Back to School!

Hey everyone!

Are you back in school yet? I have been back since July 28 and the kids came back August 4.  It's been busy getting ready and getting to know all my new students.

I am really trying to follow Theme Therapy this year.  I enjoy it and I think the kids do too. Jenn Alcorn over at Crazy Speech World has made my life infinitely easier in this area.  She has organized a Theme Therapy freebie download complete with links to her products.  The download is also editable and you can add in other materials you may already have.  I love it! It will help me stay organized this year. I'm so thankful to her for creating this resource!

For the first week of therapy, I use a few different resources.  The following are what I do in therapy for "Get to Know You" week.

1. Book: Monsters Love School by Mike Austin
2. Back to School Monsters: Get to Know You Activity by moi (FREE)
3. Owl Conversation Starters by Mia McDaniel
4. Silly Puddy Monster toys
5. My First Week in Speech by Nicole Allison (click here for FREEBIE version)

These activities really help me get to know my students and the conversation helps them get to know me! Great ways to establish rapport.

Next up, Baseline Data.  This is so important and something I am implementing with all of my students this year.  Since I am in a new school, I need baseline data on everyone.  But, even if I were in a school I have always been in, I would continue to do baseline data to see where we are after the summer break.  These are the resources I am using to gather this data:

1. Social Language Informal Assessment by Super Power Speech
2. Phonology Progress Monitoring by Natalie Snyders
3. Language Rubrics by The Speech Bubble
4. Curriculum Based Language Assessments by Nicole Allison
5. Listening Comprehension Screenings by  The Speech Bubble

I'm really excited to use these materials.  After Baseline Data comes setting goals.  I want to set relevant objectives for my students and I want them to know WHY they are coming to speech.  Also, I want them to set their own goals for speech.  These are the resources I use to accomplish this:

1. Speech Language Therapy Objective Binder by Queen's Speech

2. Speech Language Therapy Printable Portfolio (black and white) by Queen's Speech

3. How to Graduate Speech by Mia McDaniel (FREE)

I hope you find these resources as useful as I have.  Look for more to come as we start September!