Currently December!

I'm excited to link up with Farley at Oh Boy, Fourth Grade for her Currently linky party! This is my first time joining in on the fun, although I've always loved reading other people's Currentlys!

Here is my Currently!

So..I ended Thanksgiving Break in the worst possible way ever! Hours upon hours of catching up on my medicaid logs. Drake Radio helped me get through it! I promise I'll never get behind again.;)

I went to the Festival of Lights yesterday! I absolutely adore the Cincinnati Zoo! I'm a member and go there often. Last night, I went to the Festival with my mom and nephew. I ate gingerbread men, drank hot chocolate, and took a picture with the gingerbread girl!

Thankfully, she had no clue that I ate her friend. Oops.

I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit... but I still need to get my tree up! Decorating is on my week's to-do list! I also made a great freebie.. Inspired by my friends - the gingerbread people!

 

You can scoop up this cute freebie HERE. It addresses plurals, subject-verb agreement, pronouns, and more! 

Don't forget... like you could?! There is a Cyber Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers - everything in my store (including bundles!) is 28% off when you use the code TPTCYBER. Have a fantastic week! Thanks for visiting my blog!

A Slice of Speech (December 1, 2014)

After a glorious Thanksgiving Break, I'm back to therapy planning! A Slice of Speech is returning and I have lots of fun things in store for December! If you're new to A Slice of Speech, every Sunday (except when I use the same materials for a couple weeks) I share my visual lesson plans! You just download the plans and click the pictures to find all the resources I used. Neat, huh?!

This week is going to be all snowmen, all day! I will be reading Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner. You can read more about this book HERE. It's a great story to kick off the Christmas season in my speech room, because everybody loves a snowman!

You can download these visual lesson plans by clicking HERE. Expressively, we will be working on retelling stories, sequencing, and using correct pronouns. I'll also send home some fun activities to reinforce grammar skills at home, Color By Pronouns and some Snip and Stick grammar. Receptively, we will practice answering WH ?s, following temporal directions, and working on understanding spatial concepts. My articulation groups will spend the first part of the week using some Do-A-Dots and Roll and Covers that are found in my Snowmen at Night book companion. The second half of the week, I'll be introducing Christmas-themed color, cut, and glue activities! This year all of my students celebrate Christmas, but I do  have one little person who is not allowed to do any activities that contain Santa Claus. Believe it or not, it's super easy to avoid the big guy when needed!

These next few weeks will be filled with lots of fun! Gingerbread men, snowmen, and reindeer.. OH MY! I'm excited to get started, but also eager for the big break coming up. ;)

Don't forget about the Super Savings Cyber Monday/Tuesday sale over at Teachers Pay Teachers. All of the materials I'm using this week (and my entire store!) will be 28% off when you use the code TPTCYBER.

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Gingerbread Grammar Freebie!

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving! My belly is still full, but I'm now in full-blown Christmas mode! I made a cute little freebie to show my gratitude towards all of my supporters and to get into the Christmas spirit! I'm also celebrating FreeBEE Friday over at Speechie Freebies!

Gingerbread Grammar: Snip and Stick is a peek into a new series that I've been working on - Snip and Stick Grammar! Regular worksheets can be boring, so I decided to spice things up with some scissors and glue! Seriously, scissors and glue is my favorite school supply combination haha

This little packet contains interactive sheets that address regular and irregular plurals, pronouns, subject-verb agreement, and changing verbs to nouns! These sheets will be perfect to send home for additional practice and to compliment your grammar lessons. Here's a peek:

You can find this little freebie in my store by clicking HERE. If you download, please leave a little love in my store! It would be greatly appreciated!

Have a wonderful weekend! Please check out the FreeBEE Friday linky party to score some more freebies!

What's In Your Cart? Linky!

Yay! It's time for another What's In Your Cart Linky Party hosted by Jenna over at Speech Room News! This is one of my favorite linky parties, because it means that Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting a MAJOR sale! I love shopping for therapy materials created by my fellow SLPs! This sale will occur Monday and Tuesday (December 1st and 2nd) and EVERYTHING in my store will be discounted 28% off when you use the TPT code: TPTCYBER

First, I want to share a couple must-have items in my store! Christmas is my favorite time of year and I've stocked my store with a variety of merry products! December is crazy busy and I need NO PREP options. My Christmas Articulation Bundle contains 514 color, cut, and glue activities! Just print n' go. Bundles are a steal during site-wide sales! You will receive a 28% discount on something that is already discounted! You can find this product by clicking HERE. I'm also working hard to complete my winter articulation activities in time for the sale! Students love these types of activities, so keep your eye out for the winter version too!

