Product Feature: The Mitten Speech-Language Activities

It's now the third week of 2016 and it's been a great, yet busy start of the year. The artic blast is in full effect here in Atlanta which makes for great winter story telling in speech-language therapy sessions. Here's a snapshot of a few winter themed selections that I'm using in my speech language room this year. 

The Mitten, by Jan Brett, is one of my favorite stories to read aloud at this time of year. I recently created a speech-language activity pack with 5 extension activities to accompany this book. My students enjoyed the book as well as comprehension and vocabulary activities last week. 

This speech-language activities pack is geared towards improving the language comprehension, vocabulary, and speech articulation skills of children in 2nd-5th grade. The activities should be used after an SLP read aloud of the text. Select the activities that best correspond with the learning needs of children on your speech-language therapy caseload. The Mitten has an "accelerated reading" level of approximately 3.9, but may be used with students in 2nd-5th grade. 

Today I used my articulation word list while a student played my Winter Land Game in a group session. The student had her own copy while I provided auditory bombardment with verbal model of correct pronunciation. She had plenty of speech articulation practice with mixed /r/ words. Here's a snapshot of a completed checklist. 

In this unit, you will receive:

1) WH questions worksheet with a field of 4 choices (text only)

2) 2 synonyms worksheets with 2 levels of terms and word bank

3) 2 antonyms worksheets with 2 levels of terms and word bank

4) 3 tier 2 vocabulary worksheets with words used in sentences; students write definitions based on context clues

5) 1 articulation worksheet with 5 wordlists for /s/, /sh/, /s/ blends, /r/, and /r/ blends

Here's a snapshot of a few more winter themed books that I love reading aloud to my students. 

You can read more about my favorite winter themed selections here. Make sure that you get the digital download for The Mitten Speech-Language Activities in my TPT curriculum store. 

Thanks for reading my blog today! 

Tamara Anderson

Pete the Cat Holiday Freebie

My speech language students LOVE when I read Pete the Cat stories to them. The holiday themed book, Pete the Cat Saves Christmas is no exception! This book is great to read aloud with preschool and elementary school aged kids on your speech language caseload. I created a quick "wh" questions comprehension check that has a field of 4 choices.  You can access it in my TPT curriculum store.

Many of my students have IEP objectives that require them to answer literal questions from fiction text so this FREEBIE will be a great practice and work sample for that! I know many SLPs like having fun book companions with numerous activities, but I have found that sometimes it's best to KISS.  With this complimentary worksheet, you can keep it simple by having a quick and functional activity after your read aloud in a 30 minute session.  I even used it with success in my moderate intellectual disability speech-language therapy groups! 

I appreciate you reading my blog today. When you download this resource, kindly leave feedback in my TPT curriculum store. Thanks in advance! 

Tamara Anderson

September Book Review {Pirate Theme}

Hey everyone. I hope you are enjoying pirate themed activities in your speech-language therapy lessons this week in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day on Saturday. 

This year, I read aloud a new story that I heard about to my speech-language kiddos. The media specialist at my school and I are good friends and she is always recommending great books to me. It helps that my speech language room is across the hall from her office. :)

My students and I now LOVE the fiction book: No Pirates Allowed Said Library Lou!  The story line is awesome and so are the illustrations!

The main characters are Pirate Pete, his parrot Igor, and the librarian Library Lou. The story opens with Pirate Pete loudly bolting into Seabreezy Library looking for treasure. The folks in the library are quite alarmed and down right scared of his intimidating demeanor. Ms. Library Lou is definitely not impressed by his lack of manners and strong smell of the outdoors. Ughh!

This story has a great twist as Library Lou looks at the treasure map and declares that she knows how to find the treasure. Pirate Pete reluctantly listens to her as she guides him through finding the treasure. 

I definitely recommend this book to elementary school aged kids because I know that they'll love it. Plus so many of them need practice with answering wh questions, story retell, and understanding the meanings of tier 2 vocabulary words from the story. Speech-language pathologists can also pick out articulation words from the story as an extension activity for kids who need to practice pronouncing specific sounds. 

Here is a freebie WH questions worksheet with a field of 4 choices for each question. Feel free to carry your pirate theme on to next week if you'd like. I'm sure your students won't mind! Argggh Matey! Thanks for reading my blog today.



Tamara Anderson

Tell Me About Summer Stories

I love hearing great stories! Lately it's been from friends over dinner or a juicy summer story with a friend on the phone! No gossip...just sharing some interesting life happenings. I have also been reading some great books. 

