Another Amazing App Review!!!

Hi Everyone! I'm back today with another wonderful app from Smarty Ears! I was contacted about reviewing their new app, Syllable Splash. Not only is this app adorable, but it goes perfectly with our Ocean theme we've been working on!

I didn't have any current students with actual "syllable" goals...but several weeks ago, I decided to test several of my Kindergarten and 1st grade groups on their syllable counting abilities....and I was shocked at how many of them were having trouble! So we've been working syllables into our therapy sessions since, and the kids were thrilled about being little guinea pigs for this new app! This app is also great for students working on producing multi-syllablic words in speech!

When you open Syllable Splash, you have several options. In the top left corner, you can learn about the app, watch a video tutorial, contact support, back-up the app to your iTunes account, or restore it from iTunes. If you click the button in the upper right corner, you can see the other amazing apps from Smarty Ears! The buttons in the lower right are for the Syllable Splash game. You can click "Quick Play" to start playing immediately without registering a user, or you can click "Select Player" to enter your students for easy data keeping!

When you click "Select Player," you are taken to a screen where you can enter your students' names and add pictures (real pictures, or select an Avatar). You can play with up to four students at a time. If you click on "Settings" in the upper left corner, you can specify settings according to the students' needs:

You can choose multiple players for each game, but once you choose which players you want and start the game, pictures appear and the corresponding word is said. The students choose between 1, 2, 3, or 4 syllables, found under each picture. Here, you see the picture of a bow, and the word is "tie," so the student would choose "1" syllable. You can have them repeat the word if necessary.

If the student chooses the wrong number, a shark comes out and "eats" that number, so they can't choose it again. Eventually if they keep getting it wrong, only the correct number will remain! You can see the ferocious-looking shark here:

This is an option that I love: For all my readers, you can hit the arrow button on top of the picture and the picture changes to the corresponding word, shown here:

And this is my favorite feature....Many of my students still need to physically "clap" each word out in order to get the correct answer. If you hit the "help" starfish button to the right, an adorable sea turtle appears and claps out the word! You can see him clapping here:

Finally, when the student is finished playing, you simply hit the "done" button in the upper right, and it will take you straight to the student's report card. The report card will show the date, accuracy, and number of attempts for that game. This information can be shared by choosing the "share" button in the upper right. You can see the report card screen here:

I absolutely love this app, but most importantly, my kids adore it too! The graphics are adorable, it is super easy to maneuver, and data collection is a breeze! Syllable Splash is available at iTunes for $9.99. You can see a complete description HERE.

Thank you, Smarty Ears, for another great app! I know I'll be using this one for years to come! Have YOU used Syllable Splash yet?!?!

Whitney :)

The Rainbow Fish!

Hi Everyone!

We're continuing with our Ocean Theme this week in therapy. We're focusing a lot on grammar this week (check back later for a break down of activities we are using, including highlights from awesome FREE activities from other TPT sellers).

One of the books I'm using with my Ocean Theme is Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. I love this book, because there is so much you can do with it. I created a Story Companion Packet for Rainbow Fish, so I wanted to show it to you below!

Includes 38 Vocabulary Cards with Synonyms for matching or flash cards

A past, present, future verb sort page

60 present, past, and future verb cards from the story

18 sequencing cards with pictures for story retell

18 explicit and implicit comprehension questions without picture choices

18 explicit and implicit comprehension questions with picture choices

Friendly vs. Unfriendly Actions Breakdown and Sorting Page

18 Social Scenario Cards

Green, Yellow, Red Word Chart for learning new Vocab

2 story prompts and one blank story prompt

An adaptable speech sound worksheet

And an open-ended board game! Also included, but not shown, are a story elements page for Story Grammar Marker and a Venn Diagram.

You can find this packet in my TPT store HERE!

Hope you guys like what you see! Do you teach The Rainbow Fish? 

Whitney :)

 



Baby Announcement and FREEBIE!!!

Hi Everyone!

For a solid month now I've been meaning to do a blog post on my gender reveal. I honestly kept forgetting about it, and then when I remembered, I decided to tie it into Mother's Day and our Ocean theme we're working on. So.....(drum roll please!!!)

We're having a little girl! And we've named her Halle Jane!

To help celebrate, I created a short FREEBIE this afternoon on mommy and baby names for Ocean Animals. You can download the freebie HERE!

Hope you enjoy the activity. We are soooo excited to meet our little girl in August (and I'll be happy to get my normal energy level back!)

Whitney :)

Under the SEA!

I absolutely LOVE summer time. For years, I lived in GA and went to the beach a few times a year. Now that I live in Florida, I can go anytime I want...and I love it! I devote the last theme/unit of the school year to Oceans/Beach. I think it's a great way to send the kids off into Summer Break. Plus, it's fun! This year, I worked for weeks ahead of time gathering materials and activities to use for the Ocean Unit that specifically target my students' goals. TPT was an amazing resource, as there are TONS of amazing  (and FREE) ocean activities out there made by teachers and other SLPs. Keep checking back over the next few weeks for shout-outs to many of these stores! I didn't find everything I needed though, so I made several activities for my own TPT store to use over the next few weeks. I'm going to highlight some of these new Ocean activities below, and additional activities over the next few weeks as we get to them.

