Articulation Test Center from Little Bee Speech

Hey Everyone!

September means two thing for most of us... back to school and screens/assessments! I recently found this cool app that I can use on my iPad to screen articulation. I love that I won't need to lug my big bag and paraphernalia around I will just need my iPad! I recently purchased it and it is on sale this month for 50% off! Great deal!
I have used the Articulation Station from Little Bee Speech and really loved it-check out my post on that app, so I thought I would take a closer look at this app. I was right, I really liked it! I can't wait to use it more. Here is what I thought....

Articulation Test Center from Little Bee Speech

This is what the first page looks like. First, you choose either the screen or full test. For this post I will just be speaking about the screen-  stay posted for my feedback on the full test...

Next you choose the child's age.

Now is when you add in some of the child's information- name, birth date, school, etc. And then you start with test cards (pictures). The green letters are the sounds that are being tested. If there are no errors you leave them green, if they are wrong you tap the letter/sound and it will change to red to indicate an error, or yellow to show an approximation. 

During the test you are also able to record the child and you can also make notes in the "notes" area. This is a great feature when you see 50 kids a day and can't remember little things and need to go back to it.

When you are finished all of the test cards  it will show you that you are finished.

 

At the end it will show you the results of the child- the words that were tested, what errors they made (and the position the errors were made), a report which you can email, and then there is a recommendation area that show which sounds they should be making for their age/development.  I love this! It is basically idiot proof (not to be offensive!) :)

 

If you are really pressed for time you can look at the recommendations

tab and then look at the errors and make goals from there! Easy! 

Disclaimer** recommending and preparing goals is the role of a Registered Speech 

Language Pathologist, not a Speech Language Assistant.

This app also has a report that you can email to yourself (if you are out of the office) or another professional! No more lengthy reports, it's already completed for you! Yay! It doesn't really get any easier than that!
I will be starting to work at my schools and I can't wait to get going with this app. This is the app I have chosen for all of my artic. screenings. And don't forget it's 50% off during the month of September! Who wouldn't love that?

Check out Little Bee Speech for some other great free resources! Thank you Little Bee Speech, you haven't let me down yet!

Happy Screening, and Assessing!!
Mindy

Targeting Speech Over Christmas

Hi!
I have heard it, and I am sure you have too...Often times parents tell me that they don't have much time to work on speech after a busy day. I get that! I am a parent of 2, I work full time and have a commute time of up to 1 hour one way. Lets face it, we are all busy! And if you say to a parent I have one more thing you need to squeeze in everyday, they may be ready to freak out! I know sometimes I am on the verge of an OVERLOAD! But when the steam stops pouring out of their ears and their face has turned back to its original shade, I have some tips that you can share with the parents you work with, or your own child, to practice some speech- over Christmas break, or anytime.  We all know that the key to attaining speech goals is practise, practise, practise.  

How Can I Make Speech Part of My Day?

Getting Dressed

•  Have your child say one or more sound/word/sentence for each item of clothing they put on (ex: put on your shirt and say “sun using your good /s/ sound.”)

• Hide picture cards in clothing items for your child to find as they get dressed (ex: in the sock, under the coat)

Preparing and Eating Meals

• Keep picture cards on the fridge with magnets to practice with your child as you prepare the meal.

•  Put picture cards on your child’s plate and have them practice with you as you prepare the meal and serve their meal.

•  Hide picture cards under items on the table and have them say the name on the card when that item is used (ie: hide a card under the cup, each time your child takes a drink say the name on the card) OR hide cards around the house and have them find the cards using the  word or phrase "I found a ___"

• Have your child help to think of all the words they can with their sound in them (ex: video, van, vampire, violin)

Driving in the Car

• Spot your sound in the environment (ex: car that has your sound /k/, library has an /l/)

• I spy items that start with your child’s sound (ex: I spy with my little eye something that starts with “f”. It’s a fountain”

•  Make up a silly sound story (ex: This is a story about Gabi.  Gabi is a goose.  Gabi goose loves to go)

•  Describe one of your child’s words and have them guess which one it is (ex: it’s long and white and you use it to tie things, it’s a string!)
• Let them use the iPad- there are many apps that target articulation check some of them out and have your child say 25 words while you are driving home, waiting to take their siblings  to dance, in the Dr.'s office, etc. (Webber Photo Artic Castle, Articulation Games & Articulation Station are some of my faves!)
  
