2015 Summer Reading List

working towards my goal of 35 books in 2015

I don't know about you, but one of the things I most like to do in my free time is read. Mysteries, fiction, memoirs, thrillers, love stories, young adult, brain candy...as long as it has interesting characters and a good plot I like it. Here's what I'm hoping to get through this summer.

1. Something Classic: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues.

2. Something Mysterious: The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)

During a summer party at the family farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and sees her mother speak to him. Soon, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy.

3. Something Best-Selling: The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived with her husband; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

4. Something Autobiographical: I Am Malala (Malala Yousafzai)

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head at point-blank range for speaking out for her right to an education. Few expected her to survive. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate. I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

5. Something Mindless for the Beach: Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #3) (Charlaine Harris)

Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own...

6. Something Thrilling: Sphere (Michael Crichton)

A group of American scientists are rushed to a huge vessel that has been discovered resting on the ocean floor in the middle of the South Pacific. What they find defines their imaginations and mocks their attempts at logical explanation. It is a spaceship of phenomenal dimensions, apparently, undamaged by its fall from the sky. And, most startling, it appears to be at least three hundred years old...

7. Something Funny: Dad is Fat (Jim Gaffigan)

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffican expresses all the joys and horrers of life with five young children-- everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to toddlers' communication skills ("they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news"), to the eating habits of four year olds ("there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor").

8. Something Young Adult: Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver)

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12 -- "Cupid Day" -- should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is...until she dies in a terrible accident that night. However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

9. Something Nonfiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Scloot)

Henrietta Lacks is known to present-day scientists for her cells from cervical cancer. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells were taken without her knowledge and still live decades after her death. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave. The dark history of experimentation on African Americans helped lead to the birth of bioethics, and legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

10. Something Work-Related: Out of My Mind (Sharon M. Draper)

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it - somehow. Readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability.

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What's on your summer reading list? Any good book recommendations?

Spoiler Alert! {making predictions}

leveled activities for predicting what will happen next

Do you use Netflix or Hulu Plus to catch up on all your favorite television shows? If you haven't watched the most recent episode of a show and you hear people talking about it, do you plug your ears and hum a tune so you don't hear what happened? That's because we all hate spoilers, or when we hear what happens next. If you're reading a book or movie review and you see the words "Spoiler Alert", you know to look away because someone is going to reveal what happens in the plot.

My newest activity packet is full of spoiler alerts, because it's all about predicting what is going to happen next.

The download includes an anchor chart to help you teach your students what it takes to make logical predictions. I also use this as a learning target when we are practicing making predictions.

Three levels of prediction cards are also included. Level one includes scenarios which have only one plausible outcome.

Level two cards include scenarios which might have more than one outcome, but multiple choice answers are provided to assist students in picking which outcome makes the most sense.

Level three cards also have situations which could have more than one possible outcome, but no prompts are provided.

There is also an open-ended board game to use alongside any of the prediction card sets. Students take turns moving around the game board. If they land on a space labeled "Spoiler Alert!" they get to select a bonus card and follow the instructions on the card they draw.

At the end of the packet there are three writing sheets which are great for homework. Each page presents three movie plots. Students need to write their predictions about what will happen next in the movie.

Click here to view the packet for yourself in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. Enjoy!

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Abby watched all 13 episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix this weekend. Spoiler alert: it's awesome :)

Using Google Read and Write in Speech Therapy

Google Read&Write is a super handy resource to have in your SLP toolbox

Raise your hand if any of your students struggle to read. (Both of my hands are raised.) Now raise your hand if any of your students are motivated by technology. (Both of my hands are raised again!) Do any of your students take great lengths of time to complete writing tasks? (Now my feet are raised too!) Did you know there is a tool available to help all of your students, no matter what their speech/language goals are?

Google Read&Write is an extension for the Chrome browser, which increases students' accessibility to text! There are many useful features within the extension, and I'll be highlighting a few of my favorite features in this post. Mostly, I utilize the extension with students who are working on increasing their vocabulary and reading comprehension skills.

DICTIONARIES:

Dictionary

There are two dictionaries included: a picture dictionary and a talking dictionary. To use the dictionaries, simply highlight a word and click on the icon you'd like to use, and the dictionary will appear in a pop-up window.

How I Use It: For students who are working on building their vocabulary skills, we use the picture dictionary frequently while reading online passages. I just love the pictures that help solidify that word meaning for students. This is also a great feature for English Language Learners.

