Groundhogs Day Bulletin Board and Activity

29 Jan
groundhog buleting board

We had  a good time  preparing for Groundhogs Day this week.  It seems to be a popular day this year as we are really ready for Spring weather.

There are a lot of free materials out there to help celebrate. We studied facts about groundhogs and checked our comprehension. We did comparisons between rodents.   We explored shadows with a flashlight against the wall.  Home Sweet Home is  a good source for a short video clip.  There is also a young student book you can download for free from http://growingkinders.blogspot.com.  The Groundhog Book was written by Kathleen Pedersen.   I downloaded it and was able to use my iPad again.  I love being paperless.  I can actually find what I need when I need it.

I found the idea for a bulletin board on Pinterest.  There was a  groundhog pattern for  a free  download here at pattern universe. We used the pattern to make our own groundhogs. I put the directions on Storykit so they would be on my iPad.  You may be able to use them  as well. The Storykit directions are here.   Now we are waiting for February 2nd to see if we can bring out the shadows.

Have a Winter Blast

19 Jan

Speech Therapy with a snow theme.

snowman prep

It is time to bring out the cold weather activities .  January started out with a winter blast in a lot of the USA.   We have had the usual rain and wind in the Pacific Northwest.

I have a few snow activities posted on this site from previous years. You may or may not have noticed them.  I thought  I would showcase some of the activities I have used recently.

For my early language  learners I have brought out the cornstarch and shaving cream snow.  It is easy to make. It only uses 2 ingredients.  All you have to do is mix one or two cans of shaving cream with two boxes of cornstarch . The shaving cream makes it feel tingly cool, has a soft silky texture and a refreshing smell.  To make this wonderful artificial snow add the shaving cream into the cornstarch  gradually until the mixture will form a ball when squeezed together in your hands .  Although it brushes off hands fairly easily,  I recommend putting plastic down on carpet, so it doesn’t get ground in and hard to vacuum up.

corstarch snow

You can add a few extras for snowman accessories.

cornstarch snowman 1

I found this activity works well after reading a short story about a snowman.  Choose your favorite one.  There are quite a few out there.

Have fun playing in the snow.

 

Adapted Who Shook Hook Game

11 Dec

 

who shook hook

        Who Shook Hook Adapted Game

 

I know some of us do pirate themes in our therapy rooms at some point during the school year.  It helps to develop that ARRR you know.  This is a game that would work with that theme.   I found this game unopened  for a few dollars last year at a Goodwill store and decided I couldn’t go too wrong with such an inexpensive game. I see  there are some 2nd hand ones you can order quite reasonably on ebay or amazon.  Keep your eyes open for it at thrift stores or Goodwill.

I used it for a variety of speech goals.  It is good for developing some vocalic r words such as sword, barrel, tweezers, treasure, shark.  It also had quite a few sh, ch  type words such as treasure chest, cash sack, shovel, beach, shark, bridge, and fishing pole.  A lot of the items used in the game were not familiar vocabulary words such as tweezers,  hammock, palm trees, and barrel.  It seemed that everyone knew what a sword was.  Finally, there was a good use of prepositions as there was a shark beneath or below the hammock, the hammock between the palm trees, and Hook hopefully staying above the shark.  You of course can add other task cards to get more drill incorporated.

It is not a game  I would normally have bought. Some of my students have difficulty with small motor skills and this one looked like it could be frustrating for them.  In the game, players  move figures around a track.  They land on squares that tell them to use various tools  to remove treasures from the hammock without letting Capt. Hook fall. I was surprised to find that this game actually worked out quite well.  Hook doesn’t fall off the hammock that easily.  You can hook his heels into the hammock which makes him pretty steady.  You can adjust the difficulty somewhat by his placement.   Most of the students could find a tool that worked for them and the tools were quite motivating. Some students just used a tool to shove the treasure off rather than pick it up.   It was a fast paced game that didn’t end until all the treasures were gathered or Hook fell.  Students enjoyed the challenge of the tools and didn’t get hung up on winning.

I was able to use the game for some of my early language learners so  I made a communication board to go with it.  You may notice that I try to keep my boards quite similar. The pronouns are to the left and connect easily to my core verbs that are usually want, have, get, or put. My middle area after the verbs has the vocabulary that changes and the far right is the my turn, your turn.  This seems to work for me for being consistent and allowing students to find the words they need to  develop short sentences and phrases. I print them out on regular paper and slip them into plastic page covers.  The board is flexible so fits easily into the game box.

hook

 

 

 

A Simple Tissue Paper Tree Project

26 Nov

Do you need a simple project for the winter season?  This tree was made  by  my students and completed during  one 20 minute therapy session.  Students at  all   grade levels seemed to enjoy making them.  They also made a good  bulletin board that was culturally sensitive for this time of year.  I added the silhouettes to discuss winter sports and the word silhouette.

Tissue Paper Tree

Tissue Paper Tree Art Project

I targeted quite a few goals with this project.  As usual, I used the app StoryKit to make the directions.  My articulation and older students began by sequencing and taking pictures. They recorded the directions using their best articulation skills.  My language students targeted vocabulary such as stencil, limbs, triangle, around, and tree trunk.  My language processing students listened to the directions and followed them in the correct sequence.

Tissue paper trees.

You can get the pattern for the stencil  here.

The storykit directions are here.  I removed the verbal directions because of student confidentiality.

The Potential of Tap Roulette – Make Decisions with Friends Free App

7 Nov

tap roulette framedI am just discovering the full potential of a free app called Tap Roulette – Make Decisions with Friends put out by laan labs.  You can find it in the App Store for your iPad.   I have no affiliation with this app.  I just find that I use it consistently so I thought I would review it.   Basically students put one finger down on the screen and lights appear alternating under the fingers until one is lit up.  It is a random impartial way to make choices.  Obviously it is a good app to use in therapy  to choose quickly  who goes first and who can choose an activity. I  found out this tool actually has some additioal side benefits.

I have several students who have difficulties regulating their feelings and reactions with unexpected events in which they have no control.  They end up with undesirable  behaviors  or refuse to join in an activity that  is not of their  choosing.  I  use Tap Roulette to set up such a situation so they can practice their strategies to remain calm and stay with the group.

It is very important  to do pre-teaching of the strategies.  There are a lot of programs out there that promote self-regulation and those techniques need to be taught before hand.  Some of the strategies may be things you are familiar with such as deep breathing and self talk. I usually get student buy in and assurance from them before we start. We all have bad days so no use using it then.  Even the ones that have the most difficulty usually want to do it.  If they are not chosen and remain calm I give a lot of praise for keeping feelings in check and staying with the group.  This seems to be a strong reinforcement that starts to break the cycle of an immediate blow up.  This is such an important skill for students to learn socially in order to get along with their peers and function in a classroom.