#1 Magic Wand!
No speech therapist should be without a magic wand! This
immediately captures my preschoolers' attention as we review our daily schedule
and rules. I use the wand to point to each visual, then push a button which
makes it light up with a fun “whoosh!” sound. As the year progresses my students enjoy taking on the responsibility of being my “magic wand helper,” using it to review our daily
activities (e.g. “First we will say hello” – whoosh!, “Then we will do sound
cards” –whoosh! . . ). I target a ton of speech language objectives during this
time including: increasing sentence length, sequencing, using the future tense,
as well as articulation and fluency.
#2 Hand Stamps
What would I do without my hand stamps?? I picked these up
at Lakeshore and always carry some with me at all times. Not only are hand
stamps great for reinforcing positive behavior, but they can be also be used to
encourage children to request, make a choice, increase sentence length,
build vocabulary, improve articulation, and answer yes/no & where
questions.
This is how we use them: I ask each child
if they would like a stamp, then give them a choice (e.g. Do you
want a butterfly or a ladybug?) encouraging them to respond with a sentence ("I
want a ladybug"). After they have requested I ask where they'd like it and
prompt them to respond with a sentence such as “on my hand.” Even my students
with extremely limited language have picked up this simple phrase because we’ve
made it part of our routine. Some of my older students have fun requesting the
stamps be placed on their fingers, thumb, wrist, elbow, and shoulders, so
there’s the added benefit of increasing vocabulary of body parts as well. I couldn't survive without at least one of these in my back
pocket;)
#3 Mini-boxes
The mini-boxes quickly
became a favorite in my preschool speech sessions last year. These pill boxes can be picked up inexpensively
up at any drug store (or check the dollar bin at Target!). I place a small piece of velcro on the top of each box to
which I attach various small pictures. I generally choose pictures which
correspond to the vocabulary of our current theme, but have some which target
actions and specific phonologic processes. The mini-boxes may be used receptively
(Find the tiger) or expressively (“I want to open the giraffe”). After
selecting the box, my students then push
the button to open the box, not only gaining
practice using both these verbs, but building fine motor skills as well. The
boxes are the perfect size to fit a goldfish cracker, cereal, popcorn, M&M,
or small sticker.
This small file has been perfect for keeping all my icons
organized:
I’ve used Boardmaker to create many of my pictures, but if
you do not have access to this program at your school, I’ve created a
collection of small pictures which are available for free in my store:
Any favorite tools that keep you and your students fired up? Love to hear from you!
Love these ideas!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI happened to chance upon your blog and found it very interesting!
We have recently launched a science app that uses augmented reality to enhance classroom teaching. The app has 3D models for kindergarten to grade 12. I thought you might want to check it out and may be review it on your blog, if possible.
It is a paid app(with a few models free) but in case you are interested in trying it out I will be happy to provide you with a free copy.
The link to the app is:
iPhone/iPad
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/augmenter-augmented-reality/id997354409?ls=1&mt=8
android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.augmented.android
You can also search for the app on the app store as 'Augmenter'.
Do let me know if you would be interested. I am really Looking forward to your response.
happy teaching!
Antara
antara@augmenterapp.com
http://augmenterapp.com/