Take-Off Tasks

As you all know, 30-minute sessions go by extremely fast!  It is really hard to fit in all the teaching and practice in that short amount of time.  In an effort to get an extra few minutes of practice, I created Take-Off Tasks last year.  

As each student walks out the door at the end of the session, they have the option to take a task out of the basket.  The tasks change through out the year.  Right now my tasks are targeting multiple meaning words.

  

Grab Synonyms Take-Off Tasks Here (3 pgs)

Grab Antonyms Take-Off Tasks Here (3 pgs)

The students then can discuss the tasks (quietly!) with their group members on the walk back to their classrooms.  If they bring it back to speech completed correctly, they get an extra carnival ticket which is entered into a drawing (all part of my behavior management system-will do a post about that sometime!). 

The kids all LOVE picking out a Take-Off Task when they leave and I can hear/see them discussing the possible answers with the other kids!  I was surprised that about 98% of my students actually do the Take-Off Tasks even though they are optional.  

Additional ideas for tasks:

• Antonyms
• Synonyms
• Asking Questions (provide the student with an ANSWER to a question and have them think of a question that would get that response)
• Rhyming
• Analogies
• Verb tense
• Definitions
• Cohesive Ties

Happy Tuesday! :-)

Six Strands of Language Lessons and Reflection

After completing the Communication Contracts with my kids, I moved on to teaching them the Six Strands of Language.  This was recommended in the Story Grammar Marker manual to increase the kids' awareness of their speech and language difficulties.  I thought it would be a great way to start the year!  First, I went to Michaels and bought a bunch of brightly colored yarn and each strand was designated a color.  Here is how I color-coded them:

Pragmatics- Orange
Phonology- Lime Green
Semantics- Blue
Syntax/Morphology- Yellow
Discourse- Pink
Metalinguistics- Green

Then, I created my giant bulletin board behind my desk to give kids a constant visual reminder.  Each strand of yarn was spread across the bulletin board and matched up with its name.  

Grab the Six Strands Header Signs Here

Grab the Individual Six Strands Signs Here

To add another visual/tactile tool to my lessons, I also created a mini version of the strands for each kid to utilize during the lessons.  Dry-erase word/sentence strips and markers were also given to the kids just because they love writing on them so much!  I had them write down the name of the current strand we were learning about for additional feedback.  Here are the materials used for the Six Strands lessons:

My goal was to teach 2 strands per 30 minute session, however some ended up taking longer than that.  Just depended on the kids in the group and how well they were grasping the general concept.  

Instead of jumping right into the Pragmatics strand, I dedicated my first session to introducing all of the strands via PowerPoint.  I gave a very brief overview of each one so the kids knew what color each one was and an idea of what it stood for.  We then played a little matching game where they matched the name of the strand to the color and/or definition.  Next time, I won't waste my time with this overall introduction!  It was too quick for them to even understand what each strand stood for and just wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be.  In the future, I will just jump into teaching the Pragmatics strand right away.


Pragmatics Strand Lesson:
Materials:  mini strands, sentence strips, markers, whiteboard, book, iPad
Book used:  Manners by Aliki
Summary of lesson:  Began the lesson by having the kids show me their orange strand and set it out in front of them.  I then told them to write the word PRAGMATICS on their sentence strips.  Once this was done, I gave them a kid-friendly definition of Pragmatics and gave them some real-world examples.  Next, I read parts of the book Manners by Aliki.  I just skipped around to the pages that I liked best.  We discussed good vs. bad pragmatics as I read the book.  I made sure to use the word a lot so they could relate the word to its meaning.  I would ask them "was that good or bad pragmatics?" and they would have to answer "good pragmatics" or "bad pragmatics."  I found this video on YouTube that is PERFECT for teaching pragmatics so we watched it (skipped around to good parts) and discussed certain behaviors throughout. 

Flummox and Friends Video

We ended the 15 minute Pragmatics introduction by making a semantic web on my little whiteboard.  I put the word Pragmatics in the middle and then talked about all those different things we read in the book and saw in the video.

(Please excuse the sloppiness, I was writing upside down!)

Phonology Strand Lesson:

Materials:  mini strands, sentence strips, markers, whiteboard, book
Book Used:  One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Summary of Lesson:  Began the lesson by having the kids show me their Lime Green strand and set it out in front of them.  Then had them write the word PHONOLOGY on their sentence strips.  Provided them with a kid-friendly definition of Phonology and gave them some examples.  This time we actually completed the semantic web first.  Wrote Phonology in the middle and then wrote down the subcategories and gave examples- phonemic awareness (includes rhyming, segmenting, blending etc.), articulation, spelling, and sound-symbol relationship.  We discussed Dr. Seuss and how he always includes rhyming in his books.  I told them to listen for rhyming words as we read the book.  After reading parts of the book, we used the rest of the time to further discuss the different areas of Phonology.

