Friday, July 24, 2015

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:







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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 


Monday, July 13, 2015

Summer Sale in my Curriculum Store!!


In case you missed the announcement on my Instagram page, I am having a 20 % off Summer Sale today and tomorrow in my TPT Curriculum Store. This is your chance to purchase informal assessment tools, speech-language therapy materials, and educational products to use with students and clients at discounted prices. 

I absolutely LOVE designing products for you!  I use them as well during my pediatric speech-language therapy sessions. I am committed to equipping speech-language pathologists and educators with tools of excellence to excel at their craft of igniting student's communication and learning. 

Make sure that you stay connected with Building Successful Lives blog aka BSL Speech & Language to receive all the latest scoop for working with children with special learning needs and learn about my latest products and complimentary resource guides. You can subscribe to the blog by entering your email in the box on the right hand column of this page. 

Until next time, 

Tamara Anderson

Communication Success Tips

Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful July so far! I am truly enjoying my summer. I try to do something productive and fun each day. That's why I have 2 new resources to tell you about in my Building Successful Lives curriculum store. 



I created Communication Success Tips (for children ages 12-36 month) so that speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents can use this guide to foster communication development in children's everyday routines. I thought of this idea last Sunday afternoon as I was reflecting about the fact that my sweet little niece would be 18 months the next day. I couldn't believe it! I am blessed that I am able to visit her regularly. It is such a joy to watch her as she grows and learns! As an SLP, I of course am all about those developmental milestones and thinking about all the things she can do now and what she needs to learn next. 

Here's a picture of her last Monday when she turned 18 months old! 


Isn't she adorable?! :) 

You can access this COMPLIMENTARY digital download here

My next resource guide in this series that I specially designed is Communication Success Tips for Colleagues. 



My idea behind creating this was to remind SLPs and educators including myself of tips needed to build and maintain healthy relationships at work. I believe that effective communication skills are the foundation for healthy relationships. Colleagues are more productive when communication is clear and they feel valued by others.  

I hope that you love this new resource guide as much as I do! You can access this COMPLIMENTARY digital download here

Have an excellent week! 

Tamara Anderson