play a game, talk, and ask/answer questions, while I listen to their speech.  ;)  I pop a candy in my mouth every time I hear them using their sound incorrectly.  They HATE watching me eat their candy lol.  Side note:  I don't always eat it, since I'm trying to lower my candy consumption.  I just find that sometimes it's more effective when I do!

They always work really really hard to not mess up and sometimes surprise themselves at what they can do if they try!  Who knew a little lot of motivation could make them miraculously meet their goal? ;)

BTW:  Make sure the kid is ready for this step.  You don't want to overly frustrate them if they physically can't do it and are messing up the entire time.

Amazon affiliate links:
M&M's Milk Chocolate Mini's
Mini Wonka Nerds Mix

3.  Stickers

Speechie stickers are another great tool to remind kids to use their good speech, remember their strategies, apply language skills, etc.  I tell my kiddos that every time they look at it, they have to remember to use their good speech/language.  Sometimes I even go into their classroom and put it on their folder/desk/binder for extra reminders.  I like THESE from Super Duper.

4.  Newsletters

For my language kiddos, I like to get a copy of my students' weekly newsletters.  This way I know exactly the skills they will be working on in class that week and what we need to focus on.  Because I "push in" so much, I'm pretty familiar with what they do in class.  These just help me prep.  Plus, I can pull extra things for them to do to practice the specific language skill in the classroom.

What do you think?  Do you do anything like this for carryover as well?

Don't forget to check out Crazy Speech World for more carryover ideas!

Articulation Booklets! with a freebie and a giveaway!

I'm so excited to share with you a product that I've been working on what seems like for-ev-er!  I kept putting it down and picking it up...so glad it's finally done!  Introducing...Articulation Booklets!

I've been using these in therapy before I was even finished with the packet lol.  The kids have had lots of fun with it.  This download contains 3 types of booklets (and don't worry, they come with assembly instructions!).

1.  Cook Booklets - one for each of the following 6 sounds: /r, s, l, sh, ch, th/.

I like to skim the booklets with the kids first and talk about the pictures, read the headings, etc.

Each type of booklet comes with 5 worksheets, with one being a question sheet to help get the kids talking.

The others are different sheets and activities for the kids to complete using the booklet.

2.  Day Planner Booklets - for /r, s, l, sh, ch, th/

These come with a question sheet and 4 activity sheets as well.  You can do these sheets in therapy or send them home for homework.

3.  Address Booklets - for /r, s, l, sh, ch, th/

With a question sheet and activity sheets to go with these too!

I've also included a blank booklet template for you and your students to create your own Artic Book!  Cute right?  You can grab this packet at my TPT store HERE!

If you want a closer look at it, you can get all 3 of the L books for free!  Just click the "preview" button on the TPT product page!

Aaanndd be sure and enter to win a free copy of the packet via the rafflecopter below!!  Good luck! :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway