Entertainment Break!!

Here are my high school dancers performing my routine at a girls basketball game last week:

Does anyone else out there coach a dance team?!  I would love to know how your season is going and maybe see some videos too! :)

Conversation Unit Reflection

So I have mixed feelings about my Conversation Unit....

For those of you who haven't read previous posts, the focus of my first trimester was on conversation, based on MindWing Concepts program/materials.  I used their Facilitating Relationship manual to guide my assessments, lessons, and goals.  

My initial assessments went pretty well.  I followed the assessment guide in the manual as I looked at three specific things with regard to clarification skills- Repairing Receptive Conversational Breakdowns, Repairing Expressive Breakdowns, and Preventing Expressive Breakdowns.  I recorded the conversations on my iPad for later analysis.  To be honest, the beginning of the school year was so busy I didn't really get around to scoring all of my assessments that I took so much time completing :(.  It definitely requires a lot of time to listen to all of the recordings again and keep track of all the different areas.  

For the intervention aspect of it, we learned about Six-Second Stories (a sentence containing who, did what, where, and when) and the kids did really begin to latch on to the concept and loved using the Story Grammar Marker tool to help them.  We learned the 4 SGM icons used to tell a Six Second Story (character, action, setting-where, setting-when) and had a discussion about why we must include all of those things when we begin a conversation with other people.  

To teach the kids how to Repair Receptive Breakdowns, I would tell them a Six Second Story WITHOUT one of the 4 elements. So I might say, "Maria rode her bike to the store" (purposefully leaving out the WHEN).  The kids would fill out their Six Second Story Therapy Sheet (4 boxes labeled Who, Did What, Where, When) and figure out which element I missed.  They would then have to ask me the appropriate question to get that piece of information.  So in my example above they would be expected to ask "WHEN did Maria ride her bike to the store?"  We specifically talked about appropriate questions for each element prior to this activity.  Eventually, I faded out the use of the visual therapy sheet and they had to mentally determine which element I omitted and ask the appropriate question.  Many of the groups got really good at this skill.  It allowed them to Prevent Breakdowns (knowing they had to include all 4 elements) as well as Repairing Receptive Breakdowns.  Those two topics took longer than I had intended, therefore we did not get to Repairing Expressive Breakdowns.  The manual explained for instruction in that area, the SLP would teach the child to read body language of their communication partner to determine confusion and need for clarification.  

I guess what I realized after this unit was that even though many of my kids leave out important information in conversations and have trouble with requesting clarification, this unit would be more beneficial for students with autism, Aspergers, etc.  I would have loved to do this in a social skills group, but unfortunately I do not have one of those this year!

If anything, the kids learned how to write a good sentence, which is something the majority of them didn't previously know how to do!

Oh well, lesson learned.  On to the Narrative/Expository Units! :)

Behavior Management System

When I first started my job in the schools, my plan was to NOT put a behavior management system into place.  I felt that my 3-5 graders should just know how to behave in school and shouldn't get a prize if they do.  Well, after only a few weeks, I realized that was not going to work!  Most of my groups did behave very well during our sessions, however there were a few that did not.  I thought maybe I could just have a system for those particular groups but with this age group that just does not work.  Plus I started shifting my thinking and realizing it wouldn't be so bad give them something to work hard for.

Last year, my district started requiring data walls in every classroom, so I focused that wall on behavior management.  Since we usually only have 30 minutes with each group 2-3X per week, behavior is definitely something that impacts the success of those sessions.  My data wall last year looked like this:

Each student had a snowman/leaf/flower (depending on the season) with their first name on it.  Through out the session I would keep track of how many times I had to redirect each child.  If they never had to be redirected, they put their snowman on a level 3.  If they had to be redirected 1-3 times, they put their snowman on a level 2.  If they had to be redirected more than 3 times, they were down at a level 1.  At the end of each session they would move their snowman to the appropriate level and I would write the level number on the snowman so I could see the their whole behavior history!  If they got 10 3's in a row, they got a prize.

