I love a good find!!!

November 7, 2019

Recently, I was at a local Dollar General Store just looking. I had a little bit of downtime in between two home visits, so I thought I'd check and see if they had any inexpensive holiday items that I could adapt into a speech or language activity. Plus, last year I came across a board book that I was able to put together a handout of different ways to read and expand upon the book. This was my Christmas gift to all of my families of infants and toddlers that I work with.   

Guess what??? I found another book!!! This time though it was to add to my packet of activities that I use when targeting the phonological process of s-blends, particularly /sn/. There's a little bit of modification that needs to be done to make it a little more repetitive for more practice opportunities, but that's easy peasy! I love it. What's even better is it's only a dollar. $1.00!!!

I ended up adding a phrase to the end of each page so that the word "Snow" would be the last word. This works really well to work towards leaving the word out and letting the student fill in the blank. This allows them to take part in reading the book as well as practicing the word at just the word level! 

Find more ideas and activities that target /sn/ at my TPT store! 

Or even better, get the whole set of s-blends in the special discounted bundle!

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Have Games Will Travel

October 12, 2019

Do you serve more than one building? Do you serve more than one district? Do you ever feel like no matter how much time you take planning that you always get to the next spot with not quite everything you needed? For me, it's "Yes", "Yes", and "on a daily basis". 

I go through phases where I am all about data collection, or all about embedding skills into activities,  or interactive notebooks, or novel things to keep the kid's attention. We are almost 9 weeks into this school year and I'm really trying to get more practice repetitions in with less "stuff". I don't want the kids to fall out of their chairs of boredom as we drill practice a target sound, but I also need them to get as many practice opportunities in as possible. I, too, don't want to fall out of my chair in boredom. I need variety and efficiency but with less stuff. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Games-to-Play-with-ANY-Articulation-Deck-of-Cards-4935846

I decided to put together my favorite generic games that I've played through the years in one set of mats that kids can choose from and no matter what I know that they will get a lot of practice opportunities in. Once you laminate the set of game boards, you really only need a single die, a dry erase marker and 2 colors of dry erase markers and you're set. 

This product contains 9 different game board games that you can play with any deck of articulation cards. It also contains 4 more general games ideas that you can play with any artic deck. Your students won't even realize they are practicing the same set of articulation words to get in the maximum number of practice repetitions. Games include; tug of war, the dice game, connect 4 blackout and more.

AS ALWAYS NEW PRODUCTS ARE 50% OFF FOR THE FIRST 48 HOURS!

Click here to follow my store and know when new items are posted!

or follow my blog for freebies and new ideas.

http://staceyparksslp.blogspot.com/

or on instagram and facebook!!!

https://www.instagram.com/staceyparksslp/

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Sometimes simple is just what you need.

Sometimes simple is just what you need. And at this point in my workday, this is what I need. I have a new para that I've been training and a large number of referrals that I need to start on. Game boards are always a good way to guide practice in a fun way that can also yield a high number of productions.

It's also my favorite time of year with all the seasonal/holiday-themed activities. Students may be working on the same thing, but with a new theme in the background, it appears new to them. Win-win!

I added each theme separately to my TPT store in case someone wants to try out just one theme, but I also combined them into a Holiday Bundle as Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas is fast approaching.

Here's a link to my new addition. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holiday-Articulation-Game-Boards-4917899

Coming soon is a set of different games that can be played with any set of artic cards. Can you tell I have A LOT of kids with articulation goals this year?

BTW: A challenge always motivates me!!! I love them! Thank you to Jennifer at Sell on TPT for all of the information and fun challenges!

Fast...Faster....Fastest!!!

I cannot get enough of wind up toys. There are so many ways to use them and there are lots of posts with lists of how to use them in various ways during speech therapy. This isn't one of them though. This is just my excitement that I've been getting to use them along with a recent product addition of mine. Click here for the link.

Today we went through practicing these words in a structured manner and then toward the end of the session we got out the wind-up toys and were able to practice these patterns as we compared two describing which one was faster or slower. Then we were able to pick out 3 wind up toys and begin describing which one was fast, faster and the fastest. We could also order them in the opposite direction for slow, slower and slowest. Having races between different sets of wind up toys never gets old. There's always a new variable to throw in and compare. Kids are practicing this language structure and they don't even realize it though all the laughter. Join in! It's a great time!

Check out my other resources as well at my TPT store!

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Don't forget to subscribe to my blog and receive a free Seasonal Synonym and Antonym Bundle!!!

Interactive Articulation Notebook and Articulation Homework Practice Pages- What is the difference?

Every year is a little bit different. It all depends on student needs, SLP needs and most importantly, SLP ideas to help cover all the bases. For the last 5 years or so, I've utilized student spirals to keep all of their student work in that we practice during our speech sessions. It started out as a way for my para and me to see what the other had worked on, plus it was a built-in way to review what was worked on the previous session. The bonus to all of this was that I was able to send the spiral home at the end of the school year and that was what the student could practice and review over the summer. Win-Win!

Two years ago I discovered Interactive Language Notebooks. I know, I was late to the game, but none the less, I was so excited to use them. We would put language and articulation practice pages into the same notebook. Each student's spiral was individualized. The language resources were easy to change and modify to be able to target all kinds of language skills. That summer I decided I wanted to jump into a more structured way to target articulation in the same interactive way. That's how the Interactive Articulation Notebook resource came about. I wanted to be able to practice a target sound in a specific position of the word multiple ways. Having the child participate and keeping their hands busy at the same time seemed like a good fit. With the Interactive Articulation Notebook, there is the opportunity for cutting, gluing, sorting and coloring along with the speech sound production practice.  I used this all of the last school year! I have it divided up into early developing sounds, later developing sounds or a complete bundle!


As I was thinking about this school year and setting goals for myself, I decided that I wanted to try to implement home practice again. We've been short-staffed for so long that an organized home practice program fell to the bottom of the list of things to get done. It's definitely not something that students are penalized for if they do not do it, but they are rewarded if they do it. I needed something that they could quickly practice at home and something that I could quickly grab and modify to their level. I didn't want them to have to spend time coloring for decoration, cutting or gluing. I figured if they saw it as something they could quickly do and be done with they'd be more apt to practice at home. I knew I had a couple of pages in the Interactive Articulation Notebook, but I wanted to build upon those pages. That brought me to developing the Articulation Homework Practice Pages. This resource has 8 different ways to practice a small set of target words for each target pattern. It may be that they are check-marking a box to show that they practiced, it may be filling in a circle, drawing a line with different colors each time they practice or filling in a different color of the rainbow each time they practiced. I use a 3 prong folder for homework practice, so this resource is definitely print, hole punch and go! I purposefully designed it to be at the word level, so you could use it as designed, add a carrier phrase, use it in a structured sentence, have the child generate a sentence using the word, or have the child make a story using each of the words on the page. I have the resource divided into early developing sounds, later developing sounds or a complete bundle!

I am currently using both for all of my articulation students. The Interactive Articulation Notebook during speech sessions and the Articulation Homework Practice Pages for their homework folders. So far it's been easy prep and has saved me a ton of time! I hope you enjoy it as well.

Check out my other resources as well at my TPT store!

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Don't forget to subscribe to my blog and receive a free Seasonal Synonym and Antonym Bundle!!!

Beginning of the year - Set Your Goals!

The beginning of the school year is always so exciting. New beginnings, new school supplies, new ideas, new decorations, and new students. That excitement very quickly becomes a different emotion. More specifically, emotions.  These emotions quickly emerge, accelerate, stop, and change very similar to the twists and turns of an amusement park roller coaster.  Hold on tight because it will be Christmas before you know it. 

I am still in the middle of scheduling, verifying the proposed schedule, trial run of the schedule, and rolling with whatever changes need to be made. I've gotten to stay in the same position as last year serving the same schools as before, so although there is still a lot of "new", I am very lucky to have so many familiar things as well. Familiar students, familiar parents and familiar teachers can make for a smooth transition into the new year. Well, as smooth as can be expected. I don't want to make it sound terrible, but no matter what, new dilemmas always present themselves. Plus I always have a little higher expectations of myself then I had the previous year. All in all, though, it's been a great beginning to a new school year. 

