Effective Informal Assessments & Learning Activities From TPT { Top 20 List }

Over the last three and a half years, I have gathered an extensive collection of informal assessments and learning activities from Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT). Most speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and educators know that TPT is an educational website that has a massive amount of instructional products for elementary through high school aged students. These activities are specially created by SLPs and educators to improve the communication, language, literacy, and overall academic skills of students. I have been an SLP for almost 12 years and have created numerous assessments and therapeutic activities to promote gains in my students' speech-language skills. Some of which are available in my TPT store.  I truly love designing materials for my individual clients when I provide private speech language therapy and my elementary school aged students that I serve each week. Many of my resources are great for use by teachers with their students in the classroom as well to build language and literacy skills. 

I have discovered that when working with children, it is necessary to have fun, engaging, and educationally relevant materials. It is definitely best practice to readily have informal assessments to gather baseline data that measure children's knowledge prior to beginning therapy. This way you can accurately measure their growth and not target skills that they have already mastered. Similarly, it is important to have a variety of meaningful and interactive learning activities that will keep students motivated to learn. So, here is my top 20 list of Effective Informal Assessments & Learning Activities From TPT (Click on the link for direct access to products): 

1)Speech-Language Therapy Informal Assessments Early Language
    *This tool evaluates basic "wh" questions, yes/no questions, 
      divergent categorization (naming items in a category), 
      convergent categorization (naming category)

2) Basic Concepts Baseline Data & Progress Check Activity
   * This activity evaluates spatial and qualitative concepts            
      (prepositions/adjectives)
   * There is also an instructional level of activity provided.

3) Vocabulary Progress Monitoring
   * This is an informal assessment that measures students'
      knowledge and expression of semantic processing skills: object 
      function, associations, categories, similarities, differences, 
      synonyms, antonyms, multiple meanings, oral definitions of tier 
     1 words with attributes, oral definitions of tier 3 words 
     (academic), figurative language expressions 

4) Speech Progress Monitoring
     *This is a quick and easy data collection tool that measures 
     speech fluency or occurrence of stuttering as well as speech 
     intelligibility. 

5) Oral Story Retelling Rubric
    *Narrative development is a critical skill that is lacking in many 
      preschool and elementary school aged children. I created this 
      tool to have an informal assessment to measure their oral story 
      retelling skills according to key story elements. It's best to audio
      or video record a child's speaking sample for an accurate 
      analysis. 

6) Speech-Language Therapy Curriculum Assessments
    *These are a series of informal assessments that measure 
    receptive E/LA curriculum vocabulary knowledge from the 
    Common Core State Standards.The assessments are in a cloze 
    sentence (fill-in-the blank) format with a word bank. 

7) English/Language Arts Vocabulary Progress Monitoring
     * This is a curriculum vocabulary progress monitoring tool that 
     measures children's expressive E/LA vocabulary skills. There 
    are 10 word lists with 105 total words in the areas of: story 
    vocabulary, types of nouns, types of sentences, parts of 
    sentences, parts of speech, types of literature, types of writing, 
    text features, figurative language, and prefixes. 


8) Guess What? Curriculum Vocabulary Bundle
   * This bundle includes a series of 4 game sets to provide tons of 
   practice for children to learn E/LA curriculum words. To play the 
   game, a person selects a mystery word. Then others in the group 
   use the included semantic maps or question prompts to guess the 
   mystery word. The players take turns selecting a mystery word 
   for others to guess. Kids have fun learning while playing! 

9) English/Language Arts Comprehensive Categorization Bundle
   * Categorization is a language organization skill that helps kids 
   organize vocabulary, ideas, and academic concepts. They need 
   direct instruction in this area to improve their memory, word 
   retrieval, and overall language comprehension and verbal 
   expression. This bundle provides tons of practice with 
   categorization of curriculum vocabulary. There are 4 products  
   included: sorting, memory game, category book, and 
   categorization cards (tier I and tier III words). 

10) English/Language Arts Common Core Standards Vocabulary 
   Bundle
   * This is a task cards bundle that has 180 questions aligned with 
   2nd-5th grade E/LA common core standards. This product is
   great for language therapy or use in the classroom during small 
   group instruction or whole group lessons. Skills address a variety 
   of vocabulary, grammar, and E/LA content questions in a 
   multiple choice format.

11) Back to School Baseline Bundle
     * I use this product to collect baseline data as well as guided 
     practice during speech-language therapy sessions. It includes 
     practice with: synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homographs, 
     irregular plural nouns, irregular past tense verbs, and word 
     associations. I can easily differentiate instruction according to 
     students' learning needs during sessions by varying the questions 
     asked. 