 

I've also bundled up five of my Christmas themed language activities in time for the sale! You can find this bundle by clicking HERE.You can find links to all of the included packets within the listing! It's bursting with NO PREP options for the busy SLP.

If you stop by my little store, please make sure you follow! I LOVE creating materials and I update my store frequently. Don't forget to take a gander at all of my custom categories!

Now.. What's in my cart?! My wishlist may or may not contain hundreds of items! haha

Gingerbread Concepts by Jenna Rayburn

Umm... Frozen-themed gingerbread peeps?! I'm sold. My students are going to flip when they see this!

Speech Therapy: Fantastic Speech and Language by Courtney Gragg

You have to browse Courtney's store during this sale! She has many unique items, such as these speech and language fans! Students will love this interactive packet - they fold and make fans while they target their goals! Did I mention it's print n' go?

Mooseltoe: A Book Companion for Language by The Speech Owl

My friend Elizabeth, The Speech Owl, has incredible taste in books! I have to buy this companion for my speech room! It also includes a black and white version... which my color ink cartridge greatly appreciates.

Selfies for Language Expression by Mia McDaniel

I recently received an EET for my speech room, so I have to have Mia McDaniel's latest product! It looks AMAZING!

Make sure you head back over to the linky party to see what other people are buying! I love peeking into other people's shopping carts. I'm nosey haha.. It's also a great way to learn about new products and stores!

What will you be buying? Please comment and let me know! Have fun shopping!

Snowmen at Christmas

Welcome to Wild About Books Wednesday! If you're new around here, each Wednesday I discuss how to use a specific book in speech/language therapy. I love using books as a springboard for language! They present with limitless possibilities! If you're a blogger, please consider linking up! I love reading your ideas and learning about new books! Just use the picture at the bottom of this post to link back to me.

I'm a Christmas addict. Seriously, one year my mom broke into my house (okay, she had a key) and took down my Christmas tree in February! Apparently, it had been up long enough. I disagreed. haha.. So... although it's not yet Thanksgiving, I'm going there. Yep.

I absolutely ADORE the "Snowmen" books by Caralyn and Mark Buehner. The illustrations are marvelous and they celebrate above all things - the imagination. Snowmen at Christmas tells the story of a boy who makes a snowman on Christmas Eve. He begins to wonder, what do snowmen do to celebrate? As he falls asleep at night, he begins to imagine what they might do. His imagination runs wild as he sees all the neighborhood snowmen trek to the town center to throw a Christmas party! It's a wonderful book that can be used to build language with the correct scaffolding!

Here are some ideas:
1) Visualization - the pictures in this book are so rich and vivid! Show your students what the illustrator visualized and challenge them to make pictures in their own head! Visualization is one of my favorite strategies to use to support comprehension.
2) Rhyming - this book is written in rhyme. If you have students with phonological awareness goals this book is definitely one to look into! You can have conversations about rhyming on each and every page!
3) Sequencing - this book is great for sequencing! You can sequence the entire book or just bits and pieces. For instance, discuss the sequence for building a snowman or the sequence for decorating the town's square.
4) Comparing/Contrasting - students can compare/contrast how they celebrate with how the snowmen celebrate!

Lastly, I made a book companion for this book! It has a variety of prep and no prep materials that can be used to address a wide range of goals! Here's a peek:

 

Snowmen at Christmas: Book Companion can be found by clicking HERE. 

Am I the only person excited about Christmas?! haha.. If you're a blogger, please consider linking up! Have a wonderful day!

An InLinkz Link-up

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Welcome to Wild About Books Wednesday! Each Wednesday, I share a book that can be used in speech/language therapy! I feature idea lists, book companions, and even blog-exclusive freebies! I also invite other bloggers to share their own ideas! If you're a blogger, I'd love if you would join this wild romp! Just use the picture at the end of this post to link back to me. If you've visited my blog, it's no secret.. I love the Old Lady! The repetition found in these books are perfect for children with language disorders. Today, I'm highlighting There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie! I made a little companion that is designed to be used with Lucille Colandro's book.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie: Book Companion can be found in my TPT store by clicking HERE.

