Why Do You Teach Categorization in Speech-Language Therapy ?

Many children with language disorders struggle with understanding the skill of categorization. Pediatric speech-language pathologists frequently write objectives for children to improve their ability to name items in categories, name categories when given items in the group, and identify what items do not belong in a category. SLPs select these objectives in therapy often because a child did not demonstrate mastery of this skill on an assessment. 

Do you really think about why this is such an important language concept for your client with communication disorder to master? As speech-language pathologists, we need to be able to readily explain to parents, special education teachers, and administrators, the reason we are targeting categorization in speech-language therapy as well as the skilled therapy techniques we use to improve this area.  

Children need to learn categorization because it is a critical language processing skill. Semantic or vocabulary processing is a large part of how children understand language and effectively retrieve words. After young children learn to label basic nouns and express their functions (e.g. verbs) during their daily routines, they naturally progress to learn word associations. Categorization is typically the next skill in this developmental hierarchy. 

Children need to learn categorization because when they do, it helps them effectively store new words and information in their brain. In doing so, they connect a new vocabulary word or concept to their schema or pattern of knowledge that they already know. For example, when a child learns the subcategory of desserts his or her brain makes an association because he or she already knows that is a type of food. When an older child learns about the water cycle, he or she can make meaning based on previous knowledge about weather, types of precipitation (rain, sleet, snow, etc.), and/or sequence of events. 

Preschool children and children in grades K-2 with language disorders need to learn various categorization tasks with Tier I vocabulary words. They need to practice divergent naming task or expressing items in categories such as food, clothes, transportation, and shapes. They need to practice convergent naming tasks that require them to say the category name when told examples of items in that category. Similarly, they need to be able to distinguish what item does not match the group during an elicited task. 

Children in grades 3-5 can further their development of categorization by practicing divergent and convergent naming tasks with Tier III academic vocabulary. Since many speech-language pathologists support teaching the language underpinnings of the common core state standards, they can teach their students how to categorize English/Language Arts vocabulary. For example, students can sort parts of speech vocabulary, types of nouns, types of literature terms, or figurative language vocabulary into groups. They can name Tier III words when given a category and state the category when given examples in this group. 

So, what materials do you use to take data, instruct children, and provide language practice opportunities for categorization objectives? I have several items in my TPT store to work on these goals. Some of these include:

1) Categories Data Check- 8 forms to quickly assess Tier I vocab
       * If you own my Vocabulary Progress Monitoring Tool, it will be updated with this  
          expanded category data check. Email me if you have questions at tamaraanderson.bsl@gmail.com
2) My Speech Language Category Book- sorting Tier III E/LA 
    vocab
3) E/LA Comprehensive Categorization Bundle- Tier I & III vocab
4) E/LA Vocabulary Memory Concentration Activity

So the next time someone asks you why you teach categorization in speech therapy? You can remind them that you also provide language therapy and then effectively explain your rationale. 

Thanks for reading my blog today! 

Until next time,

Tamara Anderson

Building Successful Lives Blog Celebration Raffle!

Hey everyone! I hope all of you on the east coast are keeping warm after this weekend's snow storm. Here in Atlanta, there was a light dusting of snow. With all the hype on the news, I decided to get some R & R on Saturday and stay indoors! It was great for a change! Now for the exciting news...
                               

I am excited to tell you about my Building Successful Lives Blog Celebration Raffle. In honor of my 3rd Blogiversary, I will give away 3 products from my TPT store: Tamara Anderson plus an extra one in anticipation of a great year!  You will also have a chance to enter to win 12 other products generously donated from other SLPs. Many of them are also bloggers and they all sell their awesome products via Teachers Pay Teachers. I am honored that they are joining in on this celebration! I created 6 bundles and 6 lucky winners will receive FREE products in celebration of my 3rd year.

You have a chance to win a variety of articulation, speech fluency, receptive/expressive language, grammar, and social skills resources. They include informal assessments, games, no prep printables, and fun speech language therapy materials! 

The raffle starts late tonight and will last until Sunday! Make sure that you tell other speech-language pathologists about my celebration. I blog and make products to share my ideas and resources that I use in speech-language therapy with all of you! I hope that you find the information beneficial! Thanks again for your support of Building Successful Lives (BSL) Speech & Language.

Thanks to all the SLPs who sponsored this raffle! Here is a preview of the prizes!

Tamara Anderson a Rafflecopter giveaway

3rd Blogiversary Celebration!!!!

Wow! Today is a special day because three years ago I started my blogging journey writing this Building Successful Lives blog. At that time,  I was in my 9th year as an SLP and completing my Education Specialist degree in Curriculum & Instruction. 

I enjoy staying current with best practices in speech-language pathology and education. I am committed to building successful lives of children with special needs. I believe that communication, language, and literacy are the foundation for kids' success in school and in life. 