Well, in speech-language therapy, it is critical that children are taught how to retell fiction stories. They need to understand the sequence of events and key story elements such as character, character trait, setting, introduction, problem, solution, conclusion, etc. They need practice with verbally communicating narratives. It's a good thing that most speech-language pathologists and educators know how to read with expression to really grab the attention of children. This helps keep children engaged during literacy lessons.

Summer is a great time to read new stories to children and have them practice retelling the story in the correct sequence with key details. Here are some great summer stories for young kids:













Now for those of you working with private practice kiddos this summer you definitely need my best selling Oral Story Retelling Rubric. School-based SLPs this is a must have for you as well. Many of you will be back to your regular SLP awesome life in the schools very soon! :)

Here are what some buyers have said about this product:

"I am very happy about this rubric. It is a great resource for me to figure out what I need to focus on more with students. I like the grading system as well."


"The rubric addresses areas that I focus on in therapy. I do not have to generate my own, which saves me time in the planning process as well as when writing IEP goals."

"This is a great visual to use to show the students as well! Love it! Thanks!"

There are still a few weeks left of official summer. So keep reading summer stories and have speech-language kiddos tell you about them! What are some children's books that you think young kiddos love in the summer? I'd love to hear your favorites! :)

Tamara 

Spring Into Literacy {Teaching Compare & Contrast}

I absolutely LOVE integrating literacy activities in my speech-language therapy sessions! There are so many skills that you can target while using fiction and non-fiction text. 


Recently, I decided to use the 2 books pictured above, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick!  and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog!  to target teaching my lower grade elementary students the concept of compare & contrast. For them, I introduced the skill as explaining similarities and differences. During one session, I read aloud one of the stories and we talked about the sequence of events. Then we briefly talked about how that book was similar to others we read earlier in the year. For an extension activity, my students completed this book with assistance. 

Then another session, I read aloud the book, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog! Then we talked about how that book was similar and different to the one that I read last session. Then they made their book. 

I used non-fiction text to teach my 4th and 5th grade language therapy students the skill of compare and contrast. Over several sessions, I read aloud passages from my Historical Irish American unit. Then my students selected 2 people to write down on their Venn Diagram such as Walt Disney and Ronald Reagan or John F. Kennedy and Henry Ford. I modeled for them how to find similarities and differences from the text and then write them down in the correct part of the diagram. Lastly, they took turns verbally comparing and contrasting what they learned. This is a great activity for students to practice synthesizing what they have learned. 

Here is a picture of 2 completed Venn Diagram for this unit.

You can purchase your copy of the Historical Irish Americans unit in my TPT store so you can teach this skill to your speech-language therapy or language arts students. Click here for direct access to the digital download of this product! 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Historical-Irish-Americans-Speech-Language-Therapy-Curriculum-Unit-1770313

Thanks for reading the blog today!

Tamara Anderson

Recognizing African American History {Children's Literature Reviews}

So many children today have a very limited knowledge about the influence of American Americans in the United States. A great way to teach students about this is by reading them biographies, historical fiction and non-fiction text. I enjoy reading aloud to children in my speech-language therapy lessons. They learn factual informational while also practicing their speech-language skills. 

Here are 3 of my recommendations that I  read and discussed with my students this month. Although Black History is celebrated during the month of February in the U.S., these books can be read at any time of the year. Likewise, students should continue to learn about African American History all year long as well. 

This is an engaging biography that describes Hank Aaron's determination to play professional baseball at a time when Jackie Robinson was the only other black player. The illustrations are excellent and truly help the story come alive as Hank Aaron beat Babe Ruth's record of hitting the most home runs. In 1974, he hit his 715th home run! The book also tells the story about how he persevered despite the discriminatory threats that he received because of the color of his skin. My speech language students enjoyed learning that he played for the Atlanta Braves, when his original professional team, the Milwaukee Braves moved south to Georgia. That detail helped them connect to the story since we live in metro Atlanta, Ga. 

Grandma's Pride is a beautifully written historical fiction book told from the perspective of a little girl, Sarah Marie, who travels to the south with her family during the summer to visit her grandmother. The precious little girl quickly learns the differences between how blacks experience life in the northern U.S. versus the southern U.S. On her journey, she experiences having to sit in the back of a bus, not being able to use certain public restrooms, not being able to eat at certain downtown restaurants, and the tenacity of her grandmother whose pride would not allow her to ride the city bus. I like this book because it gives children a glimpse into what life was like during the civil rights era of the 1960s when Jim Crow laws were enforced. Through the voice of a child, they are also able to hear how in a later summer visit, the unjust rules of the south were no more!   
                                     

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins  is another excellent historical fiction book that tells the story about a young girl, Connie, who sees first hand the boldness of four college students from North Carolina A & T. The young men, her brother's friends,  decided that enough was enough and they planned a "sit in" to quietly protest their lack of service at a lunch counter in Woolworth's, a popular downtown department store. They sat at the lunch counter and requested to order food. They were denied and asked to leave due to the Jim Crow laws. This book will evoke questions and emotions from children. Most will empathize with Connie, who wanted to order a banana split at Woolworth's the day she saw her brother's friends. This story also comes full circle as the author summarizes events that this incident sparked such as more lunch counter "sit ins", a visit to Greensboro by Dr. Martin Luther King, and additional non-violent protests for civil rights for African-Americans. I love that this story is also told through the eyes of a child who was able to sit at any lunch counter and enjoy her banana split after the Supreme Court ruling that those Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional!

There are so many great books out there to help children recognize and understand African American History in the United States! I also created a non-fiction curriculum unit so children can learn about historical African Americans. You may check out that resource here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Historical-African-Americans-Speech-Language-Therapy-Curriculum-Unit-1713341

Thanks for reading the blog today. 

Tamara Anderson

January Children's Literature Reviews {Winter Themed}

One of the best parts of winter is getting to read new fiction stories to my speech-language therapy students. Although I do not love cold weather, I do love reading winter themed stories. Here are my 5 favorite books that are ideal for January and even next month as the feeling of winter may still be very present in your area and even here in Atlanta! 

I absolutely love the books written by Jan Brett!!! My speech-language therapy students are always engaged when I read aloud her stories. This week I had a break through moment when a student finally used her correct tongue placement for the /l/ sound during articulation practice during my read aloud! I was so excited!!! This is a student with moderate intellectual disability who struggled immensely with tongue elevation and placement for this sound and woila! She nailed it several times while reading The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett! 

This is a fun book that follows Aloo-ki a native Inuit girl on an adventure as she searches for her huskies or sled dogs. Along the way, she discovers an igloo and makes herself quite comfortable in the home of Papa, Mama, and Baby Polar Bear. I love this winter themed twist of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and my speech kiddos do too!! This book is great when working with articulation, speech fluency, and language students!

I also like, The Mitten as well as The Hat by Jan Brett. These books are ideal for preschool and early elementary aged kids who need practice with sequencing, verbal narratives, answering yes/no questions, and answering "wh" questions.  Both books follow a simple story line. The Mitten is a Ukrainian Folktale about a boy, Nicki, who loses his white mitten made by his grandmother in the snow. Before he finds it, several animals make it their new home until the bear sneezes and they are all suddenly thrown out of their new dwelling. 












The setting of The Hat is a Scandinavian farm where a little girl, Lisa, hangs her winter clothes on a clothesline. Hedgie, the main character, gets a wool stocking stuck on his head and he tries to convince his animal friends why it's a good thing. Unfortunately, his friends tease him and tell him that he looks ridiculous! Lisa eventually finds Hedgie with her stocking meanwhile the other animals end up running around the farm wearing other winter clothes that they took from Lisa's clothesline. At the end of hte story, Hedgie comments by saying, "Don't they know animals should never wear clothes!"

My other favorite author of winter themed books is Caralyn Buehner. My students and I absolutely adore Snowmen At Night and Snowmen All Year  because they enjoy seeing what activities the characters will do next. 

Both books are excellent instructional and practice tools to address the usual answering "wh" questions, sequencing, and story retell objectives. However, the past 2 weeks I also had students practice naming synonyms and antonyms with specific vocabulary targets with this book. They completed this task orally and on a worksheet that I made with a word bank. I know many of you are familiar with the story lines of these books, but those that aren't will just have to read them with your students to find out what happens!

Thanks for reading the blog today. 


Tamara Anderson

October Children's Literature Reviews

Here are my children's literature reviews for books to use during the month of October. The first two books are ideal for addressing listening comprehension and vocabulary skills with children who are learning everyday Tier I words. 

A is for Autumn, by Robert Mass is a colorful book with great photographs that display nouns and adjectives of the season. The language in the book is simple enough for students in preschool and grades K-2. SLPs and teachers may lead students in an auditory memory activity to recall facts from the book or practice naming vocabulary associated with fall. The targeted vocabulary are: apples, birds, colors, daylight, exercise, frost, games, Halloween, ice cream (great for any season!), jacket, kayak, leaves, Monarch butterfly, neighborhood, owl, pumpkins, quilt, rake, scarecrow, Thanksgiving, umbrella, vegetables (gourds/squash), X (train crossing), yellow, and zipper. 

