"Press Here": an interactive book for therapy

Press Here is a unique and magical interactive book for therapy

My caseload is 90% preschoolers (3-5 years old), and 90% of them have IEP goals addressing following directions and basic concepts. This book by Herve Tullet has been a great resource to have in my toolbox for addressing both of these goals.

It starts out with one yellow dot on the page, with the instructions to "press here". And when they do (and turn the page), they see that their pressing magically changed the dot!

As they progress through the book, following the directions causes more and more changes with the dots.

Those dots get pretty excited and chaotic before the book ends :)

Kid think this is the most magical book! And I love the language opportunities. We practiced following one- and two-step directions, basic concepts including left, right, middle, all, just/only, sizes, patterns, colors, counting, and also cause/effect. Pretty great to have this all wrapped into one book!

Then we did some follow-up activities with some quick dots I cut out of construction paper. We had big, medium, and small dots and we practiced more of those basic concepts, following directions, and prepositions around the therapy room.

"Put the dots in order from smallest to biggest."

"Point to the dot in the middle." or "Point to the medium-sized dot."

"Put the small yellow dot on top of the big blue dot."

"Put the big red dot below the medium yellow dot. Now put the small blue dot on top."

Note: There are also other similar books including Mix it Up and Let's Play! by this same author. I also recommend Tap the Magic Tree and Touch the Brightest Star both by Christie Matheson.

Using Marble Runs in Speech Therapy

Marble runs are versatile, super fun, and can be used to target multiple communication goals.

When I was working in a private pediatric setting in Texas, we had a giant marble maze in one corner of the common therapy area. And the kids went bonkers over it! It was a great reward at the end of our sessions, and almost every kiddo asked to use it each day. As time went on, I began incorporating it into my therapy, because marble runs have plenty of opportunities for speech and language practice!

Since leaving that clinic, I have missed having a marble run in my bag of tricks. Luckily, I acquired a small table-top sized one over spring break, and let me tell you, EVERY student I worked with today wanted to use it! Here's a rundown of the many ways you can use marble runs in your speech therapy sessions.

*Basic Concepts: talk about the colors of the marbles and the maze pieces; the number of marbles being used; count the marbles at the bottom of the maze; discuss the shape of the marbles; construct different shapes out of the maze; talk about which marbles were first and last; are the marbles going fast or slow?

*Emerging Language Skills: Marble mazes are excellent because there is a definite start and a definite end, and it doesn't take long for the marbles to reach the bottom. You will have lots of chances to elicit "ready...set..." and wait for your student to yell "GO!". Marble runs are also the perfect opportunity for students to practice requests: more, please, my turn, more marbles, all gone

*Turn-Taking and Pronouns: Some of my preschoolers have a behavior goal for turn-taking. Marble runs are perfect practice for this. We also get tons of opportunities to practice pronouns: my turn, your turn, we go at the same time, his turn, you do it, etc.

*Prepositions: up, down, around, bottom, top, inside, through, first, last - they're all covered here!

*Following Directions: You can instruct your kiddos how to build the marble maze, or have them practice telling each other directions. Since the maze pieces are different colors and shapes (curved, straight, wheeled, etc), it's perfect for adding describing words to your sentences: "Put the curved red piece on top of the short purple piece."

*Articulation: I have my articulation students practice their target sounds a designated number of times before they can shoot a marble down the run. Or they earn the marbles as we practice and enjoy sending them all down at once :)

Marble runs are a versatile and FUN addition to my speech therapy supplies. I hope you get great use out of them too!

(Note: The small size I have is perfect for me to carry with as I travel between buildings, but the bigger sets include additional exciting pieces such as rotating wheels. If you have the budget and the space, I'd spring for a larger set.)

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Abby assembled her marble maze as soon as she got home from the store, and played with it by herself :)

Winter Mitten Craftivity

these mittens are a quick and cute activity to target multiple goals

This week in my speech sessions we did a winter craftivity! I loved this activity because there was minimal prep time involved, and I could use it to target a lot of different goals. I pre-cut a mitten template from multiple colors of construction paper, and also had probe pictures cut and sorted. Then we went to town crafting!

For my preschool language students working on expanding utterance length, we used carrier phrases as we glued our pictures onto the mitten: "The cat is on the mitten.", "The rocket is on the mitten.", "I want robot please.", etc.

For other students we used location words in relation to other pictures to talk about where we were placing each item: "The present is under the robot." Other students practiced following directions after I instructed them where to place each picture. And with some students we talked about describing words, functions, or categories.

Students with articulation goals were practicing their target sounds in words, phrases, or sentences before gluing on each picture.

When we were done with the pictures, we had fun adding ribbon and glitter! This also provided excellent language opportunities for my kiddos to describe colors, shapes, make requests, and take turns. We had a blast!

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Abby wears grey mittens, but is not impressed with the touch-screen compatible variety. What color are yours?

Fall-ing Into Fantastic Speech

a new activity packet full of fall/autumn-themed speech and language activities

Hey you guys! I am so sorry for being absent from the blog the past couple weeks. I have been so completely busy with work, family, and personal activities that I have had almost no time to write, create, and blog. (As evidenced by the 519 unread blog posts I have to catch up on Bloglovin' right now!)

But I'm back, and finally had time to finish up the fall-themed activity packet I have been working on for over a month now. I hope you enjoy it!

This rather large packet includes all sorts of goodies:

**"Where's the Pumpkin?" book targeting preposition words

**What Does Not Belong cards:

**Roll, Say, and Color pages targeting the following sounds: /sh, ch/; /f, v/; /k, g/; /l/; /s/ blends; /th/

**Jack-o-Lantern Glyph - answer the wh-questions, then follow the key to decorate your own pumpkin!

**Multiple Reinforcement Activities including a word search, leaf/tree cut and paste, open-ended board games, and open-ended apple card game.

...and more! You can get this plump packet for yourself in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! Enjoy 20% off until November 1st!! Since fall is such an awesome season, I'm going to give away two copies of this packet to you, my awesome and faithful readers! Just enter the Rafflecopter below! Good luck and HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaching Prepositions with Pocket Charts

a fun way to practice prepositions and articulation

Here's a fun way I've been practicing preposition words with my students lately - pocket charts!

I like to hang my pocket chart on a cabinet to allow my students the chance to get up and moving. Basically, I put one high-interest picture in the center of the chart, then we practice our preposition words by placing other pictures around the first one.

To practice receptive understanding of prepositions, I give the student a card, and tell them where to put it: "Put the boy above the truck."

Sometimes I add word or picture cues to assist students.

Expressive practice can include an array of pictures. I ask the student, "Where's the ____?" and they tell me using the appropriate preposition word. This is also a great way to practice making complete sentences and expanding length of utterance. My students have fun if I use silly combinations of pictures so they can make goofy sentences!

Bonus! Pocket charts can also be a fun way to incorporate articulation practice in structured sentences (see example with velar phonemes below):

Another fun game to play with pocket charts is Tic-Tac-Toe! Make a 3x3 array of pictures, then students have to say that word with their target sound at the appropriate level before they can cover it up with their X or O. Quick and fun practice!

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Leave a Comment: How will you use your pocket chart?