Now the kids absolutely loved this data wall as they could visually see their progress and didn't want to be embarrassed by being one of the few on a level 2 or 1.  HOWEVER, it was a pain in the butt for me!  I was already in enough of a hurry trying to get my entire lesson crammed in 30 minutes so having to keep track of redirections for each kid then go over to the wall at the end of EVERY session and move them to the correct level and write down their number just wasn't efficient.  And trust me, the kids ALWAYS noticed if I forgot to write their number down from the previous session!  It just wasn't working.

So this year I tried something much more simple.  I went and bought a plastic fishbowl from Petco and put it on the welcome table by my door (got the idea from Pinterest of course!).  I bought some letter stickers from Michaels and wrote Peachy Speechy Behavior on it, then jazzed it up with some star stickers. 

At the beginning of each session I tell the kids that they are working for tickets.  I say that in order to get a ticket, they must be good listeners, stay on-task and on-topic, participate in group discussions, and follow directions immediately.  I put the tickets right on the table or carpet where are sitting so they can see them as a reminder.  At the end of the session I simply use my judgement to determine whether or not they deserve a ticket.

Tickets are from the 50/50 Party Store in my town.

Each month I draw 7 names out of the fishbowl and post the winners' names on a piece of paper on the back of my door.  The winners get to pick a prize.  The kids have been loving this system and haven't said a word about my system last year so I think it's a winner!  And since I only do the drawing once per month, I am not spending a ton of money on prizes.

Simple. Manageable. Gets the job done.

"I Can..." Wall

Just thought I would share with you a fun speech display I created on the boring wall outside of my classroom!  I always make sure my kids are reminded of their speech and language goals so they always know why they are with me and what they are working toward.  I decided to have them create "I Can" statements to put a positive spin on their goals and in words they truly understand.  It is nice to have a display outside of my room so teachers and students walking past know what we are working on in here!  During parent/teacher conferences the kids were really excited to show their parents the display and explain their goals. 

Here is what it looks like:

 (Sorry the lighting isn't very good back in my corner of the building!)

IT'S BEEN A MONTH ALREADY?!?!?!

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last post!  Between all the IEPs, lesson planning, parent/teacher conferences, working my other SNF job, high school poms, and my new 4th and 5th grade dance team, I just haven't had the energy to sit down and blog!  I am very sorry about that and I will do my best to catch up within the next week or so :).

Upcoming topics: Speech and Language Curriculum Makeover (yes, I have already made changes-no surprise here!), Thematic Language Units, Goal Rings, Using Edmodo in the S/L Classroom,  Oral Writing, 'I Can' Wall, and possibly others.

In the meantime, please enjoy the Dancing Tigers first performance!.... (fast forward to 45 seconds)

(Our matching t-shirts and pink/black pom poms will be arriving within the next few weeks)

Hopefully these adorable 4th and 5th graders have made up for my lack of blog updates :-D

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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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! :-)

Speech and Language Curriculum

As I mentioned in my first post, the speech and language curriculum I have created for myself is based on the three levels of Discourse; conversation, narration, and exposition.  If you haven't already read the post on MindWing Concept's blog that talks about these three levels and why they are an ideal way to provide intervention for children with language disorders, check it out here.

I purchased the Story Grammar Marker program from MindWing last year so I could work on narrative skills with my kids, but soon realized that narration is only ONE level of discourse and while extremely important, I needed to target the other two levels as well.  I immediately began pleading my case to the Director of Pupil Services in my district on how my program would really benefit from the two additional programs from MindWing,  ThemeMaker (exposition) and Six-Second Stories (conversation).  Without hesitation, she went ahead and ordered them for me!  They arrived at my school a week later, which was the week before school ended.  YAY SUMMER READING MATERIAL!  I actually was THAT excited!  I read the books over and over this summer and put together a tentative curriculum for myself.  I emphasize tentative because we all have reflected on lessons and realized there were things we would have done differently.  I do that everyday!  So, while I do have a week-by-week plan set in place, I know that it will go through many revisions.  This year is my trial run and will hopefully work out the kinks so it can run smoothly in the future!

