Summer Inferences

I just realized it's been a little over a month since I have blogged! Things have heated up in a big way here in Colorado. My car thermostat read 97 degrees at lunch time. I love love love the heat, so this is my kind of weather. Although I no longer live a hop, skip, and a jump from the beach, I figured I can still bring a bit of the sand and sun into my therapy sessions.

It seems like I always need a variety of "wh" activities, so I developed  continuation of my Spring Inferencing book. This mini book was developed with in the same format. The whole activity is 13 pages (each page takes up 1/2 of a standard piece of paper). This mini-book follows Mariah on her family vacation at the beach.

Suggested Directions:
Print pages on cardstock and laminate for durability.
Cut the pages in half (horizontally) and assemble the book according to the page numbers. I use a hole punch and metal rings to keep the book together.
Follow Mariah as she enjoys a family trip to the beach.
Read about Mariah'’s activities on the left side of the page.
Have your child make inferences and answer simple “wh” questions by pointing to the correct icon on the the corresponding right side of the page.

Grab this activity at the TPT store

These are some examples from Summer Inferencing:

 

 

Alphabet Soup

Alphabet: What Do I Start with? and A is for Ape

Martha and I are throwing a little sale on our TeachersPayTeachers store on a few of our alphabet products. I just posted a little activity called, Alphabet: What Do I Start With? It is a 33 page document including title page, alphabet letters, alphabet objects, directions, and template pages. The activity includes all of the alphabet letters (plus digraphs "sh" "ch" and "th"). Each letter has three objects that start with that letter. For instance the objects for "A" are apple, acorn, and ambulance.

I designed this alphabet activity to target phonological skills and literacy skills. It can be used in multiple ways.You can present the target objects (alphabet objects) auditoryily and have your child match them to the corresponding letter. You can also work on categorizing objects by their correct sound.

Suggested Directions:
 1) Print activity on card stock ad laminate for durability
2) Cut out alphabet cards (i.e. A, B, C...) and put sticky back Velcro on the back.
3) Cut out the alphabet objects (i.e.. acorn, boot, cake...) and place sticky back Velcro on the back.
4) Place sticky back Velcro in the template boxes (i.e. empty box forms) and place the alphaet letters and alphabet objects in the templates.
5) This activity has been arranged to allow for easy use and storage. If you decide to use the templates, you can cut along the dotted lines and attach the pages using a hole punch and metal fastener ring.

Grab this activity at my TPT store 

Here are some examples of the activity:

 Alphabet Cards:

k Alphabet Object Cards: 

These are some of the template pages. I cut out the alphabet objects and use sticky back Velcro to attach them to this template. I cut along the dotted line (you would have two half sheets of paper) for easier storage. 

 

I use these other templates during the activity. On way you can use this activity, is by plaing the alphabet card in the large box, and matching the corresponding alphabet objects in the smaller boxes underneath. You can remove or add letters to the activity depending on your kiddo's skill level. Again, I cut along the dotted line and attach all the pages using a hole punch and metal fastener ring. This allows me to keep all the cards and objects organized....and I can easily flip to what I need.

 A is for Ape

This next activity was developed by my co-worker, Martha. Since it wasn't my idea, I feel that I can take some time to really brag about it.

Martha introduced me to "A is for Ape" a few months ago, and I have used it with several of my kiddos. It has been amazing! It is a great product for children with phonological awareness impairments. I also use it for my children who have a difficult time grasping the traditional approach of identifying their alphabet letters. This product is slightly different from other products because the picture supports/words correspond with the actual letter sound. For instance 

A: "AY" is for Ape "AYpe".

B: "BEE" is for Baby "baBEE"

C: "SEE" is for "SEEdee"

 The materials include:

1. directions and expansion activities
2. ABC song
3. large letter cards
4. small letter cards (to send home)
5. alphabet signs

I usually break out my beautiful singing voice at the beginning of my therapy sessions. I don't believe there is an official song associated with the activity, so feel free to get silly and creative with your tunes.

Several of my parents have been so impressed with their child's success, that they introduced the activity to their preschool teachers and IEP teams. If the typical ABC activities just aren't cutting it, this is a great alternative to work on phonological skills and letter identification.

Grab A is for Ape at the TPT 

Here are some examples of the product:

Activities: What Do I Need?

A fellow Children's employee gave me some great ideas to expand upon my "Occupations: Who am I?" activity. With some of her wonderful suggestions I created "Activities: What Do I Need?" Although it's not my most creative title (the juices just aren't flowing at the moment), it is pretty self explanatory.

This mini-lesson is asking children to organize and categorize various objects with their matching activity. The activities were carefully selected to correspond with common every-day events. This activity is 13 pages including title page, directions, and sentence forms.

Targeted Activities:
-making cookies
-making  sandwich
-cleaning your teeth
-taking a bath
-having a birthday party
-making an ice cream sundae
-planting a garden
-painting a picture

I developed the product to target categorization and "what" questions. However, I'm sure there are some other creative uses.

