Guest Post from Crazy Speech World- Easy Carry-Over Speech Activity for Summer!!

This week, I have another, fantastic guest blogger, Jenn from Crazy Speech World, who is popping in to share a fun and functional summer activity for speech and language carryover!  You are going to LOVE this activity because it is PERFECT for kids of all ages and abilities!  I have been a huge fan of Jenn's for some time and many of my clients have enjoyed her story book lessons for the famous, Old Lady and adorable Bear!  Take a look at what she designed for FREE for speech2me followers!  Be sure to stop by and visit her at Crazy Speech World and take a look at her other crafty activities!

I often try to find the easiest ways for parents to work on speech goals, especially when it comes to summer practice.  Being a parent, I know that sometimes...it's hard to find the time!   So when I can come up with suggestions that are already a part of a child's routine, I know that will make life easier.  And who doesn't love that?  So...what are kids doing (or should be doing!) all summer already?  READING!  And since they are reading, I figure that is a perfect way to work on speech at the same time...and then I thought...SPEECH-Marks!

Speech-Marks are bookmarks that can be printed and used to record words in a story that have the student's target sound(s).  There are 10 blank spaces on each one, so as they are reading they can write down words they find with their sound.  Once they fill it up, they can drill the sounds, use them in a sentence, retell the story, or create their own story!  You can also use it for language goals...parts of speech, vocabulary, anything!

I included color, as well as black and white, making it easy for you OR parents to print and cut.  You could also laminate them for multiple uses, if you wanted.  

I created this freebie set just for you guys, you can download it HERE! 

Jenn is a school SLP in Florida, working with children PK to 8th grade, and the author of the blog Crazy Speech World.  You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and TPT.

Articulate it by Smarty Ears- App Review and Updates

This April 2013, the developers at Smarty Ears updated their articulation/ phonological drill app, which was first released three years ago.  Before I review the updates, let's take a look at the app itself, just in case you have not had a chance to peek at this little gem;)

Taking in from the top, the first screen you would encounter will look like this:

If you want to set up some profiles for players that you need to collect data on, then proceed to the "SELECT PLAY" tab in the bottom center of the screen.  You will be brought to this screen where you can select "ADD NEW":

If you want, you can use an Avatar or photo image from your library.  You can also upload profiles via the, Therapy Report Center.  You can select up to SIX players at one time!  This is like a dream come true, especially for us school based SLPs that typically have speech groups with a mix of articulation and phonological processes!

Next, you will need to select from the following:

You'll notice at the bottom of Ally's screen shot that I am given an option to not only select previous targets, but also those specific targets are listed ( in case my brain fried and I forgot which ones she is working on this quarter!)

Here are some images for the screens that follow selection of each of the above topics:

I love how you can customize this app!  I don't think I'll ever use flashcards again!!  Notice how you can even select the number of syllables that you need to address: this is a new feature.

Another convenient feature is that you can select word, phrase, or sentence levels for targets without having to go back to the setting and reset everything!  One of the recent updates was the addition of the phrase level.

As always, there is a "SUPPORT" tab that opens links to tutorials, more apps, and much more!

Be sure to take a look at the "SETTINGS" tab.  Here you can switch a variety of features "on" or "off".    One that I particularly liked was the "Move to next on touch."  If you turn this "off", then you will need to manually move to the next picture.  This allows for much needed practice with a target that may have been missed the first time.

The updated version also has a brand new report format, making it easier to see and track data.

I highly recommend this app if you are in need of something to use with your small, speech groups!  It will make your life so much easier!

The generous developers at Smarty Ears provided me a code to review this app.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are solely mine.

What's in Mom's Purse?

Here is a fun activity that I found on www.makelearningfun.com during Mother's Day 2012.  I took some of the suggestions from the website and added a few of my own.  It was a HUGE hit with both my preschoolers and middle school students and easily adaptable.  All you need to do is search your home for a variety of items that are typically found in a mom's purse.  I purchased most of my items at the dollar store, bag included!  After your search for objects is over, take a picture or make a computer generated one for each item in the bag.  Then print, laminate, hole punch, and clip all pictures to your purse for safe keeping!  During the game, children take turns using just their hands to feel inside the bag for the picture target.  I like to set a timer for one minute to keep the game moving along.  Older children can use descriptive words to talk about what item they are looking for while younger ones can reach in and search while you provide descriptors.  Here are some of the many speech and language goals that can be incorporated into this activity:

• articulation practice at the word/ phrase/ sentence level
• describing objects by function
• discussing objects by shape/ size/ textures
• using slow, smooth fluent speech to talk about object features
• answering "why" questions about various bag contents

I liked this idea so much that I made a beach/pool bag activity for summer and a lunchbox one for back to school in the fall!  I have even seen stocking ones at Christmas time.  I guarantee each one is simple to put together, fun, and functional!!

