To start, select cards that have interesting pictures on the front and cut each card along the fold to separate the picture from the rest of the card.

Here are some therapy activities you can do with the cards:

• Hang up a few different pictures where all of the students can see them.  Have each student secretly choose one of the pictures and then write five words to describe it.  Read the descriptive words aloud and see if the other students can guess which picture it describes.

• Put out a few pictures and have the students each choose one to write a story about.  Remind them to use descriptive words and to include characters, a setting, and a plot.  Let the students share their stories with the group.

• Have the students find part of a picture that has their sound, cut it out, and glue it on a piece of paper.  They can then write and/or say at least one sentence that includes the word.  Older students can write a tongue-twister using the word.

• Let the students each cut out a part of a picture and glue it on a piece of paper.  Then have them draw a scene around the picture that includes other pictures with their target sounds.

• Cut a few cards apart like puzzles and write words that go together on the back of each one (e.g., words that begin with the /s/ sound on the pieces of one card, words that begin with the /r/ sound on another).  Mix up the pieces.  Once students have sorted the pieces into groups that go together, they can turn the pieces over and put the cards’ pictures together.

Please comment with any other ideas you have for reusing holiday cards.

Happy New Year!

What you need:

• two sets of cards (identical or pairs, such as antonyms)
• pocket chart (optional)

Set up:

1. Separate the pairs of cards into two stacks.
2. Place one set of the cards in the pocket chart in rows and columns so that the picture or word is hidden.
3. Deal out four cards face up in front of each player (their cards).

How to play:

1. When it’s a player’s turn, he goes up to the pocket chart, turns over a card, and says a sentence using the word.
2. If the revealed card matches one of his cards,  he takes it off of the chart and matches it with the card at his seat.  Deal a new card face up in front of him.  He now gets to go back to the pocket chart to turn over another card.
3. If the revealed card does not match one of his cards, he sits back down and the next player gets a turn.
4. When you run out of extra cards to deal out, play continues until a player has matched all of his cards.
5. Once a player has matched all of his cards, play stops and the player with the most matches wins.

This version is different because the players can only make a match with the cards that are in front of them.  (I love seeing a student’s eyes light up when another student reveals one of their cards.)  I made it harder for my middle school students by eliminating some of the words they could use in their sentences (e.g., I, people, stuff) and requiring a minimum of five words per sentence.

Note:  I used masculine pronouns to make the explanation of game play simpler.  I do realize that most caseloads include males and females, but putting “he/she” and “his/her” everywhere complicated the sentences.

Please share how you have used this idea in your therapy sessions in the comments section.

Getting Started

First the students trace their hands on pieces of paper.  Next, they draw the legs and feet at the bottom and add a beak and wattle to the thumb.  You can either have them draw an eye or glue a googly eye on the thumb.  Depending on which goals you are targeting, you may want the students to make multiple turkeys, or maybe even a flock of turkeys!

Making it Work

Now that your students have made their turkeys, what can you target?  Just about anything!  Try out some of these ideas or come up with your own.

Have your students…

• write a Thanksgiving word that contains their target sound on each finger.  They can practice the word on the first finger one time, the word on the second finger twice, etc.  This can also serve as a take home practice page.
• write a main word (e.g., turkey) on the palm and descriptive words or a sentence on each finger (e.g., It’s a bird, It has a wattle, etc.).
• write what they are thankful for on each finger.
• follow directions for coloring their turkey (e.g., Put three orange stripes on the first finger.)

As a free bonus, here is a list of Thanksgiving words for you to use for discussing vocabulary or as stimulus words for articulation.  Keep it handy when you’re trying to think of seasonal words to use in your sessions.

• Use I Spy books or puzzles or put pictures of s cluster objects on the wall and play “I Spy” games.

• Use a puppet spider and have the child say “Ms. Spider” instead of “Mother May I” when asking to do something. For example, “Ms. Spider, may I take 2 steps forward?”.

• Use pictures of a stop sign, go sign, school, and a school bus attached to popsicle sticks and play a game. Stand far away from the child and have the child tell you when to go and stop. If the child says “top” instead of “stop”, keep going. Keep moving forward until you reach the school (child).

For more ideas and printable materials check out the S Clusters Basic Set and S Clusters Expansion Set.
Becky Wanca

Materials:

• 2 paper plates per child
• black crayons for coloring the pot
• scissors tape or stapler
• paper coins – Here is a page of coins for you to print out or you can use a circle paper punch. You can use colored paper or color it yellow or gold yourself.

Preparation:

• Gather the materials.
• Cut a part off the top side of one paper plate to make it resemble an open pot.
• Cut out the coins and decide what the targets are going to be (i.e., sounds, antonyms, etc.).
• Attach the plates together if you want to have this done ahead of time.

Activity:

1. Have the child color the back of the cut plate and the top part of the other plate black. If working with a group, the children can color while waiting for their turns.
2. Tape or staple the plates together so that they create a pocket.
3. Spread the coins out on the table or put them in a bag or bowl for the children to pick from.
4. Have the child pick a coin, practice the targeted activity, and then put it in his pot.
5. If there is time, review the stimuli in the child’s pot.

Again, for a printable page of coins to use in this activity, click here.

To make your own, go to http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/

I’ve made some pages of “r” and “l” Valentine’s Day words on hearts for you to print.