12) Fall Speech-Language Activities Bundle
      * In the fall, I use this bundle frequently for my students to 
        practice fall themed vocabulary according to associations, 
        multiple meaning words, and oral definitions with attributes 
        (Tier I and Tier III terms). Kids can also practice identifying 
        words when read definitions by the SLP or teacher from the 
        included question prompts. The kids enjoy playing the fall                 themed game board all season.  

13) The Mitten Speech-Language Activities
     *In the winter, I use this book companion set with my students 
       in grades 3-5. It includes articulation word lists, wh questions,
       synonyms, antonyms, and tier 2 vocabulary practice. 

14) Valentine's Themed Categories & Associations
     *This is an engaging holiday themed activity to address  2 
       critical language language processing skills: categories and 
       word associations. Kids can verbally name items in categories 
       and word associations as well as write responses on the 
       included writing practice pages. 

15) Winter Land: English/Language Arts Activities
     *My students are always asking to play Winter Land. They love 
       the game board from this product that I glued onto a larger 
       poster board and then laminated. I use it all winter with the 
       categorization task cards included and a variety of other     
       learning questions. 

16) Non-Fiction Language Bundle
        * This bundle is excellent for use during speech-language therapy
        sessions or language arts lessons from February-March or year 
        round. It includes a Historical African American Unit that has 
       7 non-fiction passages, 46 comprehension questions, 70 
       context clues questions (tier 2 vocab),  compare/contrast       
       pages, and 7 word association practice opportunities. The 
       second product is a Historical Irish American Unit that has 6 
       non-fiction passages, 36 comprehension questions, 60 context
       clues questions, compare/contrast pages, and 7 word 
       association practice opportunities. Additional units will be 
       added such as Historical American Women. 

17) Beach Themed Multiple Meanings Memory Activity  
      * Spring and summer are two of my favorite seasons. I created
      this product with beach photographs from my trips to Florida. 
      The learning cards have homophones and homographs 
      vocabulary that can be used to play a memory game. Children 
      can also practice stating definitions of words or using them in 
      sentences to convey the correct meanings. 

18) Beach Themed Monster Trucks- Synonyms & Antonyms
      *Many students struggle with word relationships including 
      synonyms and antonyms. This free activity contains plenty of 
      vocabulary practice for kids on task cards with "monster trucks"
      in the background. These photographs were also taken during a 
      beach trip to Florida. My boy students especially enjoy this 
      activity! 

19) Parent Handouts for Communication Disorders
       * This is a free resource guide that SLPs can give to parents  
       that provides a quick overview of communication disorders. It 
       briefly outlines the difference between speech sound disorders
       and language disorders. It also provides tips to improving 
       speech-language skills including interactive websites. 

20) Speech-Language Therapy Technology Resource Guide
      *This is a complimentary resource guide to help SLPs integrate 
        technology in therapy sessions. This will help vary activities in 
        sessions and keep kids engaged during group sessions. 

I know that this is a long list, but considering I have an extensive amount of products in my personal TPT library, I wanted to make sure that I give you my top 20 list from my TPT store! :) This is a great starting place for a new SLP/teacher or someone who wants some fresh materials to improve the communication, language, literacy, and academic skills of students. 

Have a great remainder of the school year. Perhaps you can use a few of these effective informal assessment and learning activities with your students. I have 15 days remaining with my speech language students this year, but who's counting! :)

Thanks for reading my blog today!  


Tamara Anderson

Balancing SLP Life as a School Based SLP {10 Success Tips}

The job of a speech-language pathologist truly varies based on her work setting and it is essential to know how to skillfully balance and complete tasks. For SLPs in the school setting, I have learned ways that make it easier to get the job done with excellence. After all, you need to have the energy, materials, and enthusiasm to provide your students with engaging speech language therapy sessions.  

If school based SLPs only had to complete evaluations and instruct students during therapy sessions, SLP life would be MUCH easier. However, you may start to feel like a professional juggler once you throw in attending special education eligibility meetings,  IEP meetings, re-evaluation meetings, data collection, writing reports, medicaid billing, team meetings, etc.  I have discovered 10 helpful tips that will ensure that you are effectively balancing your SLP life as a school based SLP. No, I don't have a magic wand to make your paperwork or computer work disappear. Sorry...so sorry. The good news is that I have 10 success tips that will help you manage the therapy, paperwork, and meeting aspects of your job. 

THERAPY TIPS:

1) Gather seasonal/holiday themed materials on Thursdays and Fridays before the season changes or upcoming holiday. Keep them in an accessible place that is near your therapy table. 

