Have you seen that idea all over Pinterest and instagram for "desk pets"?  I saw it several months ago and thought it was such a cute idea but I had two problems trying to make it work in speech. First, my students don't have desks, we all sit at a table together during our sessions.  Second, most teachers had been using the desk pets as a behavior management system and I didn't have a need for a behavior management system since our sessions are so short and we have a system in place at my school.  So, I thought for awhile on how I could adapt this idea for my kids and Practice Pets are the result!   ( Please know that this post contains affiliate links to the erasers and container I bought from amazon) The concept is that the kids will use the pets to practice their speech or language skills by talking to their pet, describing their pet or answering questions about their pet.  You could implement this anytime throughout the year or in conjunction with a "pet&qu...
The last week of school was spent under the sea! For our last theme this year we learned about the ocean and animals that live in the ocean. I see kiddos in pre-K through 5th grade with a variety of communication and developmental delays so I like to have a wide variety of materials.  One of the questions I get asked the most is how do you do all that in one week?  The answer is I don't, we pick and choose activities/books depending on what the kids seem interested in or what best fits the skills they are working on. Since I see the same kids for multiple years I may do one activity one year and then a different one the next so that we are always keeping things interesting. Here's a collection of  books, games, printables and activities we used....
 We are down to our last few weeks of school!  I have two more themes this school year and then we'll be on summer break.  Next week's theme is all about outer space.  I have books, games, toys, printables, boom cards, and more to address our speech and language goals while also incorporating an outer space theme.  I have linked all the pictures to items from my TPT store or Amazon where I purchased them.  Full disclosure: the amazon links are affiliate links and I may earn a commission from clicking on them or purchasing items through the link.   Here's a look at the materials we'll use next week, I hope it gives you some ideas if you are planning an outer space theme with your kids!...
 Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week and I hope you will be showered with appreciation if you are a teacher!  I have a 1st grader so I put together some treats for his teachers this week.  I wanted to give them a little something each day.  All of the gift tags are FREE in my TPT store.  Here are some teacher appreciation gift ideas! (All pictures are linked to download the FREE printable tags)...
Bugs, bugs and more bugs!  I have quite a bit of materials for a bug theme so I was able to stretch it to two weeks. Here's a look at some books, games, crafts and activities we used in therapy with a bug theme! BREAK We had a real sensory bin again this week!  I used leftover paper grass from Easter for the filler.  These Color Bug Catchers are from Learning Resources were great to use for working on a variety of skills.  We named colors, counted, sorted, made requests, named and identified the types of bugs.  They even came with two alligator tweezers to work on a little fine motor skills too.  Of course we read lots of bug books! Butterflies, ants, flies, bees, caterpillars, fireflies and more! Hey, Little Ant is my new favorite for pragmatic skills.  It's about a boy who wants to squish the ant and he is explaining why he shouldn't.  It leaves you hanging too, great for predicting!  The Very Hungry Caterpillar is always a must-have with any bug theme.  This year I used ...
 We had a mini-Earth Day theme during the week of Earth Day that I shared on Instagram but wanted to also share here too!  This theme kind of snuck up on us but it was our first time really getting back into crafts which the kids loved.  Here are some books, games and materials we used in therapy for the week of Earth Day. ...
 I have a few mini-themes going in March after St. Patrick's Day.  Sometimes a theme fits all ages but other times I like to choose different themes for different ages, this week my 1st-5th graders were learning about the weather (and a little about seasons).  My Pre-K-Kindergarteners were learning about colors.  This post is about weather!  Here are a few of the materials we used during language or articulation therapy to incorporate a weather theme. ...
 Let's play Guess What ! This is an easy and fun guessing game that we play during speech therapy in-person or during teletherapy.  I play with my mini-objects from Dinky Doodads of the alphabet tubs from Lakeshore Learning.  Here's how to play!  Step One : Print the Guess What poster or display it on your computer/SmartBoard.  However, you need to share it, share it so your students can see the questions. Review the questions and how to play with your students. These questions are just suggestions, students can ask other questions too. This game works best for middle-upper elementary or students who can read.  Step Two: Choose a mini-object but don't show it to your students.  If you are working on articulation skills choose an object that has the targeted speech sound.  If you are on teletherapy, have it nearby, out of view of the camera.  If you are meeting face-to-face place the object in a box or bag so it can't be seen.  Step Three : Have students take turns aski...
 Welcome to March!  It's looking like I may be headed back to some face-to-face therapy soon and I am excited!  I will still have students remaining virtual too so you'll still see a mix of teletherapy and face-to-face activities.  This month is full of fun, colorful themes.  We'll stick to mainly three themes in March; colors, weather, and St. Patrick's Day. Since rainbows can fit into any of those themes you'll see a lot of them this month if you're following along on Instagram!  This post is a collection of all the St. Patrick's Day fun we'll be having.  We'll more than likely be using this theme for 2-3 weeks for some groups. Check it out! ...
My sweet pre-school kiddos will be moving on to learning about community helpers so I have compiled a mix of books, activities, and toys for therapy.  Since this is usually just a theme I use with my younger students most of the things we use are hands-on or play-based, no printables.  Being virtual we will use the boom cards and some of the items with the document camera but I included the toys too for anyone working face to face....
 It's finally February!  January always feels so long, I am ready to kick off a new month with new materials! Most of the materials we'll use this month center around Valentine's Day but we will also work in some about hibernation and community helper materials too.  This post is a big collection of Valentine's Day materials we'll use!...