SLP Tuesday Trivia Night: October 1st!

I am so excited to be hosting trivia on Tuesday, October 1st! Thank you to Kristen at Simply Speech for starting this idea and Carrie from Carrie's Speech Corner for making the graphic!

Here's how trivia will work:

There will be three rounds consisting of 5 questions each. You can email me your answers at sharon.schackmann@gmail.com.

Each round will last 15 minutes and everyone who responds correctly will be entered into a random drawing on Random.org. There will be two winners per round, winners will be announced after each round. Winners can choose a product of their choice from my store!

Join me at 7 PM CST on Tuesday October 1 for some trivia fun!

Worth it Wednesday {Where do we Belong? A Problem Solving and Inferencing Activity}

It's one of my favorite days of the week, a time for me to show you awesome products that other bloggers are making! This week I'm bringing you a product from Shannon over at Speechy Musings. (You might remember I did another "Worth it Wednesday" post on another one of her products, Articulation Menus. You can find that here!)

Her product, "Where do We Belong?" has just recently made its appearance in my speech room, and I have to say, I'm sad I didn't find this sooner!! I have some kiddos on my caseload who were in need of a little higher level problem solving/inferencing skills, and this fits the bill perfectly.

What I love:

• This is real life application! These are things that our students are actually going to have to consider later on in life. What kind of house do I need? What car do I buy? Which pet should I get? Most, if not all, of these things will be crossing their minds at some point in their life.
• There are many opportunities for practice. Six families, houses, pets, and cars are included. Each family has a detailed description of what they are looking for in each of the three areas. Shannon does a great job really describing each different house, car, and pet to better help the student pick the correct one for each family.
• Picture answer keys- enough said! Students can check their answers by matching it to the provided picture. Perfect for when you are doing this activity in a group.
• There are blank family, house, car, and pet pages. Can I just say that I absolutely love that? Your students have the chance to think up their own situations- perfect for reasoning and higher level thinking skills! 

Does this sound like something you could use too? Check it out here! And while you're at it, go show Shannon some love on her Facebook, Blog, and Teachers Pay Teachers store.

What is a product that you've bought that has been worth it?

I "Mustache" you a Question...Can you Sequence?

There are many kiddos on my caseload this year who are working on sequencing. I was having trouble finding exactly what I wanted, so I decided to create my own! 

This product contains a total of 66 sequencing sets! There are 36 color coded sequencing card sets (12 sets each of 3, 4, and 5 step sequences). Each sequence is a different colored mustache to make sorting the cards a little easier. Below is an example of some 3 step sequences.

There are also 30 sequencing stories, 5 each for 3-8 steps. Read aloud, or have the students read, the story and sequence the steps to the story. Below is an example of the 3 step sequence stories. 

If this looks like something you could use, head on over to my TpT store and check it out!

How do you target sequences in therapy?

"S....Peachy Feedback" Linky Party!

I'm linking up with Allison's Speech Peeps again and rewarding one lucky person for leaving awesome feedback in my store! I absolutely loved what this person wrote: 

Gina Gilbert, email me at sharon.schackmann@gmail.com with a choice of product from my store! Thanks for leaving me such great feedback (And inspiration for future products!). 

You can check out this activity here.

Don't forget to head over to Allison's Speech Peeps to view other bloggers' link ups to see if you are a winner!

Love it and List it Linky: Vocabulary Activities

This month I'm linking up with Jenna over at Speech Room News for her "Love it and List it Linky: Vocabulary Activities!"

Jenna has asked us all to let you in on our favorite vocabulary activities, so here we go!

1. Word Feast Elementary and Word Feast Middle School. I recently purchased these and am enjoying using them in therapy! They are great to work on building vocabulary through reading activities, and includes everything from antonyms/synonyms, predicting, associations, finish the thought, and yes/no questions. 

2. I have also recently purchased The Bridge of Vocabulary. This book is wonderful! The book is broken down by grade level and includes literally hundreds of different activities and worksheets to use with your students.

3. Unfortunately, I don't have the wonderful EET program that many other bloggers and SLPs are using. I have, however, found a great alternative! It is a Language Therapy Program by Speech Chick. I haven't purchased the entire program yet, but I am using the worksheets included in the free download and I can already see a difference with my students. 

Head over to Speech Room News to check out what other SLPs are using to target vocabulary. What are your favorite products to use?

