Story in a Can!

Many of my poor language disordered students have such difficulty telling stories.  I'm sure that's no surprise to you.  Narrative skills are not usually the strong suit of someone with language learning problems.  They often lack structure, vocabulary, and understanding of overall language.  Needless to say, we work a lot with stories and books in our speech room.

My newest product targets just that - narratives.  It's a fun way to get kids excited about telling stories.  In fact, my little ones actually ask for the story cans!  (I love it when they don't realize they're learning something while playing).

Disclaimer: This post contains amazon-affiliate links.

Now, this product involves a little bit of craftiness on your part to set everything up.  Don't worry, it's nothing complicated.  You can make it as cutesy or as easy as you'd like.

You'll need about 6 small cans or containers, modge podge or glue, and scrapbook paper.

You can just print the labels and affix them onto any small container if you don't have time to mess with making it cutesy.  OR you can decorate the cans with scrapbook paper, stickers, or even have the students help you!  I used scrapbook paper and printed the labels onto full sheet sticker/label paper.  This made it easy to attach.  

This download also contains sheets to make your own story chips to place inside the cans.  I print these on full sheet label paper as well, so that I don't have to bother with sticky glue. 

Just cut out the circles (or use a 1.5" punch) and attach to poker chips.  I used these:

They turned out super cute.  :)  I put the different types of pictures onto different color chips to make it easier to separate.

There are pictures that target characters, setting, kick-off/problem, feelings, attempts/events, and extras/open-ended.  

It also includes story maps, graphic organizers, and illustrating/writing worksheets to use with the cans and chips.  

We use Braidy the StoryBraid in our speech room.  I LOVE Story Grammar Marker.  Find out more about it here.  Some of the worksheets and maps contain SGM terminology as options, since that's what we use.  There are blank versions as well for those of you who don't.  

There are lots of ways you could use these story cans.  I'd encourage you to get creative and find what works best for your kids!  There are several ideas for use in the download as well.

What do you think??  Could your kids use this in your speech rooms?  

What's in My Cart Linky!

Did you hear?  It's party time over at TeachersPayTeachers this Wednesday!  They're throwing another site wide sale to celebrate the heroes that all educators are.  Save up to 28% off your purchase using the code HEROES at checkout!

Today I'm linking up with SRN to tell you a few things that are in my cart as well as some recommendations I have from my own store!  Click on the image below to check out what everyone is stocking up on.  :)

I've got a couple of new goodies that I think you might want to check out for 28% off!

1.  Interactive Fluency Binder!  This huge packet is everything you need to get your fluency therapy up and running.  

2.  Story in a Can: A DIY for Narratives - My kids have been having a blast with this creating their own fun stories and working on language at the same time. 

3.  Jump Frog Jump Book Companion for your littles - This pack is jammed with speech and language activities for your preschool and kinders.  

Now, take a peak at what's in my cart for the sale!

1.  Articulation Strips for /r/ by Sublime Speech - I have SO many kids working on /r/ this year.  Can't wait to give these a try.

2.  Old Lady Story Sequencing Necklaces by [simply speech].  - We love the old lady in my speech room.  These will be a great addition to my books and companion packs!

3.  March Book Club by WhitneySLP -  I've been really wanting to try Whitney's book clubs, since grabbing a couple other of her book companions.  They go great with Story Grammar Marker, so I'm excited to try it.

4.  Interactive Grammar Organizers by Gay Miller - I came across this the other day and it seems amazing and a great price!

5.  Listening Skills Resource Pack by Jenn Alcorn - I mean what language disordered kid doesn't need help with listening?  In bag. 

A few others that I already own but would highly recommend include:

Leveled Grammar Intervention by Nicole Allison

Spring Print N Go by The Dabbling Speechie

No Prep Articulation by The Speech Bubble SLP

Happy shopping!!

What's In My Cart Linky!

It's Cyber Monday!  That means it's time to empty those wish lists and carts you've been holding online.  Teachers Pay Teachers is having their big up to 28% off sale on Dec 1-2.  Get excited!

I'm linking up with Jenna to talk about what's in my TPT cart for the cyber sale!  Click on the image above to go to the original blog post.

Here are a few things from my store that might help you around this time of year!

Penguin Preschool Language and Penguin Phonology

Criteria Charts for Speech and Language - Complete Edition

100 Dot Sheets for the Year!

All of these should be big hits in your speech rooms.  Now for a little peek as to what's in MY cart!!

1.  Nonfiction Texts Winter Edition by Nicole

2.  Interactive Books: Winter Treats from Jenna

3.  Articulation Word Search Bundle by For His Glory

4.  Cariboo Phonology from Kari

I know these products will be just what I need to get me through the end of the year and then some!  What's in YOUR cart?  Be sure to check out Jenna's post at Speech Room News to see what everyone is buying.

Criteria Charts for Speech & Language {FREEBIE} edition

When I'm in and out of classrooms on my school campus, I see lots of things like this.

And this.

And this.

We are all about criteria here.  Teachers are constantly being encouraged to have students self-assess and give feedback on how they are performing.  If they have a clear cut goal and know what they need to do in order to get there, it's a little easier for them to reach that goal.

I really wanted to implement this system in my speech room to have a consistency with what my kids are learning in their classrooms.  Plus, I want to give them as much exposure to having to rate/assess themselves as possible, since that concept alone is hard for my language disordered students.