-Suggested Construction-

1) Print activity on card stock and laminate for durability

2) Cut out the various activity cards (i.e.  Making cookies, taking a bath, making a sandwich etc…) and put sticky back Velcro on the back.

3) Cut out the different activity objects (i.e. rolling pin, soap, toothbrush etc…) and place sticky back Velcro on the back.

4) Place sticky back Velcro in the sentence form boxes so the activity cards and activity objects will stick.

5) This activity has been arranged to allow for easy use and storage. Cut the template pages (pages that contain blank boxes) along the dotted lines, hole punch, and attach using a metal ring. 

6) Use sentence forms 1, 2, or 3 to work on asking and answering “what” questions and categorizing.

Grab this activity at the TPT store 

 Activity Cards:

 Related Object Cards:

 The following templates were created for easy organization and storage. I currently use these same templates for my "Occupations: Who am I?" activity and it makes everything much easier. I am able to keep all the pieces together and I can easily find the objects I want. Just place the big activity card in the large box and the smaller related objects in the colored boxes.

 I also included three different sentence templates to target "wh" questions, complete sentences and correct grammar/syntax.

Two Syllable Tractor Pull

I created this little activity to target syllable reduction. I needed an activity to provide some visual support for muli-syllabic words, and I though I would share. Also, I though the tractor was really cute.

This two-syllable tractor includes 18 spondees (multi-syllable words with equal emphasis on both syllables) and 18 two-syllable words. I also added two template pages to allow opportunities for creativity. I guess 18 is the magic number because the whole packet is 18 pages.

Recommended Assembly:
1) Print on card stock and laminate for durability
2) Cut out spondee and two-syllable objects and words
3) Place or Velcro the objects (outlined in black) on the tractor seat and the words (outlined in red) on the tractor wagons.

Grab this activity at the TPT Store

Spondee Examples

Regular Two-Syllable Words

Two-Syllable Tractor in Action

Template Page

Garden Party

Soooooo, since snow is in the forecast this week, I decided to bring the season of spring to myself (and all of you). Before my job switch, I worked in an elementary school, and I remember the challenge of working with multiple students and multiple objectives within a very short time span. I wanted to create a themed packet so ya'll would have a bunch of activities at your fingertips. For those of you working in various job settings, I think there are some great themed activities for your kiddos, clients, and students as well.

This Garden Party Packet targets multiple speech/language objectives. The activities include:

*Vocabulary: Garden Matching Game and Vocabulary Homework Sheet
*Fruit/Vegetable Cards: 18 fruit cards ad 18 veggie cards
*Categorization Activities: Categorize by color, where it's grown, and category
*Sentence Building: create complete sentences using 4 various sentence templates
*Sequencing Story: Grow a flower by sequencing 6 icons.
*Pronoun Activities: Use complete sentences to target him, her, he,she, they, and them.
*Possessive Activities: Use the 6 people cards to create complete sentences using correct possessives.

Grab this packet at the TPT Store

 There are a total of 36 pages, which include directions.

Here are some samples of the work

Vocabulary

 Fruit and Veggie Cards

Categorization Activities

Sentence Construction

Sequencing Activity

Pronoun Activity

Possessive Activity

It's a Spring Thing

I decided to kill two birds with one stone and made this mini-book. It targets inferences and "wh" questions. Also, I loved the cute spring graphic. The weather is slowly getting better, but I don't think we're out of the woods yet. So, for now, I'm living vicariously until I get my flowers and sunshine.

This mini-book is 13 pages long. I constructed the pages on half sheets to save some paper.When I worked in the schools, I remembered how precious paper was, especially during IEP season. The left side of the page discusses "Janelle's" activity during the first day of spring. The right side of the page includes 4 options, one of which will help Janelle complete her activity.

I have a few children working on the concept of answering "wh" questions and the pictures supports have been really helpful as we work on "what" and "who questions. And, as luck would have it, I also have some kids working on basic inferences.

Grab This at the TPT Store


Here are some examples of the book:

Ready, Set, Spring

We had the first day of Spring (although it doesn't feel like it quite yet). But I'm hopeful that it is right around the corner. In preparation for the warmer weather, Ready, Set, Spring is ready.! This book fits into the Ready, Set series. There are two versions. A manipulative version and an easy assembly version.

The manipulative version includes a blank template to allow your child to fill in the blanks. You can then copy the story and send it home for review. The manipulative version also requires more Velcro, laminating and scissor skills.

The easy assembly version does not have the blank story template. It also requires less time for overall assembly.

For some visual cues on how to assemble the books, take a look at my Ready, Set Christmas post. I was able to take some pictures of the final product.

Grab Ready Set Spring (manipulative version) at our TPT Store
Grab Ready, Set, Spring (easy assembly version) at our TPT Store

Here is an example of the Manipulative version

Below is the blank template where you will Velcro the various icons.

Below are some examples of the icon pages

An example of the easy assembly version is below. It does not include the blank template page.