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

One of the best pieces of advice I was given after having my boys was “Start as you mean to go on.”  When beginning something new, decide if it is a habit you want to create or if it’s a habit you’re going to have to break later.  For example, if I didn’t want to have to rock my babies to sleep every night (not very practical with twins), then I shouldn’t start doing that at the beginning.  I’ve found that this advice applies to my therapy sessions as well.

Whenever you are starting therapy with a new client or beginning a new school year, think about what you expect from your clients/students and what they should expect in their sessions.  What kind of behavior do you expect?  What kind of routine do you want to establish?  Do they earn a reward each session or work toward a goal to receive something?

This doesn’t mean you can’t make changes or adjust your sessions, but children thrive and learn on routine.  So, before starting that first session, think about what you want to happen consistently.  A few of these may include:

For young children

Where to sit (at a table or on the floor)?
How to start the session (with a song, a book, or other activity)?
How long to work before getting a break?
Do the children receive a sticker or prize at the end?
Do the parents get a home program or time to ask questions at the end?

For school-aged children

Do they come to therapy on their own or do you pick them up from class?
Where do they sit?
What are acceptable behaviors or noise levels?  What happens if they do not follow the rules?
How do you start the session (with a new vocabulary word, sound hunt, grammar fix-up, or general social conversation)?
Type of activities (games, themes, reading, writing prompts, etc.)?
Do they earn something (stickers or points for prizes)?  Is it based on behavior, effort, meeting a goal, or a combination of these?

So, the next time you are starting therapy with a new client or beginning a new school year, establish your routines early and be consistent.  “Start as you mean to go on.”

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.

Want to know more?

Detailed instructions for working on interdentalized /s/ and /z/, printable materials, and activity ideas are coming soon in the June email.  Make sure you get yours!  Enter and activate your email address here before the end of the month and receive: 

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• 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

Let’s face it- data is important. We need it to know how our clients are doing and when their goals have been achieved.  It’s also important for our clients to know how they are doing and when they will have reached the “finish line” for that goal.  We need it to chart progress for ourselves, for our clients, and for their caregivers.

The key for easy data collection is to work in groups of ten. Whether it’s a list of “r” words, pictures of verbs, or a set of vocabulary words, work in groups of ten.  This makes it so much easier to calculate percentages.  (For those situations when ten trials is not enough, you can work in groups of twenty and multiply the number correct by 5, or do twenty-five trials and multiply by 4.)

1. If you are working with pictures or cards, use those to keep track for you.  Simply place the correct cards in one stack and the incorrect ones in another.  When you are done, count the correct ones, add a zero, and that is your percentage (e.g., seven cards in the correct stack = 70%).

2. Give the child a sticker or token or some other object (e.g., piece for a Cootie Bug) for each correct answer.  Again, the number of objects they have at the end corresponds to the percentage correct.

3. Have the child move ahead one space on a game board for each correct response.  Count how many spaces he/she has moved after ten attempts.

4. Have the child color or glue a picture on a reinforcement activity page.  If you want the child to be able to color after each attempt, give him/her a certain color to use when the response is correct.

5. Keep tally marks on a scrap of paper.  Ok, really basic, but in some situations, this is just the best way to keep track.  You can use any markings you want.

Use this simple graph for keeping track of data.  I draw a dark line across at the target percentage (e.g., 80%) to make it clear where the “finish line” is.  For children that are old enough to color in the lines, I outline the area that represents their percentage for that session and let them color it in.

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Make your clients feel lucky to be in your therapy sessions with this St. Patrick’s Day themed activity.  Adapt it to go with the articulation and language goals you are working on.   

Lucky Number
Buy plastic gold coins or make some out of paper. Number each coin and select one number to be the secret “lucky number.”  Create a numbered list for your therapy objective.  For example, for articulation practice, have a numbered list of target words or sentences.  For vocabulary building, have a numbered list of words for practicing synonyms or antonyms.  You can use the same coins for various activities by simply changing the list of numbered items. 

A student picks a gold coin out of a container and tells you its number.  Have him practice the item that corresponds to that number on the list.  When a student picks the “lucky number”, he can trade it in for an incentive (e.g., sticker, candy, prize).

Variation
Hide the numbered coins around the room and have the students find them.  The students practice the items for the numbered coins that they found.

Who is Sam?

“Ssssam” is my new best friend for working on the “s” sound with children.  He is simply a sock puppet that I made with my sons and recently took to work.  And he was a hit!

What do you do with Sam?

I use Sam is different ways depending on the child I am working with. 

• For the child who is stopping “s” as “t”, I use him to get production of the “s” sound in isolation.
• For the child who is “lisping”, I use him to demonstrate keeping the tongue “put away” by tucking Sam’s tongue underneath him.  The child helps “teach” Sam and can “catch” Sam with his tongue out, which works on awareness.

The beauty of Sam is that the children put him on and demonstrate the therapy goal.  And they have fun doing it!

How do I make one?

This is the easy and fun part, and can even become a therapy activity.

