Scholastic Teacher Express Dollar Downloads Are Back

Scholastic has a Teacher Express store where they have hundreds of teacher resource books available for purchase and immediate download in .pdf format. Several times a year they have a dollar download sale. Through Saturday (3-24-12) they have over 700 books available from $1 to $5 each. The vast majority of the books are only $1. This is a link to the dollar downloads sorted by price from lowest to highest. You can narrow the selections by grade or subject area. When you click on the book you can preview every page. The .pdf is immediately available for download and I love having the books in that format because I can easily print out whichever pages I want at the moment without having to drag a book to a photocopier.

Some of my favorites (in no particular order) are:

Little kids... Cut!
50 Learning Songs Sung To Your Favorite Tunes
Quick-and-Easy Learning Games: Phonics
Lift & Look Science Mini-Books and Manipulatives
Circle-Time Poetry: Math

Seriously, there are hundreds of these books available for $1 each right now. I lost a morning just browsing and adding things to my cart. Then, when I actually noticed that my cart total was over $70 I decided it was time to pare things down a bit. Ok, time to pare my selection down a lot.

Enjoy the sale.

(I am in no way affiliated with Scholastic, or reimbursed by Scholastic in any way for mentioning Teacher Express or their sale.)

___________________

One year ago, I was reveling in Ava's transition to speaking in two-word utterances. What a difference a year has made. I am grateful every day.

Initial /sh/ Homework Booklet: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Book

Card Sets

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock for durability.

Description

This articulation homework booklet is designed to be an extension of my single-syllable card sets. The target words are all CV or CVC in syllable shape and include no blends or vocalic /r/ sounds. This booklet is designed to be read by a parent (or therapist, older sibling, classmate, teacher...) and child together. The child should be familiar with the target therapy words/pictures from working with the initial /sh/ card set. The helper reads the typewritten words pausing for the child to "read" the picture words. Each time the book is read, the helper can put a sticker/stamp/checkmark in one of the boxes on the front of the book. This will encourage multiple practice readings. The child's fluency should increase with each repeated reading. The words on the back page can be used for either auditory bombardment before reading the book together or for drill after finishing reading the book (or both). The target audience for these cards are children with severe speech delays who are ready to practice initial /sh/ sounds in a more natural context. Move to these exercises to add complexity and increase generalization after the child has achieved good accuracy with single word, single word repetitions, and simple alternating single words with the initial /sh/ picture cards.

Key Features

• This booklet features 9 initial /sh/ words incorporated into a simple story to be read by a helper and child together.
• The words are CV or CVC in syllable shape.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this booklet provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this booklet. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More card sets and related printables are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.

Here is a picture of a homework booklet (the /l/ booklet) printed on cardstock and folded into the booklet. It slides nicely in between board books to be pulled out and read during bedtime story time.

Initial /l/ Homework Booklet: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Book

Card Sets

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock for durability.

Description

This articulation homework booklet is designed to be an extension of my single-syllable card sets. The target words are all CV or CVC in syllable shape and include no blends or vocalic /r/ sounds. This booklet is designed to be read by a parent (or therapist, older sibling, classmate, teacher...) and child together. The child should be familiar with the target therapy words/pictures from working with the initial /l/ card set. The helper reads the typewritten words pausing for the child to "read" the picture words. Each time the book is read, the helper can put a sticker/stamp/checkmark in one of the boxes on the front of the book. This will encourage multiple practice readings. Hopefully the child's fluency will increase with each repeated reading. The words on the back page can be used for either auditory bombardment before reading the book together or for drill after finishing reading the book (or both). The target audience for these cards are children with severe speech delays who are ready to practice initial /l/ sounds in a more natural context. Move to these exercises to add complexity and increase generalization after the child has achieved good accuracy with single word, single word repetitions, and simple alternating single words with the initial /l/ picture cards.(Scroll down to preview set.)

Key Features

• This booklet features 12 initial /l/ words incorporated into a simple story to be read by a helper and child together.
• The words are CV or CVC in syllable shape.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this booklet provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this booklet. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More card sets and related printables are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.



Here is a picture of the book printed on cardstock and folded into the booklet. It slides nicely in between board books to be pulled out and read during bedtime story time.

Wading and Water Play

Last week the weather around here was gorgeous. Temperatures were in the high 70s and it was sunny. We have a park about a three minute drive from our house that has a creek running through it and I decided this year was the right year to scramble down the hill and let the children play in the creek.

We went to the store and bought a wide variety of inexpensive toys that would make for fun play in a creek. Off the top of my head that meant buckets, watering cans, small shovels and rakes, colanders, turkey basters, big kitchen stirring spoons, a small plastic dump truck, etc. I also picked up a small laundry basket to dump all the wet toys into at the end of play to stick in the back of the minivan. And of course, there was the first pair of rain boots/wading boots my children have owned. Boy were they excited about the boots.

Ava was tentative. After briefly testing the water at a depth of about one inch she decided to stick to the shore. Before letting Michael go, I explained that he should only go in until the water reached to about two inches below the top of his boots. I got his attention. I looked him in the eye. I pointed to the two inch from the top spot on his boots. Then I set him free. He loved it. He went further and further in. I just let him. When he had reached the point at which I could see the water pouring into the tops of his boots I inquired, from my sunny spot on the bank of the creek, "Sweetheart, do you notice anything about your boots?" He looked towards me is puzzlement and replied, "Huh?" So I told him, "Nevermind," and just let him go.

I always seem to learn the hard way...

Lesson Learned the Hard Way: Number One

So, recently my husband and I bought our first ever high end vacuum cleaner. We'd been making do on the $40 sale upright I'd gotten in college. I don't even like cleaning, but I was excited. We did our first room and loved watching the bin fill up an embarrassing number of times in just that first room.

The next morning the children went to preschool and I was still excited enough about the new vacuum cleaner to decide that spending some of my precious "me" time vacuuming was recreational in nature and I moved on to the berber carpet in the living room. I was humming along happily vacuuming when I met my first snag. Someone really should have warned me about what would happen when high-end vacuum cleaner meets an exposed loop in a berber carpet. A fraction of a second was all it took and I ended up with this:

At first I simply stared at the torn carpet and tried to process exactly what had happened. Then I tipped back the vacuum cleaner and stared in amazement at the long piece of carpet wound around the beater bar. Then I texted my husband because I couldn't stand being amazed all by myself. Finally I removed the pulled up carpet from the beater bar saving it so that my husband could appreciate it too when he came home and resumed vacuuming.

Because I want you all to think that I have a super fast learning curve I won't mention that after cleaning up all the mess from the first snag I promptly went over a second loop in the carpet and repeated the entire mistake causing an additional strip of torn carpeting. At that point, I did take a pair of scissors and go over the carpet on my hands and knees to trim any remaining snags before finishing vacuuming.

I suppose I could be upset about it, but in the big scheme of things, there are so many "better" things to spend that mental energy on that I'd just rather see the humor in the situation. I didn't like that carpet much anyway. And the two new rips will match the ketchup stain from the day I let the children eat in front of the tv nicely.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way: Number Two

So, cloud dough is amazing stuff. It is inexpensive, easy to make from two ingredients you have around the house, smells nice, and is fun to play with.

Do not, under any circumstances, put it in an outdoor sensory table.

Oh, sure, it all looks beautiful and pristine in the picture. And yes, the children did play in it happily for over an hour. But then I forgot it in the rush to make lunch and get the children down for nap. To make things worse, I hadn't even put the top on the sand table. And then it rained. Flour, oil, and now water were in the sand table.

I might have rescued the situation had I noticed and dealt with it at that point, but we had several busy days. So it sat there in the hot sun for another couple of days and then got some more rain. Then I went out on the deck yesterday and it was the smell that hit me first. It's really difficult to describe. Fermenting maybe? And so not in a good way. And it was a paste that was just stuck to the many surfaces of the sand table. It took at least a couple of hours of work to clean that mess up. And we had to toss all the sand on the other side because the children, blissfully unaware of how nasty it was, managed to mix a bunch of the fermented cloud dough in with the sand.

I think I can still smell that stuff on my hands. From now on, the cloud dough is exclusively an indoor activity.

Lessons learned. My personal theme of the week.

Homemade Dough Stamps

I made these with a glue gun and recycled tops from single serve chocolate milk bottles (from fast food restaurants). We had six caps, so I sat down with the kids and a piece of paper and we planned our six designs. They each got to choose three. We ended up with square, pumpkin, smiley face, triangle, snowflake, and flower. Then I made the designs on the tops of the lids with the glue gun and we let them set for 24 hours. (I also did some designs on cardboard rolls, but those didn't work as well.)

We made some cloud dough the next day from flour and baby oil and the kids used the stamps. They really enjoyed using the stamps and they worked fairly well. (Cloud dough takes 5 minutes to make and is wonderful to play with. If you haven't tried it you definitely should.)

The Weekly Review: Week 52

Week 52. Wow. A whole year of weekly reviews. Well, let's hop to it.

SLP Resource of the Week

Jenae at Icanteachmychild.com did a post on making duplo puzzles. You could definitely take my articulation picture cards and trim them to fit onto two rectangular duplos. Then cut the card in half and tape them to the sides of the duplos. Voila. Articulation duplo puzzles. You could easily use this for simple word building, matching upper and lowercase letters, matching mama to baby animals or any number of other matching activities.

When Michael is ready for some more independent practice with his /s/ I'm thinking of taking some of his duplos and slapping the initial /s/ cards on them and tossing them into their own bin and letting him discover them on his own. Hopefully he'll say the words as he fits the puzzles together.

Ava this Week

Ava loves her new "big girl" speech class. I guess she was ready to graduate from early intervention after all. She has speech twice a week for 45 minutes. Her sessions are right after preschool. Yesterday morning she begged me to take her to speech first and then school second. I had to explain to her that it just didn't work that way. I'm happy to see her excited about going though.

Weekly Michael

When Michael came down from naptime yesterday he found me reading in my glider. He crawled into my lap and snuggled under my arm resting his head on my chest. He told me that he dreamed there were red dot lights in the sky. As he reached up to touch each one with his finger, they burst into fireworks. It is interesting to note that I'm pretty sure he didn't actually sleep yesterday during nap time. He was either telling me about a daydream or a dream he had overnight. I didn't call him on it though. I just enjoyed the cuddle and story.

Ava's and Michael's Weekly Home Therapy Notes

/s/ and /l/ blends are chugging along well. Ava is doing a great job at getting both phonemes of the blend in with very little prompting. She's starting to habituate a rather long prolongation of the first consonant of the blend though. Pretty soon I'll have to start addressing that.

Michael is doing beautifully with the articulation rating scale. Using the scale helps him self correct to clear /s/ sounds for about 20-25 productions. Then he tanks. I think there is some actual oral-motor weakness there and he just fatigues to the point at which good productions just aren't possible any more. We'll just have to continue to practice and build up stamina.

Articulation Rating Scale - Picture Rubric

We are working on Michael's interdental /s/ production. His standard production is a visually distracting interdental production that sounds like a clear /s/. When asked to keep his tongue behind his teeth, he gets a lot of lateral air escape making the auditory result more like a /s/-/sh/ hybrid. When he is coached, is paying attention, and is not fatigued, he can occasionally produce a crystal clear /s/ with appropriate placement.

His production varies widely from repetition to repetition and I was having trouble giving him appropriate, useful feedback quickly and efficiently without disrupting the flow of practice and slowing us down significantly. Then I saw a post on The Learning Curve about an articulation rating scale she had made. I thought making something similar scaled down to the toddler/preschool level might help me give Michael more consistent feedback.

So I made this:

When we sat down to use it the first time I explained that this was going to help us with our /s/. I reminded him that making the /s/ with his tongue sticking out was incorrect and told him that if I saw him make it that way I'd point to the stop sign. If he made a beautiful clear /s/ sound (I demonstrated) I'd point to the smiley face with the fireworks. If the /s/ looked good, but sounded mushy (again, I demonstrated) I would point somewhere in between. He grasped the concept immediately and loved using the chart as a feedback tool. I was able to give him feedback instantly and quickly without needing a lot of words to explain what needed to be corrected. Every time I pointed to something below a 5 he was able to self-correct with no other cues needed (Until he got fatigued. At that point I just couldn't get any more clear /s/ sounds.).

The chart could be used in a similar fashion with any phoneme production that needs to be shaped. You could also use the rubric for just about anything with small children because the stop-sign to smiley face progression makes sense to little ones. You could use it to show children how well they cleaned up a room. You could use it to show a child how close his written "A" matched the one he was trying to copy. It's a really flexible visual scale.

As a funny side story, this is version 2 of the rubric. The first one I made had this:

instead of the stop sign. I was pretty pleased with my rubric and was showing it off to my husband. He thought the sobbing face was a bit harsh for little ones and suggested switching it for something else. I granted him the point and switched to the stop sign. Sometimes a second opinion is useful.

Any other ideas for how to use the scale?

Inspiration

My children inspire me. I don't mean that in a generic "I'm a better person." way. They inspire me to stretch a little and step outside of my comfort zone. Arts and crafts is a great example. Historically, I considered myself to be a decidedly non-artistic person. It doesn't come to me naturally. I don't have a good eye for color, design, or form. The only kinds of coloring I enjoyed as a child were color-by-number. As for crafts, I liked cross-titch. There was a pattern and I all I had to do was follow the pattern on a cloth grid.

Then I found myself staying at home with two young children. Partly from a desire to expand their horizons, and partly from pure self-defense (we all needed something to do) I began to do some simple arts and crafts with them. After coloring with crayons and cutting snowflakes with scissors I ran out of ideas. Through the brilliance and generosity of some talented bloggers (That Artist Woman and Art Projects for Kids for example) I have been inspired to do a wide variety of beautiful crafts with the children. I have learned a lot myself along the way and we all have fun together.

Again, historically, I am not great at keeping plants alive. I pretty much accidentally kill any houseplant that isn't a cactus or succulent in short order. The few plants I do manage to keep alive I tend to tire of caring for and give away. As for gardening, I'm not really outdoorsy. I also don't much like getting dirty. So, I have very little gardening experience.

However, I think I'd like to try some simple gardening with the children. I think they'd enjoy growing some vegetables and perhaps the experience would encourage them to consume a few. I have fond memories of eating cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots from my dad's garden when I was little. The children would have the opportunity to participate in a long term project with delayed gratification. It would force us all to get outside regularly. I am interested in perhaps trying cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers with the children. Preferably in pots. Can you grow vegetables in pots? Specifically, can you grow those vegetables in pots?

That's the problem. I'm an starting with zero experience and knowledge. Online research should get me started, but there's a long stretch from reading an article on the internet to eating home-grown vegetables. It's kind of fun to take a leap and try something new though. And the project will be a learning experience for all of us no matter how it turns out. Online research here I come.

Initial Minimal Pair Rhymes: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

Description

This articulation card set is designed to be an extension of my single-syllable cards sets. The words are all CV or CVC in syllable shape and include no blends or vocalic /r/ sounds. This is a speech exercise of minimal pairs rhymes contrasting the initial early-emerging consonant sounds. The target audience for these cards are children with severe speech delays who need exposure to a minimal pair technique to emphasize that they need to differentiate production of two different words. Move to these exercises to add complexity and increase generalization after the child has achieved good accuracy with single word, single word repetitions, and simple alternating single words with these phonemes.(Scroll down to preview set.)

Key Features

• This set includes 12 therapy cards sequenced so that they form minimal pair rhymes.
• The words are CV or CVC in syllable shape.
• The words feature early emerging consonants.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this card set provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More sets are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.

Card Sets

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock and laminate for durability.

Initial L Minimal Pairs: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

Description

This articulation card set is designed to be an extension of my single-syllable cards sets. The words are all CVC in syllable shape and include no blends or vocalic /r/ sounds. This is a set of minimal pairs focusing on contrasting the initial /l/ sound with four other initial consonants. Each different CVC /l/ word features a different vowel to maximize coarticulation variation. The target audience for these cards are children with severe speech delays who need exposure to a minimal pair technique to emphasize that they need to differentiate production of two different words. (Scroll down to preview set.)

Key Features

• This set includes 15 therapy cards. Three CVC /l/ words are contrasted with four other minimal pairs.
• The words are all CVC in syllable shape.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this card set provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More sets are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.

Card Sets

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock and laminate for durability.

Organizing Speech Articulation Practice

This is hardly rocket science in the speech therapy world, but it was time for something new around here so we're switching to speech binders instead of using the articulation cards in deck style.