 Here's a snapshot from one of my favorite pages:

Word Bird's Fall Words, by Jane Belk Moncure is a book that introduces themed vocabulary to early learners. This is a simple text that teaches kids words associated with fall such as leaves, red, yellow, orange, football, acorns, squirrels, caterpillar, cocoon, Columbus Day, wild geese, pumpkins, Halloween, jack-o'-latern, trick or treat, turkey, Thanksgiving, Mayflower, Pilgrims, Indians, and tepee. Preschool and elementary school aged children can practice identifying and naming the key vocabulary. This is a fair book for kids with limited semantic or vocabulary skills. I use this book with kids with moderate intellectual disabilities and co-occurring language impairment. It can be used with a variety of children with language difficulty. 

My speech students love the books The Saturday Triplets in Lost in the Leaf Pile and The Saturday Triplets in The Pumpkin Fair Problem by Katharine Kenah. In the first story, the siblings decide to make a game out of raking leaves and in the process they lose their kitty, Boo. In the other story, the triplets go to the fair with their parents. They are so excited to be there, but can't agree on what to do! The illustrations are fantastic in these stories and provide a great opportunity for kids to practice basic level verbal narratives. 

It wouldn't be a new season without using one of Lucille Colandro's books. I definitely recommend There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly! Yes, the children you work with will probably be grossed out again by the things this silly old lady eats. However, these books are an engaging and fun way to allow kids to practice identifying the correct sequence of the story events and verbally retelling the fiction story. Of course, you should always ask "wh" questions to check for comprehension. Although these books are at a second grade reading level, I think they are appropriate for a read aloud for preschool-3rd grade kids with language impairment or in a general education class as well. 

Enjoy the month of October! What are some books that you use this month in your classroom or during speech-language therapy sessions?

Tamara Anderson

Fiction Book Series # 2 {Froggy}

As you may know, I love using literacy during my speech-language therapy lessons like most SLPs. I have many students who have speech objectives to verbally retell stories and answer literal/inferential questions from fiction text. 

My younger elementary school aged students enjoy the Froggy series books by Jonathan London. The stories are engaging and the illustrations are great too!

The majority of these books are at a 2nd grade reading level. During speech-language sessions, I read aloud these stories with my students in grades K-3.  The majority of my students with language impairment also have a language based learning disability and are reading below grade level. However, their listening comprehension skills are usually higher. 

Here are four of the books from the Froggy series that I used within the last few weeks. 

What are some series that your students or children enjoy? Follow the blog for more posts about other fiction book series.  

Tamara 

Fiction Book Series # 1 {Pirate Pete}

Apparently tomorrow, September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Say what?! This is certainly news to me because this day has always been and will forever be my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday to an extraordinary man, a.k.a. Mr. Retiree, who I love dearly! 

This week,  I decided to introduce pirate themed fiction stories because I love literacy! Plus, I figured my students would get a kick out of  knowing that there is such a holiday that celebrates pirates. 

There are three books in the series by the author, Kim Kennedy and

her brother and illustrator Doug Kennedy.  I used the first 2 books in the series this week in speech language therapy with my students. I have read them in the past, but not in honor of this holiday. I was lucky to have the audio CD for the Pirate Pete books that the kids love! 

The First in the Series by Kim Kennedy is Pirate Pete. In this story, he travels to Mermaid Island in search of treasure. He is guided by the map that he mischievously took from the Queen.  Pete gets side tracked on his voyage and visits other islands along the way. His loyal parrot gets him back on track to finding the treasure! 

Then, there is Pirate Pete's Giant Adventure. This time, he travels to Thunder Island in search of a Sea Fairy's missing blue sapphire. On the island, Pete meets an unexpected antagonist who is determined to ruin his adventure. 

There is also Pirate Pete's Talk Like a Pirate. In this book, Pete eagerly recruits new crew members to begin another voyage. He is convinced that they must all know how to talk like a Pirate! Arrrr matey! 

These books are great to use in speech-language therapy sessions, reading activities in the classroom, and to read with your child as well! Here are some ideas of children's activities to address speech language objectives and literacy skills: 

• articulation practice of /r/ words in the text
• answering literal and inferential questions
• verbal story retell
• written story retell
• compare and contrast the stories in the series 
• context clues for unknown vocabulary

Thanks for visiting the blog today! Enjoy International Talk Like a Pirate Day tomorrow! It's September 19th every year. 