Also...I'm participating in the TPT Teacher's Appreciation Sale! If you see anything you like, make sure you pick it up before midnight on May 8th using the special code to get 28% off!

First up is Beach-Bum Categories: This activity includes 24 cards and 4 blank cards with ocean/beach-related categories. Two answer pages are also included. Some categories included are: ocean animals, birds, sand toys, whales, shells, and many more! Have your students name the categories and then see if they can think of any additional items for the categories.

You can find this HERE

Next, check out Ocean & Beach Themed Idioms: 

This download includes 28 cards with ocean-themed idioms and 2 answer pages with the idioms listed and their explanations. There are also 3 blank cards for adding additional idioms. This activity is great for those students working on explaining idioms and figurative language!

 

You can find this one HERE

 

Next, take a look at Ocean-Themed Artic Cards: This download includes 78 flash cards for working on speech sounds. All words and pictures are related to the ocean/beach. Each card includes the word and corresponding picture. Initial, medial, and final sounds are included for: L and L-blends (24 cards total), S and S-blends (18 cards total), R and R-blends (18 cards total), and SH & CH words combined (18 cards total). These can be printed as an entire packet, or you can just print the cards for the sounds you need.

 

You can find the Artic Cards HERE

I also have an activity on Ocean Plurals:

This free activity includes 30 regular and irregular plural cards for ocean-related vocabulary. Can be used as flashcards or a matching game.

You can find this activity HERE

 

 

There's also an activity for Homonyms: This 18 page homonym activity is full of delightful sea creature graphics! It features two different activities/games that can be used in many different ways. Use the activities for matching, flash cards, or a fishing game. Bright colors and "hooked" cards make the games more fun for your students!

 

You can find this activity HERE 

 

 

I also did a book companion unit on "What Lives in a Shell?" by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld: It includes 10 flash cards with different types of shells for the students to determine which kind of animal lives in each type of shell. It also includes 17 comprehension cards with questions derived directly from the book. This is great for teaching an ocean unit or when discussing animal homes.

 

You can find this activity HERE

 

 

 

And one more for now: Ocean Synonyms & Antonyms: This activity includes 24 synonym cards (12 pairs) and 24 antonym cards (12 pairs) that are related to an ocean/beach theme. Perfect for students working on improving their vocabulary! You can use as flashcards or in a matching game. 

You can find it HERE 

 

 

 

Hope you see something you can use! Do you teach an Ocean/Beach unit during the year?

 

Whitney :)

Celebrating Autism Awareness Month!

Hi Everyone!

We've been SuPeR busy at school this month celebrating April's Autism Awareness! I wanted to take a quick minute and share pictures of some of the ways we've been doing so!

What Is Your Superpower Bulletin Board in the 1st/2nd grade Hallway!

A poster outside one of the Autism classrooms.

This one says "Autism is not contagious" to educate others about what Autism really is!

The front of one of the t-shirts made for staff and families at our school.

Autism Awareness Bulletin Board outside the Speech Rooms!

Puzzle Pieces and Self-Portraits made by the Students!

Puzzle Pieces with facts about Autism are hanging all around our school!

These puzzle piece pins were made for the teachers to wear during April!

The front of the second shirt we had made. All of the students with Autism got these shirts to wear on their Community Based Instruction Trips!

The back of the shirts...Love them!

What are you all doing to celebrate Autism Awareness?

Whitney :)



My recent experience with Spasmodia Dysphonia

This past month, I had the awesome privilege of observing an area of Speech Pathology that I don’t see too much of in the schools: Voice Disorders, or more specifically, Spasmodic Dysphonia. Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD) is a neurological disorder which causes tremors in the vocal folds, causing a breathy vocal quality. There is no known cause for SD and no cure. The most common treatment is Botox injections directly into the vocal folds, which paralyze tremors, removing the breathiness.

My grandmother has had Spasmodic Dysphonia (SD) for over 33 years. She was a voice major in college and sang in every venue possible. When she was around the age of 40, she noticed a hoarseness in her voice that wouldn’t go away.  She went to many doctors who suggested it might be all kinds of things, from allergies, to vocal nodules, to even a psychological disorder brought on by stress. Nothing they suggested ever worked. Over time, her voice became much worse. She currently speaks in a very strained whisper and is unable to sing or variate her pitch much at all. About ten years ago, she read an article in Readers Digest about the author of the comic Dilbert, who had been diagnosed with Spasmodic Dysphonia and received Botox injections for treatment. She did a little research and self-diagnosed herself with SD.  However, their income was very low, and she was too young for Medicare. She knew she couldn’t pay for treatment, so she never tried. Fast forward about eight years, and I was in my senior research class for my Bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology. I decided to do my research project on my grandmother. I recorded her during different times of the day, during different types of weather, and while under the influence of alcohol. I then analyzed the recordings in the voice lab, and determined that the time of day and the weather made no difference with the amount of breaks, tremors, or extended moments of breathiness in her voice.  Interestingly enough; however, the results did indicate that the alcohol made her voice worse. (A direct contrast to current premature research, although there was no research of this nature at the time of my study).

