Search Results for “trial and error” – Page 2

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 I started with the Social Skills Page since many of those cards were the oldest and seemed the most outdated.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.

Vocabulary is an important building block for conveying meaning when communicating. Words are essential but they do not need to be spoken words. Meaning can be conveyed with sign language, pictures, or a written form.

Although expressive and receptive language typically develop together, there may be reasons why a person lags in one or the other. When working with individuals, it is important to consider both their receptive and expressive language skills. For instance, a person who appears as nonverbal may have good vocabulary and language understanding.

An ASHA (American Speech and Hearing Association) certified speech and language pathologist should be consulted if you have concerns about a student’s language development. These are professionals who can conduct an assessment and make recommendations based on testing results. If necessary, a program can be developed to address individual needs.

The materials on this page were made for use, under the direction of a speech and language pathologist to address vocabulary goals and enhance the vocabulary development of students receiving speech and language therapy services. The cards and activities may be useful to supplement classroom instruction. I can not guarantee they will correct deficits when used by nonprofessionals. The cards can be downloaded, printed on card stock, and cut apart for use.

Word Association Cards

Word association tasks can enhance vocabulary development and improve metalinguistic awareness. Metalinguistics awareness is the ability to think about language beyond its structure. In these activities, students compare and contrast the meanings of 4 words and determine which one doesn’t belong. They get a better understanding of meanings in the process. This promotes a higher level of thought process and awareness of word meanings beyond memorizing definitions. Why is this important? It has been found that reading comprehension and metalinguistic skills are strongly linked (Achugar, Schleppegrell, & Oteíza, 2007).

Word Association Task Cards / Text Versions

Word Association Task Cards / Picture Version

Click here for a free sample

Association Cards on Teachers Pay Teachers

The cover pictures are links to products in my store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Silly Sentences/ Text only

Silly Sentences are also a good meta linguistic task : There are semantic errors in the sentences that can make them quite silly. Students read the sentence, correct the error, and tell why the original sentence doesn’t make sense. They require students to make use of vocabulary and general knowledge to determine the errors. Students see these as puzzles and enjoy figuring out what is wrong. The cards listed below are text only.

Semantic Error Sentences

Free Sample Download click here

Cover for Semantic Errors Product — Click on cover for direct link to TPT

Concept or Directional Vocabulary

Concept Vocabulary is used when giving directions or descriptions. It is extremely important in the classroom environment and often difficult for language learners to understand. These are activities that can be used with small groups or in classrooms. I often used them with Kindergarten and Life skills programs.

Spider Web: An activity that teaches the concepts above, below, over, together, left, right and shapes.
Musical Penguins: Using a traditional children’s game, this activity teaches the positional vocabulary of before, after, 1st, last, and middle.
Penguin Preposition cards: 2×2 inch squares that can be used in matching games or a Cariboo game.

4. One Cut Preposition Book

5. Skip and Pass: This is a dice game that reviews the concepts; every other one, skip one, left, and right.

5. Stacking Blocks:This activity teaches left and right hands, tallest, shortest, beginning and end. this activity can be used in the classroom depending on the number of block sets you have. The Adaptive Spinners on TPT have an updated free spinner included. click here

6. Don’t Fall Through the Ice: This activity teaches the concept words several, a couple, many, a few, heavy, light, dry and wet. The Adaptive Spinners have an updated spinner for this one also. Click here

7. Matching or Memory: This is a resource for memory cards. This activity teaches the concepts alike, match, the same, different, in a row, and not.

8. Question Chain: This activity teaches the concepts long, longer, longest, short, shorter, shortest, more, most, least, less, and answering yes and no questions.

9. Bean Bag Toss: This is a classroom activity that teaches concepts such as between, close, near, far, medium size, large and small.

10. Angry Turkeys: This is a bean bag toss game that can be used to teach prepositions. Directions and visuals are in a blog post. Click on the title and it will take you there.

11. Never Ever Dinner Plate: A matching game to address negatives and food categories. Click here for preview

Click here for Sample Preview Click here for Teachers Pay Teachers Link

12. Hula Hoops and Jump Ropes: A class room activity that uses the concepts right, left, around, through, over, under, straight, forward, backward, sideways, and skip one.

13.Tiddly Winks: This childhood game can be used to teach the concepts over, edge, closest, farthest, center, smallest and largest.

14. Cars and Maps: This activity teaches the concepts across, through, over, corner, beginning, end, and descriptive language in a board game format.

What Vehicle is it Communication Board

15. What Animal is it Communication Board for asking questions. Can be used with Beanie Baby animals or plastic animals.

16. Half/whole, top/bottom, and front back: I used alpha friend cards (reading program that was discontinued)) and cut them in half. There are also some sets available on Teachers Pay Teachers. Jason’s Online Classroom has a nice set that would work. Unfortunately they are no longer free.

17. Play Clay: Another classroom activity that uses the flexibility of clay to introduce concepts such as long, short, whole, half, quarter, straight and curved.

18. Password: This is a simplified version of the game that uses pictures for a non reader. It provides opportunity to compare and contrast items of the same category, name items of a category or label the category when given the items.

19. Will It Fit in a Jar: This is the same card game that is in the Expressive section. It is similar to a card game called “In a Pickle” but has pictures for non readers. It promotes comparison vocabulary, word associations, and comprehending double word meanings.

20. The Order of Things: This is for the older elementary or middle school students. The student is required to use comparison vocabulary when placing items of a list in order. Click on the lettering for the free black and white print only task cards.

For Text Version click here

For Teachers Pay Teacher version, click on the cover below.

21. Homonym List: A list that goes with the pear tree activity described April 15 in the blog. Here is a great site for homonyms
22. BINGO and Lotto: a great way to learn vocabulary. Speaking of Speech is a good place to find already made thematic boards.
23. The Mission: A card game to introduce exploration, new frontier, and science vocabulary from the 3rd and 4th grade curriculum.
24. Antonym List (Excel) This list can be sorted and used for the bulletin board. It’s easier to keep track of the words that have already been used.
25. Antonym Reversal Sentences present vocabulary within a context. Student’s then use an antonym to reverse the logic. Click here for a free sample.
Click on the cover below for the Teachers Pay Teachers full version

26. The Core State Standards put a strong emphasis on vocabulary words that occur frequently in academic text. These are often referred to as Tier II vocabulary. Understanding Tier II words can improve comprehension of text and have a bigger impact on a students academic performance when we concentrate on teaching them. Students come across these words when reading Science, Social Studies and English text.
- It is often difficult for our learning challenged students to stay focused for long paragraphs and then answer comprehension and word meaning questions. These task cards cards are meant for them. They introduce words in short paragraphs and have activities that include definition matching and comprehension. They can be adapted for learning styles.
- Challenge I uses 3rd and 4th grade vocabulary, Challenge 2 uses 5th and 6th grade vocabulary, and Challenge 3 uses 7th and 8th grade vocabulary.
- For a Free sample click here.
- Click on the covers below to link to Teachers Pay Teachers for the full versions.

Search Results for: trial and error

Vocabulary Building