Click Here for the Speech and Language Curriculum (Please let me know if this link doesn't work!)

Take a look at the curriculum and stay tuned for more posts explaining those units/topics!

Classroom Tour!

Thought a little classroom tour would be a nice way to kick-off this new blog!  If you are a Pinterest addict like myself, you may notice some Pinterest-inspired decor!

This is my bulletin for the new dance/pom team that I am starting at my school for 4th and 5th grade girls!

View from the door

Classroom Expectations

Story Grammar Marker (SGM) Station for my Narrative Unit!

Student Work Wall

Adorable signs! - via Katie King at Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Grade level crates which include group folders and individual notebooks.  Individual binders for portfolios next to crates.

Data Door- ran out of trimmer...MUST FIX ASAP! :-)

Writing Center- via Cara Carroll at the First Grade Parade

Birthday cupcakes on top cabinets. Student file crate on counter. Calendar stuff on right tall cabinets.

Speech letters from Michaels-love them!

Whiteboard Word Wall- via Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files

Welcome table. Currently has my dance team tryout sign-up on there!  Hall Pass hanging above the table.

Behavior fishbowl.  Each student gets a carnival ticket at the end of the session for good behavior, paying attention, working hard, etc.

School rules above the door.

My Journey to Create Structure

I have always been the type of person who loves structure and routine.  Shortly after starting my job as a school speech and language pathologist, I realized this profession doesn't have a whole lot of that!  Students of varying skill levels, cognitive levels, and personalities come waltzing into your room and you quickly have to give a lesson that will meet all of their needs/goals….and in 30 minutes!  An overwhelming task for sure!  It was my goal to figure out how to to structure my school year (create a "curriculum") in a way that made planning easier for me, met all of my students’ goals, and could help them practice their skills in functional contexts.  I didn't like just flying by the seat of my pants and definitely didn't believe that playing a game every single session was going to help my kids utilize their skills in the general education classroom.  Drilling isolated language skills such as phonology, semantics, pragmatics, and syntax/morphology then expecting kids to go into other environments and use those skills is just not realistic all the time.  I learned, through the Story Grammar Marker program, we need not forget about the Discourse level which bridges the gap between language and literacy.  At this discourse level, we can help kids utilize their language skills in functional contexts and hopefully allow for greater carryover into other environments.  Not all kids are ready for the discourse level right off the bat.  Students who are very low cognitively may have to do that drilling of isolated skills for a great length of time before moving to the discourse level, if ever. 

After purchasing the Story Grammar Marker program last year (realizing many of my kids needed to be working on narrative skills) and religiously reading the Mind Wing Concepts blog; I realized that I could structure my school year around their concepts/programs which are also aligned with the Common Core Standards!  This is the blog post that gave me my idea:

http://www.mindwingconcepts.com/_blog/MindWing_Concepts_Blog/post/The_Core_of_the_Common_Core_State_Standards/

Since the elementary school I work at does trimester grading periods, it was easy to divide my year into the three levels of discourse (I call them “units” with my kids) that the blog post talks about (conversation, narration, exposition).  I figured by doing this I could keep all of my language groups on the same page and actually feel a sense of direction! 

Now, this is my first year trying this sort of set up, so I definitely expect many bumps in the road as I go.  This will be a great learning experience for me!  I created this blog so anyone else who loves structure as much as I do can follow my little experiment and decide if maybe this is something they would like to do at some point!  In addition to just keeping you updated on my curriculum, I also plan to post therapy documents I have created/used, activity ideas, classroom decorating ideas, and anything else I want to share!  I hope you find something in this blog that is useful to you!