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Monday 24 December 2018

SPINGO-Giveaway



GIVEAWAY!
Recently I tried out this new game in my therapy room! The kids and I loved it!
 It's a bingo game that you focus on different attributes of similar items- like ice
 cream, and candy. It's perfect for working memory (you can hide the dice
after they've been rolled) and building sentences with different attributes.
 
If you want a game for your therapy room you can purchase it from Amazon
here!


                                   Spot on Speech Spingo
  •     targets sentence structure
  •     following auditory directions,
  •     descriptive language
  •     compare and contrast- chose 2 pictures on the board and ask the kids to state the similarities and differences
  •     deductive reasoning and asking questions


How to play:All player have matching boards of the same theme, the caller rolls

 the dice and then formulates a sentence using the description based on the

attributes on the dice. The order of the dice is on the board to help the caller

 with word order. You can also play the game with a barrier- so the other players

can't see the dice. This will help strengthen their listening skills. :)





 This game is a great price at 25.99!

 Anyone who comments on this blog will be entered for a draw to win their own copy!! Give away will be drawn on January 1st! Good luck!~

Friday 21 December 2018

Tara West- Homework Mats!

Homework Learning Mats: Preschool Edition 


If you've ever read this blog before you know I LOVE Tara West! And her products have so many uses in speech.

I bought these learning mats and I am going to send them home with my caseload. They have a tone of ideas for parents on how to target reading and language at home! The best part is they are editable- so you can target just language and reading if you want ;)

In Canada, the preschool pack is equivalent to our kindergarten, so I send them to that age group and I can edit whatever I like :)



This is what Tara says:


" What are the Homework Learning Mats?
Thanks so much for viewing my Homework Learning Mats: Preschool Edition. This packet is designed to offer a fun and engaging way to practice learning skills throughout the school year at home. The packet includes 40 weeks of learning mats and a parent note. The learning mat gives the students 5 days of math and ELA practice each week. The students will also be able to practice additional skills via the Three-In-A-Row game board. Along with practicing skills, the students will have a built-in incentive right on the mats. Each day the students complete a task, they will add a picture to the image in the lower left corner.


**VIEW A DETAILED VIDEO ABOUT THIS PACKET HERE**



What is included?
- 40 weeks of Homework Learning Mats (4 weeks per month September-June)
- Parent Note
- Editable Homework Learning Mats (Math Skills, ELA Skills, Three-In-A-Row board)
- Editable Parent Note
- SPANISH version **INCLUDED**
Tell me more about the Homework Learning Mats!
The Homework Learning Mats give students five days of practice for ELA and math. The five days breakdown like this:
  • Move-Your-Fingers Monday
  • Tap-It-Out Tuesday
  • Whip-Up-A- Web Wednesday
  • Think-It-Out Thursday
  • Fast-N-Fluent Friday
What skills are covered?
September Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • Colors
  • Sorting
  • 2D Shapes
  • Numbers to 5
September ELA:
  • Writing First Name
  • Letters within their Name
  • Alphabet
  • Rhyming
  • Syllables
October Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • 2D Shapes
  • Patterning
  • Numbers to 5
  • Counting
October ELA:
  • Writing First Name
  • Letters within their Name
  • Rhyming
  • Drawing/Telling a story
November Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • Positional Words
  • Numbers to 10

November ELA:

  • Writing Letters in Alphabet
  • Beginning Sounds
  • Rhyming
  • Fluency for letters & sounds
  • Drawing/Telling a story
December Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • Numbers to 10
  • Measurement
  • Comparing to 10

December ELA:

  • Counting Syllables
  • Fluency for letters & sounds
  • Drawing/Telling a story
January Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • Patterning
  • 3D Shapes
  • Comparing to 10

January ELA:

  • Beginning Sounds
  • Word Families
  • Fluency for letters & sounds
  • Drawing/Telling a story
February Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • 3D Shapes
  • Counting
  • Writing #’s to 10

February ELA:

  • Rhyming
  • Word Families
  • Fluency letters & sounds
  • Drawing/Telling a story
March Math:
  • Oral Counting
  • Comparing #’s to 10
  • Sorting
  • Writing #’s to 10
March ELA:
  • Responds to text
  • Word Families
  • Letters in Last Name
  • Drawing/Telling a story

April Math:

  • Oral Counting
  • Estimation
  • Writing #’s to 10
  • What Comes Next
April ELA:
  • Asks/Answers questions
  • Drawing/Telling a story
  • Environmental Print

May Math:

  • Oral Counting
  • Subtraction/Addition
  • Comparing by Size Combos to 5
May ELA:
  • Beginning Sounds
  • Asks/Answers questions
  • Drawing/Telling a story
June Math:
  • Oral Counting Numbers to 10
  • Write Numbers to 10
  • Combos to 5
June ELA:
  • Counting Syllables
  • Asks/Answers questions
  • Drawing/Telling a story"


Tara is awesome!
Check it out!