L Valentine’s Day words on hearts

R Valentine’s Day words on hearts

Enjoy your week!
Becky

What you’ll need

• Picture or word cards cut out in the shape of clothing (e.g., shirts, shorts, mittens)
• Yarn or string (and a simple way to hang it)
• Clothespins or large paper clips
• Small basket or container for the cards

How to set up

• Hang the yarn or string horizontally at a height that the child can reach.
• Attach clothes pins (or large paper clips) to the string.
• Put the cards in the basket.

How to “play”

Have the child pick a card and say the word or a sentence for the word.  Then let the child hang it on the line.  You can also have the child repeat the words or sentences when taking down the cards.

Variations

Use this for language activities as well.  Hang one part of a pair on the line and have the child match the other part to it.  For example:

- Write a word on a shirt cut-out and the word’s antonym on a shorts cut-out.  Hang the shirts on the line and put the shorts in the basket.  Have the child match the shorts to the corresponding shirt by identifying its opposite.

- Write a contraction on a mitten and its corresponding word set on another mitten.  Hang the contractions on the line and have the child match the word sets to the contractions.

The possibilities are endless!

Interdental lisping is when the tongue protrudes between the front teeth when producing /s/ or /z/, resulting in a “th” sound.  The /s/ becomes a voiceless “th”, as in “think”, and the /z/ becomes a voiced “th”, as in “those”.  Interdental lisping, also be known as “frontal lisping”, is a normal developmental phase that some children go through.  Because of this, if a person continues this pattern of speech past the age when most have outgrown it (around 4 ½ years old), his speech may be perceived as juvenile.
What about other interdental sounds?

Other sounds may be produced with a protruding tongue as well.  Most commonly, lingual protrusion during the “sh”, “zh” (as in “equation”), “ch” and “j” sounds may accompany the interdental lisping of /s/ and /z/.

In addition, lingual alveolar sounds (i.e., /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/) that should be produced with the tongue on the alveolar ridge may be produced with the tongue protruding between the front teeth.

What can I do to work on interdentalized /s/ and /z/?

1.   Establish auditory discrimination

2.   Provide focused auditory input.

3.   Get correct production of /s/ in isolation.

4.   Move through the hierarchy of production levels (syllables, words, phrases/sentences, reading activities, and conversational speech) with the sound in each position.  Note:  For lisping, I prefer to start with /s/ in the initial position.

Check out our sets and individual materials for practicing correct /s/ and /z/ sounds.  They are included in our unlimited access membership or are available for purchase individually.

• Use a tongue depressor to gently hold the tongue tip down while the child produces the /k/ sound.
• Use a lollipop to gently hold the tongue tip down.
• Have the child hold his tongue tip down with a clean finger.

We’ve got /k/, now what?

Once you’ve got /k/ in isolation, I find it easiest to work on /k/ in the final position, starting with the next smallest unit of production – syllables.  I work through each vowel sound with visual cueing for the /k/ sound.  Allow the child to put a pause in between the vowel and /k/ at first if necessary.  Print out this page of k final syllables and trace the dashes with your finger or a marker while the child produces the sounds.  If you laminate the page, you can use a dry erase marker to draw a line between the vowel and /k/ and then erase it and use it again.

Ready for words

Once the child is successful at the syllable level, move to short words like those in my k final picture cards.  Go through them so the child knows what each picture represents and practice them one at a time, cueing as necessary.

Games

For practice and repetition, print out a second set of cards and play games such as “Go Fish” or “Memory” with them.  Or, clip a paper clip to the pictures and give the child a magnetic fishing pole and have him “catch” each word and say it.

Moving on

Once the child is producing /k/ words successfully, move to short phrases and sentences.  Play with nursery rhymes that are /k/ loaded, such as “Hickory Dickory Dock”.  Have the child help make up stories with /k/ words, write them down and send them home for practice.

Printables

Once again, here are the links to the free printables included in this post.  Print them out and enjoy them!  Let your friends know about them too!

k final syllables

k final picture cards

What goes into the eggs?

Depending on the child or group you are working with, you can change the stimuli (pictures, words, directions to follow, etc.) and prizes that go into the plastic eggs.  For example, for young children, I cut out stickers to put in some of the eggs.  For older students, I put papers in the eggs that say “pick again”, “candy”, or “extra point”.

What do you do with the eggs?

Here are a few different ways that you can use the eggs in your sessions.

1. Egg Hunt – Before the session begins, hide the eggs around the room.  Have the child or children hunt for the eggs and put them in a bowl.  When all the eggs have been found, they open the eggs one at a time, saying the target word or following the directions on the paper inside the egg.  Finding prizes in random eggs keeps it fun and exciting.  If time allows, let the child(ren) hide the eggs for the next group or client.

2. Pick a Good Egg – Have the clients take turns picking eggs from a big bowl or basket.  They say the target word or sentence or get a prize like in the Egg Hunt game.

3. Up, Down, and All Around – Plastic eggs can also be used for working on prepositions.  For a receptive task, place a few eggs relative to an object (e.g., on, in, next to) and have the child point to the one that is in the place you describe.  For an expressive task, place one egg relative to an object, and have the child tell you where the egg is (e.g., “in the basket”).