Fun and Functional Summer Activity Guest Post from Speech Snacks!

This week, I have a guest post from one of my favorite SLP bloggers at Speech Snacks!  If you have not seen her blog, then make your way over there after reading this post at http://speechsnacks.com/

She is someone that I featured in the SLP chain link up a few months ago.  I stumbled upon her blog when she was hosting a raffle last summer for the story book: Fast Food, which features characters crafted from healthy food choices!  I have not seen another speech blog out there like hers that incorporates nutritional meals and snacks with speech and language lesson plans.  Her activities are imaginative, crafty, fun, and functional!  Originally, I was going to post this on Monday, May 6th, but I just couldn't keep this to myself any longer!  This is such a great way to encourage speech and language practice over the summer in the comforts of your own homes and it saves you from over heating at a laminator or nursing paper cuts from cutting pictures!  I hope you enjoy the post as much as I do and share it with your families!

I was so honored and excited when Nanette, fellow blogger at Speech2Me asked if I would help her celebrate her one year "blogiversary" with a guest post! If she lived close by I might say, "Congrats, that's so wonderful. Let's go out for an ice cream sundae to celebrate!" But with several hundred miles separating us, I thought it might be fun to share a "cyber-sundae" instead. So today's post focuses on ways to use ice cream to enhance language skills! And with the end of the school year and summer right around the corner, I couldn't think of a better way to tie in a food-themed therapy activity! This is great to use as an end of year speech-language party idea (when permitted), with your summer speech caseload, or with your own children at home. And if using the real foods involved in this post are out of the question for one reason or another, I've put together a simple, functional and very fun way to still partake in the ice cream experience without involving the actual cold stuff!! Continue reading to find out how to do this activity. And don't forget to check out the healthy recipe idea for an ice cream substitute at the end of this post!

Here's Your Language Sundae Lesson:

Take a look at my Language Sundae Video demonstration to see how we addressed language skills at various age/ability levels (this video was originally recorded in July 2012).

 

Ways to address language concepts while making your sundae:

Keep the number of ingredients simple, however have some options available for ice cream flavors and toppings. While creating their sundaes, the following areas can be addressed to initiate further discussion and language development: 1-Decision making/critical thinking skills---Ask your students to choose between several ice cream flavors and toppings. Ask them how and why they made their decision. (i.e. Why did you choose one flavor or topping versus another? Why is that one your favorite?) 2-Practical knowledge of PREPOSITIONS (spatial concepts) by asking them key questions about the locations of different parts of their sundae. i.e.: Where is the cherry? ON TOP OF THE WHIPPED CREAM. Where is the ice cream?? UNDER THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE. Where is the whipped cream? BETWEENTHE BANANAS. 3- COMPREHENSION OF "WH" QUESTIONS i.e.: What is ice cream made of? Who drives an ice cream truck? Where can you buy ice cream? 4-SEQUENCE the steps they took to make the ice cream sundae (using key words to organize their thoughts--FIRST,NEXT, THEN, LAST) 5-DESCRIBE what their sundae looks like (to help develop sentence length and complexity) 6-Use ADJECTIVES to describe their sundae: i.e.: CREAMY, DELICIOUS, FLAVORFUL 7-BUILD VOCABULARY by addressing ANTONYMS AND SYNONYMS: i.e. Name some synonyms for cold---freezing , frigid, chilly. Name some antonyms for cold--sweltering , burning, fiery.  

Here's your simple and functional Sundae Idea:

This activity is used to target categorization and good auditory listening and memory skills (of increasing length and complexity). For this activity the students are the "servers" and the teacher will be the "customer" placing the order. I purchased a couple items all at my local dollar store (an ice cream scoop and small Styrofoam craft balls) and found a some other necessary objects around my house (a clear plastic bowl and

cups). I labeled each ball (which is used to represent a scoop of ice cream) with a Sharpie marker. Your students can help you generate the words to put on your ice cream scoops as part of the lesson. We wrote the names of ice cream flavors on some (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, rocky road, mocha chip, chocolate chip, cookie dough), the names of various toppings on others (rainbow sprinkles, hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, M&M's, walnuts), words used to describe ice cream (smooth, creamy, cold, delicious, sweet), and numbers of scoops                                                           on the rest (1,2,3,4 scoops).