Name is on the front. I just printed out the pages of cards leaving off the backs and punched holes in them. Michael is working on /f/ and /s/ so his binder has those two sections. As soon as the children have adjusted to the new format I'll add a section for the s-blends to Michael's folder.

I plan to pretty much drill the children. I'll cross off any of the cards I don't want them using. Michael can do all of the cards, but for Ava I'll cross off any word that includes non-targeted phonemes that aren't in her inventory yet (so, any word with /k/, /g/, /ch/, etc.). Every time they say the word the requested number of times (3 times in a row) or in the requested way (in a phrase/short sentence), they get to mark the card. Marking options include a stamp, sticker, check mark or dot with a crayon or paint marker, dot paint, etc. If you switch the marking options each time interest should be higher and they'll collect a wide variety of "marks" on each card. They have a visual representation of all the work they've put in over time.

The other advantage to the binder format is documentation and notes. I can jot down the date on the blank opposite page and take notes about % accuracy, the level I'm working on that day (imitation, single words, x3, phrases, etc.), and any words that were particularly difficult. Over time, I can analyze those difficult words for patterns. I might notice that Michael has an easy time with /s/ on all the front vowels, but struggles with /s/ paired with back vowels and adjust therapy accordingly. This is an advantage over randomly shuffling a card deck. When we practice that way it is more difficult to document properly.

In a school setting using this format for therapy would make it easier to work with children on different phonemes during a single session. Do one row with child A from their folder and then switch and do one row with child B from their folder...

If you're working in a setting where you can send the binder home to a parent, you can make a homework section of words that are ready for parent led practice. Having a parent work in this way will let you see visually exactly how much practice happened at home because you can look for the marks on the cards. Parents could also easily jot down questions or comments for you to read and respond to on the blank backs of the pages in their section. You could check for parent comments in just a couple of minutes at the beginning or end of each session. You could possibly also use this format if you had a teacher, teacher aide, volunteer, or even super responsible classmate who could do speech work with your student in the classroom for 5 min/day.

Making Yarn Dolls

Pinterest is dangerous. I was browsing pinterest to find something quick to do with the children yesterday and came across a link to a page with a tutorial on how to make a yarn doll. I thought to myself, we have yarn. I bet the kids would like this activity.

Then I was sucked into a two-hour time warp where the first one turned out all right and was well received, but I knew the next one could be even better (and then both children could have one). After the second was complete I was so much better at it that I wanted to try a second girl doll.

So, here they are. The first attempt is a girl doll. The second attempt was a boy doll for Michael. I tried adding a smile. I have to admit, the end result was a little creepy. The third is another girl doll and my personal favorite. She was bigger than the first and so we called her the mama doll.

The children adore the dolls and I had fun making them so I consider the activity a success.

The Weekly Review: Week 51

SLP Resource of the Week

I found this articulation rating scale at The Learning Curve. Michael's /f/, /v/, /s/, and /z/ are all habitually produced interdentally. When I ask him to close up his teeth to keep his tongue behind his teeth for the production of /s/, he locks those teeth together successfully, and then all the air escapes laterally. The sound of his /s/ production is much sharper if I just let him produce it interdentally. In fact, if I'm not looking at his mouth, I cannot tell it from an /s/ produced in the traditional fashion. You'd think it would sound like a /th/, but instead it comes out as a crystal clear /s/ sound.

So, I tested to see if he could hear the difference between a sharp clear /s/ and a mushy /s/ production with a lot of lateral air escape, and he could tell the difference when I do it. But I have difficulty giving him feedback. It is certainly an improvement if he keeps his tongue behind his teeth, but that isn't good enough. The visual rubric of the articulation rating scale might be just the thing to give him feedback that is more meaningful.

Ava this Week

We got the book The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker a while back. The children and I thoroughly enjoyed it. During the first reading the children were captivated and just the right amount of scared when the dragon snatched the baby sister. The book ended up in Ava's room and she's been requesting it nightly. Her second-favorite part is when the baby's first word is "help". Her most-favorite part is when the baby shouts "No!" at the dragon.

One morning this week, as I was downstairs in the kitchen early making breakfast for the children I heard Ava's voice coming clearly through the monitor. I knew exactly what I was hearing when I heard her saying, "No! No, no, no dragon." I stood there motionless hovering by the monitor straining to hear every word as she flipped pages reading the story to herself. It made me so very happy.

