In Spontaneous Speech

Comprehension of Complex Sentences EASEL Update

12 May

May 12, 2022 Cindy 0

As you probably know, I like using task cards and have many on this site. EASEL on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) opens up new possibilities for how task cards can be presented to students. I recently took a course on TPT on using the new features on EASEL. I have been updating some of my products so they specifically use some of the new features such as, movable pieces, multiple choice answers, and immediate feedback. If you have previously purchased some of the task cards I bring you Good News. You can use them on the TPT site without making another purchase. The EASEL digital download is part of the old products. When you make a purchase you are now getting two products; the task cards to be printed on cardstock and the digital version created by the seller, me. I will continue to do upgrades so make sure you take a frequent look at your previous products.

Today, I want to review a recent update of Comprehension of Complex Sentences. For those who are not familiar with my original set of cards, Comprehension of Complex Sentences consisted of cards targeting words used in complex sentences that throw off the meaning for our students who are language learners. Words are presented within the context of a short paragraph, two to four sentences in length. A question is then asked targeting specific words. Words specifically targeted include; neither/nor, either/or, instead, usually, unless, if/then, except, both, after, before, while, when, any, until, during, although. Prepositions such as first, last, between, and middlethat indicate a position of individuals are also included. I’ve included a few screen shots of the student view on EASEL.

As you can see the the EASEL version is similar to the original task cards but have some increased capabilities. I hope you take this opportunity to check it out especially if you have already purchased the task cards in the past.

Update on Before and After Picture Cards

23 Apr

April 23, 2022 Cindy 0

This post may look somewhat familiar to you. I am bringing it back up to the top to make you aware of changes occurring to my products on Teachers Pay Teacher (TPT), in particular the Before and After Picture Cards. You may be aware that TPT has a program called EASEL that allows purchasers and authors of Teacher Pay Teachers products to create and use products on digital devices. New features have been added such as movable pieces, color choices, writing, text, and uploading of pictures, clipart, and videos. Teachers can create their own lessons from the products or use ones that teacher authors have created. As a start, I updated my Before and After Picture Cards. If you have purchased these cards you will now have access to a pre-created digital version using features of EASEL from the TPT site.

You may have bought Before and After Picture Cards in the past to be used as flash cards. At that time I suggested using a “Top Secret UV Pen” (often found at book fairs) to write the answers before or after in the blue boxes. Students could light up the answers with a pen light and some found this very motivating.

Now, you will continue to have the ability to print and cut the cards out, but in addition teachers can use the EASEL feature to assign lessons to students through EASEL. I prepared the Before and After cards for you to try out. Students will have the ability to drag the words Before and After to the appropriate spots on the cards. They will not need the fine motor coordination to write the words out. When students have completed the assignment they can turn it in digitally to be reviewed and corrected by the teacher.

I also updated the EASEL version of Sentence Sequences for Complex Sentences. If you purchased this activity in the past, you will also have access to the EASEL version. The digital version gives instant feedback when the students make answer choices. Go try it out.

Click below for a direct link to my store The Spontaneous Speech Spot

One Cut Book on Bean Growth Cycle

1 Mar

March 1, 2022 Cindy 0

One Cut Book Bean Growth Cycle — Growth Cycle of Beans

The days are getting longer, it is getting warmer, and thoughts of planting a garden come to mind. It is a good time for students to plant seeds and watch them grow. I made a one cut book to help show the sequence and introduce the vocabulary for the activity.

The project may look familiar to you because the book uses the same template as a previous one on the development of a butterfly. It folds up the same and only needs the printed booklet and a pair of scissors.

To complete the activity, students plant seeds in a plastic bag or cup of dirt and watch their mini gardens grow. They can observe seeds as they sprout and grow a stem, roots and leaves. They can use their booklets to label the parts. Plant extra seeds so you can uncover seeds along the way to see their progress. Make sure you plant a few extras for students in case they get a bean that doesn’t sprout in their container. We don’t want any disappointed students.

Making the plant booklet would be a good activity to do before students start planting. I am providing a free down load for the booklet. You can print out what you need for your students. Please refer people back to this site for the download and do not use for commercial purposes. Use it with your students when planting those bean seeds. They can then follow their plants progress. The free download contains the book and complete directions as pictured below. It only requires folding and one scissors cut. You can get the free download by clicking on the yellow star below.

Happy Planting!

free down load — One Cut Book/ Plant from a Seed

Descriptive Snowman Activity

7 Jan

January 7, 2022 Cindy 0

Snowmen picture cards are a very useful tool for practicing descriptive sentences in receptive and expressive language. They are one of my “go to” activities for speech therapy in the month of January. I use them in the traditional “Matching” and “Go Fish” games. The students all seem willing to participate because it doesn’t seem like work. They get multiple repetitions on skills they are working on and it doesn’t seem like drilling. These games are played by a variety of age and ability ranges so work well with mixed groups of students. Continue reading for a free download of cards further down.

When using these cards with my students, I provide carrier phrases for those students who are practicing certain complex sentence types. For example question forms: “Does your snowman have ….. ?” and relative clauses, ” Do you have a snowman who has ______ and a ________?” or prepositional phrase, “Do you have a snowman with___ and ______?” I require them to use the pattern until they no longer need a prompt and can do it on their own.

For those students who are working on articulation in conversational speech, there are plenty of opportunities to use the th, r, s, l in words and blends.

As you can see, this activity can be used for quite a mix of students. It is also great for getting data for progress reports at this time of year.

As a reward for making it to this point of my post, I made a free set of cards for your convenience. There are 5 sheets of 4 cards to make a total of 20 different cards. You can make as many sets as you need. I usually make 4 copies of each page for a game of Go Fish. I have mine printed on cardstock and laminated. They have lasted several years.

button for free download — click here for free download

Just click on the free download button and you will get a printable pdf file. The snowmen in the pictures have similarities and differences, so students really need to listen carefully or make sure they are being descriptive enough when making questions for their listeners. Saying the snowman has a black hat or stick arms will not give enough information. There are several that fit that description. This may require a student to ask for more information which is also a good skill for students to develop.

The snowmen are from http://clipart-library.com/ and are for personal use only. Commercial use is not permitted. Please use these cards with students on your caseload or class and not for resale. If you would like to add more variety there are more snowmen for download on that site. Students can also use the blank cards to make their own versions of snowmen.

Tier II Vocabulary Task Card Challenge 3

23 Nov

November 23, 2021 Cindy 0

Could you use some task cards to help students over the summer break? Take a look at my sets of Vocabulary Task Cards for students to quickly review vocabulary. Challenge 3 is written using words off 7th and 8th grade vocabulary lists. If you have used the Challenge 1 and 2 cards using lower level vocabulary, these are similar. Words are presented in a short paragraphs and students complete word meaning and comprehension tasks after reading them. I have included a free sample in this post for you to try out. Scroll down to find the free download.

The cards are flexible for a variety of teaching situations and student ability levels. I always liked materials that I could tweak for different learning styles and students don’t appear to be getting something completely different from their peers. I think the instruction sheet below, included in the download, best explains the different options available.

The full set of task cards are on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT). You can assign them to individual students digitally on EASEL platform. This allows for paperless teaching if you wish. You can also download and print them out on cardstock. They can then be used with individual students for home work or in learning centers. 126 words are covered in 20 cards/slides. A variation of the 20 cards using the same words means there are 40 cards/slides total. The free sample provides the word list used.

If these cards work for you and your students, you can purchase the whole set at my store “The Spontaneous Speech Spot”. Click below for a direct link to the full set.