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It’s a Fairy Tale (Well, Almost) Therapy!

I’ve always loved fairy tales! Much like Audrey Hepburn “If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all.” Not to compare myself with Einstein (sadly in any way, sigh) but “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”

It was the very first genre I’ve read when I’ve learned how to read. In fact, I love fairy tales so much that I actually took a course on fairy tales in college (yes they teach that!) and even wrote some of my own (though they were primarily satirical in nature).

So it was a given that I would use fairy tales as a vehicle to teach speech and language goals to the children on my caseload (and I am not talking only preschoolers either). Continue reading It’s a Fairy Tale (Well, Almost) Therapy!

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Review of Wordtivities by SPELL-Links

Image result for wordtivities"Today I am reviewing a newly released (2019) kit (instructional guide and cards) from the Learning By Design, Inc. entitled Wordtivities: Word Study Instruction for Spelling, Vocabulary, and Reading.

The 101-page instructional guide was created to address the students’ phonological awareness, spelling, reading, vocabulary, and syntax skills by having them engage with sounds, letters, and meanings of words. The lessons in the book can be used by a variety of instructional personnel (teachers, SLPs, reading specialists, etc.) and even parents as a stand-alone word study program or in conjunction with SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing Word Study Curriculum.

The activity book is divided into two sections. The first section offers K-12 student activities for large groups and classrooms. The second section has picture card activities and is intended for 1:1 and small group instruction. Both sections focus on reinforcing 14 SPELL-Links strategies for reading and spelling to stimulate the associations between sounds, letters, and meanings of words. Continue reading Review of Wordtivities by SPELL-Links

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Review and Giveaway of Strategies by Numbers (by SPELL-Links)

Today I am reviewing a fairly recently released (2014) book from the Learning By Design, Inc. team entitled SPELL-Links Strategies by Numbers.   This 57 page instructional guide was created to support the implementation of the SPELL-Links to Reading and Writing Word Study Curriculum as well as to help students “use the SPELL-Links strategies anytime in any setting.’ (p. iii) Its purpose is to enable students to strategize their way to writing and reading rather than overrelying on memorization techniques.

SPELL-Links Strategies by Numbers contains in-depth explanations of SPELL-Links’ 14 strategies for spelling and reading, detailed instructions on how to teach the strategies during writing and reading activities, as well as helpful ideas for supporting students as they further acquire literacy skills.  It can be used by a wide array of professionals including classroom teachers, speech-language pathologists, reading improvement teachers, learning disabilities teachers, aides, tutors, as well as parents for teaching word study lessons or as carryover and practice during reading and writing tasks.

The author includes a list of key terms used in the book as well as a guide with instructional icons screen-shot-2016-09-24-at-10-57-10-amscreen-shot-2016-09-24-at-10-56-46-am

The goal of the 14 strategies listed in the book is to build vocabulary, improve spelling, word decoding, reading fluency, and reading comprehension as well as improve students’ writing skills. While each strategy is presented in isolation under its own section, the end result is for students to fully integrate and apply multiple strategies when reading or writing.

Here’s the list of the 14 strategies in order of appearance as applied to spelling and reading:

  1. Sound It Out
  2. Check the Order
  3. Catch the Beat
  4. Listen Up
  5. A Little Stress Will Help This Mess
  6. No Fouls
  7. Play By the Rules
  8. Use Rhyme This Time
  9. Spell What You Mean and Mean What You Spell
  10. Be Smart About Word Parts
  11. Build on the Base
  12. Invite the Relatives
  13. Fix the Funny Stuff
  14. Look It Up

Each strategy includes highly detailed implementation instructions with students including pictorial support as well as both instructor and student guidance for practice at various levels during writing and reading tasks.  At the end of the book all the strategies are succinctly summarized in handy table, which is also provided to the user separately as a double sided one page insert printed on reinforced paper to be used as a guide when the book is not handy.