Materials:
Sock (ladies’ socks are a good size)
Eyes (googly eyes or paint)
Red felt (very little is needed)
Scissors
Glue (fabric glue is best)
Decorations, optional

Steps:
1. Cut the red felt into a forked tongue shape, leaving a long base for gluing to the sock.
2. Glue the eyes (or paint them) on the “top” of the sock near the toe end.
3. Glue the tongue underneath the toe end of the sock.
4. Decorate with paint, thin ribbons, or other decorations, keeping in mind that the sock will stretch when put on the hand.

There you have it!  A fun, inexpensive therapy tool!

For a printable download of step-by-step directions with pictures, click on the link below.

sam_the_snake_directions_with_pictures

Yeah!  Your client can successfully use his target sound in words and sentences!  Now what?  It’s time to take it to the next level.  If the child can read, I recommend having him read sound-loaded stories before jumping straight into conversational speech practice. 

Why reading?

The printed words help the child see the sound coming, especially if you highlight or underline the targeted sounds.  Another advantage to the written text is that it can be practiced (at a reduced rate, if necessary).  And, of course, when it’s written down, it’s easier to keep data! 

Where do I get these stories?

There are many published books that you can purchase with sound loaded stories, especially for the “r” and “s” sounds, but I prefer to have the child be the author of his own adventure.  And here’s why…

• You can create a story for any sound.
• You can use the words he’s already been practicing.
• The story will be more interesting to the child.
• You will be reinforcing story writing skills.
• It’s FREE!

How do we get started?

1. Make a list of nouns, a list of verbs, and some adjectives that contain the target sound.  This can include the words that he has been practicing, as well as new ones that you come up with together.  (I write the list, as well as the story, as the student says it, so he can focus on the content).
2. Name the main characters.
3. Help the student come up with the story by asking questions, such as, “Where did they go?”, “What did they do?”, “What happened next?”, “What problem did they have?”, “How did they solve their problem?”, and “How did it end?”. 

“Publish” your client’s story (optional)

I usually type the story later and bring it back to the next session for the student to practice.  I make the words with the target sound bold and underlined and leave room for the child to draw pictures.  Although typing the story takes a few minutes outside of therapy time, it’s well worth the effort.  Most of my students enjoy seeing their story typed up, and it allows you to print off a second copy to send home for practice!

Stack ‘Em Up
Have a pile of conversation hearts on the table in front of each child’s seat.  Give 30 seconds for the children to stack them as high as possible.  Once the time is up, have them count how many they have stacked.  Use that number to determine how many times they must practice their sound or skill they are working on.  (If someone’s stack fell or wasn’t very high, you can assign a minimum number.)  Let them eat the candies in their pile or take them home in a zip-top bag.

Hearts a Plenty
Write words on cut-out paper hearts and hide them around the room before the group arrives.  Have the children find as many hearts as they can and then take a seat.  Each child then takes a turn saying the word on one of his hearts.  If you want, the child can then trade his paper heart for a candy heart, or you can keep track of “points” for some other incentive.  Here are some examples of how you can use this activity…

For articulation – Write words that contain the sound(s) the children are working on.  If the children are working on different sounds, color code the hearts.  For example, have the children working on /s/ look for pink hearts, and the children working on /r/ look for red ones.

To work on describing – Put nouns on the hearts, and have the students give at least three attributes of the words they have found.

For multiple meaning words – Put words with homonyms on the hearts and have the students try to give two different meanings for the word.

]]> http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/2009/02/08/valentine%e2%80%99s-day-activities-for-speech-therapy/feed/ 0 http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/2009/02/06/s-the-super-sound/ http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/2009/02/06/s-the-super-sound/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:09:04 +0000 BeckyWanca http://www.speechtherapyideas.com/?p=39 I actually get excited about working on the “s” sound with children!  It’s really a “super sound” that when corrected can dramatically improve a child’s speech.  So, if you have clients that are stopping, deleting, lisping, or otherwise distorting /s/, get excited about the difference you can make!

Why is /s/ such a super sound?

It is powerful!  The “s” sound can completely change the meaning of a word or message.  For example…

• if a child is “stopping” the “s” sound (usually substituting /t/ for /s/), the word “sold” becomes “told”.  The sentence, “He sold it to her” would become “He told it to her,” which is completely different.
• if a child is leaving off the “s” at the ends of words, many important grammatical markers are lost, such as plural “s”, possessive “s”, as well as the “s” that indicates present tense verbs (e.g., The boy walks.).  You can help his expressive language skills while working on articulation.

It occurs often!  The “s” sound is one of the most frequently used sounds, which means correcting it can dramatically increase the intelligibility of a child’s speech.

What can I do to work on the “s” sound?

• Determine the problem.  Although the basic steps are the same, your course of action will vary depending on if the client is stopping, deleting, lisping, or otherwise distorting /s/.

• Consider the client’s age.  This may be obvious, but your course of therapy and activities will not be the same for a five year old as it is for a high school senior.

• Follow the basic steps.  Figure out which step your client is currently having trouble with and start there.  When he is successful, move to the next step. 

1. Obtain airflow.
2. Establish auditory discrimination.
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:  I prefer to start with /s/ in the final position, move to the initial position, and then tackle medial /s/.

As many of you know, it takes time and practice for a child to move through these levels.  Make it fun, stick with it, and track your progress. 

You’ll be amazed at the difference one sound can make!