One of the best ways to foster background knowledge is to introduce a child to a book series. I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating! Students will come to know the characters, which will support comprehension. The Old Lady series is a MUST for any speech room. It's the perfect book series, as it follows a very repetitive format.

This book companion contains a variety of materials to use to work on sequencing and story retelling! Students can feed the Old Lady cards while they retell the story or use the retelling map. I usually have both activities going on simultaneously in my speech room! While one student is feeding granny, another student is using the retelling map.

This companion also contains comprehension cards with visual cues and a card game that addresses temporal directions! This book series is a great tool to support temporal concepts. You can talk about what granny ate before and after different items!

Rhyming! This is certainly a higher level skill, but each year I always have a handful of students with phonological awareness goals. This companion contains a rhyming bingo game. In my room, most of my students are non-readers, so this game transforms into a rhyming discrimination task. I point out two words on their bingo card and then they determine which one rhymes! You can also have students produce rhyming words and then help them find the word on their bingo card. It's super flexible and you can change the game to fit your own needs.

This companion also contains a game called "Put a Roll On It!" Print out a turkey and the rolls. Then have students place the rolls around the turkey according to the preposition printed on the roll. There are also some NO PREP activities for articulation (color, cut, glue) and some matching/memory games for irregular plurals and past tense.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving books? Admittedly, this isn't my favorite holiday so I need to beef up my collection!

If you're a blogger, please consider linking up! Have a wonderful Wednesday! I hope you visit again soon!

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanksgiving Expressive Language

Kids love it when you incorporate holidays into therapy! Don't we all love a reason to celebrate?! It's fun and puts a new twist on the same skills you're addressing day after day. My kids got a kick out of my Halloween language packets, so I had to create Thanksgiving versions too!

Thanksgiving Expressive Language

This packet addresses a wide range of expressive language skills! It's full of colorful card games and NO PREP materials!

Comparing/Contrasting: Students draw a card and discuss how the two items are alike and different. If they discover Plymouth Rock, they get an extra turn! Student with the most cards wins. This game also includes two mini posters that students can utilize during your therapy session!

Pronouns: As a primary-based SLP, I want to have as many pronoun resources as possible! Student draws a card and fills in the blank with the correct subjective pronoun (this game addresses: he, she, they, or it). If they find a special card, they'll get an extra turn! This game also includes two mini posters to provide students with visual cues.

Describing: Did I mention I now have an EET?! Oh.. I did? haha... I'm still so excited about it. I plan on using these cards in conjunction with the EET for some Thanksgiving flair. Students draw cards and describe them. I also included some special cards if you would like to make it a game! This also includes two mini posters for visual cues!

Irregular Plurals: Student draws a card and the SLP reads the singular sentence. Student must then make the same sentence plural. If they are correct, they get to keep the card. Watch out for special cards! The student with the most cards wins! Two mini posters that define singular and plural are also included!

NO PREP Materials: This product also contains a cornucopia of print n' go materials! They address everything from synonyms to topic maintenance! Here's a peek:

This packet is also part of a money saving bundle that can be found HERE. I'll be back soon to give you a peek into the Thanksgiving Receptive Language packet!

Thinking about Thanksgiving is making me hungry! I can't wait to gobble down some turkey and homemade macaroni & cheese! lol... Have a wonderful week! Gobble, gobble!

P.S. Did you know that Speech Is Sweet is on Facebook? Please check it out!

A Slice of Speech (November 10, 2014)

Happy Sunday and welcome to another edition of A Slice of Speech! Wow, this weekend went by soooo fast. At this rate, Thanksgiving Break should be here before we know it! In the meantime, I'll be gearing up for Turkey Day with Thanksgiving-themed therapy!

I have so much planned for Thanksgiving! The next two weeks should be a smorgasbord of fun! Expressively, we will be focusing on describing! I'll use the cards from my Thanksgiving Expressive Language unit and the EET! A few of my groups will also be working on multiple meaning words. I love working on vocabulary! Receptively, we will be working on answer WH ?s that are related to Thanksgiving, following directions with the help of a few pilgrims, and many other skills!

You can scoop up these visual lesson plans by clicking HERE! When you download this bad boy, just click on any picture and it will take you to the resource! What do you have planned for the next couple of weeks? Thanks for stopping by the blog - I hope you visit again soon! :)

11/17: P.S. I'm linking up with Old School Speech for her weekly linky party, "Week In Review." I'm using these same packets until Thanksgiving break!