Tuesday 18 December 2018

FREEBIE!!

Santa, Santa What Do You See  


Here is a freebie for your little guys! You can print this off and send it home to help with your beginning readers or for your speech kids and use it for vocabulary!

It also includes activities that target  
  • beginning sounds, 
  • syllables, 
  • sequencing 
  • and extra worksheets and activities.


Santa, Santa What Do You See                   Santa, Santa What Do You See



It also includes a page where the kids can write about their family traditions and their favorite thing about Christmas.

Monday 17 December 2018

Pre Christmas Sale!~

Everything in my store is 20% off this weekend AND starting Monday I've put 4 

of my top sellers on sale for only $1 for December! That's over $10 of products

for $4! These products are great for preschool aged kids :)






https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pronouns-Receptive-and-Expressive-Activities-1588274
 
Vocabulary- Associations, What Doesn't Belong, and Categorization



https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Associations-What-Doesnt-Belong-and-Categorization-578985

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Associations-What-Doesnt-Belong-and-Categorization-578985


The Wheels on the Bus- Preschool Pack 



The Wheels on the Bus- Preschool Pack





Saturday 15 December 2018

Great introduction to Aided Language- AAC's




And if you're on FB and you want teacher tips and an quick tips for speech language, and AAC's click here 
https://www.facebook.com/pg/creatingcommunicators.net/videos/?ref=page_internal
And here is my Youtube Channel

Tuesday 11 December 2018

Matman

Matman 




 


Recently I had an OT that works for Creating Communicators provide Matman to a kindergarten class. 
It turned out so great and the benefits were apparent right away. My OT worked  with the teachers and aides in the class(es) to provide them with materials and instruction on how to carry out the lesson plan, then she provided it to the class.
She did Matman in a class that targeted so many goals:
  • Body awareness 
  • Learning body parts
  • Learning about senses
  • Preparation for writing 
  • Fine and gross motor sills 
Just take a look at the before & after versions of this drawing - that were literally done within 30 minutes of each other!!!


You can find it Here on YouTube!


Before picture:

   



After:

   



You can buy the pieces from HWT
here  


Wood Pieces Set for Capital Letters



or on Amazon









Monday 26 November 2018

Hands-On Grammar

Hands-On Grammar Bundle 




Lyndsey Kuster has some really awesome products. She has a Hands-On Grammar product that I really like to use in speech.  There are so many products in it that are useful in speech. The products are fun, engaging and hands on. they implement all different types of learning. 




Included in the Grammar pack is:

  • Nouns: - (8+ noun activities) 
  • Verbs: (8+ verb activities)
  • Adjectives: (8+ adjective activities)
  • A Noun, Verb, and Adjective Review (8+ activities)
  • Contractions: (5+ activities) 
  • Compound Words: (5+ activities) 
  • Punctuation and Capitalization: (3+ activities) 
  • Plural Nouns: (3+ activities) 
  • Homophones: (5+ activities) 
  • Proper Nouns: (3+ activities) 
  • Articles: (3+ activities) 
  • Quotations: (3+ activities) 
  • Commas in a Series: (3+ activities) 
  • Complete Sentences: (3+ activities)
  • ed, ing: (3+ activities) 
  • Adverbs: (3+ activities) 
  • Prepositions: (3+ activities)
  • Subject/Verb Agreement: (3+ activities) 
  • Synonyms and Antonyms: (3+ activities) 
  • Pronouns: (3+ activities) 
  • Possessive Nouns: (3+ activities)
In her activities she uses fun videos to target nouns and verbs. The kids love it and it keeps them engaged :)





You can find her website here or her TPT shop here. :)

Sunday 25 November 2018

TPT Giveaway!


Visit my IG page and follow it to be entered to win a $50 TPT gift card!

Monday 19 November 2018

Funny Phonemes App Review


 

I recently heard about this new app. The app's called "Funny Phonemes" and is designed to appeal to older students. It's main "hook" is the use of clean, current slang and pop-culture jargon in the activities.



You can find it here in the App Store

The app targets phonemic awareness training, and is great for your older caseload who doesn't want to read Dick and Jane books! ;)


I really like all the different games. You can choose the missing sound, choose the right sound, choose the beginning sound, and build a word. 