I color coded the scoops (i.e. all flavors had an orange circle on them, all toppings/brown circle, describing words/pink circle) . When I asked students to pick scoops, I would say, "scoop out one brown, one orange and two pink. " By doing so, I could determine how many flavors, toppings and descriptive words they would need to remember and repeat for this exercise. The process of having to remember the number and color of scoops is one way to address auditory memory skills. With all the Styrofoam balls placed in the bowl and mixed well, each student should receive their own cup (or small

bowl) to collect their scoops when it's their turn. Modify the game according to the ability level of the students playing. For some students, a goal of remembering two or three words may be appropriate. You may be able to challenge others to remember and name four, five or

possible six words to describe their sundaes. After students add the scoops to their cups (remember the number of scoops is determined by you), ask them to give you their cup. Now you can order your sundae and have them repeat the order back to you. If the words smooth, creamy, one scoop, chocolate and whipped cream are on the scoops, you could say, "I'd like a smooth, creamy sundae with one scoop of chocolate ice cream and whipped cream on top." That's a tall order and might be a challenge for some students. Choose less scoops for those students who are not ready to remember and repeat so much information. In addition, you can give points to those who can remember the entire order or sequence the order properly. Here's an idea to address

CATEGORIZATION/CLASSIFICATION skills: use the cups to sort the scoops into categories. Label each cup FLAVORS, TOPPINGS, DESCRIBING WORDS, etc. (customize the labels and/or scoops as you see fit for this activity; you don't necessarily need to stick to the ice cream theme for your cup labels or Styrofoam scoops!) Students can randomly chose a scoop using the ice cream scooper and decide which cup it belongs in. Have fun creating your own rules and ideas for working on language and processing skills with this functional ice cream activity! Enjoy!

         

Whipped Banana "Ice Cream"

This recipe is a healthy alternative to ice cream: (great for children and adults with a lactose intolerance/milk allergies, or looking to cut sugar, increase health benefits in their diets) Enjoy this ice cream "fake out" which contains ONE INGREDIENT, NO MILK, NO ADDED SUGAR, NOTHING ARTIFICIAL !!

Freeze three bananas overnight---be sure bananas are ripe, but not overly ripe when you put them in freezer---I actually froze the bananas with the skin on, but you can peel them first, then wrap them in clear plastic and place in freezer--it will be MUCH easier--trust me (trial and error!!) **Let the kids do the peeling and wrapping!  

Break bananas into small pieces to make them easier to whip in the food processor. **Leave this step up to the kids as well.

Whip bananas thoroughly---this will take several minutes----If they are not blending smoothly, take some of the frozen bananas out of the processor and blend in stages---DO NOT add water or any other liquid!!   **Have your kids observe the difference in the appearance and texture of the bananas before and after they have been whipped through the food processor. Discuss cause and effect with this activity.  

Optional: Add 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter or one tablespoon cocoa powder for additional flavor.  

Whipped bananas will have the consistency of soft ice cream. Enjoy immediately. Freeze any remaining portion. **Compare the differences between whipped bananas versus real ice cream. Which do you and your kids prefer? How are the whipped banana and ice cream the same and different??                    

               

Sunny Articulation Phonology Test- App Review and Giveaway!

One year ago this May, I posted my first write-up on my blog, speech2me!  It has been nothing short of an amazing year and I look forward to many more to come!  I feel honored to have "met" several, extraordinary  peers through this blogging process, all of whom have inspired me to be a better therapist!  This month, I have asked a couple of my many favorite "go to" cyber peers to guest post here on speech2me about fun and functional speech and language activities for the summer.   You will see a post from Cooking up Good Speech and Crazy Speech World.   First, I thought I would kick things off with a review and giveaway for an outstanding app, Sunny Articulation and Phonology Test by Smarty Ears.  If you are an SLP and you don't have this app, then you will definitely want to enter the raffle.  When I say it is a MUST have app, I mean it is a MUST HAVE app!!

The Sunny Articulation and Phonology Test allows you to screen and/or test clients for speech delays.  Before administering either, I recommend watching the tutorial so you can be sure to customize the settings to best meet the needs of your clients.  You can find the link to the tutorial under the INFO button located in the upper left hand corner.