There are a number of things I like about the book. Firstly, of course it is based on the latest research in reading, writing, and spelling. Secondly, clinicians can use it the absence  of SPELL-Links to Reading and Writing Word Study Curriculum since the author’s purpose was to have the students  “use the SPELL-Links strategies anytime in any setting.’ (p. iii).  Thirdly, I love the fact that the book is based on the connectionist research model, which views spelling and reading as a “dynamic interplay of phonological, orthographic, and semantic knowledge.” (iii). Consequently, the listed strategies focus on simultaneously developing and strengthening phonological, orthographic, semantic and morphological knowledge during reading and writing tasks.

You can find this book for purchase on the Learning By Design, Inc. Store HERE. Finally, due to the generosity of Jan Wasowicz  PhD the book’s author, you can enter my Rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win your own copy!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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App Review and Giveaway: Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist

Recently I got the opportunity to take a look at the “Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist” by Blue Whale Apps.

According to the developer the app is applicable to

• SLPs with individuals with apraxia (both children and adults)
• Parents working with children with apraxia
• Traditional articulation practice (drills)

Developed by the National Association for Child Development (NACD) by an SLP, the Apraxia app provides choices of different phonemes to target and gradually increases the levels  of difficulty to improve motor planning for speech. Continue reading App Review and Giveaway: Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist

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Spotlight on Syndromes: An SLPs Perspective on Apert Syndrome

Today’s guest post on genetic syndromes comes from Rebecca Freeh Thornburg, who is contributing information on the Apert Syndrome. Rebecca is a repeated guest blog contributor. Her informative guest post on the CHARGE Syndrome can be found HERE.

Overview

Apert Syndrome is a genetic condition resulting from a mutation in gene FGRF2 – fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 – on chromosome 10. Incidence estimates vary from 1 in 65,000 to 1 in 120,000 births.  Most cases of Apert syndrome result from a new mutation, rather than being genetically inherited from a parent.  Children born with Apert Syndrome are affected by characteristic craniofacial differences caused by premature fusion of the bones of the skull, as well and limb anomalies, especially fusion of skin of the fingers and/or toes.  Multiple craniofacial and limb procedures, as well as other surgical interventions are often necessary to minimize the medical complications and cosmetic impact of the disorder. Continue reading Spotlight on Syndromes: An SLPs Perspective on Apert Syndrome

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What to do if you find your copyrighted material posted online

In this day and age, in addition to speech language assessment and intervention, many speech language pathologists are engaged in a number of enterprising endeavors ranging from creating and selling therapeutic materials to public speaking and presenting. As a result of these activities we continuously create numerous digital downloads for primary (e.g., TPT materials) and secondary (handouts to accompany presentations) customer consumption. Of course in these materials we specify exactly how we want them to be used. Typically we place a number of disclaimers on the front page including:    “Do Not Copy”, “Do Not Resell”, “For Individual Use Only”, “Do not remove copyright” and so on. But what happens if these disclaimers are disregarded and you find the product you had worked so hard on for a period of days, weeks or even months, publicly posted on an ebook search engine website for all to see and download. Continue reading What to do if you find your copyrighted material posted online

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New Additions to My Comprehensive Report Tutorials and Templates

I have previously written regarding my line of products on the topic of: “Comprehensive Report Tutorials“.  I had already added a number of editable comprehensive report templates to my online store.

These templates summarize popular speech-language pathology tests with meticulous detail. Each editable template will contain:

  • Formal testing results breakdown in the form of a table
  • A detailed overview of each subtest including a variety of hypotheses behind the student errors
  • Summary of the students perceived deficits on the test and their correlation with language/literacy based deficits
  • Long-term goals and detailed short-term’s objectives

Image result for Speech language Test manualsBelow is a select list of templates which are already available:

Related imageAvailable templates to date:

Continue reading New Additions to My Comprehensive Report Tutorials and Templates