In June, I began setting goals for myself, particularly for my TPT store. Goal setting has been a game-changer for me. It keeps me focused and I definitely need help staying focused. So tonight as I finished a project that I'd been trying to start for the last few months, I cannot help but think (and be proud), that I was able to stay the course and work my way to being closer to the goals I set in June. Stay focused, believe, and in time you will achieve. 

I hope you are making it through your first few weeks of school successfully. It's going to get easier soon. Set your goals, break them down into manageable steps and go for it!

The project that I finished was for a structured approach to teaching comparatives and superlatives. Get it here for the first 48 hours at 50% off. 




While you're there, check out my other products at my TPT store. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacey-Parks-Slp

And don't forget to subscribe to the blog and get an awesome freebie!

Bring on the Vacation!

It's one last hoorah before school starts back up. VACATION! Now that I think about though, it's really the only hoorah. There really haven't been any others so far this summer. 😏 

I've worked throughout the summer. It's a blessing and a curse. I do much better when I stay busy. Schedules are my friend. They keep me efficient. Those are the blessings. But there comes a time when the mind, body, and soul need a break. They need to shut down and regenerate. I am to that point. Even though I am at that point, I'm also mindful to know that by shutting down, it allows new ideas to begin to form. That is so exciting! 

I hope that you are able to take some time for yourself as well before the new school year begins. If you're still in work mode or if you in preparation mode, don't forget that today and tomorrow is the TPT sale where everything in my store is on sale, plus you can get another 5% off (25% total) when you use the code BTS19! Grab up a couple of things that you've been thinking about, but keep putting off. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacey-Parks-Slp

There are many new bundles that will help save you money now and time during the school year!

The Interactive Articulation Notebook can be used for drill and practice during speech sessions and continued use for home practice!
                                             
Hope you have a great next few days and I'll check in again after vacation!!!

Beaver Lake, here we come!

Stacey

Wrapping up the summer

It's been a fast summer. It always is. I always think that I am going to have so much extra time to think about kids, evaluate and reevaluate by therapy "plan" or roadmap, analyze my approaches to working with children and overall try to learn as much as possible. I have absolutely conquered the last goal on my list. 

I've done more professional development this summer than I ever have before in one summer. Even the free options are happening more and more than I've ever seen before. Last week was the SLP Summit.  I haven't gotten to watch all of the presentations, but with the replays being available until August, I will be able to say I've watched all of them very soon. I've completed at least half and they've been outstanding! The "Making Confident Decisions When Treating Childhood Apraxia of Speech" with  Jennie Bjorem M.A. CCC-SLP was extremely informative. She mentioned there was even more FREE online training for the DTTC technique, so I went on the hunt for that training. WOWZA!!! It's FREE also. I know she said so, but Free?? You can find more information here. It's a 4.5 hour training and well worth the time! You can also access it at the link below. 

https://www.utdallas.edu/calliercenter/events/CAS/

In additions to that type of professional development, I've been trying to learn as much as possible about the world of Teachers Pay Teachers and sharing the resources that I feel have helped me the most. Jennifer Bradley at Speech Therapy Plans and Sell on TPT has been incredible with her different challenges through the summer and she is a wealth of information. My brain has been swimming with goals and plans and meeting those goals and plans all summer long. I'm not going to lie, at one point, I was overwhelmed, but I stuck with it and now I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming school year. 

So with that said, I'm excited to post a resource that I'm really looking forward to using in the upcoming school year. It is 10 seasonal monthly units of vocabulary for preschool and lower elementary students. I combined the summer months into one unit. It targets receptive identification (point to), expressive (naming), independent describing 5 attributes, and cards to help scaffold the student through describing in various ways with visual supports/prompts. PCS is a trademark of Tobii Dynavox LLC.  All rights reserved.  Used with permission



The best part of this is that for the first 48 hours, you can get this resource for 50% off!!! Click here to get to my store while it's still 50% off.