I created some charts with visuals and have already found that help my kids so much.  When they are paying attention to how they do, they put forth much more effort.  Now, I'm in the process of creating a huge packet with lots of specific speech and language objectives as well as blank editable pages!

But for now I've got this FREE version for you to check out.  :)

It includes 4 general criteria charts for language, articulation, voice, and fluency.

Student cards or strips, whatever way you'd like to use them

And 6 "Why don't I have it?" cards/chart.  This is my favorite part.  My kids can often look at their performance and tell whether or not they have mastered the skill, but they don't know why.  This will help pinpoint what they need to do different and whether or not it's something they can work harder to fix.

What do you think?  You can grab this freebie at my TPT store HERE!  Don't forget to leave some lovely feedback while you're there.  ;)

And stay tuned for the full version coming soon!

Common Core Task Cards for Speech Therapy K-2 {GIVEAWAY}

Today is Monday and I'm not at work!  I'm sitting on my couch and enjoying a nice cup of tea on this muggy October day.  It's fall break down here, so we get a couple of days to recoup and rest and gear up for the crazy school days ahead.  Fortunately for me, this means I get a little time to devote to my blog.  Oh, how I've missed you.

Here in Louisiana we are currently using the Common Core State Standards as the basis for our curriculums across the state.  Though our governor and state superintendent of education are in a bit of a dispute right now over it, we as educators are still trucking along, educating our children, and using these rigorous standards the best way we can...whether or not we agree with it.

As an SLP, I see the standards that apply to my students and immediately deconstruct them in my head.  I try to see the underlying skills that my kids may not be able to do and try to bridge that gap.  Now, this is obviously easier said than done.  Sometimes the gap is so wide that it's looking like the Atchafalaya Bridge, but hey you've got to start somewhere.

My new product was made to specifically help address some of the CC standards in my speech room and I know you are going to love it as much as I do!

Enter: Common Core Task Cards for Speech Therapy K-2!

This download includes 12 cards for each of the following areas:

• Kindergarten - WH questions, phonological awareness, language concepts, and grammar
• First Grade - WH questions, phonological awareness, language concepts, and grammar
• Second Grade - WH questions, vocabulary, language concepts, and grammar

There are 156 task cards in all.  Also included are the Common Core State Standards that are addressed in the packet.

I love these cards because I can use them in so many different ways.  They're great for practicing in the therapy room or on-the-go.  You can use them as a ticket out the door activity, out in the hallways, or even to bring them into a classroom.  Sometimes we'll review a card or 2 if we have a few minutes left in a session.

Assembling them is easy.  Just print on card stock, laminate, and cut them out.  Then punch a hole in the corner and attach a book ring.

There are deck covers for each area.  You can put all the cards for the grade on one large book ring or put them each on individual small rings.

What do you think?  Is this something that might help you?  :)  You can find it in my TPT store here!

Enter the rafflecopter below to win a free copy of your own!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pirate Treasure Speech ~ FREEBIE

Aaaarrgh!  It's Talk Like a Pirate Day on Friday, September 19th!  We've been breaking out all things pirate in the speech room this week.  I've even drummed up a little open ended freebie for you that can accompany any card deck or target skill.

You can play this game using the enclosed coin squares OR use your own plastic coins/candy coins.  I used some chocolate coins that someone had given me.  You could really use anything appropriate for a treasure chest.

The kids get a kick out of the shiny "treasure."  Aye, treasure!

Included in this packet are treasure chest mats to keep their cards and coins, number cards, wild cards, and coin squares.

To play, just print multiple copies of the coin cards (I do like 3) and one copy of the wild cards.  The kids choose a card to see how many coins they get to put on their mat.  The person with the most coins when the cards run out is the winner.

I love open-ended games because they are so versatile.  I pretty much use them with nearly all of my students.  Makes planning super easy.  You can grab this freebie at my TPT store HERE!  Don't forget to leave some lovely feedback if you download.  ;)

Happy Pirate Day!!

Themed Therapy Worksheet Combo

This year has probably been my busiest, craziest, most hectic beginning of the year I've ever experienced in all my 8 years of being an SLP.  I feel like I'm being pulled in five directions and have redone my schedule five thousand times.  The last thing I have time to do is spend a lot of time planning, which is why I am loving this themed therapy thing SO much these days.

Do you use themes in therapy?  I know that several of my sweet bloggy friends do and love it, so I wanted to be on the ball with it this year.  I've already sat down and planned my themes for the entire school year.  Pretty fab, right?  This month I'm covering superheroes, pirates, and football.  The kids are eating it up so far!  

To make my life even easier, I created another worksheet pack that covers these specific themes!  It's a combo pack, so it's a LOT bigger than my other ones (63 pages!).  Check it:

 

This pack includes all of my favorite worksheet activities.  They are geared toward articulation but can usually be adapted for other skills as well.  There are generic worksheets for all 3 themes and including dots, cut and paste, color a picture, syllables, tic-tac-toe, roll and color, draw and describe, and more (i.e. there are pirate, superhero, and football sheets for each of the type of worksheet).  Here are a few examples.

Plus, there are already filled out worksheets for /r/ and /s/ (30 of them!)

What do you think?  You can grab them at my TPT store HERE!  

Want to win a copy of your own??  Just comment below with how this would help you.  I'll pick a random winner on Sunday!  :)  Have a great weekend!