TEXT-TO-SPEECH:

Text-to-Speech is an excellent tool for many of my students who are struggling readers. Highlight the text you'd like read, then click the Play icon. Hover Speech will also read text aloud, simply hover over the text you'd like to hear instead of highlighting. You can even change the reading speed and choose from 5 different voices in the settings.

How I Use It: I use the text-to-speech tool a lot with students who are working on reading comprehension. They enjoy listening to the reading passage on the computer rather than having me read it to them or taking turns reading. Many of my students also practice using the text-to-speech tool since that is an accommodation they will be using on the upcoming Smarter Balanced assessment. We can practice using text-to-speech ahead of time so that they are comfortable using it when it comes time for the high-stakes testing. We want to make sure they are being assessed on their knowledge, not their ability to maneuver through the online test, right?

HIGHLIGHTS/COLLECT HIGHLIGHTS:

Highlights Icon

This is one of the BEST features. There are four different highlighting colors available. You can also collect the highlights, which will create a new document of all words that have been highlighted throughout the document.

How I Use It: As we are working on vocabulary skills and reading passages, I have students highlight any target vocabulary words or words they are unfamiliar with. When we are finished, we can click the Collect Highlights icon, which generates a new document containing all the words that have been highlighted as well as their definitions and a picture icon. Now my students have their own little dictionary to take home!

Document created when you click "Collect Highlights"

I've also used this feature with articulation students who are working on generalizing their skills into reading aloud and conversation. We will open a reading passage in Google Docs, then use Google Read&Write to highlight all the words in the passage containing their target sound. Saves on printing and paper.

SPEECH-TO-TEXT:

The speech-to-text feature is pretty self-explanatory. Students simply speak into the microphone on the computer and their words appear in the document.

How I Use It: Speech-to-Text is perfect for students who can't type or write very quickly. Some of my kiddos might take a couple minutes to write a complete sentence, and writing an entire paragraph would use up most of our session. With the speech-to-text feature students can get their thoughts down on paper, then review what they said to see if it makes sense. This is also a great tool to use with articulation students to help them monitor their sound errors while reading aloud or having a conversation. Visually seeing how their errors have an effect on their speech can help them become more aware of the changes they need to make and start self-correcting their errors.

MORE FEATURES TO LOVE:

- Word Prediction: If you've clicked this icon, a small pop-up box will predict which word you're trying to type - just like predictions that pop up on cell phones when text messaging.

- Simplify Text: This only works with certain documents, but if you click the icon, it will paraphrase an article to a simpler reading level.

- Fact Finder: If you highlight a word or phrase in your document and click the Fact Finder icon, a new browser tab will open with a Google search of the highlighted term.

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If you haven't yet started using Google Read and Write in your therapy sessions, you need to start yesterday. It's mind-bogglingly useful and has so many great tools. There's always something for me to use with any of my students. It's a useful tool for students with who face language and academic challenges, and it gives students access to technology that might otherwise be too expensive. It only costs $1.50 per student for my district to give access to students. What a deal!

Click here to view the getting started document and see how to install a free 30-day trial onto your computer. (If you talk with your district, they may be interested in purchasing licenses for students and staff, which are pretty inexpensive.)

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Abby is gearing up for next week: we're rolling out the new state testing system and we have three days of parent-teacher conferences. Double whammy!

Nonfiction Text Sources for Grades 3-8

resources for SLPs to find high-interest nonfiction reading passages to use with 3rd-8th grade

Have you noticed a push for using nonfiction and informative texts with our students? Standardized assessments and the Common Core both emphasize familiarity and use of informational texts. As a result, I have been attempting to focus more on using news articles and other informative texts with my students this school year.

Nonfiction passages are also great because they provide ample opportunity for progress monitoring. You can have students use context clues to figure out what vocabulary words mean, predict what will happen next, infer feelings and actions, answer comprehension questions, retell what they learned, paraphrase the article in their own words, identify the main idea by coming up with an alternate headline, and practice articulation targets. Whew, talk about a one-stop shop! Here are my go-to FREE resources for finding high-interest nonfiction reading selections for 3rd-8th grade students.

DOGOnews

This website is great. It has tons of articles about a variety of subjects. When you click on an article, there are many options to help students:

Underneath the headline you can click the "CCSS" button to see how this passage can be used to address critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and writing for various grade levels. The "NAS" button matches the article up with National Academy of Science Standards. The blue grade levels button tells you which students the article is appropriate for. Click the green "word search" button to complete a word search of vocabulary words from the article.

DOGOnews also has wonderful vocabulary tools. A floating list of vocabulary words always stays in view even as you scroll up and down the page. Each vocabulary word within the article is hyperlinked - just click the blue word to see its definition. Love that feature!

