Everything is Language

I love Star Wars.  Even "The Last Jedi" and "The Phantom Menace." I watch the shows, I watch the movies, and I'm even spreading the love to my own children. While you may not love  Star Wars like I do, you can certainly appreciate working on activities that get your students talking and having fun. This freebie will get that job done- think of this as a free Fun Friday activity that you might be able to do with your whole caseload. I put a lot of the favorite characters like Luke and Darth Vader and even some more obscure items like some of the "pets" and animals that were seen in the 9 movies! Many of my students love Star Wars, and these pages are a great way to stimulate conversation in your speech and language therapy groups.  Hey, sometimes I have to sub in a classroom, and this is a great activity for breaking the ice or giving the students a "fun" activity to work towards. I hope you have as much fun with this acti

Syllable deletion is the Lex Luthor to my Superman. The stubbed toe on a walk through a dark room. The extra minute in the microwave that totally toasts my lunch and makes it gross. The really bad cliches to show how much something is unliked- yeah, you get it. Photo by  Steven Libralon  on  Unsplash I find that improving syllabification in unintelligible children is a fantastic first step in improving overall intelligibility. Of course, some therapists will disagree with me. Oral-motor concerns, stimulability, and the child’s response to treatment are all valid concerns. However, I find that we talk in  long strings of syllables . While the idea of talking in words makes sense, when we are in connected speech, we are in syllable mode. People don’t speak one word at a time, they speak in long groups of words (at least until they run out of breath, but hey, that’s just how we do things in New York!) Traditional methods of reducing syllable deletion will use p

While I don't always do thematic units, I do like to work on bulletin boards within my classroom. I know some of us work in closets (literally), some of us work in the hall, and some of us have actual rooms.  I'm not going to brag, but I work in the old art room in my building.  3 SLPs together in a large space.  We have to take care of 4 separate bulletin boards- so we try to do themes around the seasons. In previous years, we have done snowflakes and turkeys and flowers with vocabulary words.  I love this Word Web and it links up with a good Winter Themed Bulletin Board with only a little prep! I back each one of my webs on construction paper, make a title out of pre-cut letters, and then let the kids get to work on their vocabulary.  When each group is done, I put their words up on the boayrd and boom- bulletin board done! Word Web Freebie for Winter Head over to TPT and grab this freebie!   For more freebies, visual supports, and fun speech games,

“Use your words.” To me, the most ineffective teaching method is telling a child to “use their words.” No one is innocent, and I will admit that first. I have used that prompt in the past. There are a number of reasons I feel we should be cueing our students in different ways. Students with Autism, emotional challenges, and developmental disabilities often hear these words- “use your words.” As educators, family members, and people… we can do better. For students with Autism, I see “use your words” as a problem because we are assuming something; that the student has the capability of “using their words” but isn’t. For students with emotional challenges, we are figuring that there is something that we will unlock for the child when they “use their words.” For students with developmental disabilities, we are guessing that there are words in there and that there is hope they will use them. This is not even to consider the prompt dependence that we might foster by giving

I constantly find myself wondering how to make articulation therapy more fun and engaging.  While drills and phonetic placement activities are necessary sometimes, there is a part of the therapy process that can be a little...boring.  If I feel bored, the kids feel bored.  I think we all need to give more credit to how kids infer our moods and mirror them. There are a lot of different opinions about using the iPad in therapy.  I, for one, think the iPad can be a fantastic tool.  On the other hand, it is a not a cure-all or a replacement for a good educator.   These games are my go-to when working with students individually or in a group.  The reality of these games is that they are fun, quick (often), and a great reinforcer in articulation therapy.  I will share some of my quick notes for each one with links. Football You know, like football in the sense like the rest of the world thinks about it.  This game is fun for the single player and "pass and play&qu