Over the past three years, I have truly enjoyed sharing my speech-language therapy activities, favorite children's books, instructional products, and information for parents too on this blog! I am grateful for all of you that have read my blog, used my FREEBIES in therapy, and purchased my products. I look forward to sharing more evidence based therapy techniques and engaging activities for speech fluency, language, and literacy. These are my favorite areas to address in therapy and the majority of my current caseload revolves around these necessary skills. 

Make sure that you subscribe to the blog so that you don't miss out on the latest Building Successful Lives scoop! There will be plenty of new content in 2016 and products in my TPT store as well. 

To celebrate my new personal milestone, I will have some FANTASTIC giveaways of speech-language therapy products from some great SLP bloggers and TPT sellers very SOON! I will also raffle off some BSL products too! I don't want you to miss out on a chance to WIN! 

Here's a picture of Building Successful Lives, LLC founder and I. My mother, Dr. Jacqueline Anderson, is definitely a big inspiration for my desire to enrich the lives of children and families. She is a retired school psychologist, but still works as a licensed clinical psychologist with children, adults, and families in Florida. 

I appreciate your support since 2013! Check back soon to enter my 3rd Year Blogiversary Celebration raffle! You can check out my 1st post from 1/21/13 here and last year's recap too! 

Tamara Anderson

January 2016 Sale-bration! 1/20th-1/21st

I have some great news to share! My Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) curriculum store will be on sale this Wednesday and Thursday! I am joining in on the fun for the Start Your Year Inspired TPT sale! You can save 28 % when you enter the sale code, START16, when you checkout. This is a great way to gain immediate access to some great speech-language therapy and English/Language Arts products. Don't miss out on purchasing my specially created resources if you haven't already!! Make sure that you follow my blog this week because it is also my 3 year Blogiversary and there will be other EXCITING announcements!!!!

It's always great to have new activities to use in speech-language therapy and time-saving progress monitoring tools too! As busy SLPs or educators, it's helpful when we have a variety of effective materials to improve the communication, language, and literacy skills of children! Thanks for reading my blog today. Until next time...

Visit my curriculum store here!

Tamara Anderson

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

Wrapping Up 2015! Thanks For Your Support!

Another year is quickly coming to a close! I truly appreciate the support of my fellow speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents who have read my blog this year. I share my ideas so that others will have strategies and activities to use in speech-language therapy, in the classroom, and at home to improve communication skills of children with special needs. 

It has been almost three years since I started this Building Successful Lives blog! I can't wait for all the things that are in store in 2016! I would love for those who purchased curriculum material to leave feedback in my TPT store. I am going to give away some complimentary resources to a few lucky winners! The amount of prizes are TBD! :) I am committed to making quality informal assessments, speech-language therapy activities, and E/LA common core aligned instructional materials. 

Enjoy the rest of 2015 and I wish you all the best in 2016! 

Tamara Anderson

Five Ways to Practice Speech-Language Skills Over Winter Break

Hey there everyone! Today is the last day of school for 2015 in my district and I am beyond excited about being on winter break for 2 weeks! I am sure that all the students are as well. Although the students will be on break from school, there are so many ways that they can practice their communication skills in their daily routines. I know that some of you will have private practice clients or a few days of work next week as school-based speech language pathologists. Make sure that you share these tips with parents.

5 Ways to Practice Speech-Language Skills Over Winter Break: 

1) Retell events and experiences
*Children should practice describing specific family outings, activities, and experiences with as much detail as possible. They should try their best to recall and retell information in the correct sequence of events whether it is going to the ice skating rink or to grandma's house. 

2) Answer questions after listening to fiction or non-fiction story read by parents
*Children and families can visit the public library and check out books appropriate for their age. Parents should read aloud to their kids and ask them who, what, where, when, and why questions about the text. 

3) Play speech-language games on interactive websites
*There are many websites that children can enjoy practicing their speech-language skills. Some of my top recommendations are
spellingcity.com, jacobslessons.com, do2learn.com, learninggamesforkids.com, and pbskids.org

You can access a more comprehensive list in Parent Handouts for Communication Disorders in my TPT store.

4) Play speech-language games on iPad
*Many children have either an iPad or android tablet. They can practice a variety of skills such as speech articulation, following directions, vocabulary, grammar, sequencing, and overall comprehension on apps. Parents can search for related apps in the app store by companies such as Speech with Milo, Super Duper, PocketSLP, Hamaguchi, I Can Do Apps, Smarty Ears and so many more! Many companies have free trial versions that enable kids to practice many skills while others will need to be purchased. 

5) Use speech articulation and fluency strategies 
*At home and in the community, children should practice using their best pronunciation of the sounds they are working on in speech-language therapy. Parents can remind their children to use the correct placement of speech muscles when asking questions, answering questions, and speaking to family and friends.

Overall, children can practice their speech-language skills in everyday routines! I hope you found these 5 tips beneficial. Have a great rest of 2015!

Tamara Anderson