Weekly Michael

I wish I could capture this moment in parenting time. Michael has been a delight lately. I love him and enjoy him more every day. He is fun to be with. He's having true conversations with his sister. He is delivering appropriately timed, genuinely felt thank yous. He loves to sing, tell stories, create art, and build complex creations from legos. All of his songs/stories/art/creations have elaborate back stories that are actually pretty interesting if you just take some time to listen. And it is so simple to make him happy in return. All he needs is a little undivided attention. He absorbs the positive attention and then continues happily on his way.

Ava's and Michael's Weekly Home Therapy Notes

I've continued to work with both children together and we're finding a new rhythm. We work for 20-30 minutes a night (4-5 nights/week). Right now I'm pushing the s-blends and l-blends pretty hard. Our sessions are pretty intense and I probably get a minimum of 100 productions per child per session. I usually just drill. I tried my speech caterpillar just one time. It slowed us down too much. For the most part I stick to drill because my children will tolerate it and it allows us to get more speech productions in during the session. I'm going to stick with it as long as it works.

Ava began working on blends three weeks ago. At that time, they were almost impossible for her. She tried and failed to sequence the motor planning over and over until I finally found the right combination of simplifying the production and cueing that worked for her (very slow production, separate the two consonants of the blend, emphasize the second consonant of the blend auditorily, use tactile cueing to emphasize each consonant of the blend). When I switched blends it took her several attempts to reboot her system for a new consonant (sp instead of sm for example).

Since then, she has made amazing progress. She can produce the blends and switch from one blend to another with only light to moderate cueing. She still needs a slight separation of the two consonants in the blend. She also does better with a visual cue that emphasizes that she is trying to produce a two-part blend. And that's it. With those two aids, she's at about 85% accuracy in direction imitation of single CCVC words.

Colored Glue Tracing: Pre-Writing

Michael has only recently started to demonstrate a hand preference (leaning towards right hand). He starts with his right hand when cutting, using utensils, and when writing. Perhaps because he used both hands equally for so long, he still struggles with his writing grip. He still usually grabs writing implements with his fist and gets frustrated with crayons, markers, and paintbrushes because he doesn't have the fine control he wants.

He does well when tracing in sand though and enjoys that activity so I decided to do a similar activity with the children yesterday. I wanted to do another activity that would exercise pre-writing skills while removing the frustration of an actual writing implement.

I mixed up some colored glue using white school glue and liquid tempera paint and put them in small squeeze bottles I got here. (Those two ounce squeeze bottles have been a great purchase. I've used them to hold colored water, puffy paint, and colored vinegar for a wide variety of projects. They are the perfect size for toddler/preschooler hands.) I also printed some pre-writing strips I made in publisher on cardstock (Feel free to download them and use them yourself. They are at the bottom of the post.).

As you can see, Michael started with his right hand, but as he fatigued, he switched to using both hands. This activity was much more difficult for Ava. She started by trying to fill in the lines, but quickly switched to simply playing with the colored glue on the paper.

Michael also traced over some words. He was still excited about the project when I ran out of printed strips so I suggest we make a card for his Daddy. He dictated a message. I wrote it on construction paper. Then he traced it with glue.

All in all, the activity kept the children entranced for at least 45 minutes. Michael had more fun than Ava, but she struggled with it more. I have lots of colored glue left over for another project (yet to be determined) and Ava will enjoy it more when she can use it creatively. For the purposes of this project, I couldn't have been more pleased.

Here are the strips for anyone who is interested. Click on the image to open to full size. Then right click and save to your computer.

S-Blends (/sl/, /sm/, /sn/, /sp/, /st/): Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

If you like this free S-Blends set you might want to check out the comprehensive S-Blends Speech Therapy Kit now available in the Testy Shop.

Description

This articulation picture card set is designed to be more comprehensive than the typical sets you might find elsewhere. The target audience for this set is young children or children with more severe speech delays that need intensive practice with sounds at a one-syllable level. No blends (other than the targeted initial blend) or vocalic /r/ sounds are included in this set. All syllable shapes are kept as simple as possible to allow the child to focus as much as possible on producing the initial blend. Syllable shapes are CCV or CCVC only.(Scroll down to preview set.)