*Fiction/non-fiction books (with companions/related activities)
*Speech-language activities from Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT)

*Token boards (fall, winter, spring, summer, holidays)

*Game boards

*Sports games (football, basketball, soccer, baseball)

*Seasonal worksheets for mixed articulation/language goals

*iPad activities 

2) Vary activities in monthly sessions to maintain engagement. 

Students can sense when you are not interested or excited about   an activity. It's okay to switch activities from one that you initially   planned on using that day. Remember to try your best to make sessions meaningful, educationally relevant, yet fun! 

PAPERWORK TIPS:

3) Use progress monitoring forms for articulation, speech fluency, and language objectives.  

* Store master copies in a binder near therapy table. 

* Put forms in students' group therapy folder so that you can easily 

   use them on data collection days (e.g. I organize attendance 

   sheets, data sheets, therapy printables in folders per group). 

* Remember that you do NOT have to take therapy data in every 

   session!

4) Schedule time to write IEPs and evaluation reports. 

It will hold you accountable with getting paperwork done with less stress. If you didn't get to complete what you planned, just scratch it out in your planner and re-assign it to another day's task list.

5) Arrive to work early or stay late to complete documentation. 

I think it's important to set boundaries between SLP work life and personal life. I recommend that you avoid bringing home student files, IEP work, evaluation reports, or medicaid billing. 

If you have children, you may try arranging for extended childcare 
hours 2 days a week so that you can arrive early or stay late at work to complete documentation. You may be surprised how a slight adjustment will improve your efficiency.  

EVALUATION & MEETING TIPS:

6) Schedule daily tasks in your planner. 

Write down meeting dates and times. Note changes to usual schedule such as testing student vs. typical therapy session. 

7) Schedule time for lunch (social meeting).

I think that it is important to give yourself at least 30 minutes that does not involve you eating at your desk while checking emails or doing other paperwork. 

8) Schedule time to test students for upcoming speech/language screenings, comprehensive evaluations, and re-evaluations.

Contact SLP testers in your district if they are available to help lighten your testing load. 

9) Learn to politely say no. 

I know that you may want to help serve as a team member on special school projects, committees, and clubs. However, you most likely don't have time to attend these extra meetings.  It's perfectly ok to say no without feeling guilty. 

Instead, you can attend after school events (e.g. concerts, literacy night) to support your students and build rapport with families when you can. 

10) Request to be excused from some meetings.

With parental permission, you can be excused from IEP meetings. Since SLPs typically have high caseloads and often must cancel therapy sessions to attend meetings, it is appropriate to be excused from attending an IEP meeting. However, you should always use your professional judgement when asking to be excused. This will need to be documented in the IEP online documentation or meeting minutes. It is best to send home speech therapy updates and proposed goals & objectives in advance when possible. 

Check out my TPT store for time-saving theme based activities and progress monitoring tools. These resources are engaging therapy materials and will simplify the data collection process with your students! 

Thanks for reading the blog. These tips help me tremendously during the school year. I'm now in the final stretch of the school year, but first it's time for SPRING BREAK! 

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

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Hey everyone. Today is a start of another week. For those of you that follow me on social media, you most likely saw last week's motto: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life. One of my desires through this #buildingsuccessfullives blog and social media is to encourage others. I realize that EVERYONE can use some inspiration.  

I really do believe that if you deliberately change your perspective about life's circumstances your life will change too! Most of the time, your outlook WILL drastically improve your day. Although your circumstances may not automatically change, you control your response. 

One of my passions is definitely building successful lives of children with special needs that I work with during the school year and equipping speech-language pathologists and educators with the tools to do the same. However, it's much bigger than that. 

SAY WHAT? I desire for young adults to know that they too can build a successful, balanced, and fulfilled life for themselves. Yes, work is important. But what about your relationships with others, are they healthy? Do you think positively? Are you a glass half full person?

Stay tuned...more to come and remember. Change your mind, change your life! Use #inspireBSL and #inspireSLP to share your weekly inspirations on Instagram and Twitter. 

Make sure that you subscribe to this blog by entering your email on the right side of this page where it says "subscribe by email."  That way you won't miss an article! 

Thanks for reading! :)

Tamara Anderson

Honoring Lives Well Lived

It has been one week since the senseless shooting and killing of 9 people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AMC) church in Charleston, SC on June 17, 2015. The news was absolutely devastating to hear that someone did not value the lives of others and chose to murder them. 

