Welcome Back!

Speech at the ECC is back in full swing.  It has been great seeing all of my friends come back to school as well as meeting new friends!  The first few weeks focused on different types of "getting to know you" activities that I think we all enjoyed.  We have moved on now and are working on our first theme: FOOTBALL!!!

We have been working on all kinds of fun activities related to football.  Here are some of the things we have been working on!

In preschool, we have been reading books about football, learning football vocabulary, and sorting by size (big, medium, small).

Coloring footballs by size: big, medium, and small

Our book of the week: Little Football

In Kindergarten and 1st Grade, we are also working on vocabulary.  We are solving riddles such as "It's full of air and mostly brown, but in this sport it isn't round."  The students love figuring out these riddles.  We are also working on not only learning the football vocabulary but also how to describe and expand our definitions of different football vocabulary.

Football is our "word of the week"

Working on our word of the week: describing where it is found, what category it belongs in, drawing a picture, and thinking of sentences that use our word

Learning new football vocabulary such as jersey, cleats, helmet, pads, goal post, and football

This week has been a fun start to our football theme!  More fun is to come as we continue learning about football next week.  Please check back often to see the great activities we are working to improve our speech and language skills!

Cassie

Learning all about transportation at the ECC!

This has been a fun week in speech-language therapy at the ECC.  We have been learning about vehicles and modes of transportation.  The kids love anything that moves so this is right up their alley!   Here are some of the fun activities that we have been doing throughout the week.

We started the week making a book that introduced all different vehicles including car, boat, plane, dump truck, digger, train, van, fire truck, taxi, and hot air balloon.

We also played a train board game where the students answered different types of wh-questions including who, what, where, when, and why.

Towards the end of this week, we started making a train.  We used our describing skills and help from the EET (Expanding Expression Tool) to think of attributes to describe a train.  We will be finishing up our trains next week.  This activity was a big hit with the kindergarten train lovers.

Next week we will be continuing our fun transportation unit and I can't wait to see what the kids think of the activities I have planned for them!

Cassie

Monsters visit the Speech Room!

These last few weeks at the ECC have been fun in speech and language.  We have been going crazy with MONSTERS!  We have been using monsters to practices our size concepts (big/medium/small), follow multi-step directions, make descriptions, expand vocabulary, and answer a variety of question types.  The students seem to love the little monsters, it has made therapy very motivating.  Here are some pictures of our activities!

I look forward to seeing many of you at Parent-Teacher Conferences this week!  Please feel free to contact me at any time!  

Cassie

Football Week in Speech/Language Therapy!

Hi everyone!

This past week was a fun week in speech and language.  We learned all about football!  We used a football and football helmet to follow directions and practice our location concepts such as under, behind, and on top.  We learned all about different football vocabulary words and played games to practice the new words that we had learned.

We also practiced our size concepts: big, medium, and small all while following silly directions.

The kindergarten friends had a great time learning to describe and expand their thoughts and ideas about the vocabulary that they had learned throughout the past two weeks using the EET (Expanding Expression Tool).

The next few weeks we will be focusing on Fall in therapy.  Don't forget to check back to see what we are up to!

Cassie

Welcome Everyone!

I hope you find this blog an exciting place to keep updated on what goes on behind the scenes in speech and occupational therapy here at CCUSD #1!  My name is Margaret Marsaglia, and I am the new speech-language pathologist in the district.  I currently provide speech-language services at the Early Childhood Center and the High School.  Before graduating in May 2013, I completed my education externship at the ECC, so I am excited to be back in Coal City as an employee!

The start of my therapy has been focusing on the theme "Speech is Super!"  Using super heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, and Super Girl, kids are learning to "Be safe, responsible, and respectful!"  They are also learning to be a good friend to one another, and to listen and speak well.

To go along with the Super Hero theme, students had the opportunity to create their own super heroes during the first week of speech therapy.  Everyone got to pick out all of the different parts to build their super heroes, which included suits, capes, masks, and symbols.  Many kids chose to use elements that reminded them of their favorite super heroes, while also choosing parts that represent their own unique personalities (such as picking out a mask that is their favorite color).  I have so many creative super heroes that are now flying around on my walls!

During these first full weeks of school, various Super Hero games have also been played, including articulation and vocabulary board games.  It has been a great way to target speech sounds and language goals while still getting to play a game that is fun and features super heroes.  I have really enjoyed getting to know all the kids, and look forward to many more weeks of fun therapy activities to share!

Margaret

Welcome back friends!  I'm excited to be starting off another school year with the students, staff, and parents of Coal City Unit District #1.  My name is Jen Swanson and I am the occupational therapist for the district.

I have the pleasure of serving the entire district and enjoy the opportunity to work with students in all of our buildings.  Occupational therapy is a profession founded on the belief that people are healthiest when occupied with meaningful activity.  It is my job to help students to achieve functional skills and independence in performing activities within the school setting that help them to be successful in all they do at school.

Here is a little info about me.  I earned my undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Missouri--Columbia and my master's degree from the University of Indianapolis.  I have worked in the district for 10 years now (WOW!), 7 years with Grundy County Special Education Cooperative and the last 3 years as a district employee.  Areas of concentration for professional growth for me include sensory integration, visual impairments, and assistive technology.

I believe in the potential of all of our students no matter their level of ability.  I love supporting them and challenging them to become the best they can possibly be and helping them find joy in their journey.  Please continue to check back on this space for updates about what the students are getting up to in therapy as well as helpful information about supporting their growth.  I'm looking forward to an adventure-filled year!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school everyone!  We are all so excited to be back and to see our students again after a fun and relaxing summer!  My name is Cassie Spicer and I am the Speech-Language Pathologist at the Coal City Early Childhood Center.  This is my 9th year as an SLP and my 4th year with Coal City.  This school year I will be working with students in preschool and in kindergarten.  I look forward to seeing my old friends as well as meeting new friends this year.

I hope you enjoy visiting our blog and catching up on the fun activities in the therapy rooms across the district.  We love our jobs and can't wait to share the fun with you!

Cassie

Welcome to Tales From The Therapy Room!

We are so glad you are here! It is our goal to use this space to update visitors - students, parents, colleagues, and administrators - on the fun and exciting things that happen during speech and occupational therapy sessions within Coal City Unit District 1. We hope you find this blog informative, giving you an insight into what happens behind the closed doors of the therapy room.  There are many amazing things that go on during therapy sessions with the students of Coal City, and we can't wait to share them with you!