Winter is for Snow

Even though the temperature s in the 50's here in Georgia, I am going with a winter/snow theme in my speech room this month. We have been reading books about winter weather and decorating the speech room with snowflakes.

One of my favorite books we have read is Winter is for Snow by Robert Neubecker. It is a great book for discussing feelings and perspective taking. In the story, a little boy is delighted to see that it is snowing outside. His little sister is not as enthusiastic and states that she would rather stay inside and watch television. However, by the end of the story, she is having a blast in the winter weather.

After reading this book to my students, I had them complete a graphic organizer to illustrate how the little girl feels at the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

(The student's paper here says "She was grouchy. She was curious. She was happy. She loves snow")

We also took pictures of the illustrations in the book that show how the little girl is feeling. We used a picture collage app to show how her feelings change throughout the story:

I planned to make paper snowflakes today as well, but ran out of time. We will just have to do that later in the week! 

If we can't have snow outside, at least we can enjoy winter-themed books and paper snowflakes in the speech room.

Home Decorating Peachie Speechie Style

My love for all things speechie is obvious at work. I have larynx shaped sticky notes. I pass out "speech sniffy" stickers to the students. I get really excited about Better Speech and Hearing Month. My enthusiasm for the profession spills over into my home as well. Check out my bathroom wall during the holiday season: 

In case you don't recognize those pictures, they are from the 1986 version of the Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA)!

Yes, I decorate my house in outdated speech-language test pictures.

I transformed the guest bedroom into a playroom for my boys a couple of years ago and didn't have any decorations for the walls. Around the same time, I was cleaning out my classroom at work and came across some old tests. I fell in love with the GFTA pictures. So, I framed them and hung them in the playroom:

While the GFTA-2 has many similar pictures (a rabbit, pencils...), there is something so appealing about the 1986 illustrations. 

The pictures can easily be swapped out for different occasions. Most of the time, these are the pictures in the bathroom:

 Stay tuned for more speechie decorating pictures!

Ugly Sweater Craft

It is ugly sweater season! We are planning a faculty Ugly Sweater Contest next week and I am looking forward to participating. I am also having a little ugly sweater contest in my speech room next week! We will be making sweaters out of felt and stickers and hanging them in the speech room.

I was walking around Michael's over the weekend and noticed that these fantastic Creatology holiday foam stickers were 50% off! So, I bought 2 giant tubs of them for $4/tub and started planning this activity! 

I cut red and green felt (free-hand!) into sweater shapes. It doesn't matter if they look perfect. They are supposed to be ugly anyway! Add foam stickers to the felt and you have yourself an adorable mini ugly sweater! For additional glitz, add sequins, puff balls, glitter, or any other craft item you have sitting around the classroom. 

I also typed up a little "Mad Lib" for the kids to fill out after they finish making their sweater. It is totally goofy and I think it will be a nice activity to do next week when the kids are feeling goofy and ready for the break anyway! The Mad Lib is a freebie in my TPT store if you would like to download it. 

I  was originally planning on waiting to post about this craft until after I had had a chance to do it with all of my students...but I love it so much I wanted to post it right away. A few of my students are doing it this week, but most of them will do it next week. I will post more pics then!

Holiday Freebie Linky Party

After I wrote yesterday's post about holiday crafts, I noticed that Busy Bee Speech is having a Holiday Linky party! 

I have never "linked up" before to any of these linky party things. There is a first time for everything, right?

I have 3 holiday freebies in my TPT store. In fact, I have nothing but freebies in my TPT store! These are the holiday activities I currently have posted:

HOLIDAY M&M CHALLENGE - an articulation activity designed to be used with red and green M&Ms! Challenge your students to say their sound 100 times and earn an M&M for every production!

HOLIDAY SPEECH WREATH - Cute little wreath template. Color it and add berries while working on any learning target!

HOLIDAY LIGHT CHALLENGE - Another 100-productions challenge! No candy (or color ink!) required for this one. Just print and pass out markers and you are good to go!

Happy Holidays!

Getting Crafty for Christmas

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the speech room! I am feeling festive and crafty and have been incorporating as many art projects into my lesson plans as possible.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes

I bought Katie the Candy Cane Fairy at the Scholastic Book Fair last month because I loved the illustrations. I have been reading this book to my students and having them make these simple candy cane ornaments to take home.

All you need is a package of pipe cleaners and red & white beads. That's it! My artic students practiced their sound every time they put a bead on the pipe cleaner. My language students answered comprehension questions in an "around the table" style while they worked on their candy canes.

A few of my observant male students pointed out that there are NO BOYS in this book at all. Not one. Even the dog is wearing a pink flower bow. Interesting.

2. Holiday Speech Wreaths 

This super easy activity is one of my favorites because I hang the wreaths on my door after students have completed them. They make for adorable decorations!

I just have my kids color their wreath and then add a berry (red puff ball, red bead, red circle cut from construction paper, wadded up red tissue paper -- anything!) for each time they say their sound or practice whatever it is they are practicing.

3. Holiday Light Challenge 

My students are loving the articulation challenges I have been creating! Unlike some of my others (the Holiday M&M Challenge for example), this one doesn't require candy. Or color ink. Just print and go! I love how easy it is! And the kids love coloring while they practice their sounds. 

We are enjoying all of these holiday crafts but it still doesn't really feel like Christmas yet because it is so HOT out here in GA! Last Friday I wore a T-shirt to school! I wish it would snow!!! 

Gobbling up this activity!

It is my favorite time of year again! We have been doing Thanksgiving themed activities in the speech room and I am loving it! There are so many cute things on TPT and so many adorable books to read...I don't think I am going to have time to do all of the fall activities I have on my list before it is time to jump to winter/Christmas themed activities!!

Everyone knows I love to snack and today I am snacking on Froot Loops while we decorate our Turkey Talk worksheets and practice our speech sounds.

I actually found a ridiculously huge bag of "Tootie Fruities" at Walmart, so these aren't name brand Froot Loops and the bag is so gigantic that there is no way we will use them all. So, this weekend I plan to add to my Peachie Speechie Articulation Challenge collection with the Froot Loop Challenge! 

We may also have to make cereal necklaces with yarn, practice sorting colors with cereal, and maybe use these Tootie Fruities to make bird/squirrel feeders (would birds even eat this stuff??). I bought way too much cereal. I welcome any other suggestions for what to do with this stuff! 

Candy Corn Challenge!

My students are taking the Candy Corn Challenge this week! I created this activity to use with my articulation groups and it is pretty sweet. 

We have been enjoying a lot of Halloween and fall themed books in speech lately. But sometimes I want to skip the books and games and just do practice drills with my artic groups. In a fun way, of course. So, I am challenging my students to say their target sound 100 times. For each good production, they earn a candy corn to place on their Candy Corn Challenge mat: 

At the end of the session, we see who can eat all 100 of their candy corns the fastest. Just kidding!! I actually pass out ziplock bags and they take the candy home with them. I don't need anyone getting sick from excessive candy corn consumption in the speech room! 

Don't want to load your students up on sugar? No problem! They can still take on the challenge. I made a black and white version so instead of using real candy, you can just have them color a candy corn for each production. 

Fun fact: I actually made the little candy clip art myself this time! Ok, my husband helped a little. I figured candy corn would be a super easy first clip art project for me - how could I possibly mess up a little triangle with a smile, right?!

Download it FREE in my TPT store!