Find more of my other products at my store - 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacey-Parks-Slp

Follow my blog for more ideas and freebies!

http://staceyparksslp.blogspot.com/

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Free Professional Development

Who knew???

 I certainly didn't. 

A year ago or so, I learned about the free online conference SLP Summit. I've been participating in this great free professional development through the SLP Summit this past week. They've all been great! I was a little late signing on to the webinar on CAS last night. I'd like to go back and listen to her presentation again. They are available through August 8th, I believe. If you pay an administrative fee, they will report your time to ASHA, but even if you don't, you can still print the certificates and use the hours (CMH hours) towards your 30 hours of professional development. 

Anyway back to the CAS presentation. Jennie Bjorem, M.A. CCC-SLP was the speaker and you quickly realize how passionate she is about this topic as well as how much she loves her students. She spoke about more free online training so I went to look for these resources and I found this free training that can also be reported to the ASHA registry. I'm excited to get started and wanted to share the resource with others. I'm not sure if this was the one she was referring to, but it looks like a great opportunity! 

https://www.utdallas.edu/calliercenter/events/CAS/

This is helping me gear up for the school year. I'm always a little sad that the summer is over, but the beginning of a new school year is always so exciting that those feelings always beat out the feelings of sadness. I hope it's the same for you!

Stacey

Woohooo IEP Internal Audit Day!!!

This has been my day today. No, I am not wanting sympathy. 😊 I actually somewhat enjoy it. I want to do my best to write quality IEPs without mistakes. Sometimes though in the craziness of the school year I need a little extra help to guide myself through checking and rechecking to make sure it's ready. So, I helped at the central office doing an internal audit of some of the IEPs turned in at the end of the school year.

This checklist covers more than what the current internal audit is looking at, I just like to cover all of my bases. If you think it could be helpful to you as well it's FREE at my TPT store.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/IEP-Paperwork-Self-Audit-3918084?utm_source=Instagram&utm_campaign=IEP%20audit%20post

I think I've brushed up on my IEP review skills enough for today and am going to go enjoy the 100+ temperatures here in Kansas!! 💙

Loving the Christmas Season!!!

What is is about the Christmas Season that motivates me to make and have fun seasonal activities? It's the craziest time of year for students. At my base school, students have the opportunity for a week to shop at "giftland" for gifts for their families. Preparation for the Christmas vocal program amps up, so practices are longer and happen more often and at different times then they are typically scheduled. Some classes are going on field trips to plays and symphonies. All are having class parties and the overall excitement of the season is overflowing. Lights and decorations are donned and often the regular lights are shut off and hallways are only aglow with the Christmas lights. This is actually a very calming addition and I love it!

Even though it is crazy busy and only usually about 3 weeks long, I have THE MOST seasonally-themed activities for this time of year. But there's always room for more. It's just so fun!!!!  I talked recently about the new set of file folder activities that target synonyms, antonyms, irregular past tense verbs, and irregular plurals. There are simpler levels where a single word is given and the student needs to find the one that is the match to the target pattern, but many of my students have chosen to try the activity with the most variation and information to sort through. I love how the little presents turned out. We had run out of cardstock so we printed them on regular paper and laminated them twice. My base school uses the thicker lamination anyway, so by laminating them twice they really turned out nice a sturdy. 

Get your Christmas Activity Pack Here. 

Or check out my other resources at my TPT store Stacey Parks, SLP.

Have fun and enjoy this festive time of year!

Stacey

Home Practice

I may or may not have mentioned that this year has been particularly busy. Ok, I've mentioned it a lot. 😄 Time fills up very quickly with screenings, evaluations, therapy, paperwork, IEP writing, billing, progress reports, training paras, meetings,  and ideally more time in therapy. If I could change one thing about my job, it would be that I'd have more time to lesson plan. For me, it would be having the time right after a therapy session to write down the exact path I want to take during the next therapy session that I have with that child. The time in therapy is so dynamic and critical. We make so many decisions in the moment based on how the child is responding to therapy. Combine that with the high energy needed to keep a young child's attention means there is a lot happening in a short amount of time. I wish there was a way that I could write down everything that I think of and all the ideas of what I want to try to next time. Unfortunately, by the next session, I have forgotten all of those great ideas. I'm sure there's a google app somewhere that would keep notes for me if I yelled them out in the middle of therapy, but that would be distracting for the child. I need an app that can write down notes from my thoughts. Google, can you work on that for me? 