Other superb features include comprehension questions and critical thinking questions to complete after reading, and hyperlinks to geography locations mentioned in the article.

Newsela

Newsela is another go-to resource that should be bookmarked on all your computers/tablets. You can register for a free account to access this entire site. A neat thing is that you can set up classes of your students if you'd like. If you do that, you can assign articles to students and you can see their answers to the writing questions. I haven't tried this feature yet since we go over articles together in our therapy sessions.

The absolutely best feature of Newsela is that you can adjust the reading level of each article. Just click on the lexile levels in the blue bar on the right hand side of the article. When you adjust the lexile level, the grade level and word count information below the title of the article will change (see the picture above).

Some articles have writing prompts or quizzes, which can be accessed in the blue pane on the right-hand side of the screen. The quizzes are great because they address main idea, summarizing, recalling details, and defining vocabulary from context!

There are many other useful kid-centered news sites out there, but these two are my favorites and most-used. Others include:

Time for Kids

Go Go News

Here There Everywhere News for Kids

Are you using nonfiction texts with your students? Comment below with your favorite resources!

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Abby read the rock-climbing article 5 times today.

Bookmarks Craft

getting crafty in the speech room with personalized bookmarks

First of all, I want to thank everyone who supported Schoolhouse Talk during the big Teachers Pay Teachers sale this week. You are all such a blessing to me! I have some goodies up my sleeves to thank you in the next couple weeks. It will be to your benefit to follow my shop so you don't miss out on the surprise! It would also probably be a good idea to follow along on Instagram, or click "get notifications" on Facebook to stay in the know! Just sayin... ;)

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Here's what we've been up to in my speech room this week:

Bookmarks!

We have been busy crafting our little hearts out creating personalized bookmarks to take home! Let me tell you, my students have been loving these. I was observing students in a fifth grade room yesterday and saw a student using her bookmark in her silent reading book :) Students were even asking to make more, and one asked if he could make one for his mom <3

Crafts are a messy business!

I have an abundance of paper scraps leftover from the homemade cards I make, so I brought that in to school along with some paper punches, stickers, washi tape, and every crafter's must-have tool - glue gun!

You could easily do this with construction paper, washable markers, and reward stickers that you probably already have in your speech room anyway.

These bookmarks have been a good activity for following directions, encouraging creativity, and practicing carryover of articulation phonemes. I have one student who is working on carryover of those pesky 'r' sounds, and this activity naturally lends itself to lots of practice! All of these words came up over and over while we were working: bookmark, paper, scissor, marker, sticker, star, heart, stripes, ribbon, letter, glitter, reading ...and more! We even wrote some of her trickiest /r/ words on the back of her bookmark.

I love how each one is unique and reflects the personality of the student who created it! Give this activity a try in your speech room.

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Which skills would you target by using this activity?

The Wolf's Chicken Stew {book companion + giveaway}

a book companion to accompany one of my favorite picture books

What's the one food you enjoy more than anything? I used to say creamy pasta, but I am really loving pizza all the time now. I'm pretty sure I could eat it multiple times a week. Every week. In The Wolf's Chicken Stew, the wolf loves to eat more than anything. And one day he gets a hardcore craving for chicken stew. This book is adorable, has a simple plot, and really hits all the story grammar elements really well. Come see what I came up with to help use this book with my students!

A large chunk of this book companion is dedicated to story comprehension. Question cards are included to check comprehension with picture prompts, and another sheet has questions without prompts:

       

I'm a big proponent of boosting story retell skills and identifying story grammar elements. This packet has it all! A rebus story for joint story retell:

Large pictures for sequencing events in the story and for story retell activities:

A mini-book for students to color, take home, and practice telling others the story of The Wolf's Chicken Stew:

Story grammar elements and story retell can also be addressed through these story maps and elements cube:

    

This packet also has lots of vocabulary activities, including a matching game, quick vocab check, compare/contrast graphic organizers, and a vocabulary web:

    

      

Articulation skills are also addressed through a cut-and-paste activity targeting /s/ blends! Students add the /s/ blend pictures into their Silly Stew!

      

There's even more in this packet that isn't pictured here: word webs, writing prompts, and open-ended game board! I'm really excited about the way this packet turned out - I think it's my favorite book companion yet! 

You can enter to win the packet using the rafflecopter below! If you don't want to wait and see if you win, you can take advantage of the Teachers Pay Teachers sale going on now and buy the packet here! Don't forget your promo code: TPT3

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Abby never was much of a soup eater until she married her husband. <3