Semantics Strand Lesson:
Materials:  mini strands, sentence strips, markers, whiteboard, book
Book Used:  Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Summary of Lesson:  Began the lesson by having the kids show me their Blue strand and set it out in front of them.  Then had them write the word SEMANTICS on their sentence strips.  Provided them with a kid-friendly definition of the word Semantics and gave them examples.  We talked about figurative language such as "it's raining cats and dogs."  The kids always get a kick out of that one!  We talk about how the words say one thing but it means something else.  I tell them that Amelia Bedelia doesn't have very good Semantics because she doesn't understand what the people are asking her to do.  As we go through the book and see what Amelia does, I ask them what the people REALLY wanted her to do.  The kids just love this book!  We also talk about how Semantics includes the definition of individual words and how we can find those definitions in a dictionary.  Finish the lesson by making the web.

Syntax/Morphology Strand Lesson:
Materials:  mini strands, sentence strips, markers, whiteboard, book
Book Used:  Unfortunately by Remy Charlip
Summary of Lesson:  Began the lesson by having the kids show me their Yellow strand and set it out in front of them.  Then had them write the word SYNTAX & MORPHOLOGY on their sentence strips.  Provided them with a kid-friendly definition of the words and gave them examples.  Made a semantic web prior to reading the book.  Discussed cohesive ties and how we are going to use them to combine sentences while reading the book.  Stopped every few pages and wrote down two simple sentences on my whiteboard (ex. His friend loaned him an airplane.  The motor exploded.).  I had the kids figure out which cohesive tie word would best combine these two sentences to make one big sentence (ex. His friend loaned him an airplane BUT the motor exploded.).  Sometimes I made up sentences that went with the pictures so we could use other cohesive tie words besides 'but' (ex. The boy had to have surgery. He fell on a pitchfork. --------> The boy had to have surgery BECAUSE he fell on a pitchfork.).  After the story we discussed the other subcategories (verb tense and morphology).

Discourse and Metalinguistics Strands:
For these two strands I did not read a book, but instead gave definitions/examples and said we will learn more about these things as the year goes on.  We did phonemic awareness tasks to demonstrate how metalinguistics means manipulating and thinking about our language.  So I would say "tell me SPEECH without the S" and things like that.  These two areas are definitely harder to grasp than the others so I didn't want to waste too much time on them.

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After introducing all the strands, I showed the kids a little key I made which shows which strands they are working on in speech class.  It is basically just a table in Microsoft Word with all the kids names in one column and colored circles corresponding to the strands in the next column.  So "Sally" may have a lime green, blue, and pink circle next to her name indicating she is working on phonology, semantics, and discourse.  I actually put a pink circle next to ALL of their names (except articulation only kids) since that is something everyone needs work on.  The kids were really excited to look up their name and see which strands they are working on now that they know what each one is!  I think this activity really gives kids that level of awareness that is necessary for progress in speech and language.  Now that they know what they are working on, they don't have to answer their teachers or parents with "I don't know" when asked why they are in speech!  The LD teacher at my school came up to me and said one of our 3rd graders told her that he was working on his PRAGMATICS in speech class! He even gave her the definition of Pragmatics!!! YAYY!!  Needless to say, she was VERY impressed :-)

So that is how I introduced the Six Strands of Language! Please let me know if you have any questions or want to share any ideas that would go along well with these lessons!
   

Daily Notes & Data Collection

Just wanted to quickly share how I do my daily notes/data collection.  Last year I changed my data collection methods a million times because I just couldn't figure out the most efficient way to do it!  I felt like everything was disorganized and I had to transfer information to multiple different areas.  Toward the end of last school year I found a document somewhere online (can't think of where for the life of me!) that I was able to alter a little bit to meet my needs.

Click here for Daily Notes

At the top of this document there is space for general information such as name, teacher, minutes, annual review date, re-eligibility year, whether or not they are medicaid, and goals. In the first box I fill in the date and how many minutes I saw them for.  The second box is the Absence Code which is only filled in if they were absent.  Third box is for therapy setting the session was conducted in. The 'PO' stands for Pull Out.  Fourth box is for the general activity we did-can circle as many as you need.  Last box is for data.  Each morning I put a sheet of labels on my clipboard and that is where I put my data for the session.  At the top of each label I put the student's name and the date then write in what we did and any data I collected.  At the end of the day I simply peel off the labels and stick them to the student's daily notes sheet!  It has been super easy and convenient since everything is all in one place!

