Limeades for Learning

I started using DonorsChoose.org this summer as a vehicle for fundraising for materials I could use in the classroom.  I have one project funded already, for a little over $150 worth of materials that I will use with students with autism and others with social language difficulties.

My second project is partially funded, but is eligible for voting as part of an initiative called "Limeades for Learning."  From their website:

Limeades for Learning® is a national initiative of SONIC®, America's Drive-In® to support U.S. public school teachers in local communities. In partnership with DonorsChoose.org, SONIC will provide essential funds needed for learning materials and innovative teaching techniques to inspire creativity and learning in today's youth.

Participation is easy and this year there are three ways to cast your vote at LimeadesforLearning.com

• Anyone with a valid email address can go online and vote for their favorite teacher's project once per day.
• Get two extra votes with any SONIC purchase. Vote codes are provided on the bag sticker.
• Vote online 10 times and get two extra votes. Vote codes will be sent via email.

Repeat the process once a day to help your favorite project get enough votes to be funded!

My project is called " 'R' You Sure that Sounds Right?"  It is for books, a computer game and cards for working on carryover of the "r" speech sounds.  If you click on the picture to the right which says "Vote for Me", it will take you to the page where you can vote for my project, starting Aug. 29.  If you come back and vote every day, you are sure to help ensure my success!  Thanks for caring.

   

Tote 'n Tiles Adjectives

I have a student that uses as few words as possible when speaking and writing.  We wanted him to be more descriptive, but he never seemed to get past the stage where sentences were modeled for him.  I finally dug out a kit that my children had liked in younger days called Tote 'n Tiles by Discovery Toys.  It has a plastic peg board, square and semi-circular pegs, and patterns to copy to make several different designs, all packaged in a neat little kit.  My student was instantly intrigued.

In order to get him to say longer sentences, he had to ask for the pegs he needed for a certain row, including the number, color and shape.  Therefore, after a couple of models and some cueing,  I got longer sentences containing up to three adjectives:
    
     eg.  "I want three, blue, square pegs."

It may be a little contived, but it made sense to him, and me.  I still love being able to use my own children's old toys.

A Bulletin Board Idea

I bought a book several years ago called Fun Folds: Language Learning Through Paper Folding that had ideas for using different origami figures for use in speech therapy.  It has detailed instructions, and many different ideas/activities to use in speech therapy with each group of projects. 

One of the projects was for making tulips, and I liked the idea of using that craft for following directions and for using with articulation therapy or any type of vocabulary development as a reinforcer when the target was correct.  I made a bulletin board, with strips of green paper as blades of grass, a bright blue background, and a colorful row of pink, purple, yellow and orange flowers.  Through the sky, written in tall letters were the words "We All Talk with our Tulips." That play on words was a mini-lesson on one aspect figurative language for my older students.

Valentine's Day Words

My student working on the /r/ sound had to say words that were on candy hearts. When he pronounced "party" like "potty," I had to tease him and say, "Is 'potty' a valentine word?"! He laughed with the rest of us.  I knew he was one that could take a little ribbing.  LOL

Getting the /g/

I work with an eight year old girl who has cerebral palsy.  She has difficulty with motor control, and I had not been able to facilitate the production of /g/ or /k/.  I had recently seen a post on Perkilou's SLP sharing group on Yahoo about a SLP who used a Dum Dum sucker to push the tongue back so that the tongue tip could not go up.  I tried this with the student, and she got a /g/ on the first try.  I was thrilled.

During the next session, I decided to show her teacher when  we got back to the classroom, but the student threw away the sucker even after I told her not to.  We showed the teacher anyway, and she said /g/ without the sucker on the first try.  I tried to have her do it again, but after several attempts, she still said /d/.  At least now I know that she can. =)

Introduction

I was inspired recently to begin a new blog about my experiences with speech therapy.  There are some blogs out there by other SLP's, and I wanted to join and share my experiences.  I hope there will be others interested in joining/following me.  But if not, at least this will be a place to journal and organize my experiences as a semi-veteran ( 23 year) Speech/Language Pathologist.