You are in for a real treat as I join this week's Wild About Books Wednesday Linky! hosted by Speech is Sweet.  

Recently, I had the opportunity to review Elizabeth Weathersby's Pumpkin Soup Book Companion.  I had not heard of this book, but now I totally cannot wait to grab my very own copy after taking a look at her activities.  Pumpkin Soup is a story by Helen Cooper, depicting the adventures of Cat and Squirrel, who squabble over preparing pumpkin soup, while almost losing Duck's friendship.

Elizabeth's (The Speech Owl) companion addresses Tier 1 (common everyday words, those likely in the top 2000-3000 words used when speaking) and Tier 2 (essential vocabulary for school success) vocabulary, story retell/sequencing, comprehension questions, past tense verbs, singular vs. plural nouns, as well as synonyms and antonyms.  Every page is in black and white for print and go therapy.  Elizabeth includes session materials as well as home practice materials.  There are even reinforcement pages for group therapy cohesiveness!

Adding to Elizabeth's companion, I plan to discuss expected and unexpected behaviors, centering around friendship, along with the feelings associated with those behaviors.  Since many of my groups are mixed speech and language groups, I will target many different speech sounds with words from this book, especially /k/ in pumpkin, cat, and duck...all positions speech friends!

So, if you would like to check out Pumpkin Soup:  A Book Companion for Language, visit The Speech Owl's TPT store.

Check out more books to use in therapy over at Speech is Sweet today and every Wednesday!

EDIT:  In my haste, I completely forgot to include the best part of the post!  The Speech Owl is willing to give away her companion to one lucky responder!  Please comment below if you would like a chance to win.  I will pick one lucky winner!

Read more »

Sparklle SLP

I'm back for another Wild About Books Wednesday Linky! hosted by Speech is Sweet.  

I'm again going back to a classic.  When pulling out my fall materials I came across Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington.  In this sweet story, Jamie plants a pumpkin seed and after watching it grow all summer, picks it and ultimately creates a jack-o-lantern.  The best part, he saves some seeds for the next spring.  

This is an excellent book for sequencing.  I've created a pumpkin sequencing freebie that can be used to retell Pumpkin Pumpkin.  Included within this download is a collection of sequencing template from 3 through 7 steps to use for any book which you may find in your collection.  

I love sequencing activities for developing speech and language skills.  After quick drawings to sequence the events of the story, having the student verbally retell the story with their sketches aids expressive language recall!  Asking a few questions with before and after {Did the seed sprout before or after he picked the pumpkin?} allows students to practice with these temporal targets while also having a visual of challenging concepts.  I have quite a few students working on /k/, especially during carryover in the medial position of words, so a retelling would give plenty of opportunities to produce this target in the words pumpkin and jack-o-lantern.  Finally, just a bit of open ended conversation about picking pumpkins and carving pumpkins to work on sentence structure, vocabulary, and social language.

Check out more books to use in therapy over at Speech is Sweet today and every Wednesday!

Read more »

Sparklle SLP

While it is the time for raking leaves, which may not be a fall favorite unless you are jumping in them, why not also rake up some fall themed activities for your speech room?  I didn't have to search long for a collection of thematic materials to accompany There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro since my current student teacher chose this as her weekly theme in my speech room.  While I observed her therapy skills, I also quickly downloaded the materials she was using!  Woot woot!

Here are some great freebies from creative minds.

Target regular verbs with All About Fall from the TLC Shop.

A story sequencing black and white cut and paste activity from Erin from Creating and Teaching.

Little Miss Kindergarten has a Sammy the Scarecrow roll and color activity.

You know I love some open ended articulation worksheets and LyndaSLP123 has just the freebie.

First Grade Fanatics bring you a collection of activities to go with the story.

While these activities targeted quite a few objectives, we needed more to round out our K-2 language needs.  Here is a Mini Language Book Companion that you can find in my TPT store targeting following 1 and 2-step directions with basic concepts, pronouns and possessive nouns, describing vocabulary, and answering 'wh' questions from the story.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Read more »

Sparklle SLP

It's been a long time since I was in graduate school, but at least one activity created while logging those clinic hours is still with me today.  Although there is nothing wrong with my hand colored clip art spooky tree game, I thought it might be fun to share a classic with all of you.  Here it is!

Print one tree for each student.  

Cut and laminate each item.  I backed my original set with construction paper {I'd use card stock today} and trimmed closely around the shapes.  Make multiple sets for each student in your group.

After practicing a target skill, have each student roll a dice.  Match up the number with an item and add it to your tree.  Collect one of each item to win!

You can find a copy here for free in my TPT store!  

Read more »

Sparklle SLP

I finally made it to a Wild About Books Wednesday Linky! hosted by Speech is Sweet.  I have enjoyed reading these posts and totally have been wanting to jump on this awesome adventure.  

I'd almost bet most of you reading have read Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard?  A classic book and actually one of my all time favorites.  I want to think I am more like Miss Nelson, but Miss Viola Swamp, can she really get results?  Absolutely admirable!  Well, when thinking of my upcoming football theme, I've been totally into book companions, so Miss Nelson Has a Field Day was a perfect choice for a new material.  In this story, a football team that hasn't won a game all year, gains a new coach.  Any guesses who the mysterious coach might be?  

I was drawn to this book, not only for its theme, but also for the generous amount of figurative language included.  Can I tell you how much my 4th and 5th graders have enjoyed the higher level picture books?  I was a bit skeptical, but they are totally into the stories and discovering the vocabulary within.  This just makes my heart go on a series of back handsprings!

Here I present to you my newest book companion!

Contained within the companion, including both color and black and white materials, is a collection of activities targeting articulation (word lists and word cards for elementary age sounds, plus an open ended worksheet), sequencing events, comparing and contrasting, describing vocabulary as well as higher level vocabulary, following 2-step directions (color and black and white versions), 'wh' story comprehension questions, pronouns (color and black and white), figurative language (phrases and definitions on colored cards), a roll and color page, and an open ended football reinforcement activity.

I grabbed a copy of this book in my school library.  Give it a try!  I am sure your students will enjoy the humor.  Talk about the figurative language contained within the book and even draw up a Venn diagram to compare and contrast Coach Armstrong and Miss Viola Swamp.  

Check out some other books over at Speech is Sweet today and every Wednesday!

Read more »

Sparklle SLP