Sigh....I digress. 

I should also mention I am very very fortunate to work with a lot of great families. When I work with preschool age children that are not enrolled in preschool yet, I get to work much closer with families because they bring them in for services. Recently, I've been asked for some ideas on fun ways to practice target words at home. I used to have a blank calendar with general ideas, but I cannot find it anymore. So, I decided to put together a few ideas that I can print and have with me to hand out to parents. It's not a complete list, but if gives parents the idea of what types of activities to try. Many of them have gross motor movement paired with them. Keeping kids moving yet still focused on the task can be a skill, but with a little practice, it's much more fun for everyone involved.  

The best part is that it's FREE!!!!!

Ideas for Home Practice with Preschoolers

Click on the link above to take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can download the handout to use with parents that you work with. 

Remember...The more fun you have, the more fun they will have!

Check out my TPT store for other resources as well. 

Stacey-Parks-Slp

Holiday Fun

I say it every time, but how quickly time passes never ceases to amaze me. I won't dwell on that though, because I absolutely love this time of year. There's a natural movement of themes every 3-4 weeks. It keeps things new and fun for the students and for us! In the past, I have loved using the seasonal sets of synonym and antonyms. It offers a colorful and creative way to target the same set of synonyms and antonyms.


Seasonal Synonym and Antonym Activities

More recently I've needed a way to target and review these sets in ways that students could more independently practice them. This kit offers multiple file folder activities that target synonyms, level 1 & 2 antonyms, irregular past tense verbs and irregular plurals. Students scan find anonyms pairs listed on presents and put them under a Christmas tree, add the whipped cream to the hot chocolate with the correct change in grammatical structure, add a star to a tree and place cookies on a plate.


 Christmas Language Activities

Once the sets are made or file folders are assembled, they are great "grab and go" activities to pull out through the holiday season for repeated practice. Especially since I've been averaging 3 IEPs a week for the past 9 weeks. Other ways to get through these weeks without an overload of stress will be coming soon. Until then, enjoy this time!!
Stacey

Why Speech in a Fishbowl?

I truly work in a fishbowl and I absolutely love it. Ok, so maybe I would also love a big classroom with large windows to the outside, but this is the next best thing! In my opinion, I am spoiled by the room I am given at my base school. There's enough space for me to spread out, space for my communication para that works in the classroom to keep her things along with space to work at a table with kids if she needs it. I also have another room that joins where the para that helps me in the speech room works as well. It's great because I can work with kids and be where the paras can always see and hear what I am doing and ask questions as they arise. On the other side of that coin, I am always able to see and hear how they are working with kids as well. Well, unless I am covering the other school district that I serve or doing visits for the infants and toddlers that I serve in the home. Or attending team (Autism, PDC, infant/toddler, assistive tech) meetings.......Oh the life of an itinerant SLP in rural Kansas. It definitely keeps me on my toes. 

Back to the topic at hand. Why Speech in a Fishbowl? It's probably the first novel thing that I can think of about myself. School is just getting started and although I would have rathered it look completely organized and cute, this is real life! Here's my room, and it's definitely my comfort zone!

Home Sweet Home

It used to be a computer lab. On the other side of the class is a hallway that actually makes a circle throughout the entire building. My room is at one end of the building. It's very close to the preschool classroom, kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. Yep, I'm pretty spoiled!

If you're interested in other items inspired while in my fishbowl, check out my store on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Stacey Parks, SLP - Speech in a Fishbowl

Have a great school year!!!

