Uncategorized – Page 4 – In Spontaneous Speech

Social Skills Updates

28 Jul

July 28, 2019 Cindy 0

The In Spontaneous Speech blog is in the process of much needed reconstruction and updating. The adventure started when I recently updated the Social Skills products on my Teachers Pay Teachers Site. This resulted in the free sample products not matching here on the site and needing updating. Of course it then became a cascading effect of changes, some external and some internal. However, I think you will like the changes. I will move on to the other headings later on, and I will keep you updated. Please read on to discover the changes.

First I updated the free product samples on the Social Skills Page, and they are ready for downloading. I started with the Social Skills Page since many of those cards were the oldest and seemed the most outdated. I used new clip art and added additional cards to some of these products.

When you have a chance, download the new free samples and replace your older ones. You can check out the new free samples by clicking on Social Skills on the index strip at the top and following the page down. You will notice the new buttons.

I switched the down load storage site so it should be easier to do downloads. In the past you may have encountered a two step process to get to the down load and sometimes may have received a message that the site had reached its maximum downloads. This was another complicating factor of the old infrastructure. When I started many years ago, I used Keep & Share, Photobucket, and a few other places as data storage sites. I had links going to 3 or more places and some of those places have since added restrictions. It made it difficult to figure out where problems were occurring if something stopped working. It became quite an undertaking to keep the links going.

Thank you for your product support because you have kept this site going and helped with the improvements since it’s conception. Very little is free in life so I am sure you aware that this site costs a bit to operate. The product sales have allowed me to get to a self hosted site with download capability within the site. This alleviated the need for multiple storage sites and all those links. I have been switching the links as I get to them.

This adventure also started because I started to cringe at some of the cards from those older sets. My clip art was less than stellar. Originally, I made them for my use and didn’t have time for frill. Now I have more time to explore digital art which was another interest of mine.

When I first started making task cards, I didn’t have experience with digital art or drawing tools you use on computers. I began drawing my own clipart because I couldn’t always find the clip art I was looking for. I wanted figures that were relevant to the content of the card and not the same figures everyone else was using. I didn’t want the clip art to depict very young children, because I know some of the students using my cards might be older than average for a grade. I knew older children may get put off by clip art that appears to depict young children. I also needed some very specific actions and objects.

Within the last year, I have acquired a notepad and stylet. I have been making digital art using the free app, Auto Desk Sketchbook. After trying other programs, this one seems to make the most sense to me. I love drawing without buying all those supplies that go with it. I discovered how to use layers, which allows you to revise drawings multiple times without having to start over, which is a real plus for me.

Before I close, a reminder to those who have purchased the full card sets on Teachers Pay Teachers, you will be able to download the updated versions free by just getting another download on the TPT site. They are all listed under the original titles. The card sets in the Social Skills Communication Bundle are all included in the update and can also be purchased separately. To get to the TPT site, click on the picture below.

I am ending this post using the thought process of Bad Thing and Good Thing. Bad Thing: Updating is a real headache and overwhelming after 7 years of building a foundation on trial and error. Good thing: Hosting a Blog has been a great hobby and learning experience. There was something cathartic about writing it all down. It gave me a boost and support at work when I forgot materials going between multiple work sites. I could bring up what I needed on a lap top or iPad. It was a great creative outlet. Finally, it forced me to look at my data files and create a better filing system.

With any such endeavors, there are a lot of chances for errors. Please let me know if there are errors on products so I can make corrections. It seems like a few always slip through. Constructive suggestions are always welcome.

Carryover Activities for Speech Therapy

5 Nov

November 5, 2018 Cindy 0

No matter what goals you are working on with a student, there comes a time to move those newly developed skills outside your therapy setting. This is referred to as carry over. For some students we know it can be a real struggle. We all have experience with the student who does a perfect /s/ during therapy and then you see them in the hallway and they turn to you to ask “Is it my peech day?” All of that work does little good if it does not transfer to the real world. Therefore carryover skills are important to address. It is important to have this in mind from the very beginning.