Today, I make a deliberate choice to honor their lives. The 9 victims are: Susie Jackson- 87, Daniel Simmons Sr.- 74, Ethel Lance- 70, Myra Thompson- 59, Cynthia Hurd- 54, DePayne Middleton Doctor- 49, Sharonda Coleman Singleton-45, Clementa Pinckney- 41, Tywanza Sanders, 26.  

No, I didn't know them personally, but my heart aches for their families and American society at large. I felt these feelings last Thursday when I heard the news and on Friday as well. With the passage of time, sadness gradually turns to action for me. 

Even in this scenario, when I never met any of these individuals, I desire to do something. I share their stories. I'm connected.

Therefore, I choose to honor the lives of the victims. I choose to play a part in helping to make a positive influence in telling their stories. 

One of those stories is that of Sharonda Coleman Singleton. She was a 45 year old mother of 3 children. She was an associate pastor, speech-language pathologist, track coach, sister, daughter, friend, and woman of God. 

I connect with her not only because I am saddened by the tragedy but also because I share somethings with her. I am a black woman who is also a woman of God, sister, daughter, friend, and speech-language pathologist. I'm not yet a mother, but I'm an aunt to my precious 18 month old niece and other friends' kids in my village. 

I connect with her even more so because I learned last Thursday night that she previously worked as a speech-language pathologist in metro-Atlanta prior to moving to South Carolina in 2007. I read an online article today from People magazine that reported  how she left a voice message for a college friend 2 weeks prior to her death. In it she said, "No matter what happens, all shall be well." She was truly of woman of great faith in God, no matter what.

Do you know what else?

I connect with her because I learned late last Thursday night that she not only worked in metro-Atlanta, but at my same school, in my same office. Her eldest child, who is now in college, attended the elementary school where I work prior to them moving to South Carolina. My co-workers remember Sharonda and her son, Christopher fondly.

When I found that out my heart sank even more, an eerie feeling came over me and I cried. It gave me the chills to know that a woman who loved working with special needs kids like I did, provided speech-language therapy in the same office I do now, and walked in the same elementary school halls, died at the hands of someone demonstrating hate.

I empathize greatly with the pain that Sharonda's kids and loved ones feel in the aftermath of her horrific killing. 

But, guess what? Even though the occurrence of last week is still sad, I am now filled with comfort and peace knowing that Sharonda Coleman Singleton's life was one of hard work, devotion, kindness, and service to others. For that reason, I honor her. May her legacy continue to live on so that others can be positively influenced by the life of service that she lived. May her children continue to grow into young adults with values that their mother, a fellow speech-language pathologist imparted in them. 

I also pray for comfort, strength, and peace for the other families. Myra Thompson was another servant of God, killed last Wednesday night. She devoted her life to church service and was the wife of a minister. I had dinner with her daughter a few weeks ago. Her daughter is a childhood friend of a friend of mine. I read an article from ABC news online in which her son said "What I'm going to miss most about my mom is her enthusiasm and her undeniable faith in the world to succeed." 

I honor Myra Thompson today and pray that God wraps his arms around her family and strengths them each day. May they experience his peace.

I pray for the family of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the pastor and U.S. Senator from South Carolina. I honor him today.

I pray for the family of Susie Jackson. I honor her today. 

I pray for the family of Daniel Simmons Sr. I honor him today.

I pray for the family of Ethel Lance. I honor her today. 

I pray for the family of Cynthia Hurd. I honor her today. 

I pray for the family of Reverend DePayne Middleton Doctor. I honor her today. 

I pray for the family of Tywanza Sanders. I honor him today. 

So, why do I write this on my speech-language pathology blog? Simple. God's calling on my life is much bigger than serving in my role as a speech-language pathologist although I love my profession. 

I choose to be obedient to God's instructions and direction in my life. So, I write. I tell this story. I write: Honoring Lives Well Lived. 

Tamara Anderson

Why There are Specific Times for Everything in Life

We spend so much of our day multi-tasking or quickly moving from one task to another.  At the end of the day you either feel exhausted or accomplished when reflecting on all the tasks you completed in a day. When we are in work mode, we need to be productive and accomplish daily tasks. Trust me, I get it because I am definitely the list making queen! 

However, how often do you think about the fact that there are specific times for everything in life? You may have heard people say that there are different seasons in life. Regardless of the season, I know that we all need to achieve a WORK LIFE BALANCE! Ahhhh...It's so refreshing just saying that. I am truly all about that. 

After eating my breakfast on the patio and completing my morning devotional today, I enjoyed laying back in my favorite chair. I looked around and could feel the peace of God surround me as I listened to the birds chirping and admired all the tropical plants in my midst. No, really I did! :) I then ventured outside the patio area as I noticed my mother's plant was now in full bloom. 