  
   

Shopping

• point out items that start with your child’s sound (ex: soup starts with “s”, cereal starts with “s”).

• Rhyme items in your cart with your child’s sound (ex: eggs/beggs, milk/bilk, bread/head

Taking a Bath

•  Sing a silly sound song or tell a silly sound story (ex: tune of row row row your boat – Show Show Show your ship, show your ship to sheep, shop for shoes and shakes and shawls, show your ship to sheep)
• Have your child draw pictures of some their articulation words on the side of the tub and then let them repeat the words 4 or 5 times.
• With erasable crayons or paint, write some of your child's articulation words on the side of the tub and have them clean them off each time they say them correctly.

Getting Ready for Bed

• Say your cards once before bed

• While you read your child’s bedtime story focus on words that include your child’s sound(ex: Papa bear said “Someone’s been sitting in my (pause) chair? What word starts with “ch”? Wait...chair.  Yes chair, that has your sound at the beginning of that word.
• While you are reading a book have your child clap once for each word that has their sound in it- they will then have to repeat the word back to you. (Be Patient- this will take longer).

•  Paperclip picture cards to the pages of your child’s bedtime story.  As you turn to that page have your child say the name on the card.

check out these links for articulation resources.

CC Resources
Mommy Speech Therapy

Happy Holidays
Mindy
:)
 
 

Love it & List it -Articulation Apps!

Articulation Apps

 

http://speechroomnews.blogspot.ca/

Articulation Apps are a great and easy way to target speech goals for your students! Your bag is so much lighter when you don't have to carry all of those cards and materials!!!! Just grab your Ipad and you have access to all the sounds you need, in all the positions. When I have a large caseload, I will grab the kids and pull them out of their class and target their sound(s) right in the hallway. I don't always need my treat bucket either because the iPad is a reward in itself!

 

My website- lots of freebies

1. Articulation Station- Love this app because it is so easy to use. You can work on sounds, and blends, in all positions. They can be worked at the word, sentence and story level! The kids love to play the matching game! You can also keep data and have a final percentage at the end to make taking notes super easy!
   
   

2.Speech 2 Go- A good, simple app. It has some really great pictures but you can only play it in a flashcard fashion. This can get a little boring for the older kids.

3. Say It Again- The child rolls the dice and chooses a square, and then they are given a word to say. This game is cool because it is a bingo type game that you can play in groups. You can choose different game styles: lines, letter x, or cover all. The only thing missing is data- this app will not let you collect data on the children.

                                                          

4. Webber Photo Artic Castle- This is another great one. Easy to use and it will keep all of your data! You are able to set up your students and choose their goals. You can also go back and view their results, later on, by the date or by the goal. This is especially nice if you are working on multiple kids with multiple goals!                                                                                                                                                                      

            

5. ArtikPix- The graphics on the home screen are a little simple but this game lets you choose different word positions at different levels, and it will let you keep score. There are 2 different games: flashcards and matching. Plus, the matching game has 3 levels: easy, medium and hard. 

                                                             

 

6. Articulation Games is a great app by Virtual Speech Centre! It has 4 games to keep the kids interested! It has all sounds in all positions and the pictures are great! I love this app! 34.99 for all of the sounds! The kids love the spinner game!

                                                        

I hope this helps you! Check back to Creating Communicators blog again!
Thank you Jenna at Speech Room News!!

Cheers,
Mindy