There are things to keep in mind when planning tasks for carry over. It is important that the student is able to do the required task correctly in a controlled setting and hear the difference between his correct and incorrect productions before doing homework assignments on his own. If he doesn’t self correct errors he is likely to practice homework wrong which only reinforces errors. Homework should be given at the level where student is successful.

It is important to reinforce the correct behavior to get it established but after that don’t give immediate feedback every time. Instead, teach self monitoring by asking the student what they think about their production and then give feedback. This makes them responsible for their behavior and not as dependent on your approval. Children often work for approval and do not see the big picture. We want them to be self-disciplined and responsible for their actions. I often tell them they need to become their own therapist because they certainly don’t want me following them around all day correcting them.

As soon as students are at a spontaneous sentence level I encourage them to self monitor by using a hand counter or tally counter. They self monitor by making a click each time they observe themselves doing an assigned task correctly during therapy. This could be monitoring a correct speech sound, using correct grammatical structures, or using fluency techniques. All those things we tend to work on.

It is easiest to do this in an hierarchy. Train the student how to use the clicker when reading a word list or reading sentences that have the words they are working on. Then bring it up to the next level by working on more spontaneous productions. The Silly Sentences in the “Expressive” section are great for a reading task. It goes to the next level of spontaneous speech when student explain what is wrong with the sentence that was read. The Association cards in the “Vocabulary” section are also a way of getting more spontaneous output as the student explains how words are similar in meaning. I often have students working on vocabulary skills as well as sound production in the same group. With the clicker almost any task that requires a spontaneous response can work and meet a variety of needs.

There are a few bonuses for having the student use the tally counters. You can keep track with a second counter or paper and pencil, and compare accuracy of the self monitoring as well number of attempts with the student’s tally. The students finds it motivating to hit a target number of correct productions and you have data for your records.

The clicker can add natural controls at the level of conversational speech.
Often students get carried away with a conversation, and forget to monitor or allow others to talk. The flow is stopped if you need to remind them. The tally counter in their hand is a good reminder there is a goal in mind. When working with multiple students you can give an assigned number to tally before passing it to another student. The group can earn a chosen activity when they reach a certain number. For some reason the clicker by itself can be motivating to some students.

The “Social” section at the top has quite a few activities to encourage spontaneous speech in social situations. There are ideas for role playing in this section. Role playing is a good activity for practicing real life situations. Ideally you will be providing tasks that reflect real life speaking situations so students practice what they will actually be saying and then carry it over.

Here is a link to my “Home Work Rating Scale“. I have used it to get feedback from parents, teachers, and caregivers. The student becomes aware he is being listened to by others and parents know what can be expected from the student. I often use this sheet as an exit requirement. When parents have been part of the process, they are more likely to know and agree when it is time for a student to discontinue speech services.

Crocodile Dentist Adapted for Communication

7 Feb

February 7, 2018 Cindy 0

I updated Crocodile Dentist with a new communication board. It was a popular game with my early language learners and I managed to wear out two crocodiles since the original posting in 2013. This was a great game for speech therapy reinforcement and to encourage communication. Apparently some of you are still using it.

Readers have requested the communication board I made to go along with the game but unfortunately I don’t have it any longer. It was left behind with the game when I moved on to other schools. I no longer have access to the program Boardmaker to print the digital copy. However, there is a free program called Picto-Selector that I have been using to make communication boards. This program may be a good option for some of you. Click on the colored print to find the site to download it. I made the board below using it. If you want to download this board click on the board below.

Meanwhile, here are the game adaptations I posted about in 2013.

Crocodile Dentist is a plastic crocodile that has a spring loaded mouth. The mouth closes when a certain tooth is pushed down. Kids enjoy the suspense of seeing who is going to get bit. I give the kids an option of using using a tongue depressor because some take this quite seriously. The trigger tooth changes location each time the mouth is opened.

Some of you may already use this game for reinforcement. I thought you might like to know how you can expand its use a little further. I use it to expand a student’s verbal output to 2 to 3 word phrases using a communication board and to follow directions using prepositions.

I colored the teeth alternating colors using permanent markers. I used pink, green, and orange because I already had a die that had those colors. If you don’t have a die you can make a spinner or use colors for a die you have.

For my students with limited verbal abilities, I use the communication board along with the die in a plastic jar. I have the students shake the die to get the color of tooth they need to push down. I then model phrases using the communication board while playing the game. The game creates a lot of opportunities for repetition of phrases such as “I have ….” or “push down green tooth”. I also reinforce saying “your turn” and “my turn.” After repetition the students start to say the appropriate phrase when you point to the correct icons as a prompt. Finally, they may prompt themselves by pointing to the icons and verbalizing. This is a good way to break up an imitative pattern that often happens when training non-verbal children and uses a natural context for turn taking.

The colors are used in the direction cards also. Click on the free download icon for the cards. Cards were made using the concept vocabulary: next to, beside, between, right, left, colors, not, side, front, either/or. Children take turns drawing the cards and following the directions for the tooth to be pushed down. We play a variation by giving each child three poker chips. They feed the crocodile a chip if he bites. The person who feeds all three chips is the winner.

I provided a word program down load because I thought people may need to adjust the color words for their needs. If you have any difficulties with this, leave me a comment. Print out the cards and have the students pull them out of a bag and then follow the directions while playing the game.

A reminder that Teachers Pay Teachers is having a February sale. If you have been putting off purchasing, now is a chance to get a discount. Don’t forget to use the code.

The Virtues of a Grab Bag and Grab Bag Hack

1 Nov

November 1, 2017 Cindy 0

Have you ever wished for extra arms while conducting speech therapy? Who can forget those early days of SLP training and starting of clinical hours. At the time, it seemed impossible to manage everything. I wished for more hands to manage materials, data taking tools, and especially the young clients. If you turned your back, your clients had control of the materials and you became an octopus trying to get them back. This was not a good start to the session.

I got to thinking about the hacks I discovered along the way that made a difference. A grab bag was one of my real life savers. If you haven’t discovered the virtues of a grab bag you have really missed out.

There are lots of advantages to using a grab bag. A bag allows for control of the materials and prevents students from helping themselves to items before you are ready to use them. It allows for controlled turn taking. Only the person with the bag has access to the items. They take items one by one before handing it on to the next person.

It creates intrigue for some students who would not otherwise be interested. Who doesn’t like discovering what is hidden in the mystery bag? And finally, when you find yourself switching locations and working from room to room, you can keep better tabs of those small pieces if they are contained in a bag that is portable.

I used grab bags frequently with my early language learners, especially in small groups. It creates a natural context for communication boards when training core vocabulary such as “I have, I see, I want,” and that mportant question for vocabulary development, “What is it?”. I have used grab bags with a activities such as potato head, the car races, and windup toys. You can use a clear freezer for students who need to see the parts and request them.

Here is an example of a communication board I used with mechanical toys and a grab bag. The board is made from Picto-Selector graph which is a free download. It can be found at https://www.pictoselector.eu/

A bag can also be used with older students seated around a large table. The bag can be passed so items can always be reached. You have one less thing in your hands which really helps when taking data. You can even have different bags and different cards in each so students can work on different objectives by pulling from their bag. I have a lot less trouble with a stack of cards being scattered across the table and floor.

I imagine you are saying, “I want one of those. Give me the directions for that grab bag already.” Well here they are:

Find an old sweater or sweatshirt that has long sleeves and cuffs. Simply cut the sleeve off, turn it inside out and sew across the flat bottom. You can glue the bottom opening closed with a glue gun if you can’t sew or don’t have a sewing machine. Turn it back to the right side and you should have a bag with a cuff opening for the top. Now tell me that isn’t simple.