I looked at my watch and it was about 10:30 am. My thoughts quickly reminded me that my mother calls this plant 10 o'clock. That's usually when its in full bloom and then the flower goes to "sleep" and closes it's beauty by 4:00 pm. 

This flowering plant, scientifically known as Portulaca grandiflora, has a specific time to bloom each day and it opens its beauty for about 6 hours each day. You have to WAIT until the next day to catch another look at the natural beauty. 

LIFE'S REMINDER FROM NATURE

It reminds me of life because there is a specific time for so many things. We do not have to do it ALL in one day, one week, one month or even one year. There are five main reasons why I believe there are specific times for everything in life. 

1) God's timing is perfect. Don't rush God's process.

2) You need time to rest. Master the art of relaxation.

3) You need time for relationships. Nurture friendships, family time,      and your marriage. 

4) You need time to work. Commit yourself to a life of service. 

5) You need time for fun. Do what you love. Go where you love.


Likewise, everyone has their own journey and purpose in life. Don't compare what you have or do not have in life to others. Instead express GRATITUDE daily! Happiness is a deliberate choice and it's contagious too!

If you feel like there is always so much to do in one day, just BREATHE! Remember, there are specific times for everything in life. You don't have to do it ALL in one day contrary to what society, your boss, or even spouse may think. 

Instead, remember the 5 main reasons why there are specific times in life and you will be AMAZED at how fulfilled and productive you can be! 

Thanks for reading the blog today. Have a beautiful day! :) 

Tamara Anderson

"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 

Building Successful Lives™- End of School Year Recap

I'm now in my 2nd week of summer break from work as a school based speech-language pathologist in the metro Atlanta area. It was a great and busy school year!  

I am enjoying my time in Florida since the memorial day weekend. It is always so refreshing to spend time in my beautiful sunshine and home state of Florida. Here's a picture of me at a new spot my family and I discovered named Ponce Inlet that is located a little south of Ormond Beach. 

As I reflect on the past school year, I am so grateful that I got to contribute to building successful lives™  in my students every day. It truly is rewarding to see their growth that is evident when I observe their communication skills and review my DATA! I think I am certainly the queen of progress monitoring as I have a form for just about everything I need! You can check some of those out here.

Each year, I look forward to attending 5th grade graduation for my students and this year was no different.  I wrote personalized letters for each child that recognized the gains they made in speech-language therapy and encouraged them to continue to succeed in MIDDLE school. I loved handing them out after the ceremony and snapping photos.  I felt like such a proud MAMA not just their SLP! Ha! I still can't believe some of my kiddos are moving on from elementary.  I have worked with some of them for the past four years. 

When I chatted with parents, they shared their appreciation for me working with their child over the years. I know that I made a difference in enriching their child's life from the conversations we had and their desire to snap keepsake photos! It makes me smile just thinking about it. :)

This year, I not only provided direct speech-language therapy for children with communication disorders, learning disabilities, Autism, intellectual disabilities, and behavioral challenges but also provided consultative/direct services to children in the Response to Intervention process. 

I enjoyed seeing the progress students made receiving listening comprehension and oral language interventions. I also liked collecting background information like a sleuth to determine whether kids needed a referral for special education evaluation, then assessing them and analyzing evaluation results to determine whether they would qualify for a speech-language impairment eligibility and subsequent therapy services. I had several tricky cases this year including determining whether there was a language difference due to English Language Learner needs or a true language disorder. 

I also served on the SLP leadership team for my district, facilitated local team meetings, and supervised 2 new hires for their Georgia state license. It was a great opportunity to contribute to the professional growth of these young women. 

When it was all said and done, it was a rewarding school year. The smiles of my students, the hugs,  and the multiple "I'll miss you this summer" confirm that I was certainly building successful lives one day at a time this school year. 

I am glad for the summer break from my school SLP role, yet I am excited for all that is in store for Building Successful Lives™ Speech & Language Services. Stay connected by subscribing to the blog by email so that you receive blog articles directly into your email account. Have a great rest of the school year for those still at work this month. Keep up the great work for those working in pediatric private practice or early intervention as well! You can do it! :)

Tamara Anderson

Speech-Language Success Stories # 5

It is important to remember to be patient and optimistic when providing pediatric speech-language therapy services. Often times, children will not immediately learn speech language strategies. It takes repetitive verbal modeling, visual cues, and tactile cues for kids to acquire new skills. 

Many children with intellectual impairments struggle with learning how to correctly pronounce various consonant sounds. When they are speaking with their parents, teachers, SLPs, and peers their speech is not readily understood. It is our responsibility as SLPs to help improve the speech intelligibility of these kids. 