Key Features

• This set includes 30 therapy cards with the target word and picture on the front, and the difficulty level and a carrier phrase on the back.
• This set includes 6 one-syllable words for each blend: /sl/, /sm/, /sn/, /sp/, and /st/.
• The words are all CCV or CCVC in syllable shape.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.
• Combines the S-blends with all possible vowel sounds at least once.
• Words are categorized by difficulty level for an easy progression from simpler to harder.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this card set provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More sets are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.

Card Set

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock and laminate for durability.

Card Set Activity and Game Suggestions

1. 10 Card Set Game and Activity Ideas
2. Simple Speech Card Puzzles
3. Speech Card Stories
4. Speech Card Caterpillar
5. Speech Card Game: What's Hiding?

Can anyone recommend a good phonics primer - for me?

I don't remember learning how to read. I just do it. I always did. I don't remember being taught. I certainly don't remember how I was taught. If I had to guess, I'd say it was via the sight word method, because phonics rules are definitely not my strong point.

So, yesterday Michael was playing with a Melissa and Doug toy I had gotten ages ago when he was first showing interest in both puzzles and letters. At the time he wasn't impressed, but when he rediscovered it yesterday he loved it and spent a good half hour working away mostly independently. He was frustrated because the "p" wouldn't fit into pig. That let to a discussion of how a lower case "b" is actually an upside-down, flipped over "p". We found two examples and demonstrated and he went happily on his way. Aside from one other brief interruption, which I will describe momentarily, he worked completely on his own until he proudly presented me with his final product.

Now, while Michael was working on the puzzles I was...hmm...I don't remember. I was doing some mystery task in the kitchen. I guarantee it wasn't cleaning though. Whatever I was doing, I was giving Michael about 3% of my attention when he wandered in to announce that "boat" and "cat" rhymed. I remember being slightly annoyed, in fact, because I knew that he knew those two words didn't rhyme. Then I looked down at the visual aid he had helpfully brought in and set up to show me.

Once he had my full attention, he stated in the tone of a question, "Cat and boat rhyme because they both end in -at." Well, then I was in trouble and regretting my lack of phonics theory knowledge. I did the best I could. I explained that while there was only one vowel in cat, there were two vowels using teamwork in boat. The "oa" combination sounds like "oh" while if "o" had been all on its own it would have sounded like "ah" making the word "bot". It ended up being a long, wordy, inelegant explanation. And, to be honest, I'm not even sure my explanation was correct. Even if it was lucky, and I happened to be correct this time, I'm not sure that phonics "rule" applies in every situation where "oa" appear together.

Why on earth does English spelling have to be so complicated? I think I'll just teach them phonetic transcription. Hmm... and then transcribe all their children's books into IPA... and their future schoolbooks... Ok, fine. That's no solution either. I guess I'll just have to teach myself phonics so that I can explain it to my four year old son. Can anyone recommend a good primer?

Speech Card Set Activity: What's Hiding?

Game: What's hiding?
Description: Set 3-5 cards out in front of children. Have children identify each word. Hide one card. Have children identify the missing card. Repeat.
Object: Child who has the most cards at the end of the game wins.
Materials: One piece of paper and a free card set.
Setup: Fold paper into thirds. Unfold and set upright to form barrier between yourself and children. Lay 3-5 cards in front of the barrier facing the children.

Directions:

1. Tell children (for example), "Fan, food, and feet came out to play. Say, "Hi fan!" Say, "Hi food!" Say, "Hi feet!"
2. Wait for children to produce target words in imitation, threes, phrases, sentences, etc.
3. Say, "Now, one of the cards is going to hide from you. Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you to. (Hide one of the cards behind the barrier.) Now open your eyes and tell me who went hiding."
4. The child who identifies the missing card first and pronounces it correctly gets to keep the card.
5. Set out a new group of cards and repeat. The child with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Why I Made My Speech Cards

When I finally pulled my head out of the sand and acknowledged that Ava's speech was delayed I needed to decide how to best help her. At the age of two, Childhood Apraxia of Speech is not officially diagnosed, but Ava had many of the red flags for a motor-speech planning disorder. I did not have a lot of professional experience with very young children whose speech were as delayed as Ava's so I began to research. I decided to spend approximately $200 to invest in the Kaufman Kit - Level 1 (read my Kaufman Kit review). It is one of the most commonly used therapy resources for working with children with severe speech delays with a motor-speech component (CAS).