Traveling SLP, What is in your bag?

15 Jan

January 15, 2017 Cindy 0

I just finished a couple of weeks subbing as a middle school SLP. I find am still enjoying getting to know middle school students. After so many years with elementary level students, it has been a nice change. It is one of the benefits of traveling. It gives you the opportunity to change work environments.

As I started another subbing experience I got to thinking about which therapy items were most helpful on the first day when I don’t know the students and their goals. The SLPs have been good at leaving plans for me but of course stuff happens. For instance an app I needed required a password I didn’t know. Also I couldn’t find the assigned worksheet which was probably in front of my nose at the time. I found it the second day. Between bell schedules, student schedules, and locating students it can be a lot to figure out that first day.

I was left a folder of goals, data sheets,and worksheets which was very helpful. The goals were your typical ones about building various complex sentences and articulation mainly at the sentence level. There were students building a dictionary using Tier II vocabulary. There were also a few others with social communication goals and using AC to communicate.

There was a note stating I could make changes and use what I wished. I appreciated that note because it gave me license to change things up a bit. Student’s appreciate the newness a sub can bring and I usually am better with materials I know rather than reading directions a few minutes before students enter that 1st day. I find students are more cooperative if you are interactive with them.

I thought fellow SLPs would like to know what materials were in my bag that first day and how I used them. I try to travel light and make everything fit in a beach tote I own. I also put my lunch in there because I often don’t know how much time is in the schedule to find any. It is one less thing to worry about. So lets look in that bag.

Chelsea was making sure I packed my lunch. Can you tell that it is often a worry of hers?

In my bag I brought my Go Fish Deck of descriptive snowmen. Go Fish is one of those universal games good for all ages. Adding a descriptive feature, increases the therapy value. I am always surprised to find a few students who don’t know how to play. This school has high poverty and a newcomer population so this may not be that surprising after all. The deck consists of a variety of snowmen that are all different but enough alike that students really need to work on describing them.

In the game of Go fish, they asked for snowmen producing complex descriptive sentences. Some also worked on articulation in phrases and sentence. They particularly drilled r, s, and th in the word “with” as they said sentences such as, “Do you have the snowman with a blue hat, a striped scarf, and a carrot nose”. They also drilled sentences such as, “There is a snowman who has skates on his feet, and is skating.” I provided a sentence frame for some students who needed an example to get started. A few students were working on written sentences so I had them write it out as a separate exercise from the game.

You can print yourself out a deck of snowmen by finding them at Speaking of Speech.com in the Materials Exchange section, under thematic units and snowman game. Click on the snowman below for a direct link to that section.

Many years ago I purchased a Dover Coloring Book called “Whats Wrong with this Picture by Anna Pomaska. This is one of my prized possessions for a therapy material that is easy to carry . It can be used as a regular coloring book. However, I have slipped pages into plastic sleeve covers so students can use dry erase markers for marking on the page and then they can be wiped off for the next group. Students enjoy finding the things wrong in the pictures and they are good prompts for verbal production as well as written sentences. I found that Amazon.com still sells this book. You will not regret having this in your bag. click on the picture below and it will provide a direct link to Amazon. I do not have any affiliation with Amazon and do not get anything from the purchase.

I also brought an assortment of my cards from this web site and TPT. I am finding that a lot of these cards also work for middle school. I used the Tier II vocabulary cards heavily because they happen to be some of the same words they were putting in their dictionaries.

I paired these up with an old game called “Pig Mania”. It is a dice type game in which you toss pigs and get a score depending on how they land. I believe this is now being sold as “Pass the Pigs.” in many toy sections of stores. It added a little bit of incentive after each task card.

The students working on social skills used various apps and problem solving using a 5 point scale to rate behaviors. Commercial materials were provided so I didn’t go into my bag although I did have my “Size of the Problem” with me.

So that rounded out my day and I was able to cover everyone with the things in my bag.