Tamara

September Children's Literature Reviews

Hey there! The official beginning of fall will be here in a few days. For you football lovers out there, I am sure that you have happily immersed yourself into cheering on your favorite team on GAME DAY!! I know there are plenty of die hard college football and/or professional football fans. I live in Georgia Bulldog country! Go DAWGS!! I have to admit though that I am not much of a football fan because I attended a HUGE BASKETBALL university!! GO TARHEELS!! 

Anyhow, I look forward to a new season because I get to introduce new books in my speech-language therapy sessions and I love books! Go LITERACY! Here are my three top picks for the month of September. 

Home-Field Advantage by Justin Tuck is an awesome story about family, forgiveness, and football! The main character is the author, a football player who played 9 years for the New York Giants. He now plays for the Oakland Raiders. This story is about him growing up with his five sisters who always seem to have the upper hand and his brother. One day, his twin sisters decide to give him a haircut that turns out horrible! There are great illustrations of his reverse mohawk or bald spot down the middle of his head and him diving under his covers to hide from embarrassment! Justin forgives his prankster sisters and they all support him through the years as he excels at his craft of football! 

My second pick is Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish. I love this entire series actually. This particular one is a fantastic book to practice story retell, figurative language, and multiple meaning words. The author invites you to experience Amelia as she enjoys the season of autumn. She plays in the leaves at her grandparents' house, takes a trip to the farmer's market with her grandfather to buy Granny Smith apples, and lovingly makes her first apple pie with her grandmother. You need to read the book for yourself and with your students. There is a delightful twist at the end that will have you smiling. Plus, the author includes an apple pie recipe as well! Yum!

My third pick is There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves, by Lucille Colandro. I think many SLPs, teachers, and parents are familiar with this series. However, it is definitely worth mentioning. It is the perfect book to teach story sequencing and to give kids an opportunity to practice verbal and written story retell. There are tons of book companion sets that accompany this book on TPT. I have successfully used visual cues with picture and vocabulary cards (e.g. with sequencing terms) to help my students retell the story. Other children just need a quick picture walk after listening to the story to retell it by themselves. 

Here's a link to my oral story retelling rubric: 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Oral-Story-Retelling-Rubric-819201

What are you favorite books for September? I'd love to hear. 

Tamara

Literacy Website Review # 2 {Technology}

I am constantly adding new grade level fiction and non-fiction text to my speech-language therapy resources. It is critical that speech-language pathologists support developing children's literacy skills on a regular basis. I do this by addressing listening comprehension and vocabulary IEP objectives related to text at students' instructional reading level. An instructional reading level is the level of book that they can read with adult support. 

I love the website http://www.readinga-z.com/   because there is a ton of information on this site!You can search for books by different categories. I go right to the literature genre and leveled book collections when I need language therapy materials. 

If you are an SLP supporting the 3rd grade Common Core Reading Standards, you should click on the tab for Fables and access these books:

  

Each book is marked with an alphabetical letter that corresponds with a certain reading level. For example, the Boy who Cried Wolf is marked "Level E or 1st grade" but it supports the 3rd grade standard of teaching fables. I read aloud the stories to the children and have them follow along in a printed book. Then, I ask story comprehension and vocabulary questions. You can also have students practice story retell. 

I love that this website also has vocabulary lists available that are already sorted into Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III words. How awesome is that! The SLP can teach kids how to use context clues to understand the meaning of the words. 

You can also verbally model for your students how to verbally compare and contrast fiction/non-fiction text using the recommended paired book sets. Then have them practice this skill. This encourages kids to use higher level thinking skills to identify similarities and differences between the characters and events. Here is the link to access paired books by reading grade level: /http://www.readinga-z.com/book-related-resources/paired-books/


I frequently go to the leveled books tab when I want to differentiate instruction for my students. I will select a book for each child at their instructional reading level. For example, I may have a 4th grade student who is reading at a 3rd grade instructional level. So I may select level Q text such as:





Since I am a SLP, I read aloud the text so that the child is practicing their listening comprehension skills. However, I believe it is important to provide them access to books at their instructional reading level so they are not frustrated with their literacy practice. Their special education resource teacher addresses their reading decoding and comprehension objectives. 

You may access some of this information on the site for free! However, I recommend paying for a subscription because it is well worth the money! 


Thanks for visiting the blog today. 

Tamara