What's in Your Cart? BTS 2015 Linky Party

The secret is out, TPT has announced their Love Back to School Sale which is happening next week August 3-4! Can you believe it's already time to go back? I don't think it has fully set in yet that I go back to work next week. What better way to get prepared to start than with a sale! Site-wide sales are pretty awesome because can save up to 28% off all those awesome products you have been eyeing all summer. I know I have slowly been loading my cart with lots of goodies in anticipation of this sale.

I have linked up with the fabulous Jenna Rayburn from Speech Room News for her What's in Your Cart? Linky Party.  

Before I show you what is in my cart here are a few items from my store that I think you will find useful as you begin the 2015-2016 school year.

2015-2016 Editable SLP Planner:

This is a best seller in my store! All the pages within the planner are editable and I will personalize the cover for you. This planner has been a life saver during the school year. It helps me keeps up with everything I have to get done.

Back 2 School Speech and Language:

This 85 page packet is filled with differentiated activities addressing asking/answering WH questions, categories, pronouns, compare & contrast, antonyms/synonyms, vocabulary, following directions, verbs, conversation skills, and articulation.

Articulation Kits Early Sounds /k,g,f,v/:

This packet is filled with articulation activities that will last for months. The activities are also perfect for use in articulation centers. Included in the packet are worksheets, puzzles, QR code cards, turn & talk books, play dough mats, matching game and much more.

Now, let me show you what's in my cart!

I am so excited about the Speech & Language Flip Books Nicole Allison from Speech Peeps has created. They will be perfect for going over all of the beginning of the year expectations and goals with my students.

I have to confess, I am a little obsessed with the Interactive Articulation Flip Books from The Dabbling Speechie. They are easy to put together, include lots of engaging activities, and easy to take with you.

 

I love any materials that are easy to take along with me. I can't wait to put together these Take & Go Cause & Effect Task Cards Rings from Speech Wonderland.

I am always in need of minimal pairs activities! This Minimal Pairs & More: Bundle from The Pedi Speechie is just what I have been looking for.

This Elementary Social Skills Bundle from Speechasaurus looks very comprehensive. This will be perfect for my caseload this year, since many of my students struggle with these skills.

Make sure to stop back by Speech Room News to find out what others are buying. I would love to know what's in your cart. 

Happy shopping!

Wacky Wednesday Book Club: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books & Giveaway

It's Wednesday! Time to check out another great book and activities you can use in therapy. This week I chose "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books" by Lucille Colandro. As you probably know she is one of my favorite authors.

As we all know this old lady likes to swallow lots of bizarre things. In this book you can expect her to eat some school themed materials including some books, a pen, a pencil case, a ruler, a folder, some chalk, and a bag.

These predictable stories are perfect for targeting language concepts such as: sequencing, rhyming, cause/effect, vocabulary, and many other skills. If you don't have this book you can purchase it from Amazon for $6.99.

One of my favorite activities I do with my students is attach the Old Lady's head to an empty tissue box or small trash can so they can feed her the objects as we go through the story. I also use this for my articulation students and have them feed her their speech cards.

As we read through the story I ask my students WH questions. Once we are finished with the story we work together to sequence the events in the story. 

I like to incorporate following directions into a lot of my lessons since a lot of my kiddos can use some help with this. Jenn Alcorn from Crazy Speech World has a great product, Granny Says!, that I use with my students. It covers 1,2,3-step directions and conditional directions.

Granny Says! by Crazy Speech World

Depending on my students needs I have created activities to address verb tense, object function, rhyming, sound identification, or counting syllables which can all be found in my book companion.

There are also many great crafts I find on Pinterest to accompany this book.

I also send my students home with a mini book so they can practice reading to their parents and share what they worked on in speech.

You can grab a copy of my book companion HERE or try to win a copy below. The winner will be announced Monday, August 3!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Becoming SLP Strong Together: The Best Thing I Learned This Summer

As summer comes to an end, this is the perfect time to reflect on what I learned this summer. The Frenzied SLPs have started a linky party for fellow bloggers to discuss The Best Thing They Learned This Summer.

I have to say I learned quite a few things this summer... 1. It is extremely hot in TN in July and August. 2. How to market using social media. (This is an ongoing thing for me.) 3. When I put my mind to something, I always achieve it. 