Stacey

Being Intentional

Today was my first official day back at work. It started with a half a day motivational speaker. I must say he was one of the best speakers I've heard in awhile. Isn't it great when their message just speaks to you? I only wish I could remember more accurately what they exactly said so that I can relay the message. I may not remember the exact words, but I certainly remember the feeling I had throughout the presentation and truthfully the rest of the day. My main take-away was to have your "one word". The one word that defines you, that motivates you, and that sometimes carries you. Do you know your "one word"? I'm pretty sure I know my "one word", but I tend to second guess myself. Maybe my one word should be confidence? I keep coming back to a different word though. Maybe my one word should be decisive? I'm thinking though I should just pick the one I keep coming back to and if I feel stronger about another word later, then I can transition to it. New year new word. 

So, what is the one word that I kept coming back to? 

Intentional

I figure if I use it as an adverb, I can intentionally do anything, which opens up the possibilities of how I can apply to word to any aspect of life; personal or professional.

I mentioned earlier that it had been a while since I've gotten to hear a great speaker. That's not exactly true. I was asked to attend a 3-day leadership workshop in order to be a trained mentor. The two presenters that put on that leadership workshop were pretty great too!  Overall, I'm very thankful for the training opportunities I've gotten to be a part of this summer. Someday I hope to be able to  pass on the information and help others as I've been helped. I plan to be intentional about implementing at least 3 of the strategies that I learned this past summer. 

On the heels of these great trainings, I was intentional about getting myself organized as to all the information that I wanted to provide to my mentee. Sometimes I get lost in all the information that I think I need to cover with mentees. Now, I must also say that at the leadership conference I learned that the mentor/mentee relationship isn't really supposed to be about giving all of the information and having all of the answers (but that topic can be for another day). So, I put together a packet of information of mentor/mentee expectations, beginning of the year resources, and handy forms that I use as I start of each school year. I hope it can be helpful to others as well. Click here for more information.

Or visit my store for other resources that I have utilized the most.

Stacey Parks SLP

Ready to Blast Off!!

This year one of my school districts is getting the awesome opportunity to communicate throughout the year with an astronaut who will be stationed at the international space station. The even better part is he attended elementary school here as well. Needless to say, this elementary school has chosen a school wide space theme for the coming school year. I don't do it as much as I'd like to, but this year I'm going to try to tie my services into as many project based activities as I can. This may just be a small beginning, but will help serve as a reminder throughout the school year. 

Almost all of my students start a spiral at the beginning of each school year. Everything targeted during our speech sessions are put into this spiral so they can be easily accessed for review. Not only that, but at the end of the school year, the spiral can be sent home with the student for them to either review over the summer or some new activities can even be included for them to complete over the summer. Parents have also commented that they love seeing all the activities we do in speech. 

So, as I've been determined to try to make and design my materials, I put together a space themed beginning of the year packet. It includes covers, a reinforcement sticker chart, sample parent introduction letter, and a first day of speech "get to know you" activity. 

Beginning of the year - speech therapy - SPACE THEME

I hope you find it helpful and maybe will make getting your school year started a little less stressful and a lot more fun! Particularly if you too have decided on a space themed speech room this year.  

Visit my Teacher Pay Teacher store for other activities. 

Stacey Parks, SLP on TPT

Wow!!! It's been a while!

It's amazing how quickly time can pass. I've tried to continue making resources, but the blogging part really got away from me. Yikes! 

The school year will be beginning soon, and my mind has been racing with excitement for almost two weeks already. I think that's what a really great summer will do for you! Yes, I want to take advantage of my last few days off, but I'm also excited to get started. I've got a really good feeling about this coming year!

 My main school district that I cover is the last one to start in my area, but meetings start for me early next week. I live in a rural area in Kansas. The special education cooperative that I work for only employs 4 speech-language pathologists. Needless to say, I get the opportunity to wear many different hats. I cover 2 of the smaller school districts in the county out of 5 school districts. Each district has a preschool as part of the elementary and I service the middle and high school students too.  I am also the speech-language pathologist that services the infant-toddler program in the county. In addition to this, I am a trained mentor, serve on the professional development committee, assistive technology committee and the autism committee. I'm still looking for other opportunities to fill my time (just kidding!). 

