How Do You Use It Linky

Today I'm linking up with Speech Time Fun for her How Do You Use It linky party!  This month we're talking about how we use popsicle sticks.  Woot!

If you follow my blog, you might remember my post a couple of weeks ago on how I use popsicle sticks for fluency therapy!

I use them for pacing sticks and for pausing visuals.  Check it out at the original blog post HERE!

Be sure and check out how lots of other speechies use popsicle sticks in therapy by heading over to Speech Time Fun's post!

Tricks of the Trade Blog Hop

Welcome to the Tricks of the Trade Blog Hop!  I'm super excited to be your first stop and share what great things we have in store for you!  :)  I hope you will have fun hopping through all of our blogs, learning some new tips, and entering a big giveaway at the end.

If you've never done a blog hop before, all you have to do is click from blog to blog using the links and images provided.  At each stop, there will be a letter clue.  Write these down because you'll need to know the "magic" phrase they spell in order to enter the giveaway at the end of the hop.

You'll have a chance to win a $50 TPT gift card or one of two $15 TPT gift cards!  Yay!

Now onto my "trick."  Today I'm going to show you how I do a little fluency therapy with popsicle sticks.  ;)  Lol I feel like I've been talking a lot about fluency lately.  But, hey, we all need more tips in this area, right?

This can actually be used for more than just fluency (like apraxia, for example), because we like to use popsicle sticks as pacing charts.  I find that this is a great way to teach the kids to slow down and perfect for practicing slow rate or the pausing strategy.  The great thing about a popsicle stick is it's cheap and portable so the kids can take them home for extra practice.

There are a couple of ways you can use these sticks.  The first is as pacing boards.  All you need to make these are a bunch of jumbo craft sticks and some small stickers.

You can let the kids design their own or make a few yourself.  I like to have a variety of different amounts of stickers on them so I can use them at different levels.  If you aren't familiar with how to use a pacing board, it's great for helping kids track their rate or learn to cluster.

They can point to and say a word or phrase for each sticker, depending on what you want them to practice.  

You can also turn the sticks over and use them as pause marks when teaching them where to put their pauses when they speak.  In the pic below, I used a giant piece of paper on the floor to have them practice.  You could also use a white board or just write on the table with dry erase markers.

I let my kiddos decorate one for home and a few for school.  To store them, I used a wafer can that I'd gotten as a gift.  I just wrapped it in washi tape, made a cutesie label for it, and voila!

The sticks fit perfectly!  I hope you can use this "trick" in your therapy rooms as well!

Aaand now for your first letter clue:

It's "L" for Lauren!  Ok not really.  But be sure to keep track of these letters for the "magic words" you'll need at the end.
Click the image below to hop on over to one of my favorite blogs, The Dabbling Speechie, for your next trick and letter clue.  :)  Have fun!

Allison's Speech Peeps	The Dabbling Speechie	Speech Room News	Busy Bee Speech
Live Love Speech	Sublime Speech	Playing with Words 365	Super Power Speech
Speech Room Style	Lets Talk Speech Therapy	Teach Speech 365	Crazy Speech World
Let's Talk	The Speech Bubble	Speech Time Fun	Home Sweet Speech Room

InLinkz.com

Fluency Task Cards & a {giveaway}

It's Mardi Gras, y'all!  I'm enjoying my day off work avoiding going outside, since it's full of yucky icy rain.  Blah.  I'm SO ready for spring and flip flops!  Time off work means a little more time to work on materials, sooo I've got a new one for you!

Lots of you grabbed my Task Cards for Articulation during the big TPT sale, so I'm happy to introduce Task Cards for Fluency!

There are 10 fluency decks included in this download.  The topics include:

Each of these topics contain 12 task cards (except Speech Machine, which has 8).  The way you can use these can vary depending on the age and abilities of your student.  Some kids who have been in therapy a while might be able to do most of these independently, making it great as a center activity.  Some kids who are new to therapy or who are younger may need more of your guidance.

Here are a few examples of some of the cards:

Relaxation Exercises

Strategy Definitions

Types of Disfluency

Myth or Facts - based on information from stutteringhelp.org 

Strategy Practice - words, phrases, sentences, and conversation levels 

Feelings and Emotions

Speech Machine

These are perfect to use alongside a game or other reinforcement activity.  I find it to be a great resource in general to have on hand.  Th fluency cards can be organized the same way as the artic cards are organized.  I use a flip flop holder.  

Since there are more decks, I might just put one ring in the corner and do one deck on each side.  I've included a top cover sheet as well as deck covers in the packet.  There are also FEB strategy cards and a definition page, which you happen to also be able to grab for free here.

These Fluency Task Cards are available for purchase at my TPT store!