You can choose different color schemes and a lot of other little near add Ins! Very cool app! My kids on the caseload love it!

Thanks Greg! 

Sunday 11 November 2018

Important AAC information

AAC's can be overwhelming. There is so much to know and learn and then to teach. You have to educate parents, teachers and other staff in schools. 

Here is a freebie from my shop on the basics of AAC's. 

The Basics of Using an AAC


I went out and found this awesome podcast on how to start and how to go about out it. I thought I would share it with you!




Enjoy! 
PODCAST


Wednesday 7 November 2018

Visuals

Visuals are so important for home and in the class! When we are not using visuals it can result in stressed out kids and teachers.

I have kids who are struggling at school and I am sure their parents need some support at home (Hey! I'm a mom too! I know how hard it is! ;) So why don't we help/share the ideas of visuals, with parents. At the very least, we should be using them at school. :)


The benefits to using picture visuals are

*increased independence
*reduced anxiety (children know what will happen next)
*increase literacy skills- learn some sight words
*helps kids who learn visually rather than auditory


I wanted to post some of my favorite visuals for you!


For home-

From A is for Adventures of Home School 

Visual Home Schedule 




For the classroom-

From The Speech Buzz
Visual Supports for Autism Megapack - Assists Behavior and Communication


Short and sweet! Hope you like these visuals!


:)
Mindy

Friday 26 October 2018

Fall IG Giveaway

A few of us smaller stores have partnered for a fun fall giveaway on IG! Be sure to check us out and enter!


http://bit.ly/2zeM5hp



Tuesday 9 October 2018

Vocabulary Ideas


The Vocabulary Goal!

Welcome! I have made a binder to help you by guiding your students along the vocab goal! In this pack is everything you will need to carry out the target in therapy properly.

Included are forms, and instructions to carry out each part of the vocabulary goal- including associations, opposites, sorting, labelling categories, name items in a group, attributes, and functions.

There are 12 of my products:

**Category Clips
**Classroom Vocabulary
**Coloring for Language- Vocabulary Edition
**Jar Categories
**Match it! An Associations Game
**Opposite Clip Cards
**Play-Doh Associations
**Play-Doh Categories
**Robot Association Puzzles
**Vocabulary- Associations, Sorting & Categorizing
**What Am I?

The total of all products separately is more than $20, so you are getting this is a steal of a deal :)

There will also be videos on youtube that will model goals that you can watch to help give you a visual representation of how therapy should look.
Keep an eye out for them.
I will also be making more step by step Bundles!

 



Step by Step Vocabulary Bundle


Step by Step Vocabulary Bundle


Sunday 7 October 2018

#Oct2018SLPMUSTHAVE

   
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Speech-Language-Push-In-Centers-3895057  



SLP Must Have

Speech and Language Push-In Centers
These5 centers are for meant for the classroom to help with expressive language skills. You can have the students work in pairs or small groups for the vocabulary skills to explain the attributes of each item and practice their skills expressively. The skills that are targeted are pronouns, beginning sounds, vocabulary and attributes of items.


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Speech-Language-Push-In-Centers-3895057

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Speech-Language-Push-In-Centers-3895057

Thursday 4 October 2018

Goldilocks for a Week!


Everything you need for speech therapy! 

Read the story to your students everyday (for a week) and then follow up with the activities.

Monday- Name the category

Tuesday- Concepts

Wednesday- Opposites

Thursday-Sequence the Story
(2 versions)
Friday-Comparative and Superlatives

Bonus-articulation for /g/ & wh questions.





A Week with Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

Monday 1 October 2018

Good /l/ sound video for kids


Quick tip Monday!
Use visuals and videos!!
I like using this video for my kids who are struggling with the l sound. It is a nice visual!

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Non-Speech Items-Tara




Remember I told you about some of the non-speech related items that I use in speech? Well, this is another one of those posts! :)

If you have ever been anywhere near TPT you have heard of Tara West- TPT Goddess!
 Her products are amazing, and you get so much for the product for the price and always amazing quality!

Anyway, I love her KinderBookKlub and using it in speech. I have a caseload that comes from homes that don't always have the opportunity to read to their children, so I like to incorporate book in speech. It helps with reading, comprehension, vocabulary and just generally expands their little moldable minds :)

                                                      KinderBookKlub (A growing book club for kindergarten teachers!) 


The first book is After The Fall. I can't wait to use it! I am just in the midst of getting it ready for speech. Her pack includes so many topics that are beneficial for my caseload. 

KinderBookKlub: After the Fall

Tara's Video


KinderBookKlub: Duck and Goose from Tara West on Vimeo.