Last spring, she underwent several medical procedures which sent her back to a doctor since the last time she had birthed a child. The doctor recommended that she go to an ENT, which she agreed to do. The local ENT looked at her vocal folds through a scope and determined that there was nothing wrong with her vocal folds. (I was admittedly shocked at this news, as I figured she would have terrible nodules from straining so hard to talk through the years.) The ENT also thought she had SD, and he referred her to the Emory Voice Clinic in Atlanta for additional testing and possibly treatment. I was thrilled when she agreed to go (now that Medicare had kicked in) and that she wanted me to come along!

When we arrived at the Emory Voice Clinic, we were greeted by one of the six SLPs on staff. She had my grandmother do some readings (remember the Rainbow passage, anyone?), variate her pitch, hum, sing, and blow bubbles through a straw into a cup of water while humming. She then conducted a nasoscopy so she could see the vocal folds and the other structures and functions. While waiting on the doctor to come in, she also took my grandmother through some voice therapy exercises. Though my grandmother could not notice any change, the SLP and I noticed a change in her voice quality only after about 5 minutes!

The doctor then arrived to look over the nasocsopy results. He and the SLP explained that while she definitely has Spasmodic Dysphonia, there was something else going on as well. He explained to me that the second problem they spotted was why she never developed any vocal nodules, even though she strained to talk for some many years. Apparently, my grandmother had been subconsciously trying to compensate for the breathiness, and had been squeezing her muscles so tightly above her vocal folds, that the vocal folds were unable to open enough to allow voicing to occur. (This was evident from the scope because her muscles were squeezed so tightly that her false vocal folds were hidden.) So in addition to having SD, the compensation she was doing was cutting off her voice even further. The good news is that she is a prime candidate for Botox injections, and the Dr. and SLP were confident that the Botox injections would make a difference in her voice. They also recommended voice therapy with relaxation techniques as well.  

UPDATE: Two weeks after my grandmother’s consultation visit at the Emory Voice Center, she returned to have her first round of Botox injections. They started her off on the smallest dose the give, explaining that over the next several months, they would determine the exact amount that works best for her. The Dr. and SLP had her do relaxation techniques before receiving the injections. They then explained that for the first couple of weeks after injections, she would be even more breathy than usual. Then her voice would begin to return, and usually around weeks 4-5 the Botox is at its prime. Two weeks had passed since her first injections when I saw her on Easter weekend. I couldn’t believe that I could actually hear a change! Not only was her voice louder and steadier than I had ever heard her, but I could also see how relaxed her throat muscles were because she wasn’t straining so hard. She could also tell a difference and noted how much easier it was for her to talk. She will return back in a few weeks for a follow-up appointment, but we can only hope that this was the start to something great and that her voice quality will only continue to improve!

I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated, but I wanted to share this great experience with everyone! So far, our experience with the Emory Voice Center has been wonderful. Do you know anyone who has Spasmodic Dysphonia?

Whitney :)

SPRINGY Speech!

Hi Everyone!

I cannot tell you how happy I am that Spring is finally here! If it were up to me, we'd have about 2 weeks of "chilly" weather right in time for Christmas, and then it would go back to being "beach" weather again!

We've been busy welcoming Spring into the Speech room the past few weeks with many activities and a great new book. Our Pre-K theme was "Growing and Changing" which fit in perfectly with Spring time. See what we've been up to below!

You can't talk about Growing and Changing without discussing caterpillars! This craft was a great follow-up after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I cut out leaf shapes from cardboard and the students glued torn construction paper on for the leaves. The caterpillars are made from pom-poms!

 

Our butterflies turned out great! The students colored coffee filters and then they were sprayed with water. We then placed clothespins on for the bodies and added pipe-cleaners and puffy-paint eyes. I must add that this project was made so much more beautiful thanks to the help of our wonderful Pre-K teachers. I have to be working with the best 3 Pre-K teachers in the State!

 

 

This is a new book for me this year, and I adore it! I just happened upon it in Barnes and Noble one day, and I'm so thankful I did. It fit in perfectly with our Growing and Changing/Spring Unit! We used it for discussing different animals that hatch from eggs, and it was also wonderful for working on using context clues and pictures to predict what type of animal would hatch from the egg!

 

The Pre-K students watched a You-tube video of baby chicks hatching from their eggs, and then made this craft following reading What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward.

 

After reading What Will Hatch? the Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students made their own eggs and decided which type of animal would hatch out of their egg!

 

 

This particular student decided to have a baby bird hatch from his egg. Other than birds, we had a snake, platypus, octopus, alligator, and even a dinosaur hatch!

 

I have sooo many blog posts to put up over the next week, including more activities, Freebies, and a baby gender announcement! Keep checking back, and as always, I love to hear from you! How are you celebrating Spring in Speech?

 

Whitney :)