Turning the Tables

One of my favorite things to do at the end of the school year is to reflect on everything that my students have learned and the progress they have made.  So, the last few weeks seemed as good of a time as any to turn the tables and have the kids become the teachers!  One of the teachers that I co-teach a few lessons each week with, wrote down all of the concepts that the students learned throughout the year and then they made posters to present to the class.  They had to include the word/phrase, a definition of the word, examples to demonstrate to the class, sample questions for the class, as well as pictures when appropriate.  It's really neat to see how many of the kids took off with this project and shared their new knowledge!

Here's a look at just some of the wonderful creations!

I hope that you've had a chance to reflect on all of the progress that your students have made throughout the year!

If you'd like to follow my facebook page to see even more fun therapy ideas, you can do so HERE!

{Review} Rory's Story Cubes by Gamewright

Some of my favorite products to review are those that don't necessarily target a specific goal area, which is why I was excited when Rory's Story Cubes - Voyages arrived in the mail!

This activity, that is suggested for children ages 8 and up, includes 9 cubes that each include pictures of everyday verbs for a total of 54 pictures.  The pictures are purposely left to interpretation in order to allow the story to go in any way that you or your students might choose!  Simply roll the cubes, and let your imagination flow to create a fun and silly story.

This activity can be used to target the following skills:
* sequencing
* listening for details
* repeating sentences
* carryover of articulation sounds
* syntax skills

I'm sure that you can think of even more speech and language targets that this game can be used for!

I also found additional suggestions of how to play this game at Rory's Story Cubes website.

My favorite way to play the game is "Creating Superhero Stories".  All you (or your students) have to do is roll the cubes to determine your superhero's superpower, create a back story, and create a super-villain!

I would love to see story cubes (e.g. basic nouns, prepositions, etc) that would work well for students that are younger than 8 years old.  This is such a fun activity, that it would be nice to use with younger students as well.

The ways that you can use this product in therapy is truly limitless!  You can find Rory's Story Cubes for $7.99 HERE!


Disclaimer: This product was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.

{Review} "More Prefixes and Suffixes" by CTP!

I've been looking for new materials to use with my students who are learning about prefixes and suffixes, so I was very happy to review "More Prefixes and Suffixes" by Creative Teaching Press because it is a comprehensive way for students to gain more understanding of this very important skills.

"More Prefixes and Suffixes" increases a student's reading comprehension by expanding their vocabulary knowledge.  It includes 18 units on the following prefixes: e-, ex-, in-, non-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, pro-, retro-, an-, anti-, ab-, ad-, de-, dif-, dis-, dys-, equ-, equi-, hemi-, semi-, cent-, centi-, dec-, deca-, penta-, oct-, sol-, soli-, multi-, ato-, self-, micro-, mega-, megal-, and megalo-.  Also included in this book are 6 units with the following suffixes: -less, -ness, -ist, -ish, -ful, and -ion.

Each unit includes:

- a "Word List" to study base words with their prefixes and/or suffixes, as well as their meanings,

- matching "Vocabulary Sort" cards to match up vocabulary words to their definitions,

- "Application and Practice" matching, sentence fill-in-the-blank sheets, or crossword puzzles,

- "Read-Around Review", similar to "I Have, Who Has", for small group practice with prefixes and suffixes,

- "Vocabulary Quiz" sheets that include multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.

In addition, the book contains a "getting started" page that breaks down activities into five different lessons and lays out what activities to present each day, as well as an "answer key" at the end of the book.

I love that this book breaks down prefixes and suffixes into easy to learn lessons with so much practice!  I would love to see additional pictures with these lessons in order for visual learners to be able to easily learn prefixes and suffixes.  Overall, I would highly recommend this activity book to anyone who is working on prefixes and suffixes!

You can find this great resource for $19.99 on CTP's website!


Disclaimer: This product was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.

{Review} U-PLAY Mat by Stages Learning Materials

I'm always intrigued by products that encourage a new twist on therapy, which is why I was excited to try out the "U-PLAY Mat for Education" by Stages Learning Materials!

The sturdy, vinyl mat that comes with this product includes 10 large, clear pockets for flashcards.  The "U" shape of the mat (picture taken from the child's perspective) allows a student to sit inside of the opening which promotes eye contact and face-to-face interaction.  The student is able to turn in any direction to access the pockets and is able to easily interact with the therapist at the same time.

The U-PLAY Mat also comes with two packs of flashcards.  Each pack contains 50 cards (25 pairs) of themed cards - animals and food items.

On one side of the card is a picture of the item and the name of the item.

On the other side of the card are a few facts about the item.