Worth it Wednesday {Camp Go-Together: Associations and Analogies}

This week's Worth it Wednesday includes a product from The Speech Bubble, "Camp Go-Together: Associations and Analogies"

I have so many students on my caseload this year working on associations. If you're in need of something to help you target those goals, look no further than here!

There are three different games:

Association Cookout

      This is a leveled activity. 16 cards have multiple choice answers and 16 cards have no choice. The student must decide "how _____ and _____ go together". There are also "bug spray" cards that cause the student to lose a turn.

Hike the Association Trail

      There are 24 cards in this section. Your student is asked to pick a word that is associated with another word. "What word is associated with ____?" The student is given 3 choices for each questions, illustrated with a picture in addition to the word. The "poison ivy" cards cause you to lose a turn.

Pack your Bag

      This is another leveled activity. 24 cards have multiple choice answers and 24 cards have no choice. This game focuses on analogies. "______ is to _______ as _______ is to _______". The prompt "How are they related?" appears on all cards. This game includes backpacks to use as game mats. Each mat has 5 small pictures along the side of items to "collect". Cards have the target items on them. The first person to collect all needed items wins!

What I love:

• There is an included reference mat that is extremely helpful! It talks about what an association is and the different ways things can be associated. Group, use, size, etc.... I always have this out on the table to help my students.
• There are leveled games. Sometimes, your kiddos just need a little extra help. I love that two of the games include leveled cards to help those students just learning about analogies. It also helps the student put to use all the different ways items can be associated.
• Synonyms for associated are used in the questions. We often interchange these words when we talk about associations out loud, so why not interchange them during the activity? Questions are phrased with "How do they go together?", "How are they related?", and "How are they associated?"
• "How are they related?" question on all analogy pages. Analogies are hard for my students (even though they are almost exactly like associations, just worded different). This question on the cards reminds my students to think about how those first two items are related so they can determine what item will be related to the given term. 

The preceding thoughts are solely mine and were written on my own terms. No person asked me to write this review. 

Hopefully you'll be able to use this with your students as much as I have! You can find this product here. While you're at it, check out The Speech Bubble's blog, Facebook, and TpT page. 

What Does it Mean? Vocabulary Graphic Organizer {FREEBIE!}

This blog post contains an affiliate link for your convenience.

I have many students on my caseload this year working on vocabulary. I recently purchased Linguisystems' Word Feast Middle School (I plan to do a blog post on why I love it, so if you're curious stay tuned!), and I needed a way to organize all those new vocabulary words my students are learning! I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to create my own. 

My graphic organizer includes space for the vocabulary word, definition, part of speech, synonyms, antonyms, and a space to write a sentence using that vocabulary word. 

Check it out below, and head over to my Teachers pay Teachers store to get this FREEBIE for yourself!

Worth it Wednesday {Roll the Dice! A Conversation Game}

If you work in the middle school/high school population, you'll love what I have in store for this week's "Worth it Wednesday"! Amanda from Speech in Secondary created this great product, Roll the Dice! A Conversation Game. 

This is wonderful game for your social skills groups to practice topic maintenance, turn taking, and asking questions! Each face of the dice equates to a conversation "rule", such as making a comment, asking a question, or changing the topic. 

There are two levels of cards, a 20 card set with pictures for your elementary school students, and a 20 card set without pictures for your middle school/high school students. Also included is a game board with "Change the Topic" squares for added fun!

What I love:

• The two levels of cards. The pictures on the first set are a wonderful edition for our non-reading kiddos and the topics are age appropriate. I love that the second set of topic cards doesn't have pictures- your middle school students don't need them, and they often think they are childish. The topics on these cards are also age appropriate, as they allow for greater detail of conversation.
• The game board is great! There are plenty of squares, allowing for multiple opportunities for conversation to take place. I also love the random "Change the Topic" squares, it keeps my students and I on our feet throughout the game!
• The rules of the game are so simple-just do what the number you roll tells you! Some games can have such complex rules and directions to play, that you spend the first five minutes of your therapy session just trying to figure out how to play! In this game, if you roll a 6, you definitely know what you need to do.

Does this game look like something you can use with your students? You can find it here! And be sure to check out the rest of her store, there are TONS of activities for you SLPs in the middle school population!

The preceding thoughts are solely mine and were written on my own terms. No person asked me to write this review. 

What is a product you've bought that was "worth it"? I love finding new material!