Homecoming Performance!

Quick break from speech therapy for some halftime entertainment!....

As stated in my About Me section (and reflected in the name of this blog), I am not only a speech therapist but a high school dance coach as well!  This is my second year coaching a wonderful group of 14 girls and I absolutely love it! I have been involved in dance my whole life so I was more than excited to accept this position! 

Here is our halftime performance from Friday night at the homecoming football game:

Enjoy! :-)

The Six Strands of Language-Explained!

Next up on the Curriculum Map is The Six Strands of Language.  It is these six strands which form the base of the Story Grammar Marker: Pragmatics, Phonology, Semantics, Syntax & Morphology, Discourse, and Metalinguistics.   Here is how they are defined by SGM:

• Pragmatics - the social uses of language
• Phonology - the sound system tapped for oral language production, decoding, and spelling.
• Semantics - the meanings of words and their relationship to each other within and across sentence boundaries.
• Syntax & Morphology - the word order and complexity of clausal structures as well as the addition/omission of endings such as -ed and -ing.
• Discourse - the level of oral language or print that is beyond the level of the single sentence.
• Metalinguistics - the acquired process of manipulating language as an object rather than a means of communication.

These strands are then described further and given sub-categories.  I am using the six strands themselves as my annual goals and the sub-categories as guidelines for my short-term objectives.

• Pragmatics
• eye contact
• noise
• space
• body language
• tone of voice
• feedback
• turn taking
• topic maintenance
• comments
• clarification

• Phonology
• spelling
• articulation
• phonemic awareness
• sound symbol relationships

• Semantics
• words
• multiple meanings
• experiential scripts/schema or content
• word relationships within a sentence
• cohesive devices
• figurative language

• Syntax & Morphology
• word order
• cohesive ties
• verb tense
• morphology

• Discourse
• conversation
• narrative
• exposition

• Metalinguistics
• rhyme
• perspective
• self-monitoring
• figurative language
• segmentation
• manipulation

I introduce each of these strands by reading a book or watching a video that demonstrates each one or at least an aspect of it and then facilitate a discussion.  I created these simple little yarn tools to give kids a visual aid to help internalize these concepts.  All I did was assign a color to each of the 6 strands, bought yarn in those colors, cut it up into 6 inch pieces and tied the 6 colors together.  Super simple but really helped the kids associate a color to each of the areas.  I also decorated the big bulletin board behind my desk with these strands and definitions.

This has been just a brief overview of the Six Strands of Language as described in the Story Grammar Marker manual.  I will do a post very soon reflecting on my week introducing all the strands.  There were things that worked very well and things that I definitely would have done differently!  

Communication Contract- EXPLAINED!

As shown on my curriculum map, one of the first things I do with my kids at the beginning of a new school year is complete a Communication Contract.  I did not create this document myself, however cannot think of where I got this for the life of me!  I believe it was somewhere on the Speaking of Speech website.  Prior to this session, I write in their goals (using student-friendly language) in the appropriate areas.

I begin the session by asking the kids if they know why they are in speech class.  More times than not, they have absolutely no clue.  The kids need to know why they are there if you want to see progress and motivation to do well!  I give a brief and student friendly explanation of speech AND language, since many of them only think of it as 'speech' class (along with most teachers).  I take them back to the time they were evaluated and explain how some of the weaknesses that were found on that test are what need to be worked on in speech class in order for them to be successful in the classroom and at home.  

Once this is established, we start talking about the actual contract.  I ask the students if they know what a 'contract' is or if they have ever heard that word before.  We discuss situations where a contract is needed and the reasoning for completing one.  We then continue filling out the contract together while clarifying any difficult vocabulary we come across (e.g. 'negotiate').   The kids take turns sharing some of their goals and then as a group we brainstorm ways to reach those goals.  We just think of general things such as pay attention, work hard, participate, etc. 

The kids really seem to enjoy filling out this contract as they feel some responsibility toward reaching their speech and language goals.  It is also a great way to refresh yourself on all your kids' goals!  It is important to revisit the contract a few times through out the year so they always remember what they are working on.

Click Here for Communication Contract

Hope some of you can use this! :-)