Here's what the mat looks like when it has been filled with flashcards and is ready to use!

The product comes with an activity guide that includes many different ways to use the mat.  This page discusses different ways to use the mat to increase a student's categorization skills.

Also included in this activity book are well-organized, reproducible data sheets that can be used to efficiently track a student's progress.

Ways to use the U-PLAY Mat for speech-language therapy:
- Receptive Object Identification: Fill the pockets with flashcards, name an item and have the child hand you the corresponding flashcard.
- Expressive Object Naming: Point to an object and have the child name it.
- Categorization: Fill the pockets with flashcards and ask the student to give you various category items (e.g. "fruit", "vegetable", "cold item", "orange item", "zoo animal", "farm animal", etc)
- Attributes: Played like "I Spy", students take turns describing objects in the pockets with attributes while others guess which item is being described.
- Facts and Opinions: Using the facts on the backs of the cards as well as their own knowledge about the item, students take turns stating facts and opinions about an object.  The other students in the group decide if the sentence is a fact or an opinion.

One con:  I would have liked for the flashcards to be a bit more sturdy as they were easily bent during use.

You can find out more information about this $49.99 U-PLAY Mat by checking out Stages Learning Materials HERE!

Disclaimer: This product was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.

{Review} "I Dare You Articulation" App!

You know how articulation therapy can be a tad boring at times?  (Ok, let's face it - REALLY boring at times?)  Well, Erik X. Raj has the solution with his "I Dare You Articulation" app!

This app includes 600 child-friendly "dares" and is designed for children who are working on the /s/, /z/, /r/, /l/ "sh", "ch", and "th" sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions!  It even includes /s/-blends, /l/-blends, and /r/-blends!  This app makes working on articulation sounds fun and interactive as children can either read the sentence or listen to a reading of the sentence for the sound and position of the sound that they are working on.  This make-believe activity allows students to use their imagination while working on their speech sounds!

First, start by picking the speech sound that you'd like to work on in the position that you'd like to target and then go to town working on each child's specific speech sound goal area!

Initial position ("ch" example)

Medial position (/z/ example)

Final position ("sh" example)

Blends (/l/-blend example)

I love that this app breaks up the monotony of artic therapy.  It's really fun and allows for multiple exposures to specific sounds in each sentence!  It also includes later developing sounds that are the more frequent therapy targets.

You can find this fantastic app at iTunes for $4.99.  You can also follow Erik on facebook to see what he's up to next!

Thanks, Erik, for the opportunity to review this app that puts a whole new spin on artic therapy!


Disclaimer: This app was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.

{Review} Storytelling Fun!

Retelling stories is always a tough skill for my students to acquire, so just imagine how excited I was to take a look at a felt board set by Storytelling Fun! that helps students retell one of my favorite books, Rumble in the Jungle!

There are many ways to use this product!  My students used it to retell the story in the correct order using sequencing words such as "first", "next", "then", "after that", "last", etc.

The characters can also be used to teach prepositions such as "under", "over", "next to", "middle/center", "corner", "top", "bottom", etc. In this activity, I starting giving directions as to where the characters should go, and then the students took over telling their peers and me where to put the items.

The product can also be used to teach basic syntax skills.  I have a few students working on forming sentences with the words in the correct order, so this activity worked great for them!  The pieces were divided among the students and then when we talked about their animal, they would raise their hand and say "I have the _____."

Last but not least, this activity is also awesome for increasing a student's understanding of attributes.  We put all of the characters on the board and then took turns explaining the animals by color, size, etc.

I really like that the characters are durable and a good size.  I love that this item is so diverse.  There are really so many ways that it can be used in therapy sessions.  I'm sure that you can think of even more ideas than I have to use these great Storytelling Fun products!

Storytelling Fun has 50 different felt board sets to enhance your student's ability to retell stories in a fun and interactive way!  You can check out their website to find out more about all of their great products!


Disclaimer: This product was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.

Two "Moore" Ways to Help OK SLPs

Most of your are probably aware of the devastating tornadoes that affected Moore, Oklahoma recently.  It's difficult to know what to do to help, as many of us live far away and are not able to physically lend a hand.  Because of this, a BUNCH of TpT sellers got together to put together some amazing bundles of products for you.  The profits from the sales of these products will go directly to SLPs in Moore who were affected by the tornadoes.

Each bundle contains at least 30 products and is available for only $15.00!  (WOW!!!!)

You can go straight to the SLPsCareForOK TpT store to start buying!

Also, visit Major Speech's blog to check out the wonderful companies who have donated to Moore, OK SLPs!

You can purchase these materials through June 30th.  Thank you for taking part in this very important project!