Effective Year Round Speech-Language Therapy Materials {Top 15 List}

It's official. This has been my busiest year working in the school system EVER! I have evaluated numerous students, provided direct speech-language therapy services for children in 1st-5th grade, served as one of my district's team leaders, supervised a new SLP for her Georgia license. It's been a great year overall despite it being hectic at times. There are just 19 days remaining for students!

Now that the end of the year is quickly approaching and my plate is not as full, I can reflect a bit about this school year. I always make sure that I have my frequently used materials literally within arms reach on the bookshelf by my therapy table. 

I thought that you would like to know my top 15 effective speech-language therapy materials that I use year round. The students on my caseload have made progress on their IEP objectives using these resources. I purposefully did not include Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) products or iPAD apps because I think those are worthy of a separate post. :) Ok. Here is my top 15 list of effective year round materials categorized by disorder. I've listed the publisher in parentheses if you want to purchase the items (and no I don't work for Super Duper Publications or other companies...lol). 

Articulation/Phonology:
1) Webber's Jumbo Articulation Book (Super Duper)
*Sometimes it's best to KISS. Keep it so simple. This book is speech gold. It's perfect for therapy and home practice. Plus, I had very few students with articulation or phonology disorders on my caseload so it was a great grab and go activity for speech sound drill work.

Speech Fluency/Pragmatic Language: 
2) What Do You Say...What Do You Do...At School? (Super Duper)
*This is an excellent social skills game board. Kids can learn how to solve problems for real life scenarios.  This game is great for kids to practice speech fluency strategies with oral reading, answering questions, and overall conversation. 

3) The School-Age Child Who Stutters: Working Effectively with Attitudes and Emotions (Stuttering Foundation)
*I LOVE that this product has practical ideas for addressing the emotional aspects for children who stutter. I have several 1st-5th grade students on my caseload who stutter. They use components of this book to add pages to their personal fluency books that we create throughout the year. Their books have a ton of information about stuttering, their feelings, strategies, and therapy practice exercises. 

Semantics/Sentence Building/Grammar:
4) Picturing Vocabulary Cards (Gander Publishing)
*These cards are ideal for labeling Tier I every day vocabulary, working on categorization skills, describing words, identifying attributes, and expressing simple sentences (e.g. I see the _____, I  have the _______). 

5) Webber Photo Cards- Verbs
*The title says it all, but I use these cards ALL the time. My students typically practice present progressive verb sentences with these cards (e.g The boy/girl is ______ + ing).

6) Define & Describe Double Dice Deck (Speech Corner)
*I like that this card deck has real photos of basic nouns. Kids can practice oral definitions with attributes or you place several pictures on the table and have them identify the card based on stated attributes. 

7) Compare & Contrast Double Dice Deck (Speech Corner)
*I like that this card deck has real photos of basic nouns. The students love the "double dice" and selecting the card that matches the shape that they rolled. I use this often without the dice to increase the trials for oral language practice during group therapy when they describe similarities and differences of nouns.

8) Synonyms & Antonyms Double Dice Deck (Speech Corner)
*This deck has tons of Tier I and Tier 2 vocabulary for endless practice. I tend to use these cards if I want to increase the difficulty level for students working on naming synonyms and antonyms. I also like that the cards have pictures along with text for those that need visual cues. 

9) Context Clues in Stories (Super Duper)
*My 3rd-5th grade students need plenty of tier 2 vocabulary practice. This product has 2 levels of cards. One has a short paragraph with a fill in the blank sentence for them to figure out the word from a field of 3 choices. The other has a color coded target word  in a paragraph and a field of 3 choices for them to identify the definition. 

10) Vocabulary Chipper Chat (Super Duper)
My students rarely complete worksheets in therapy sessions or play traditional board games, so they LOVE when they get to play this game. It's amazing how earning tokens after answering learning questions with the added incentive of cleaning up the activity with the included magnetic wand keeps them motivated during a 30 minute session. This product is EXCELLENT to differentiate instruction based on your student's vocabulary objectives! You can choose from these 12 skills: analogies, associations, attributes, categories, compare & contrast, context clues, figurative language, functions, homonyms/homographs, homophones, synonyms & antonyms, verbs

11) Grammar Chipper Chat (Super Duper)
This is a definite favorite activity for my students and ideal for differentiated instruction during group therapy. The kids each enjoy picking an animal themed game/token board. I like the variety of grammar skills that you can target and opportunities for oral language practice. 

12) No Glamour Sequencing Cards (LinguiSystems now Super Duper)
*This product has a variety of colorful picture sequences. I typically give students only 3-4 cards  and have them put them in order. I use these cards for kids to practice comprehension and expression of present, past, and future verb tenses. I pair the cards often with written text to assist them with comprehending/using different sentence structures.  

General Receptive/Expressive Language
13) What is the Main Idea? (Super Duper)
*This resource is great for the majority of students on my caseload. They can practice their auditory comprehension skills by identifying the main idea from a field of 3 choices, retelling brief paragraph, or answering WH questions that you create. 

14) Fiction & Non-Fiction Passages Binder (SLP created)
*I keep a binder of passages organized by reading levels that I can easily select. Many of my students have IEP objectives to increase listening/language comprehension skills when read aloud text and/or provided a copy of text at their instructional reading levels. They also have objectives to identify meanings of tier 2 vocabulary words using context clues from text.  I use the instructional reading levels according to the level determined from reading assessments by their special education teacher. For example, I may have a 4th grade student who is reading at an instructional 2nd grade level. Therefore, I have found that my students improve their language and literacy skills over time when I use articles with specific readability levels. 
*I use websites such as readworks.org, education.com, superteacherworksheets.com, and havefunteaching.com  to print passages.

15) Fiction & Non-Fiction Books (My personal classroom library)
*Each month, I have a selection of books that I read aloud to my speech-language therapy students. I have seen tremendous progress in the speech and language skills of my students during literature based lessons. This is by far my favorite and most effective way to promote receptive and expressive language growth. My students truly enjoy when I read to them and are eager to name vocabulary, retell stories, identify problem/solution, identify cause/effect, and answer story elements/comprehension questions. They are proud when they correctly answer questions about the story. Most of the students on my caseload also have co-occurring language based learning disability, autism, moderate intellectual disability, and/or ADHD and I can honestly say that they are engaged when I use books in therapy. Make sure that you subscribe to my blog because I'll share a list of my favorite seasonal/monthly books that I use throughout the year. 

I hope that you enjoyed this post and have a few ideas about new products to use or new ways to target teaching speech-language skills using one of these resources that you already have. 

Have a great remainder of the school year for all the school based SLPs! Check out my instagram: bslspeechlanguage for pictures of many of these products. 

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

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