Language Boxes for Older Students

If your caseload is anything like mine, it is chocked full of language goals. And if your students are anything like mine, they get bored. Fast. And the one thing that they love that will keep them interested is a game. I know, I know. You're probably thinking, not another game! (Because trust me, I was!) The thought of pulling out the game pieces, a generic game board my students have seen hundreds of times, and that electronic spinner that all the kids love so much (and I've loved to hate) makes me want a shot. Of caffeine of course :)

So I bring you back to the good old game of my childhood- the box game! (for the lack of a better name. If you know the actual name of this game I would love to know it!) The premise is simple, you have a grid of equally spaced dots that players take turns connecting to form a box. The part that makes this game fun is the strategy involved- draw too many lines of the same box and your opponent can complete it and claim it as their own! 

Add in some language goals and you have yourself a fun, exciting, and simple game that will hold your students' attention while they practice their IEP goals.

This 19 page download features:

• 3 pages of synonym/antonym boxes (90 total words)
• 2 pages of categories (60 total categories)
• 2 pages of multiple meaning words (60 total words)
• 1 page of homonyms (30 total pairs)
• 2 pages of associations (60 total pairs) 
• one blank page 
• answer key for synonyms/antonyms and multiple meaning words 

See a preview page below...

You can find this product here! If you download, be sure to leave me some feedback. Not only does it let me and other potential buyers know how well you like my product, you also earn TpT credits to use towards future products!

September SLP Link Up!

Today I'm joining All Y'all Need in their monthly link up! See what I'm up to this month...

Schooling: I'm a CFY, so I'm working with a brand new caseload. Not to mention new teachers, a new IEP program, and having to travel between three buildings each week! You might say I've been a little stressed lately. Cue the acne breakouts all over my face...

Excited: I LOVE fall! It is my absolute favorite time of the year. Nothing makes me happier than a worn in pair of bluejeans, a hoodie, a Friday night football game, and a bonfire with great friends. I'm literally chomping at the bit for fall to get here- I'm SO sick of summer weather!

Prepping: This month I have been prepping buttloads (I may have made that word up...) of materials. My student teaching was in a primary school, so I have plenty of materials for that age group. The problem? I'm in a middle school/high school this year and needed almost everything to get started! Let's just say the hubby isn't too excited about all the ink and laminating paper I've been buying recently....

Trying: With the start of the new school year, my blog has been extremely lacking. My goal for this month is to get some new products knocked out for you and possibly get a new feature started! I was definitely spoiled starting my blog/TPT store in the summer where I could devote every single day to materials. Maybe you all will keep me on it and remind me that I promised you new things soon :)

So that's what I'm up to this month! Check out All Y'all Need's Page to see your other favorite SLP bloggers who have linked up!

Worth it Wednesday {Speech and Student Information Packet}

This week's Worth it Wednesday post features a product from Major Speech Pathology Fun by a Minor Girl: Speech and Student Information Packet

I grabbed this packet right before my first day of school on a whim, and I'm so glad that I did! Amy has included great questions used to address a student's speech goals as well as general information about the student. 

The list above indicates what you get with her packet- and trust me it's all great! I loved going through this packet with my kids on their first day. Some of the answers you get are hilarious (one kid said he prefers to be called "Dragon" in class!), some are frustrating (What do you like to do in speech? "Play games." What do you not like to do in speech? "Work." Grrrrr.), and some are pull-your-hair-out-you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me (No, Mrs. Schackmann, I don't know what any of my speech goals are.)

But overall, you truly learn a lot about your students (and they hopefully learn a lot about why/what they are working on in speech at the same time). 

My favorite part of this packet was the "Speech Contract." It's a wonderful list of speech rules for your students to follow. I love that they have to initial after each rule and then sign and date the bottom. It shows that they know what the rules are and that they agreed to follow them (something I think is great for administrators!). 

What I love:

• The Speech Contract- a great comprehensive list of rules.
• The variety of questions- I truly feel like I know my students better (especially about their home life).
• You have the opportunity to go over your students' speech goals and talk about why they are working on those goals.
• The speech time reminder sheet is great for giving to your students AND their teachers (you can never have too many reminders!).
• The motivator sheet is wonderful. You get a good picture of what your student will work for, or won't work for.

The preceding thoughts are solely mine and were written on my own terms. No person asked me to write this review. 

Are you interested in getting this for your first days of speech? You can find it here! And while you're at it, visit Amy's Facebook, Teachers pay Teachers store, and blog. 

What is something that you thought was "worth it"?