Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful . . .

. . . but inside the speech room things are delightful!

We are taking cues from the weather and talking about all things winter since coming back from Christmas Break at the elementary and intermediate schools.  Last week we discussed favorite winter activities including building snowmen, drinking hot chocolate, sledding, and making snow angels; this week our theme is arctic animals.  The snow falling outside (AGAIN!) has served as the perfect backdrop for some great conversations about winter fun.

I have tried something new with the students the past two weeks where at the start of each session I ask them to take a one question survey.  Last week's question was, "What is your favorite winter activity?" Many of my students had a difficult time narrowing it down to just one favorite (with the exception of one third grader who very quickly announced his favorite winter activity is staying inside where it's warm), and in the end the results looked like this:

Looking at this graph gave students a great opportunity to talk about concepts like "more" and "least", and the survey taking also allowed for great persuasive conversation when students tried to convince each other why their choice was the best one.

This week we are talking about arctic animals including orca whales, seals, polar bears, penguins, narwhals, and snow owls.  Once again I'm asking students to take a survey:  which is their favorite polar animal?  Students are watching videos about different polar animals and we are targeting skills like answering questions following the videos, describing the animals by their critical attributes, and practicing articulation while reading stories about animal habitats.  What will the favorite arctic animal be?  Stay tuned for the final results!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to a brand new year!  We hope you all had a very relaxing holiday season and that 2014 is off to a great start.

After having an extra day added to their winter break, the students at the Early Childhood Center were ready to get back to work in both the classroom and therapy settings.  In speech therapy, our weekly theme included activities focusing on snow and winter.  With freezing cold temperates and snow piles all around, it was the perfect fit.

One activity I used with some of my kiddos was assembling an Olaf snowman, from the Disney movie Frozen.  Using the different snowman pieces which had already been cut out by an adult, students got to assemble their own snowman and then decorate their Olaf.  They were able to practice their speech and language goals, while still keeping busy.  This snowman, along with other great Frozen activities your whole family can enjoy, can be found here, courtesy of the Teachable Mommy blog.

Here is an example of one student's Olaf:

My kiddos with articulation goals also enjoyed a new snowball game from Jenna Rayburn of Speech Room News.  Each student was given a snowball pile, and the pictures on each of the snowballs contained words with their target sounds.  They went through the snowball pile, practicing their sounds while collecting snowballs.  There were also 'wild cards,' where students could either gain or lose a turn.  Whoever had the most snowballs at the end was the winner!

I am looking forward to the second semester of speech therapy and watching the students grow and learn everyday.   If you ever have any questions about your child's speech and language growth, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Margaret