I'm also ready to giveaway a FREE copy of this entire packet!  Just enter in the Rafflecopter below!!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love It & List It: Fluency

I'm linking up with Jenna over at Speech Room News for her Love It & List It party!  This month we're sharing all our favorite fluency materials!

Disclaimer: This post may contain Amazon-affiliate links

Just click the image to head over to SRN and check out everyone's top fluency picks.  Here are my faves:

1.  A couple of items from my store that I love to use with my fluency kids:

Fluency Tools Treatment Pack

This product is my best seller right now.  It uses a "speech tools" theme that's motivating for kids to learn fluency enhancing behaviors (FEBs) and other stuttering modification activities.  View the review on my blog or click the link above to see it in my store.

Fluency Task Cards for Speech Therapy

These are brand spanking new in my store.  You'll be able to read more about them on the blog later!  I'm super excited about these and can't wait to show them to you!

2.  Color Me Fluent

I love this Super Duper product because it's so visual and hands-on.  The students' goal is to produce "orange speech" when using their target strategies.  There are lots of manipulatives and worksheets included in the kit.

3.  The Child and Adolescent Stuttering Treatment & Activity Resource Guide

This is a great resource for evidence based practice as well as giving you practical activity suggestions for different aspects of working on fluency.

These are just a few of my favorite fluency resources.  What are your favorites?

Fluency Enhancing Behaviors Freebie!

There are several programs and practices out there to address fluency.  Most involve some types of strategies or fluency enhancing behaviors (FEBs) to teach those who stutter how to manage their fluency.  I use these strategies daily with my fluency kiddos and have found them to work very well.

I try to spend time practicing each behavior with them, so we can find the ones that they are the most comfortable with and that works best for them.

Here are the most common FEBs that I use:

My fluency student and I came up with visuals that help him to remember the strategies.  These remind him of what the strategy is and how he's supposed to use it.

• Slow rate = turtle:  We needed something that was known for being slow in order to remind him to slow down his rate of speech.  He decided on a turtle (a snail would also work).
• Light contact = feather: We used feathers to remind him to keep his articulators light and loose and not tense.
• Easy starts = green light:  In order to explain this one better I used the green light example.  You know when a car is stopped at a traffic light and then it turns green?  Cars should begin to go again slowly and easily.  If they gun it quickly without looking or thinking, they could cause an accident.  If we start talking quickly and without thinking, it could cause our speech to be bumpy.
• Pausing = stop sign: This strategy is also called grouping.  We used the stop sign analogy to help him remember to stop and pause every so often when speaking.  This strategy is most easily practiced during readings.
• Stretchy speech - rubber band:  Rubber bands are a perfect visual for stretchy speech.  We practice with an actual band and stretch it out when we start speaking and slowly let it back it.
• Full breath = whistle: My student chose this one.  I think he just wanted to play with a whistle lol. You breathe in when you get ready to blow a whistle and we practice relaxing our mouth and throat as we blow out. 

I also made these cards, so that I can refer to them often.  It gives him a quick, handy visual of the strategy that we are practicing.

If you think these are something you can use with your fluency kiddos as well, you can grab both of these sheets for FREE!  Just head over to my TPT store to download.  :)

What do you think?  How do you address fluency strategies with your kids?  

Childhood Fluency: Guest Post at PlayingWithWords365

Today I have the privilege of guest posting over at Playing With Words 365!  We are talking about childhood stuttering, including information, warning signs, and things you can do at home to help!  There may even be a freebie involved!

So head on over to Katie's blog and check it out!  :)  Happy Monday (first day back to school for me)!!

Spring Into Speech Blog Hop!

Have you been having fun "springing" around all of these fabulous blogs?  Well, you've only got a couple more stops before the big giveaway!!  In case you're just joining, let me briefly fill you in!

Just hop through all of the Spring Into Speech blog posts and collect the letters along the way.  Unscramble them to reveal a phrase that will give you access to the raffle at your last stop!

Prizes include:  A $50 giftcard to TPT, a $30 giftcard to TPT, and a $20 giftcard to TPT!

Click on the flowers below if you'd like to go back to the beginning or skip to the last stop!  :)

Every blogger is going to have a spring themed freebie for you, so you'll definitely want to hop through each and every post!!








For my freebie today, I've got a fun and springy fluency activity for you!

Check out Fluency Pinwheels!

Kids practice their strategies by drawing a pinwheel card and moving across the game board.  There are 32 pinwheel cards that target words, phrases, and describing and 8 wild cards.

I've also included 2 pinwheels for kids to write words that tell how they are feeling about their speech.

You can even make your own pinwheels using this template!  All you need to add is a push pin and a pencil.










You can download this freebie at my TPT store HERE!

And here is my secret letter for you!

Is the phrase beginning to come together yet??  ;)  Click on the flower below to hop to the next blog! 

Have fun!  Thanks to all of the participating bloggers!