Hey everyone! This past week I returned from an awesome vacation in Cancun, Mexico. Here's a picture of Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world!!
Here's a picture of me in front of one of the Mayan ruins, Tulum.
Upon checking my mail when I got home, I noticed the usual "back to school" greeting letter from the principal at the elementary school where I work. You know the letter, the one saying how much we are missed at school and how the administrative staff are anxiously awaiting our return because they are eager to start the school year or perhaps it is just too quiet during the summer. Well, that's when it hit me that my summer vacation is pretty much over.
In my school district, I return to work this Wednesday, July 31st and have 5 preplanning days. Students return to school on Wednesday, August 7th. As my summer vacation is still a very present and pleasant memory, I allowed this information to abruptly sink in. In anticipation of this, I created a Back to School Word Association Freebie prior to leaving for my trip to gently ease myself into the reality of returning to work. Don't get me wrong, I love love love my job as a SLP!! However, the summer always goes by way too fast. Anyhow, I often enjoy teaching my students about word associations because it is a great way to address vocabulary, memory, and overall receptive/expressive language skills at the same time.
The Back to School Word Associations learning packet is ideal for students in kindergarten-third grade and targets 20 school related vocabulary words. I suggest doing a brief mini-lesson to introduce the concept of word associations before using the activity materials. Explain to your students that word associations are words that go together or are related by category, function, part/whole, synonyms, antonyms, etc and that today they will practice words that are related because they are in the same category of "Back to School." The purpose of the activity is to allow each student in a speech-language group or language arts/literacy center to name 2-3 word associations for each target word. Here's a preview of this packet.
As always, thanks for visiting my page today. Check back soon for some language therapy giveaways!!
Tamara Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP
SLP Back to Work This Week!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I am having a great time. I have done some traveling and decided to create another beach themed language activity. One of the best parts of this activity is that it's a freebie that is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) online store. I know that we all work so hard throughout the school year and also in private practice with our students and clients. I want to reward you all with an activity that will be useful and visually appealing.
One of my favorite places to visit during the summer is Ormond Beach, Florida that is located on the east coast, a little north of Daytona Beach and south of Flagler Beach. While there, I saw a caravan of "Monster Trucks" and decided to capture the moment. I thought, "wow, my boy students would love to see these photographs!!" Hence, I created Beach Themed Monster Trucks-Synonyms & Antonyms to target comprehension and verbal expression of the specific vocabulary listed. As you other speech-language pathologists know, direct vocabulary instruction is essential for our students with language disorders who struggle with developing their vocabulary. They require a lot of drill and repetition as well as naturalistic ways to practice identifying and communicating key vocabulary words. Addressing vocabulary in speech-language therapy or language arts/literacy lessons is critical to increasing students' communication, language, and overall academic development.
You can check out more details about this product at:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beach-Themed-Monster-Trucks-Synonyms-Antonyms-774872
Enjoy the remainder of the summer!! I have exactly 1 week left before I return to work full-time! I can not believe my summer break is coming to an end.
Tamara Anderson
SLP on Summer Break!!
