Therapy Review for the Week of 23 September

Monday & Tuesday were  "5 Minute Days".  For the independent activity, the students did a "roll & color" activity.  This picture was actually taken when I was working with a student individually, but you get the idea!
1)  The student said his target 3 times.
2) The student rolled the die using the "Make Dice" app.  I love this app because you can make any kind of dice you need/want.  And, you can turn off the sound.  I've even made dice using pictures; I'll be using those at some point for "5 Minute Days"!
3)  The student colored an apple corresponding to the number on the dice.  If the apple was already colored, they have to start the turn over by saying his/her target.

 (Graphics by Loreen Leedy)

At this point, I only have 1 group that has more than 2 students in it, and I didn't do 5 minutes with them this week, so I only had 1 independent activity.
To keep track of the time, I used a timer I downloaded for my smartboard from SMART Exchange:

I used the same activity for my students who are seen individually (as in the first picture).  With one student who is working on absurdities, I used "I Mustache You a Question...Can you Find the Absurdity" by Speech with Sharon.  (I love quality free activities that I can use with my students!  Keep 'em comin', ladies!)  This was perfect to use with this student.  He read the sentence, chose the word that doesn't make sense, and changed the sentence so that it made sense.  It was difficult enough that he really had to think about the answers, but there were some that were easy enough for him that he had some success and built up his confidence.

My 4th grade language group at one of my schools wanted to play "Superhero Word Associations" by SLP Gone Wild/Crazy Speech World again, but I held them off.  We played "Pirate Inferencing" by SLP Gone Wild/Crazy Speech World.

Just as in the absurdity activity, these cards were perfect for this group.  This group has such a difficulty time with abstract concepts, and as they're getting older, they're having a much harder time.  The "Aaargh" cards were great for throwing in a little bit of a diversion.

On Monday, for my preschool special ed class, my intern read "Fresh Fall Leaves" by Betsy Franco, and used "Falling Leaves: Prepositions" by thedabllingspeechie.  It seemed to work pretty well with the little ones.  We just didn't think ahead to make sure my intern had everything she needed before we went into the classroom, so she was scrambling a bit for things to use!  (Totally my fault!)  I think it would've worked better if we had used thedabblingspeechie's ideas that she lists on TpT.  I'm still trying to find my footing in that class since it's new to me (and to the school) this year.

Wednesday/Thursday we played "Pass the Pencil" by SLP Gone Wild/Crazy Speech World.  The students said 3 targets, then picked a pencil card.  When the game was close, the points were added up and the person with the most points was the winner.  For some reason, when I played with a student, it wasn't close...I seemed to always have to put all of my pencils back right before it was time to finish up.  

With a preschooler that I see individually, we played "Fall Chipper Chat" from Holiday & Seasonal Chipper Chat on Thursday.  I used the timer on my iPad so that he would know when it's time to go.  This was his first week, and I think he was still a little apprehensive about mom staying in the office.  The timer seemed to work, and his little face lit up when he heard the ducks quacking!

I started a new incentive program for my 4th graders this week.  I found some plastic cups in the Target Dollar Spot and spruced them up with some decorative tape (2 rolls for $1 at The Dollar Tree).  Instead of earning a sticker each time they come to speech, they earn a dollar.  I found this "Class Cash Incentive Printout Freebie" by MrWatts.

The group can earn an extra dollar for each homework that is returned with a parent signature.  When they have a certain number of dollars, they can either pick a prize out of the box, or have 5 minutes of free time on the iPad... their choice of games.

(A picture of the cup before tape.  I didn't even think to take a picture after I put the tape on!)  I used the "What's Different" Fun Deck from Super Duper for a student who is working on carry-over.  She looks at both cards and tells 3 ways the cards are different using complete sentences and her sound correctly.  The language fun decks are a good way to work on conversational speech because the student is concentrating on the language aspects instead of their sound.

Since this was the first week of fall, I put some decorations up to get in the fall mood:

 Refrigerator magnets from The Dollar Tree!

And, of course I had something to put on my Smartboard!  I found these on TpT for free.  I downloaded them on my PC, put it on "full screen view", and voila!  These are "Free!!!Speech & Language Therapy Door Signs and Coloring Pages" from Twin Sisters Speech and Language Therapy.

For the week, I only used 4 things that I had to pay for:  the Make Dice app, Pirate Inferencing, Chipper Chat, and the Fun Deck.  Not bad...not bad at all!