But the BEST thing I learned and probably the best advice I could give to anyone working in the school system is....

During summer vacation it is important to relax physically and MENTALLY. I definitely relaxed physically this summer; sleeping late, hiking, bowling, swimming, jumping at the trampoline park, having water balloon fights and much, much more, but I didn't stop and take a mental break. 

 

I have been so busy I forgot to rest my brain for the upcoming school year. You would think that with all of the fun stuff that I mentioned above that school would be the last thing on my brain.  I didn't realize it until a few days ago when people began asking if I am ready to go back to school, and typically I am. But this year I am not. I have really enjoyed spending quality time with my family and just having time in general. I have about a week and a half left before school begins so what do you think I'll be doing?

Enjoying every minute of the rest of my summer with lots of rest and relaxation!

To see what others are sharing click here. 

Wacky Wednesday Book Club: If You Take A Mouse To School & Giveaway

I know.... it's Thursday, which means I am late posting this. What a crazy busy week it has been for me. I am finishing up with summer school, which means lots and lots of work to do. And we are still moving and setting up the new pre-k room. Wow, can you believe I only have 2 weeks left of summer break? Where has the time gone? 

I do have a new book companion, which I am so excited about! And did you notice in the title there's a giveaway this week. Yippee!

This story is about a mouse who goes to school with his friend. He learns math, performs science experiments, builds a house, plays soccer and much more. It is perfect for speech, language, and literacy. Here are some of the activities I use with my students. You can find these activities by clicking on the picture below.

Sequencing Pictures: for story retell.

Sequencing With Ordinal Numbers Worksheet: Students will sequence the events from the story.

Comprehension Questions & Retelling Mat: Students will answer WH questions about the story. Once all of the questions have been answered I have my students retell the story using the story retell mat.

Yes/No Questions

Thinking & Reasoning Questions

Object Function: I describe an object and my student(s) will point to the object that was described. 

Cause/Effect: (3 worksheets) Students will draw a line from the cause on the left to the effect on the right. Blank sheet included to make your own.

Prepositions: Students will cut the objects off the bottom of the worksheet. The teacher will give simple instructions on where students should glue the objects. 
(ex. Place lunchbox in the mouse’s hand.)

Preposition Cards: (10 cards) Use as review or have students generate sentences using the preposition on the card.

Describing: Students will draw a card and provide two words to describe the object.

Basic Concepts: Use with game board; Have students pull a card and identify the concept labeled on the card

Syllable counting: Place a sticker on the back of the card behind the correct number of syllables so students can self check.

The Mouse Wants… Interactive Book

The Mouse Has A… Sentence Strip: This can be used for producing simple sentences.

My Speech Words Worksheet: Students will find words with their speech sounds from the story and write them in the blanks.

Open-ended game board

Happy reading! I hope you try some of these activities with your students.

You can grab If You Take a Mouse To School here. Want to win a copy? Enter through Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wacky Wednesday Book Club:The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark

Whew! What an eventful week so far! I have been so busy entertaining three kids (my nieces are in town), doing school work, and shopping the surprise TPT sale i'm a little exhausted and it's only Wednesday! I decided to let my nieces choose the book I would blog about this week and they chose "The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark" by Deborah Diesen.  

               The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark (A Pout-Pout Fish Adventure)

This is an adorable book perfect for an ocean theme or just a good summer read. It's about a fish who sets out on a journey through the ocean to help his friend find her pearl. But, he soon finds that the deeper he goes in search of the pearl the more afraid he becomes. By the end of the story he finds the pearl and a bunch of new friends.

There are many ways to target language, literacy and articulation with this book. Here are some of the activities I use with my students. You can find these activities by clicking on the picture below.

Here is a look at whats included in this book companion:

Story Map: The student(s) will use this worksheet to identify different components of the story.

WH Questions: I ask questions as I read the story and then check for comprehension by asking questions at the end of the story using these cards.

Rhyming Matching Game: Lay the cards face down on a table and have students flip them over to make matches. Record their answers on the answering sheet which is included.

Context Clue Vocabulary Cards: There are many tier 2 vocabulary words throughout this book. These cards provide a sentence with the targeted vocabulary word underlined and three answer choices. They are perfect for working on identifying word meaning using context clues.

Vocabulary Worksheet: The student(s) will write target words from the story: define them, provide antonyms/synonyms, and write sentences using the new each vocabulary word.