Saturday 22 September 2018

Non- Speech Related Items- Elyse

https://creatingcommunicators-mindy.blogspot.com/2018/09/non-speech-related-items-for-speech.html



I'm not sure about you but sometimes I get tired of using all the same speech-related items (no offence intended!) I have a large caseload and many of my kids are struggling in their classrooms. I go and look for items that will help them with their academics but also with their communication goals.
The first thing I found were these Comprehension Mats from Proud to Be Primary and I like using them in speech. 

They are great for reading, phonological awareness, comprehension, 'wh' questions, sequencing and also for vocabulary.

They are great because there are many copies/stories, over 25 pages. This product is only $5! What a great price. This is a neat product that you can use with your entire caseload (except pre-k)!

Great!
If you check out her website she also has some really great freebies if you subscribe!

Thank you Ellyse, you rock!
:)

September Reading Comprehension Passages


And if you're not ready to purchase, there are some freebies in her Mats sampler.

MATS sampler (comprehension, words, math, & writing)

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Self-Care

Hey Everyone!








https://creatingcommunicators-mindy.blogspot.com/2018/09/self-care.html



As women, who work and have a personal life, we are all busy. Like, really busy!!  With more balls in the air than we can even count, or keep track of. Trying to balance being a good wife, mom, friend, and business owner. I am trying to make sure my speech business is running, the kids on my caseload are making progress while having fun and engaged, that my contract SLPs and OTs are working and my 2 new employees are trained and ready to go. And if that isn’t enough, I want to look and feel my best. I have a lot of long days- most days I leave for work at 7 and get home around 6. I also drive about 300-600km (YES Kilometres) each day, yes EACH Day! No typo!  So I am sitting too much. At the end of June, I’d had enough. I was doing, giving and worrying about everyone else and I needed to do something for MINDY, just Mindy! Do some self-care that I had been neglecting so long, especially in the human service field AND working with kids :)


 I went on the search to find out how I could implement some self-care- with limited time, budget and energy. I wanted to find someone who could help me with some health tips- eating right and exercising but also with a little me time. Nurturing for myself. Now, I know what you are thinking - there are a million resources to help with eating better and exercising, but I wanted something more. I needed someone who I was accountable to but not completely breathing down my neck either. So I went looking.....


I found some health videos on facebook of this guy Dallas Alexander. He had a website: Live Elevated which provides an exclusive health coaching system. So I went and checked it out. Seemed intriguing- so I sent him a quick message and asked what it was all about.





The first thing that I liked about him is he is Canadian, Metis, and from the same province as I am! WOW, small world! Dallas is definitely a jack of all trades He is an entrepreneur, he is really into fitness and loves sports, he likes art and singing, and has a lot of really great health information. He owns his own oilfield business, works for the Canadian Government, and started the company Live Elevated. His motto is: eat well, move and chill. I like that he has chill in there. It suits him perfectly- he is a pretty chill guy but he is also about moving forward. I like that! Not too much pressure, just enough!




"Reach your goals with a personalized plan, stay on track with consistency through accountability."


"This guy" has helped me so much. I started out frazzled, tired, just basically burnt out! He gave me some tips, and some advice, exercise routine and diet advice. We started out with baby steps and then in June, I did a full 30 days of clean eating. I liked it, but it was hard. I love Diet Coke and a good bag of chips. :) but we made it thru. "This guy has helped me to start meditating daily, get on an exercise routine, make a plan for working on some things with my kids, and a budget- all areas that we causing me stress. 

Now this guy helps me, he checks in with me via email and we have FaceTimed but he is not like a nagging mother! He is supportive and keeps me motivated. He has helped me lose weight, and learn to eat right for my body type and so I feel energized. I also know now that I need meditation in my life, daily! I am feeling better, and more energized! Plus, he didn’t break the bank! I totally love that his fees are very reasonable!! :)




If you are like any number of people on the planet trying to keep all of your balls in the air and need a little help, maybe motivation, to learn how to take care of yourself and do something for you, then you should check this guy out!

He is great! I really like his daily health tips on Facebook from eating right to the morning salute :P

If you want to do something good for yourself, check him out, maybe he can help! 

Thanks, Dallas! Much gratitude!




Friday 24 August 2018

September

Hey! Its time to get back, and if you are like me,  you are really dragging your heals! I am happy to get back at it, but no schedule is really nice. I like getting up and leisurely having a coffee and just doing what I want. But that is not our reality in September, we have to get back to it. I made a little schedule of quick activities to implement in speech.




  Here is a little taste of what you will find in these products: