SLPs

Improve Reading Comprehension with Winter Literacy

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As the winter chill settles in, it’s the perfect time to cozy up with some winter-themed literacy activities to improve reading comprehension! Whether you’re a speech pathologist looking for engaging classroom resources or a parent eager to enhance your child’s reading skills at home, this winter literacy post (featured in ASHA 1/10/13) has you covered.

Exploring winter literacy with my elementary clients has been a delightful journey. During one winter break, I crafted several engaging lessons, pairing seasonal books with practical activities. Organizing these books can enhance thematic learning experiences and streamline access to resources for speech and language therapy sessions. For more details about my unique storing system, read my organization post.

Improve reading comprehension with Tracks in the Snow

Improve Reading Comprehension with: Tracks in the Snow

Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee suits 1st and 2nd graders. It aids in teaching irregular past tense verbs. I decided to create a list using sentences with present tense verbs from the story.  Kids take turns changing verbs to past tense, earning animal track cards or tokens for correct answers. The person with the most tracks or tokens wins! You can grab your list here for Tracks in the Snow:

Improve reading comprehension with The Missing Mitten Mystery

Improve Reading Comprehension with: The Missing Mitten Mystery

My next book, The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg is a funny story about a little girl who retraces her steps outside in search of a missing mitten. I found this book by Scholastic for a quarter at my local library sale! Moreover, I needed a lesson for some 3rd graders that focused on simple comprehension questions following a short reading, and this book fit the bill! If you can find this book at your local library or bookstore, then you can use these comprehension questions!

Improve reading comprehension with In the Snow: Who's Been Here?

In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?

Another score at the library sale was, In the Snow: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George. I highly recommend borrowing or purchasing this book because each page gives clues about a winter animal that has crossed the trail in the woods just prior to the children’s walk. Great for vocabulary building and also for answering who/what questions!!

Improve reading comprehension with The Hat

Improve Reading Comprehension with: The Hat

The Hat by Jan Brett follows Hedgie the hedgehog as he gets a sock stuck on his prickles and faces the curiosity of other animals. As the story unfolds, readers discover how Hedgie’s predicament turns into a whimsical adventure. If you have not seen the FREE templates at www.makelearningfun.com that go along with the stories, The Mitten and The Hat both by Jan Brett, then you should follow this link to take a look!

Improve reading comprehension with Owl Moon

Improve Reading Comprehension with: Owl Moon

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen depicts a young girl and her father as they embark on a magical journey into the woods on a moonlit night. Together, they search for owls, experiencing the wonder and quiet beauty of nature. I found some great worksheets for this award winning story at this blogger’s TpT site.

Addendum 1/3/2013

After borrowing Katy and the Big Snow, I crafted a vocabulary lesson plan, prompted by a comment on this post. Follow this link for complete details.






FREE Seasonal Words That Have Multiple Meanings

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Pen circling a date on a calendar for planning teaching of words that have multiple meanings

One vocabulary area that seems to challenge many is: providing two or more different definitions for words that have multiple meanings. Targeting multiple meaning words over a few weeks isn’t enough; I’ll focus on them throughout the school year for measurable gains. So, I developed word banks for monthly calendars based on a seasonal activity, event, or category. I found that asking students to provide a definition relative to the theme was very helpful.

Lesson Plan

At the beginning of every session, each student would provide one definition for the day’s target word. Every Friday, I wrote “Review Day” on the calendar so students could pick whatever word they wanted from the past week.  Sometimes, there were small candy incentives for accurately providing at least two, different definitions.  Below are word banks you can use to make your own calendars.

Seasonal Words That Have Multiple Meanings

  • January (Hockey words): slip, icing, sticks, fans, ice, mask, uniform, slash, goal, net, line, slide, glass, coach, pass, shoot
  • February (Body Parts): head, ear, limb, hand, feet, nail, face, arms, foot, lash, gum, calf, back, arm
  • March (Baseball Words): bat, batter, pitcher, run, home, strike, ball, coach, hit, fan, plate, fly, diamond
  • April (Animal words): bark, duck, hog, bear, clam, fly, bug, fish, bat, snake, crane, chicken, monkey, pig, rat, badger
  • May (Action words): join, drive, straighten, play, grill, settle, observe, grasp, spare, take, spin, stand, fire, fix, beat, lose, shake, sign, miss
  • September (Things You May Find in Your Home): iron, key, light, bed, screen, shed, sink, yard, fan, entrance, deck, plant, table, pool, steps
  • October (Basketball): ball, hoop, court, coach, dribble, pass, shoot, basket, net, quarter, foul, travel, trip, charge, block, run, steal, fan, tie
  • November (Football): ball, tackle, coach, quarter, half, run, pass, field, guard, fan, wave, catch, practice, cover, down, flag, cheer
  • December (Holiday/ Seasonal words): cold, present, ice, star, shop, stockings, bow, trip, open, light, wrap, tag
January 2012 calendar image for lesson plan about words that have multiple meanings

10 SLP Apps that Stand the Test of Time

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Essential SLP Apps

I was given each of these SLP apps so I could put them to the test and offer a first person, hands on review.  This list of 10 apps that stand the test of time is meant to guide other educators and caregivers towards the apps that I have found to be most beneficial, not only when my son was younger, but also at work with clients on my pediatric, speech-language caseload. The ranking is in no particular order of preference.

Conversation Builder for Social Communication

Conversation Builder icon: SLP apps

Conversation Builder Teen ($29.99) by Mobile Education Store:  I cannot say enough about this dynamic app that supports improving social skills for teenagers! I have used  it with middle school clients diagnosed with autism. To say this app is a must have for anyone needing support with pragmatic skills would be a HUGE understatement!!

Tense Builder for Understanding Verbs

Tense Builder ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:  This is another, fantastic app by Kyle Tomson. It addresses every, possible verb tense in a bright, entertaining way that the first graders in my life really enjoy. Users watch a short cartoon video and then match the appropriate picture to the target sentence. For a closer look at this gem, head to my detailed post here.

Syntax City App

Syntax City icon: SLP apps

Syntax City ($19.99) by Smarty Ears:  Great app that targets a good variety of syntax in a fun, categorical way. Visit several different locations in the city and earn prizes by choosing the correct word to complete sentences. Motivating, educational, and fun for my young, elementary students. I have more information and images to see of this app in my detailed review post.  

Rainbow Sentences: Recommended SLP Apps

Rainbow Sentences icon: SLP apps

Rainbow Sentences ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:
The object of this game is to unscramble words to form grammatically correct sentences. It offers multiple settings and various levels of difficulty. I personally like how the mixed up words maintain the correct punctuation and capitalization, which act as clues for word ordering while offering visual reminders to use these techniques while writing too! Children earn pieces of a puzzle by answering several questions accurately.  I provide even more details and images in my post: Constructing Grammatically Correct Sentences with Rainbow Sentences app.

Preposition Builder App

Preposition Builder icon: SLP apps

Preposition Builder ($7.99) by Mobile Education Store:
What can I say, I’m a Mobile Education Store Fan! They cover all the speech language therapy bases!! This app teaches prepositions in related groups. Once you successfully fill-in the correct prepositions in all sentences, you unlock an opportunity to watch a short, animated video clip.

Articulation Station: The Greatest of all SLP Apps

Articulation Station (.99-$5.99) by Little Bee Speech:  The app itself comes free with oneArticulation Station: SLP apps target sound, /p/, and then you purchase other sounds at various prices. Speech pathologists will want the entire collection, while parents need only purchase sound targets applicable for their children.  No need to dig for flashcards because this puts them all in the palm of your hand. You can work at word, phrase, sentence, or story levels and set sound targets for all positions in words.  In addition to the flashcards, there are memory games built into every sound target, making carryover practice easy and fun!

Expressive: Robust AAC APP

Expressive icon: SLP appsExpressive ($59.99) by Smarty Ears apps: This is an affordable augmentative and alternative communication speech generating app primarily used for individuals who are minimally verbal.  For complete details and images, please see my post Expressive by Smarty Ears Apps- An Affordable AAC app.

Expressive Builder App

Expressive Builder ($9.99) by Mobile Education Store:  I use this app to address building grammatically and syntactically correct sentences. The levels of play make this a nice tool for teaching and assessing speech and language skills!

Custom Boards: A Versatile Tool in SLP Apps for Creating Visual Resources 

Custom Boards (PRICELESS) by Smarty Ears apps: Incredible, comprehensive, amazing, dynamic – these are just some of the descriptive words that came to describe this app!  Basically, Custom Boards allows you to create whatever you need for children of all ages using any of the 35,000 “Smarty Ears” symbols, your own library photos, or Google search images.  You can edit the text font, image size, and change the background colors for images to help them stand out more and create just about anything from Bingo games to daily routine visual schedules.

Little Stories: Literacy App for SLPs

Little Stories icon: SLP appsLittle Stories ($59.99) by Little Bee Speech:  It is impossible for me to tell you everything about this app in one paragraph, so I want you to download the free version and sample three stories for yourself.  You can target speech, language, and literacy in this dynamic app that contains 82 stories at tiered reading levels. Take a look at what you get with each story:

Reading & Literacy

  • Phonemic awareness
  • Reading fluency
  • Reading comprehension
  • Story structure awareness
  • Story tradition and genre exploration

Receptive Language Skills

  • Attention and listening
  • Vocabulary acquisition
  • Story structure and comprehension
  • Question processing

Expressive Language Skills

  • Speech production
  • Story sequencing
  • Story retelling
  • Question answering

How to Write a Social Story

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One of the most frequently asked questions I have heard in both early intervention and school settings is:  How do you write a social story? I’ve discovered the value of not only offering educators and caregivers the stories they seek for their children but also providing guidance on crafting future social narratives. By the end of this post, I aim for you to feel empowered to craft your own impactful social stories.

Woman dressed in black writing a social story on a computer

What is a social story?

A social story is a personalized script that depicts any number of social scenarios.  According to the developer of social stories, Carol Gray, “Social Stories are a social learning tool that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people with autism of all ages.” Written in the first person, the social story may be repeated aloud; therefore, we want these utterances to be grammatically correct and personify the speaker. If a child memorizes a script like “You will feel proud,” it may sound awkward in social situations.  Rather, this line in a social story should say, “I will feel proud.”

Who benefits from social stories?

Children with autism and other communication delays have particular difficulty comprehending and responding to routine and unexpected social situations. Social stories define social sequences, aiding comprehension for autistic children, whether through text alone or with visuals.

What can I use to write my own, visual social story?

While there are many social stories for sale, it is easier to compose one specific to the child’s needs. These stories can be generated using apps on an iPad like, Social Story Creator & Library by Touch Autism or Custom Boards by Smarty Ears apps. Create a photo album with typed sentences to ensure consistent reading, aligning with pictures for a cohesive story experience.

Whether your social story is a few pictures in a photo album or several sentences on one full page, there are some elements that must be included in order for the story to be effective. Let’s look at a sample story and examine the  four types of sentences that comprise a social story.

Guideline for Writing Social Stories:

Story title:  Changing into Gym Clothes Before Gym Class

Before we can go to gym class, we need to change into our gym clothes. (This is an example of a descriptive sentence. You may use a few of these in one story.)

Other children in my class need to change into their gym clothes before gym class too. (This is a perspective sentence because it describes another’s actions.)

I will try and stay calm in the noisy changing room. (This directive sentence type is a statement of the response or action you are trying to achieve with the social story. You can even add some techniques that help the child “calm” such as taking deep breaths or counting.)

Most people change into gym clothes before gym class so they will not ruin their school clothes. It is a good idea to keep our school clothes clean. (This final sentence is called an affirmative one because it affirms or reinforces the other sentences in the story and reiterates values and opinions.)

While I have seen some written using negative connotations like, “I will not hit my friends,” we know that repeating these lines can reinforce those unacceptable behaviors.  A better option would be to script the expected action, “I will have quiet, calm hands with my friends.”

Sample Social Story Resources:

I hope that the details in this post provided you with all the information that you need to write your own social stories.  However, if you are not quite ready to start from scratch, then I have listed some resources with sample stories to use or edit:

Writing Social Stories with Carol Gray

The New Social Stories Book: Revised and Expanded 15th Anniversary Edition

204 Fold and Say Social Stories

Given the emotional content some social stories are more challenging to write than others, so Carol Gray wrote some sample social stories covering topics like, safety, tragedy, self discovery, stereotypes, and resilience.

Simple Speech Therapy Early Intervention Activity using Eggs

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Eggs with various interactive toys for speech therapy early intervention activity

Crack open the door to engaging speech and language development with our simple yet effective speech therapy early intervention activity using eggs! All you need are a dozen plastic eggs and small objects to fit inside each one. There’s something magical about finding mini treasures that delights children between the ages of two and five. I’ve used this activity during the spring/Easter season and beyond with great success! For more winning, speech therapy early intervention activities, head to this post.

Communicative Purpose in Speech Therapy Early Intervention

In the world of speech pathology, we often reference: communicative purpose.  These are the various ways that we express our intentions to connect with others.  The greatest thing about using this simple activity of filling plastic eggs with treasures, is that you can elicit several purposes for social communication.  Below is a sample of a speech session from start to finish using eggs filled with objects to tempt communication with young children:

  • Requesting object: indicating a choice for an egg with pointing, eye gaze, reaching, or vocalizing
  • Requesting assistance: reaching, signing, vocalizing, or expressing “help” to open an egg
  • Greeting: waving and/ or saying “hi/ hello, bye/ see ya” as you take objects in and out of eggs
  • Requesting action: gesturing and/ or vocalizing to say “go” after a verbal prompt of “Ready, set…” with a wind up toy; matchbox car/ small vehicle; or spring-loaded pop-up toy
  • Requesting continuance: gestures, signs, and/ or vocalizes “more”
  • Labeling: using a sound/ syllable/ word for famous characters like Elmo, Sponge Bob, and Dora
  • Commenting: using facial expressions, sounds (ew), words (yuck, wow) to make comments about sticky, slimy, gooey, messy things
  • Responding to questions: Potato Head pieces for naming and/ or identifying body parts
  • Protesting: shaking head “no”; pushing object away; placing it in an egg; or vocalizing “no”
  • Requesting termination: gesturing, signing, and/ or vocalizing “all done”

Treasure Hunt

While you may find many objects around your home, below are some great places to look for more items to fill in eggs.
  • The Dollar Tree typically has a wind up toy or two somewhere in the store or you can find bundles on Amazon.  I like having one of these in each sound box because they allow for a little more opportunity for target practice while you play with it.  You may also find magnet numbers, miniature animal figures, individually packaged specialty characters, and small Koosh objects at your local Dollar Tree store.
  • Target Dollar spots sometimes have mini object erasers in a pack of 4 for $1.  I found a fruit one on clearance for 30 cents that had a strawberry, banana, grapes, and a watermelon.  
  • Party stores often have trinkets for favors or decor for themed parties 
  • Walmart carries seasonal favors that are fairly priced.  I found a collection of stretchy body parts during Halloween a few years ago that the kids love.
  • IKEA sometimes carries animal finger puppets in a collection of 5-6 that are fun for varying play during a seek-and-find game.
  • Dinky Doodads on Etsy.

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