I had high hopes for the kit and waited anxiously for it to arrive. When it came, I was frustrated by the manual's brevity. I felt like I wanted more explanation, theory, advice and instruction for the cost of the kit, but I worked through that. What most frustrated me was how little of the kit I was able to use with Ava. Her speech level was so low that I was able to use only two sections of the kit (VC and CV). On top of that, she wasn't able to make several of the vowel and consonant sounds yet so I was left with about 10 cards to work with from my $200 dollar investment. (Ironically, six months later when I pulled the kit back out to try it again I realized that most of the kit was then too easy for her.)

I was a speech-pathologist. My only client was my daughter. Trust me. I knew exactly which sounds were in her inventory and which were not. I knew what she needed to work on next, and the Kaufman kit was not giving that to me. I needed more CV and VC words (and eventually CVC) that included the sounds she could make with a wide variety of vowels. First I tried commercial sets. I ordered several articulation card sets with simple consonants (/p/, /m/, /t/). Again, I ended up with a lot of words I couldn't use. Children who need to drill /p/, /b/, and /m/ aren't going to be able to start with multi-syllable words. They don't need consonant blends in those words. They don't need a lot of /l/, /sh/, /ch/, /s/, and /th/ thrown into the words. Again, I was forced to eliminate most of the words in the card sets leaving me with only 3-5 words to work with. I didn't want to plan an entire therapy session with 3-5 words day after day. Not only was it boring, but it didn't allow for the phonemic variety necessary. There are 14 vowels. 3-5 words weren't combining my targeted consonant with enough vowels.

So I started to make my own sets. I spent hours at it. But it was immediately obvious to me that they were working. I was able to drill with real words. I was able to drill with picture cards she found engaging. I was able to drill with words that combined my targeted consonant with different vowels so that her motor-planning system could learn the different coarticulation patterns involved when you change the vowel.

On top of that, aside from time, they were free. (Hmm. Technically they aren't free for me. I pay to be able to use the images, but that was worth it to me.) If they get colored on, or crumpled, or spilled on, I can simply print another set. If I want to share them with her therapist, grandparents, or another parent, I can simply print additional sets. If I want to cut some in half to make puzzles, if I want to play go fish with them, if I want to turn them into fish for a fishing game, I just print more. I like having my own printable sets. I like that they are small and easy for my hands and the hands of children to hold.

I've stopped spending money on articulation materials that aren't meeting our needs. When I have a new target with Ava I invest several hours and make a new card set that addresses our needs perfectly. I see the sets as a hybrid of the traditional articulation approach (targeting specific consonant phonemes) and a motor-speech planning approach (combining targeted consonants with a wide variety of vowel contexts, simple syllable shapes, mastering words with less complex motor planning before moving on to words with more complex motor planning, etc.). Once I spent the hours necessary to make each set, I wanted to share them. I sincerely hope that other parents and other SLPs would also find them to be useful. I hope they you help other children learn to talk.

Two decades behind the curve...

I have recently discovered the joy and usefulness of warm liquid caffeine. Now most people discover coffee when? High school or college perhaps? Well, I never liked straight coffee and therefore made it through high school, college, graduate school, and the early years of mothering without relying on caffeine at all.

My recent purchase of an automatic tea maker led me to try a wide variety of teas over the past couple of months. One of those teas (well, tea-alternative technically) is JavaVana by Teavana which, ironically enough, is coffee and chocolate flavored. I drink it because it is amazingly good. When prepared to my liking (one-two extra scoops of tea, 205 degrees, a little milk, 7 minutes!) it is a calorie free alternative to a mocha hot chocolate that is better than hot chocolate. I kid you not. This stuff is amazing.

A cup also happens to have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. Well I had no idea of the effect of a cup of coffee's caffeine. I am completely truthful when I say it makes me a better mother. Even when fighting a cold. I'm perky, patient, energetic, and cheerful. All that and so yummy. I did discover that drinking it through the afternoon and evening is a VERY BAD IDEA. Hmm. No sleep that night. If I just switch to some other pot of tea after around 3pm, all is good though. Lovely, lovely chocolate, coffee flavor, and caffeine.