Past, Present, and Future Verb Sort: The student(s) will write the correct tense of each verb on the line, then they can develop a grammatically correct sentence using each verb tense.

Comparative & Superlative Adjective Sort: The student’s sort the cards onto the ocean scene into the correct box.

Comparative Worksheet: The student(s) will compare themselves to other things then draw a picture to illustrate in the box.

Barrier Game: Provide each student with an ocean scene and interactive pieces. The teacher will provide directions on where to place the interactive pieces on the ocean scene.

Preposition Matching Game: These cards can be used 2 different ways. (1) Lay all the cards face down on the table and have students match the word with the correct picture. (2) Review prepositions using the picture cards having student’s tell you where the animals/objects are.

Fish Practice Articulation Too Worksheet: The student(s) will write their articulation words onto the fish.

Articulation Word List

Happy reading! I hope you try some of these activities with your students. What ocean themed crafts or activities have you done with your students?

Wacky Wednesday Book Club: We're Going On A Safari

I found a fabulous book a couple of months ago that is very similar to a childhood favorite of mine. Do you remember reading the book in pre-k or kindergarten, "We're Going On A Bear Hunt". That book was fabulous! You have to use your imagination to hunt down a bear. You would move around the classroom doing various activities as you hunted for the bear. Well, I found "We're Going On A Lion Hunt" adapted by Margery Cuyler. It's about a group of students and their teacher who use their imagination to go on a safari to find a lion. Of course, since I have such an awesome book, I have to create a book companion for it. 

Here is a peek:

This packet isn't just your ordinary book companion, but includes many other activities to teach your students about animals that live in the jungle.

This packet includes activities targeting:

Welcome to the jungle: (pages 3-4) Have students identify animals in the picture/ label objects/ animals. 

-Comprehension questions: (pages 5-6)

-Jungle animal photographs: (pages 7-8) These are perfect for attaching to a bulletin board as a talking point for students.

-Listening comprehension/animal facts: (pages 9-11) Read about each animal then answer the questions at the bottom of each card.

-Vocabulary cards: (pages 12-14) These cards can be used as a matching game or for a word wall.

-Animal attributes: (pages 15-16) Students will identify the described animal by its attribute.

-Comparatives & Superlatives: (pages 18-20) Students will sort the cards from smallest to biggest while practicing comparative/superlative adjectives.

-Label the elephant: (page 21) Students will label the different parts of the elephant.

-Describing: (page 23) Color in the circles that describe the animal. (pages 24-26) Students will write words on the lines around the animal to describe it.

-Color the animals that live in the jungle: (page 27)

-Sorting : (page 28-31) Sort the animals into the correct habitat.(page 32) Use with pages 28-31 to work on length of utterance

-Safari Bingo (page 33-35) 

-Help the kids pick out their clothes for the safari: (page 36-37)

-Graph your favorite animal: (page 38) After talking about the different animals have students graph which animal is their favorite, then talk about which animal was picked the most and the least.

-Compare & Contrast: (page 39-41)

-We’re going on a safari interactive book

You can find it in my TPT store by clicking HERE!

Enjoy using books in therapy!

Fab Friday Freebies

We have come to the end of the four week Fab Friday Freebies series. I wanted my last freebie to be a big starter kit to get your year started off right. Since I work between multiple schools I don't usually do a lot of decorating. (1) It's time consuming (2) It's expensive. However, I have seen all of the beautifully decorated classrooms all over Pinterest and decided this year I wanted to decorate but as inexpensively as possible. 

This packet includes a banner, incentive chart, subway art poster rules, I Am A Great Listener poster for boys and girls, editable file cabinet labels, and a smart goal sheet.

You can grab this freebie here Speech Starter Kit.

Here are some other awesome freebies I found this week:

The SLP Starter Kit by Sublime Speech

This download is filled with documents to get your year off to a great start.

Back To School {Motivational Posters} Freebie For Classroom Decor by Class of Kinders

Need some motivation? These are perfect to hang on your walls or place in a picture frame s around your classroom. 

Speech & Language Therapy Incentive Bracelets by Queen's Speech

Love, Love Love these!

Behavior Visual Cues (FREE) by Super Power Speech

These are excellent visual cues to use through out the school day to remind your students of school expectations.

How do you decorate your room?