Since I've been employed the longest where I work, I've been assigned to be the mentor for any new speech-language pathologists hired, which has been almost a yearly occurrence for the past 8 years or so. This past summer, I attended a leadership training specifically designed for mentors. With more specific requirements coming into place, it's motivated me to get even more organized. My SLP Orientation, Mentor Information, and beginning of the year resources packet is a collection of the resources that I use most and will use as I train new staff. Included in this packet is a list of general mentor/mentee topics, Quality IEP writing and paperwork self-audit, 2018-2019 school year attendance log on one page, clinical notes/medicaid billing log, IEP due dates list page, and a blank daily schedule.

SLP-Mentor-Information-and-Beginning-of-the-Year-Resources-3958998

I hope you also have a great start to the new school year! Thanks for following and if you have any questions, please email me at staceyparks.slp@gmail.com.

You can also see the rest of my resources at my store on Teachers pay Teachers                       Speech in a Fish Bowl.

Hmmmm, maybe my next post should be why I named my store Speech in a Fish Bowl. 

Stacey

Phonological Pattern Activity Packs

Phonological Pattern Activity Packs

     Aside from The Sounds Books, these are the products that I am most proud of. Probably because I get the most use out of them. I studied at Wichita State University for both my undergraduate and graduate work. I got the opportunity to have multiple classes as well as practicum clients under Dr. Hodson. She's most notably known for the phonological cycles approach to phonological remediation. I have used this approach for the past 20 years with much success. It's important to have multiple ways to practice target words in a single session, but also as you review the same pattern for one to two weeks. These activity packs offer multiple ways to use the materials to practice the same phonological pattern. Each activity also has built in visual cues to help children see a beginning and end to the activity. When laminated they can be used over and over again. I've made a set for each school I service and have been able to target a pattern during a session and then send the packet with the para or aid in the classroom to use through the week to get extra practice time during open center time or spare time. It's worked out better than I could have imagined. 

Check out this and all my other materials by clicking on the link below. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Speech-In-A-Fish-Bowl


If you have any questions on this or any of the other activities email staceyparks.slp@gmail.com

Where to start?

Where to start? That is a question I've asked myself MANY times! Whether it be the little one that settles on "eh eh" to signal they want something or the child that you suspect has apraxia of speech. There was a day thought that I felt like I made significant progress on this question. Very similar to reverse chaining, I just kept thinking in my mind about how to break things down to the most simplest form and build from there. That was the day that I started working on what I refer to as my "Sounds Book". It is basically just sounds in isolation of many consonant and vowel sounds in the English language. I didn't want to necessarily associate sounds with letters, because I wanted to be able to use it with kids even younger than preschool age. The idea was to try to pair the consonant and vowel sounds with actual environmental sounds that the kids could relate to. I admit, there is at least one that I feel like it somewhat of a stretch, but for the very most part, kids have LOVED this book. I like to print it off with each picture being a little less than 4 X 6 inches. This allows me to put it into a little inexpensive photo book that I can then give to the child as their own. 

"Point and Say" - this seems very simple, but it is oh so important. First point the the picture and then make the sound. I tend to point and then say/gesture at the the same time. I have seen time and time again that the motor movement can help bring about verbal language. Plus you are modeling for them what you want them to do; point to something and have a vocalization/approximation paired with it. It doesn't take long of modeling this with a child before they are able to pick up this book and "read" it themselves. 


For the child that only produces "eh eh" for everything they want. My thought was to just get them imitating and increasing their variation of sounds. For the child with apraxia or significant phonological delay, it's the most basic sound in isolation to then begin combining sound and building words. Plus you have a common "language" and/or reference point that you and the child are both familiar with. It helps to give a focal point and specifically refer to what is working in the mouth (i.e. lips popping, teeth together, etc). Simply saying "say it like this" or "make this sound" isn't specific enough and doesn't necessary direct the child is what specifically to change. 

Have fun with it. Be silly with it. The more fun it is for you, the more fun it will be for the child. There are so many ways to expand upon this idea, but for now, give it a try. You can find the whole thing at my Teachers Pay Teachers store at 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacey-Parks