I had a success story with teaching a child the correct tongue placement to pronounce her /l/ sound. This child struggled with elevating her tongue to accurately articulate this sound. Her speech was not easily understood when the context of conversation was not known. 

She was successful with auditory discrimination exercises to identify her target /l/ sound vs. other sounds. However, she initially consistently pronounced a /y/ for /l/ in words and sentences. So, I pulled out my hand held mirror and bag of tricks to get her to lift her tongue up. We practiced putting different food/candy items (e.g. smarties, cheerios) on the tip of her tongue. She demonstrated a lot of groping behaviors and eventually the food items would melt in her mouth or she would chew them. Now I know it is usually best to pair with the actual sound production, but I was having difficulty getting this child to attempt any articulation drills. So I decided to try using food. 

I also had her try to imitate lifting her tongue while saying the /l/ sound in isolation. She still said y/l or distorted the /l/ sound. I modeled for her how to practice the sound at the syllable level with vowels, but of course she was at 0 % with that because she did not have the correct tongue placement. 

I read aloud fiction text and emphasized the target /l/ sound. She really benefited from hearing multiple productions of the sound in a natural way during oral reading of a story. She loved the story, The Three Snow Bears, by Jan Brett. I must have said the words Polar Bear and Alooki, a character's name, a million times! 

Guess what! I stopped during my read aloud a few times and used a tactile prompt and verbal modeling with this child and she accurately said Polar with the CORRECT /l/ sound! I cheered for her loudly!!! I had her repeat the word several times as I touched her chin with my index finger and pushed down. This immediately prompted her to lift her tongue up! 

Auditory bombardment of target sounds is definitely an essential tool in articulation therapy. A tactile prompt was also key for this child to learn how to correctly elevate her tongue to say her /l/ sound.

This little girl also struggled with motivation to practice her speech sounds. She recognized how difficulty it was for her so I always had to pair her speech drill work with a high preference activity. 

One day, I decided to follow her lead and told her that she would receive free time to play a computer learning game. She eagerly completed all her speech articulation drill work with me. She accurately imitated the /l/ sound in isolation and syllable levels when provided with verbal and tactile prompts!  I was so excited once again and another student in her group even told her great job! She was soooooo happy and had the biggest grin on her face! We were all pleased at her progress and success!

Now, I will continue to reinforce the strategies that were successful so she can produce her /l/ sound correctly in words. She is definitely more stimuable for pronouncing these sounds in words now!

Hooray!!!!!!! Thanks for visiting the blog today. 

Tamara

Speech-Language Success Stories # 4

Thank you so much Tamara for letting me guest blog today!  My name is Aersta Acerson and I have been given the wonderful opportunity of sharing a speech success story with you today.  First, let me say Happy Blogiversary to Building Successful Lives!  I love all the fun things happening here in this extended celebration!  Now a little about myself.  I have been working as an SLP (obviously!) for 3 years now, and I LOVE IT!  I have worked in both the schools and in private practice and I have loved both settings.  I also enjoy creating materials for speech therapy, and I own the TPT store Speaking Freely, SLP.  I am also a mom to two beautiful little girls who are my heart and soul! 

Now on to my success story.  It was during my CF year and I had a language group made up of 5th and 6th graders.  That year we focused heavily on learning curriculum vocabulary and understanding figurative language, specifically idioms.  Lots and LOTS of idioms.  It was a Friday afternoon at the end of the month, and my group had earned a game day, so my students chose to play Don't Wake Daddy.  We had recently talked about the meaning of the idiom "You dodged that bullet."  One of my students took his turn and rolled a six.  The Daddy hadn't "woken" in awhile, so we all assumed the student was going to get it!  When he didn't wake Daddy, another one of my students said, "Wow, you missed that bullet!"  SUCCESS!!!  Now, he didn't get the idiom exactly correct, but we had been working on understanding idioms more than using them, and he had spontaneously used the idiom in correct context.  I was ecstatic!  It's that kind of moment that makes it all worth it, don't you think?  :)  Have a blessed day!

Aersta Acerson, CCC-SLP

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Speaking-Freely-Slp

Click above to check out products in my online TPT Store! Thanks!

Speech-Language Success Stories- # 3

Welcome Carly Fowler! 

Today, I will share successful tips for providing speech-language services for adolescents. 

Why Following a Child’s Lead Isn’t Just for Early Intervention

Hi I am Carly Fowler, a Speech Language Pathologist in Nebraska. A big thanks to Tamara for letting me join in her blog celebration! Now a little about myself: I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my husband and two cats. I have been a SLP for three years and I love what I do. I especially enjoy creating materials for my students.  I work with students elementary up through high school. It is quite an unusual caseload as I stay at just one school, but it also means I have to stay on schedule, plan ahead and know what I am up against.

Today, I want to share my tips when working with teenagers. It is not an easy population, nor do I claim to have all the answers. But I want to share with you what works for me.  Many times working with elementary students they are thrilled to see you and are willing to work for a token or a sticker. It is not that easy with high school students, trust me sometimes I feel like I am pulling teeth in order to get any kind of data.

When working with my teens, I follow their lead. This is probably making you think of early intervention kiddos but I recommend it with any age. I find that following my high school students' lead will allow me to gain more effort from them.  Teens are searching for more control of their lives. Many times their days are dictated for them; they are told when to go to school, what they need to do and they are not often given the freedom to choose. By allowing your teens to run the session they will give you more respect because you are treating them more like an adult.

When following the lead of a teen it is important to listen to them. Often times, my students want to chat about life or sports. Let them! You can target a lot of goals by doing this, plus it is functional. I am often able to target grammar, sentence formation, pragmatics and articulation when talking about sports.

Another thing a student may lead you to is school work.  I see many students during their study hall and I encourage them to bring their homework. I also ask how classes are going which may reveal their struggle with homework. School work and homework are functional activities and a great therapy target. I know many of you may say “I am not good at science” or “Math is like a foreign language”.  I encourage you to step outside of your comfort zones and encourage students to bring homework or materials from classes they need help with. It is okay to learn with your student- in fact I encourage it! By helping them with homework it shows you are a valuable resource and they will begin to see your time as more valuable.

Another way to follow your high school student’s lead is by allowing them to play with some of your toys in your speech room. You may be thinking that they would never be caught dead playing with toys but you are wrong. They often need a fiddle such as a ball to concentrate or playdoh as sensory stimulation. As long as it doesn’t become a distraction is a perfect outlet to the energy they may have.

These are tips that I have found successful when working with teens during their speech-language therapy sessions. Thanks for reading the blog today! 

Carly Fowler

https://www.facebook.com/HappilySLP?ref=br_tf
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Carly-Fowler

Speech Language Success Stories- # 2

Welcome Susan Berkowitz from Kidz Learn Language!  

I have been a speech-language pathologist for 35 years, before which I taught kids with autism.  I have been in the classroom, therapy room, and worked as an administrator. I have worked in public and nonpublic schools. I currently specialize in alternative-augmentative communication for nonverbal students and in training staff to implement aac in their classrooms. I provide local and national workshops on augmentative communication and on teaching literacy skills to students with complex communication needs. 

This is an article that I wrote on my blog in November  of 2014. I am happy to be BSL Speech Language's guest blogger this week.  Check out this aac success story! 

More From the AAC Case Files - How Much Can We Expect?

One of my favorite student success stories is one I tell over and over again.  While you may have noticed I am a big fan of using and teaching core vocabulary, I am also a huge user of PODD communication books.  That is Pragmatic Organized Dynamic Display books, designed by Gayle Porter, a speech pathologist in Australia.  She has been using this system very successfully with children for decades.

I have been to trainings with Gayle, and with Linda Burkhart, when they have presented them here in the States.  A week with Gayle is mind-numbing - in a good way.  The first workshop I took with her was a week of 9 hour days and we learned so much it was amazing!  I don’t honestly think I could have absorbed one more idea by the end of Friday.  She is one of those rare people who are both a wealth of information and a master at transmitting it to others.  (Of course, you have to work your way around her accent). 

I have been using PODD books with my nonverbal students with autism for the past several years, and with great results.  Teachers usually get that ‘deer in the headlights’ look in their eyes when I walk in with a 125 page communication book.  I’m very careful to talk about taking it slowly as they get familiar with it and begin using it with their student(s).

I’ve taken to using this story.  The story of Aaron.  Aaron was a 16 (then) year old student with autism in a classroom for students with severe disabilities.  When I first met him, Aaron had a single page PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) “system” by which he could request his favorite reinforcers.  He had no other appropriate mode of communication. What Aaron did have was a history of self-injurious behaviors.  He has done permanent neurological damage to himself.

On the day I arrived in the classroom with his new,  >100 page PODD communication book, both his teacher and aide regarded me with looks of …. outrage? amazement? overwhelming dismay?  I spent some time going over how the book was constructed and how it worked. I reviewed the navigation conventions and where and how vocabulary was stored.  I gave them examples and phrases to try.  We talked about Aided Language Stimulation and how it worked.  And I carefully explained how to begin with a single activity, gradually increasing use of the system as their comfort level increased.