Next, you will want to tap the SETTINGS button in the upper right hand corner and select "on" or "off" for the following: Transition Audio, Record Single Sound, and Display Written Word.  I chose to turn off the audio for transition between pictures because I do not agree with using verbal encouragement during testings.  After making the settings selections, you can add a new student by selecting the large, blue, ADD STUDENT button in the lower left hand corner.  All you need is a student's name and date of birth.  Now, the real fun begins!  The app automatically calculates the chronological age for you:)

Select a client from the list on the left hand side of the screen, and then move over to the right side to select NEW TEST.  You can either select a full evaluation or a screening, which is a shortened version of the complete test.  Pictures are either actual photos of objects or computer generated images, but all are in color and easy to recognize.  Above the image is a phonetic transcription of the word.  In the full evaluation mode, you can tap the letters that are mispronounced, and then a list appears displaying all types of errors from distortions to substitutions.  And get this- you can turn the phonetically scribed word AROUND so that it faces you while the client looks at the images!  This little feature made my day!  The developers really thought of EVERYTHING when designing this app!!

At the end of the screening or test, you are asked to subjectively rate speech intelligibility before being brought to the complete analysis.  The final summary screen shows the client's name, raw score, intelligibility, and status of testing.  Tapping these results will bring you to a comprehensive summary displaying accuracy ratings for ALL of the following:  position, manner, voicing, words, and place.  I was amazed with the comprehensive analysis supplied by this app!  Below are some screen shots for each of these.

I'm sure by now all the SLPs out there would love to get their hands on this app!  I know it has made my life easier for completing a couple evaluations!  Since we are nearing the end of the school year, and I didn't have any new screenings to complete, I used the screening format to update goals for several of the clients on my caseload.  If you would like to add this app to your toolkit, you can find it in the app store or win a code for it below!  It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS of 5.0 or later.

Disclosure:  The generous developers at Smarty Ears provided a code for my review and one for this raffle.  No other compensation was received for this review.  Opinions expressed here are completely unbiased and solely mine.


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Expressive by Smarty Ears- An Inexpensive Augmentative Assistive Device

Question for all the Speech Pathologists and caregivers out there who service children who are non-verbal: What do you think is a reasonable price for an app compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch that includes over 10,000 images and acts as a voice output communication system?  Those of us familiar with the cost of an augmentation communication device would guess within the range of one hundred to two hundred dollars.  What if I told you that you could get this app for under thirty dollars?  Crazy, right?  Well, the cost for the Expressive app by Smarty Ears is $25.99!  This month being National Autism Awareness month seemed like the perfect time to review this inexpensive, easy to use, recently updated application.

We begin at the opening menu page.  Here you will find color coded folders for the following groups:  basics, categories, expressions, descriptive, food, people, places, questions, verbs, and time.  When you tap the icon, you are brought to another screen with members individually listed for selection.  

OPENING MENU PAGE

BASICS FOLDER

CATEGORIES FOLDER

The main page also includes the following, popular icons:  not, go, I, is, like, have, you, want, do, bad, it, more, all done, and good.  Tapping any of these brings the image to the top of the page, where it is said aloud.

The settings allow you to select either "on" or "off" modes for the 'lock',  'capital/lowercase', 'speak folder' and 'automatically erases messages' features.  Locking the app will prevent users from seeing the bottom tabs that bring you to the settings, allow you to delete or add images and folders, and give you access to other links for Smarty Ears, which includes a tutorial of this app.  It is a good idea to lock the app if you want to avoid accidental deletion of images and folders.  The capital/lowercase selection displays the written word for the pictures you select to appear in either all lowercase or capital/lowercase.  Speak folder allows you to hear the name of the selected folder.  Finally, the automatically erase features removes images in the top bar after you play the sentence strip.

You can also change the speaker's voice by choosing from four different male/female voices.  If desired, you can slow down the rate of voicing or speed it up faster.

Another handy feature is the delete key.  Simply tap the red "x" icon at the bottom of the screen and a delete button appears on each picture image.

If you need some specific pictures from your own photo library or if you want to add more smarty symbols, you can create new folders and add new images by tapping the green "+" button.  In the screen shot below, you will notice a color wheel, which allows you to select a tab color for the folders and images you create.   I created a folder for Chicago images, which could be used to communicate places of interest for planning visits.  Once you add the picture and text, the app automatically sets an audio recording of the word!  This by far is my favorite feature because you can really customize the app to suit any client, regardless of age!

Here are some images that I loaded from my photo library of Chicago!

In summary, I thought this app was a steal for the price given that you get 10,000 images and the ability to customize it with settings controls and links to add your own photos!  The main menu page is very organized with the color coding system and group icons, making it a cinch to operate.  It would be even better if the developers could eliminate moving to a new screen to view category members by creating a scroll that you could slide through for groups and then view members on the same screen.