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Enjoy the Long December Vacation

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Number of Views 1,205

Many SLPs will continue to work straight through the upcoming Holiday Season.  Others will have 1-2 weeks off and much time to spend at their leisure.  Here is a list of some common pitfalls that befall those of us who are off.

Don’t overbook yourself as tempting as that may be.  Doing so would set you up for disappointment. And remember that it is called “vacation” for a re ason.

You will still need to complete everyday chores: Eating Breakfast, Davening, Straightening up.  These are all normal everyday tasks that you may not have the luxury for on regular work days.  Enjoy engaging in them but remember that they DO take up your time. Don’t be surprised to find that it is 3:00 pm and you feel that you have nothing to ‘show’ for your time

Expect the unexpected: ‘Things’ come up when you least expect them:) Remember that it is normal.

Take time for yourself to do something you wouldn’t normally do.

Slow down even while accomplishing.  Don’t allow yourself to fall into a frantic pattern during this time off.  Slowing down a little bit will allow you to fully enjoy your time

Enjoy Chanuka: Chanuka is a Yom Tov celebrating our Nitzchiyous in this long Galus.  This year, try to appreciate that you are away from your work environment during this Chag.

Site Review: Rewordify

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Number of Views 1,325

www.rewordify.com is an amazing resource for simplifying text with difficult vocabulary.  Log onto the page and you will be greeted with a yellow box to be filled with the text of your choice.

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Now I have entered the text “It can be hard to make inferences” and click on the yellow button  “REWORDIFY TEXT”

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The top of the page now reads “It can be hard to make guesses (based on what you have been told), with the new words in yellow!

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A simple and effective way to translate complex language.

It also comes fully stocked with translations of many of the classics.  You can search by letter.  A search of Animal Farm turned up this…

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This website is a real treasure.

Product Review: Articulation maps

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Number of Views 1,085

This game was presented by an SLP at a staff meeting.  The concept is so cute and original.  Pair this with some mini cars and have students practice giving directions to each other

 

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“Make a left on Red Road to get to the Restaurant”

Order some mini-cars on Amazon by clicking here or pick some up at your local dollar store.

An overview of The ASHA Leader: November 2016

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Number of Views 1,034

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  • Monica Faherty is a “strong believer in developing self-advocacy skills in DHH students.” She suggests taking a photo of their device so that they can learn the names of the different parts and components.

 

  • ASHA develops a statement for clinicians regarding action to take if they are concerned about the potential violation of laws, regulation, and policies in their facilites.  Read it here.

 

  • Virtual/online schools must comply with IDEA

 

  • Rhonda Thomas, founder of Communikids (private practice) says that she uses music in newborn/baby feeding sessions.  She states that it soothes them and helps them form  a sucking pattern.

 

  • New ICD-10 codes for medicaid are much more specific.

Read it all in THE ASHA LEADER.

Using Political Cartoons to Meet our Students Goals

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Number of Views 1,220

Real life and politics are anything but boring these days.  We can use political cartoons as a template for language lessons with our students.

Related Goals:

inferencing, describing, understanding humor, answering questions, asking questions, vocabulary.

Click here for a great selection of political cartoons from Upfront (scholastic) for free.  These are difficult to download so copy and paste them to a new word document.

Here are some examples of cartoons:

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The cartoons have a blurb underneath them.  Have students circle unfamiliar words.  Then use the questions provided at the bottom. Most of the questions could be characterized as HOTS questions.  These questions require higher order thinking skills.  You can create your own simpler “wh” questions if that would be more appropriate for your students.

 

example:

Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had to suddenly leave a 9/11 ceremony because she was feeling ill. Later, it was revealed that Clinton had been diagnosed with pneumonia several days before the ceremony but had kept it secret from the public. That raised questions about whether Clinton has other health conditions. It has also put the spotlight on her Republican rival, Donald Trump, who has been just as reluctant to release detailed information about his health. Questions about the candidates’ health are expected to come up in the first presidential debate, on September 26.

 

  1. Who are the people in the cartoon, and where is it taking place?
  2. Why is there a treadmill in the middle of the stage?
  3. How does the cartoonist use humor to illustrate a point about the candidates’ health records?
  4. Previous presidential candidates, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, hid medical conditions from voters. Do you think that health information should remain a private issue, or should citizens be allowed to demand medical information about presidential candidates?
  5. Do you think a health condition could hurt a candidate’s chances of being elected? Explain.
 Editors Note:
The Hamodia Newspaper has 2 full pages of political cartoons, you can cut those out and create your own questions as well.

Book Review: Goodnight Gorilla

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Number of Views 927
Good Night, Gorilla Book Cover Good Night, Gorilla
Peggy Rathman
P.G. Putnam
2/21/1996
Board Book
32 Pages
Amazon.com

In this adorable book, a zookeeper tries to lock up the zoo and head to bed.  The Gorilla is up to his funny tricks and he unlocks all of the animals from their cages. Can the zookeeper get to bed with all of the animals on the loose?

This adorably illustrated book for kids has no words.  Allow students to develop storytelling and expressive language skills as they flip through the pages in this book.

This book is geared towards preschool age students, however people of all ages will enjoy flipping through the pages.

Watch an animated version on vimeo for free by clicking here.

Take a look at our pinterest board with activities related to this book by clicking here.

Social Communication Group for Self-Contained Classroom: Basic Games

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Number of Views 1,057

It was back to the basics with this social communication group.  The lesson was based around 3 popular games that kids (usually) love to play.  They are Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect the Dots, and Rock, Paper, Scissor, Shoot.  All of these games require joint attention, problem solving, reasoning, and discussion.

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Tic-Tac-Toe

  • Students communicate with each other to determine who will be X and who will be O.
  • Students must engage in perspective taking to try and infer the next move that their opponent will make.
  • Students need to discuss if there was a winner or a cat’s game.

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Dot-To-Dot

  • This game can be harder to explain
  • On each turn, a player draws one straight line between any 2 black dots
  • Students win each box that they complete by putting their initials in the box
  • This game usually takes time and students often wind up chatting as they complete the board

 

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Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot

  • In this game, students must discuss the rules beforehand and remind themselves during each round
  • Rock beats Scissors, Paper beats Rock, Scissors beats Paper
  • It is also important that both players make their move at the same moment to ensure fairness. This is a great skill to enforce.

 

Using these games in Social-Communication Groups has many purposes:

  1. These games are fun, students are more likely to engage when they are involved in a fun activity.
  2. These games reinforce important skills.
  3. The ability to play these games will be a life-long tool for these students as they are fairly common games.

Enjoy!  Please tell us about simple and common games that you have incorporated into your Social Communication Groups.