Aaron was lucky.  His aide was extraordinary.  She did a wonderful job of learning and doing and being consistent. TWO weeks later the teacher called me.  I could hear her jumping up and down.  The excitement was palpable. The day before, Aaron had been upset because A.P.E. had been cancelled and he needed some time to run off some of his energy.  He had started out, she told me, by starting to engage in his SIB.  But he stopped himself.  He looked at the communication system.  He pointed to “More to say,” and then proceeded to move from the feelings page (“angry”) to the people page (“no APE teacher”) to the activity page (“run" and "

outside”) to the places page (“baseball field”).  With a string of single word responses he told a perfect narrative, expressed his feelings, and told what he wanted - needed - to do.  The aide, of course, took him straight outside to the baseball field to run around.  I’m pretty sure she was crying most of the way.  I know I was when I heard the story.

Now of course, most students need more than 2 weeks of consistent teaching to learn to communicate so effectively.  But this certainly speaks to the power of appropriate aac intervention.

How are your students learning to use their aac systems? 

Here is the direct link to my original post on my blog: http://kidzlearnlanguage.blogspot.com/2014/11/more-from-aac-case-files-how-much-can.html   

Check out my TPT store here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Susan-Berkowitz

Speech Language Success Stories

I am very excited to tell you about a new series on the blog, Speech Language Success Stories. During the first quarter of this year, I will highlight success stories of children who improved their communication skills as a result of speech-language therapy. You will even read stories from guest bloggers as well. This is one of the missions of BSL Speech & Language Services to share the benefits of these services.

I love being a speech-language pathologist because I enjoy having the opportunity to identify a child's challenges, develop a therapy plan to improve them, provide direct instruction, and watch how a child responds to the interventions. 

SLPs are great at diagnosing children with communication disorders. This skill comes naturally to those who have been working with children for a while. It takes more time to perfect the craft of selecting, implementing, and tweaking interventions that will enable kids to learn speech-language skills. The true joy and success from speech-language therapy is when you, the child, and the family can hear the growth in communication.  

The first success story goes back to my first love, early intervention. My first experiences working as a licensed SLP was providing individual speech-language therapy for toddlers and preschool aged children.  For many of the children, I was their first experience with any kind of structured learning as they were not yet attending day care or preschool. 

I remember a sweet and active little girl that I evaluated when she was about 3 ½ years old. At that time, she would say "hmm" when I asked her a question. She had a very limited receptive/expressive vocabulary and definitely did not use the words she knew to make requests or comment. She would point to or grab whatever item she wanted. I recall getting case history information from her parent and completing my usual play based language assessment with The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale.  The results confirmed that she had a significant receptive and expressive language delay. 

I worked with this little girl for the next 2 ½ years and gave her parent plenty of home program materials. I remember teaching her social greetings, basic concepts, verbs, object functions, how to categorize/sort basic items, and how to build phrases and then simple sentences. During therapy sessions, she began learning to name nouns during play, identify concepts from objects/pictures, ask questions such as "what's this?", and even made a few requests using the "I want" carrier phrase that I taught her. However, her overall spontaneous communication skills were not typical. She was very echolalic as she would repeat noises and phrases that she heard from others or television. 

I also recall her challenges following directions, difficulty with some motor skills, short attention span, and sensory concerns. After a short time of working with her, I referred her for an occupational therapy evaluation that confirmed fine motor, low muscle tone, and sensory integration challenges. I think she had visual-perceptual difficulties too. Within 6 months of starting speech-language and occupational therapy, my co-worker and I documented our concerns and recommended to her referring pediatrician that our client receive a comprehensive developmental evaluation by a neurodevelopmental pediatrician and multidisciplinary team. Although there was a waiting list for the clinic that did those assessments in my area, my sweet and active little girl received the additional evaluation that she needed. The results confirmed that she had an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 

It was not easy for her parent to understand what this diagnosis meant for her child, but she was happy that her daughter was getting all the help that she needed. During the course of me working with her, she started preschool and then a special needs kindergarten class. I think she had just turned six the summer that I last worked with her. She made lots of gains in her receptive language, expressive language, and social skills. Although she was still echolalic, she learned how to make requests and comments. A friend/co-worker of mine continued to provide speech-language therapy for her when I changed work settings.

One of my precious memories of her is the day she brought me a vanilla milkshake. She frequently had these before her sessions with me and one day she told her mom that Ms. Tamara needed one too! Of course, I couldn't resist and had a big smile on my face. :)