free apps – In Spontaneous Speech

Most Useful Apps

28 May

May 28, 2013 Cindy 0

The school year is coming to a close and it will be time to return the iPads to the technology department. We don’t always get the same iPad back in the Fall. If the technology department has completed updates it is possible they come back wiped clean. I didn’t keep a list of apps last year and I regretted that. I decided to post my most used apps on the page now called Videos and Apps. Maybe you will find one you haven’t discovered yet. They were all free when I originally downloaded them.

I thought I would also write a bit about how I use what I call my Pretend Play apps. Three of my favorites are Toca Hair Salon, Toca Monsters, and PlayHome Lite. I use these boards frequently with my students in the Life-skills programs. I have found I need to create a lot of structure and routine or it becomes the student making a lot of random hits on the screen and basically zoning me out. If there are two students, it is often difficult to get one student to give up their turn to the other student. I don’t find a session very fruitful under these conditions. Maybe you have had that experience too. I have found that adding activity based communication boards to go along with the apps adds the structure and the control I need.

I use Boardmaker to make the communication boards and usually start with a pretty basic framework. My pronouns and nouns are on the left side of the board. The next section contains the verbs needed, then prepositions and adjectives. I leave the right side for my My Turn, Your Turn, Finished, exclamations like Oh-no, and Do it again. By keeping the basic framework the same, the student becomes familiar with the icons and knows where to look for them. You do too which makes it easier to model the sentences. If you keep your framework similar, you can make new boards easily by using the same framework and only replacing the vocabulary you need for the new activity. I use plastic protectors and just slip the new board in. This has saved me from laminating.

Quite a few of my students are working on using two to three word phrases using carrier phrases such as “I have____”, “I want____”, “I need____”, and turn taking. I require them to use words or the communication board before manipulating something on the iPad. They then indicate Your Turn to the next student. I model this behavior as I play with them and it isn’t long before they are talking with me in a more natural context. It also works if you are working on subject pronouns and verb forms. I model which tense of the verb I want them to use such as future tense on something they “will” do. I am posting pictures of two of my boards I use with the apps “Play Home Lite” and “Toca Hair Salon”. Has anyone else discovered this works for you?

Eggs-actly Descriptive Game Cards

3 Feb

February 3, 2013 Cindy 0

I made a set of egg cards a number of years ago that I always brought out in the Spring to go along with Easter Egg themes. They evolved from the barrier game cards that are available for download in the social language section. I decided they could use an update so I increased the number and difficulty and added a BINGO game. There is now a bigger range from simple to more difficult. The full set is at TPT. I put 12 of the cards for download here ( Eggs-actly PDF wordpress) . so you can try them out. I had a fellow SLP that works in the middle school use them this last week.. She said they kept the students interested which is not easy for this age group. They were able to progress into the more difficult ones. I did make some adjustments. I had made multiple color spots and they tried to tell the location of each spot. I thought that was a little too much so changed the spots to the same color.

These cards have been used with 3rd grade to 7th grade students to target descriptive vocabulary and to follow multiple directions. The cards range from two step (make a green star in a red triangle) to more complex directions that require 5 or more steps (draw red lines that intersect perpendicular to each other in the center, draw a red triangle in the upper left corner, a yellow circle in the upper right corner, a green heart in the lower left corner and a blue star in the lower right corner). The following vocabulary can be elicited: inside, parallel, diagonal, end, striped, spotted, across, center, corner, intersect, above, below, vertical, horizontal, half, between, left, right, perpendicular, heart, square, diamond, triangle, rectangle, and star.

I’ve also used them to elicit r,l,s and blends in multi-syllable words in spontaneous speech. They were especially good for practicing the th sound in that pesky word with.

You can use them in the traditional speech therapy games of matching, go fish, following multiple directions, and mystery card.

I also used the cards with a free app called Educreations. It allowed the students to use the iPad for drawing. It seems anything with the iPad is very motivating. I liked it because I didn’t have to deal with markers. I hope you have fun and let me know how they work for you.

StoryKit for Speech Therapy

28 Apr

April 28, 2012 Cindy 0

If you have followed my blog you know that I have used StoryKit in a few of my activities this year. I thought I would bring it to the fore front since I found another way to use it. I keep finding new ways to use it and it useful for so much more than just editing a story. For those who are not familiar with it, you can read more about it on the ITunes app store. It is available as a free download.

When you first open StoryKit its full potential is not apparent. When I first saw the books listed for editing I thought it was just another app for downloading children’s books. Then I realized I could create my own books and insert pictures I took with my iPad or my photo library. The program also allows for writing and multiple recordings on each page.

This led to use number one. I found it was great for creating directions for crafts because of the multi-modal presentation. A child has pictured, written, and verbal directions that can be repeated at the push of a button. If you look back on my bulletin board crafts, there are examples of directions posted using this program. The App creations are actually better on the iPad because they are presented as a book rather than in story board form.

Use number two was actually incorporated into use number one. I used the recording feature for expressive language and carry over for articulation. The students created and produced the directions. They were motivated to use clear and concise speech when recording them. If it didn’t come out clear the first time, it was easy to record it again They would make multiple recordings and in the end keep the best one. It really made them more aware of errors to correct and what details were important.

My latest use was making a book of “Unexpected Animal Photos.” There are all sorts of collections of photos on the internet. It is easy to take a screen snapshot of these photos to make a book. Students can add verbal commentary once pictures are added. I’ve found that animals are a good topic for conversation and the unusual pictures encourage students to use descriptive detail and make inferences. You can make your own by using Google to search for collections of unexpected animal photos. When you find a photo that you like, you can add it to your photo library by taking a screen shot. Here are the directions to create a screen shot. Even if you don’t have an iPad, the pictures can be printed off and used for discussion. Students always seem to like to talk about animals.