Valentine’s Day Speech Therapy Ideas Using “Love Monster and the Last Chocolate” Plus a FREEBIE

If you love using books in your speech therapy sessions, then you will LOVE this Valentine’s Day FREEBIE. I’ve included Amazon Affiliate Links in this post if you would like to add these books to your therapy library. Several of the elementary teachers on my campus read Love Monster by Rachel Bright to their students and follow up with craft and writing activities. So instead of using the same book (which I absolutely adore), I follow up with Love Monster and the Last Chocolate. With themes of friendship, worry, compassion, and sharing, this book provides opportunities to address all your student’s  IEP goals with just one book. By including extension activities, you can easily stretch this book to 2 or 3 weeks of therapy. Now you have your entire month of February covered with just one book!  I’ve used this book with students in PreK through 5th grade targeting both speech and language skills. Here are a few ideas on how you can use Love Monster and the Last Chocolate during the month of February.

5 Fabulous Farm Books for Speech Therapy

There is something so enticing about playing with a farm set. Cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs and tractors are enjoyable for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary students. Farm sets are open-ended toys which sparks imagination and can keep children actively engaged. Farm related books are also a great way to introduce students to new vocabulary, narrative structure, build background knowledge and facilitate creativity. Farm books create opportunities for language expansion and experiential learning.

10 Speech and Language Goals for "In the Tall, Tall Grass"

 

In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming is a colorful fun read aloud written from a caterpillar's point of view. With rhyme, rich language and simple text this is a wonderful book to share with students this Spring.

So let's spring forward with 10 different goals you can target using "In the Tall, Tall Grass" for your speech and language therapy groups this Spring.

Speech and Language Targets:

Vocabulary Development "In the Tall, Tall Grass" is written in primarily Tier 1 vocabulary but does include several Tier 2 concepts that provides opportunities to expand on language as well as  allow for explicit instruction. You can target concepts such as: dart, sip, strum, hum, flap, glide, scurry, flop, lug, glow, swoop, and loop. 

5 Great Thanksgiving Read Alouds for Speech Therapy

It's about time to put away the jack-o-lanterns and bats and pull out your turkey books and Thanksgiving therapy materials. There are several different themes you can incorporate in your lessons, including: gratitude, family, the first Thanksgiving, save the turkey, and MORE! In this post, I want to share with you my favorite read alouds for speech therapy. These great books are perfect for mixed groups (articulation, language, fluency, social skills) as well as for connecting the curriculum to your students' communication goals.

How to Create a Fall Sensory Book Bin

Sensory play is an important part of a child's development. Children learn through exploration using their 5 senses. Through taste, touch, smell, sight and sound, children develop social, emotional, cognitive, motor and language skills. Sensory bins provide learning opportunities while having FUN. Since children love to make messes, you might want to think of it as "mess in a box."  For children with sensory impairments, sensory bottles, bags and bins can also be very calming by providing the exact stimulus their sensory systems are seeking.

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year for speech therapy literacy and language activities. Children are always fascinated with pumpkins, acorns, squirrels, apples, scarecrows, and farm activities. This opens up opportunities to experience some amazing books, as well as provide hands-on learning opportunities in sensory filled activities.

In this post, I want to share with you tips on creating fall sensory book bins.

Speech Therapy Goals and Activities for "Boo Hoo Bird"

I wanted to sit down and write this post today to share an amazing children's book I found that can be used to target a variety of speech and language IEP goals. While searching for books to teach social skills, I came across this sweet book by Jeremy Tankard, Boo Hoo Bird, that I honestly had never heard of and now absolutely adore. In Boo Hoo Bird by Jeremy Tankard, Bird gets bonked on the head with a ball while playing catch with his friend Raccoon. "Boo Hoo Hoo," Bird cries. Raccoon, Rabbit, Sheep, and Fox try to cheer him up. What will make Bird feel better? This story is ideal for students in PreK through second grade.

