Holiday Update

We are winding down here in speech and getting ready for Christmas break. Here is a final look at my bulletin board. You can read more about it here in this blog post. I love how cozy it feels!

Our little tree is looking festive with handmade ornaments. It also has a new addition, articulation ornaments.

I found the idea for the articulation ornaments via Speech Room News (where I find a lot of good speech ideas). Here is her blog post about it.  I bought clear plastic ornaments from Michael's, a craft store. They were on sale this week for about 30cents each. I bought six to make ornaments for these sounds: /s/, /r/, /l/, "sh," "th," and /k/g/. 

Here are the steps to making these ornaments. I used sticker letters from my scrapbooking stash for each phoneme.

First, put sticker letters on each ornament with the target sounds.

Then, put the little things inside.

After that, close it up.

Last, add a hook, and you are done!

 
Another reason this project was so appealing to me, is that I already have a speech activity that I call Tiny Objects. I have been collecting little things for each phoneme to store in these drawers. When we do this activity, students practice target sounds using the miniatures. This is a favorite in speech class! I will write more about this activity in a future blog post.

Anyway, what made this so easy is that I have all the little things to go into the ornaments!

 

 

Here they are on the tree. When my students are finished with their own paper ornament, they get to hang it on the tree. Then, they look for clear ornament with their target sound. Time for more speech practice! We talk about all the things inside of the ornament. This has been a fun new addition to our therapy week.

Have a great break, ans see  you in three weeks for more fun ideas from my class!

Speech Activities for the Holidays

I love Christmas! Especially in my speech room. The kids are having a great time with each activity/craft-ivity we are completing daily. The first activity I want to share with you is from Oriental Trading Company, my go-to for cheap/fun crafts. I found these advent calendar scratch-n-reveal Christmas trees and thought they would be so fun for my students. Think of a lottery ticket, same idea. Sadly, they are no longer selling them. Maybe next year. There is a chance I bought out their inventory. Sorry!

 

I used the tree in a variety of ways to target different types of speech goals. For students working on articulation, they said a target word as many times as the number on the ornament, and then could scratch off the green paint to reveal the holiday picture. For example, if they chose to do number 2, they said the target word 2-times. Or, when they chose number 25, they said the word 25-times. They got a lot of practice!

I have a student working on some beginning AAC skills, so he scratched off an ornament, and we talked about the picture that was revealed.

Students with social language, language, and fluency goals used the tree as a reinforcement after a response to a question or target of some sort with a picture card.

Another activity primarily for my students with articulation and vocabulary goals, is to make an ornament for my little tree. I pre-write target words on the ornament. For the students working on antonyms, they give me an opposite for the word on the ornament, and then color that words. For those with articulation goals, the student says the word a few times and once in a sentence, and then can color that word. Here are a few examples.

 Another articulation activity is a quick BINGO game for /r/ and /s/. I got it for free here from Communication Window on TPT. Cut, paste, laminate, and buy red and green M&Ms! So easy!
 

I made mulitple TPT purchases on Cyber Monday for social skills materials with a holiday theme. I got the HOHOHO! Social Pragmatics pack from the Dabbling Speechie. Included in this pack are a variety of activities including Santa & Rudolph Perspective Taking Activity, Stocking Stuffer Perspective Taking, HOHOHO Gift Giving Perspective Taking Activity, Christmas Gift Giving social story,  HOHOHO Tone of Voice Lesson, Candy Cane Madness game, and  real life photos to work on perspective taking. Here are a few images of this great Christmas pack. 

I also got the Big Problem, Little Problem Presents set from Lindsey Carol in her TPT store. This activity includes 60 situations in which students must determine if the problem is a big issue or a little one. Students can also provide a solution to the problem. Many of the scenarios have a holiday theme. Here is a picture of my printed set. 

The other purchase I made on Cyber Monday was the Holiday Social Language Activities set from Splashy Speech Stuff. This set has so many great stimulus cards, each related to the holidays and current best practice in social language instruction. Included in this social language packet are Social Problem Solving task cards, Expected vs. Unexpected task cards, Expected vs. Unexpected signs, Gift Giving Inferential scenarios, Gift Giving Matching board, Gift Giving Rubric, Identifying Emotions scenarios, Conversational Questions, and much more. Here is a picture of my set.

Students with language goals also had a lot of work to do these past few weeks. But, it was fun work! I made this Christmas Tree synonym game. Students find the three words that go together to build the trees. I found the idea here at the Speech Room News blog, and made my own set.

For those working on language memory and sequencing, we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and answer questions that I found here. I am always surprised at how many students have never heard this story!

This Holiday WH Question Mini Pack was a freebie on TPT from Sasha Hallagan. Students working on basic levels of question answering made these WH question books. Do you like the red snowman? Interesting interpretation...

 
I hope I have given you a few ideas for the rest of this week, or maybe for next year!

P.S. Sorry for the shiny pictures of lamination...

Christmas in the Speech Room

Halloween? Check!

Thanksgiving? Check!

Christmas? Let's get this party started!

For the first week of December, we are doing various sticker scenes to help decorate my classroom. The students have a choice of creating a wreath or stocking to hang around the fireplace bulletin board. Or, they can do a little sticker scene if they aren't too excited about stockings and wreaths. All of the sticker scenes are from Oriental Trading Company. Here is a link for the stockings. I don't think they are selling the wreaths anymore. Bummer. 

During a speech session, the students complete a predetermined number of practices for a sticker to add the wreath or stocking. For example, if a student is working on /r/, they say a target word 5-times and 1-time in a sentence. 

 

 

I found some bulletin board ideas on Pinterest to decorate this year. That is where I came up with the idea for this present bulletin board. I used wrapping paper, a big bow, and Christmas duct tape. Simple and cute. 
 

In addition to the bulletin boards, I decorated the windows with spray snow and holiday clings. It feels so cozy in here, especially on rainy days! 

I will post again in the upcoming weeks about more holiday therapy activities. Don't forget to check out my Holiday Synonyms Freebie worksheet in my TPT store. Happy Holidays!


One more thing! Our Elf, Buddy, came to visit yesterday! Della and Finn are thrilled. As you can see. 

Christmas Freebie

How about a freebie for the first day of December? Take a look at my Holiday Synonyms Freebie here. It is a great worksheet for those last few free minutes of therapy, or to send home for homework. Download and use again and again!

TPT Sale!

I am having a sale, along with a bazillion others, on TPT for Cyber Monday! Enjoy 20% off all my products. 

Use this code: TPTCYBER

Check these fun activities out:

Speech Therapy Awards Set
 




Semantic Super Heroes Synonym and Antonym Activity

 

Royal Synonyms and Antonyms

 

Open Ended Speech Games



Super Synonyms Worksheet Pack

 
Pretty Synonyms Worksheet Pack
 


Princess Pronouns Mini Books



Super Girl and Boy R Mini Books

 

All for 20% off! Don't forget to use the code: TPTCYBER

Here is a link to my TPT store: link.