Top 10 Back-to-School Books for Speech Therapy

Are you looking for a fun back-to-school read aloud to start the year with? Do you want an attention grabber that will spark an excitement for learning this year? For me, starting a new school year is an exciting time of the year. New room decor, new school clothes, and newly sharpened pencils. But what I get excited about is NEW books!

In this post, I want to share with you my top 10 back-to-school books for speech therapy and why I recommend them.

TPT Back-to-School Site Wide Sale!

For many educators, summer vacation is almost over. For others, you may still have a month of rest and relaxation. Regardless of your contract start date, you do not want to miss the Teachers Pay Teachers Site Wide Sale!

August 1st and 2nd are special days for educators and TPT, and I want to share this sale with you! During this 2-day sale, you can save up to 25% off your total purchases using the #BTSReadyWithTpT code at checkout.

I want to highlight some special additions to my store for back-to-school and fall.

Speech Therapy Organization Ideas: Plastic Zipper Envelopes

Are you looking for a way to keep your thematic books and book companion materials organized and stored neatly? For years I kept my thematic materials stored in file folders. It worked for a while, until my material resources started to multiply. I found myself loosing items such as sentence strips, task cards, vocabulary visuals, manipulatives, and craft samples. That's when I decided to try out plastic zipper envelopes for a few book companions. This has been an organizational transformation for my materials. I wanted to share with you what I have found to be an organizational gem.

In this post, I will show you three different ways I use plastic zipper envelopes to organize my thematic books and book companions.

5 Reasons to Use Graphic Organizers in Speech Therapy

When do you use graphic organizers? Do you use them to pre-teach concepts, or during brainstorming activities? Do you use them during lessons to target specific skills such as comparing and contrasting with a Venn Diagram? Do you use them at the end of a thematic unit to assess comprehension? I hope the answer is all of the above. Graphic organizers use symbolic language to communicate and connect visual information in the brain. Once I understood that graphic organizers use visual language to represent concepts, I knew they needed to be incorporated into my lessons regularly.

In this post, I will give you 5 reasons why you should be using graphic organizers in your speech therapy sessions, PLUS I am offering my Graphic Organizer FREEBIE through this blog post.

Speech Therapy Activities to Teach Basic Concepts Using "Rosie's Walk"

Basic Concepts are essential for success in school. Early concept development begins as young as six to nine months with “more juice” and “all gone.” For school age children, basic concept knowledge is needed for following directions and participation in every aspect of the classroom.

Here is a list of basic concept categories that students need to comprehend and use in the classroom. Most concepts should be well developed by first grade (age 7-8 years).

Speech Therapy Activities for Mixed IEP Groups Using "The Grouchy Ladybug"

 

Do you need some new ideas for mixed groups?

The Grouchy Ladybug  by Eric Carle is an all-time favorite with early elementary teachers for introducing and teaching elapsed time. There are many different speech and language goals that can be targeted using this picture book during a shared reading activity and follow up extension activities. I typically use this book with students in second through fourth grade. It can also be adapted for older students in alternative curriculum classes with comprehension skills at this level. The Grouchy Ladybug is a fun and interactive book for mixed IEP groups.

In this blog post, I’ve listed some possible IEP goals that you can target during reading and extension activities.

"Frog" Theme Speech Therapy Activities

Happy Spring everyone! It is raining and chilly in Texas. But just wait, it will be warming up tomorrow. That's how often the weather changes in the Texas Panhandle. As I sit and work on my lessons for the month of April, I realize I keep changing my mind about themes, books and activities as much as the weather is changing. There are so many exciting and wonderful Spring themes, and it can be a little overwhelming to plan thematic units and literacy units for mixed IEP groups, mixed grade levels, and mixed ability level groups.The one theme all my students absolutely LOVE is FROGS. Fiction or Non-fiction, kids (and adults) love frogs.

I want to share with you some of my ideas on using frogs in therapy. There are some amazing books, activities, and media that you can use in your therapy this month, and it's all about FROGS.