Freebie Speech and Language Giggles of Fun Packet for New Followers!

Hello!  Shanda and I have developed a fun new document that is full of laughs!!  You will find a variety of speech, articulation, language, and literacy worksheets in this super cute clown themed document!  Guess what?  You can have it for FREE.  Yes, FREE and that's not us clowning around either! This is all we ask for in return...
 1) That you become an email follower of our blog or register at our site by registering via the easy subscribe buttons on the right side of this blog.
2) That you leave a comment after this message to let us know your email address and one thing that you would like to see us offer here on the Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy blog site, and one thing that you already like about it. 

It's as simple as that!  Just become a TSSALT follower, and also leave a comment about what you would like to see us offer and what you see that you already like.  If you do that, then our fantastically fun new Pre-k document will arrive in your email mailbox!  Poof!!  Just like that!!

Thanks so much!!  We look forward to hearing from all of you.  We really hope to obtain some fun and useful new ideas on how to improve our blog site and documents by doing this!  We are always striving to help out our fellow speech language pathologists and other teacher and caregiver followers in the best ways possible!
Sincerely,
Manda & Shanda, SLP's

Note: Please don't forget to leave your email address so that we can have a means to send you the freebie.  If you don't want to leave your address on the comment line then contact us at shandagaunt@gmail.com
Thanks much!!

APRAXIA VILLE App Giveaway and Review!

Today we are reviewing the app called Apraxia Ville.  It was designed by speech-language pathologists and is sold by Smarty Ears.  The app is available in the iTunes store for the price of $21.99 at this time. This fun farm themed app was designed to help children with childhood apraxia of speech and other severe speech-sound disorders. Apraxia Ville provides video modeling of consonants and vowels, word targets by syllable structure (CV, VC & CVC), customization of targets, and progress monitoring.  It has a lot!

After reading about this app, please enter the contest to win a free one via Rafflecopter.  Good Luck!!

How to Play

Apraxia Ville can be used with one student or up to four players at one time.  Multiple students can work on different targets on the same screen!  The players can be imported into the app from the Smarty Ears Therapy Report Center (separate free app for keeping track of student performance on all of Smarty Ears apps), or the therapist can enter the player individually on the home screen.

Apraxia Ville has three therapy screen areas.  One area is the, The Sound Windows (sound production), the second is, The Farm House (single word production), and the third screen area is, The Words Farm (multiple word production). The student can work on varying degrees of verbal productions in each of these above mentioned areas.  The degrees of complexity range from the animated phoneme production in the Sound Windows to the multiple word picture level in The Words Farm.

Please click on the video tutorial below to see exactly how to use this wonderful app. We think that it will be the best way for you to learn about the app if you are a visual learner.  It is descriptive and each aspect of the app is explained clearly.

 

The first activity in this app is the Sound Windows.  To us, it's a bit like presenting colored therapy cards for a direct therapy like session approach. Two barn windows are shown.  One window has a boy and the other window has a girl on it.  The boy avatar produces the consonants while the female avatar produces the vowels. When the avatars are pressed, the student can see and hear the productions of the consonants or vowels. This gives the student the opportunity to then try to produce what they have seen or heard. We found ourselves also providing the visual and verbal models for each child during this activity.We should note that we primarily used this app with our speech students who were under the age of four and several of them benefit from the maximum amount of cues in order for us to elicit correct productions.  

 

This is a picture from the second level, The Farm House.  This area allows one to four students at a time to work on producing their sounds and words.  The photo of the student or the chosen avatar of the student is displayed in the barn windows. The therapist has the ability to set the targeted CV & VC or CVC words by choosing them from a list (explained below a bit more).  Choose between two levels. Level 1 focuses on CV & VC sound combos and Level 2 targets the CVC words. It is after that when the word or sound is shown in the barn doorway and the child is asked to produce it. The productions of each student can be tracked by pressing the green, yellow, and red buttons on the roof of the barn. Recording of the student productions is also possible by pressing the record button at the start of the verbalization.  Recording features are often a favorite function of our students. They love to hear their cute voices being played back on the iPad device.

 

The therapist has the ability to modify the word pool by clicking on "Settings" after choosing a player. At the word pool page just click on the targeted sounds and the cv, vc, cvc words that you would like to have show up during the therapy session.  Choose from 12 consonant groups and 10 vowels.The ability to check on your custom made words also exists at this screen.  

From this screen homework sheets for the student can be accessed. This is a very cool feature of this app!  Just click on homework, select the homework file sound and cv, vc, or cvc word list that you would like to print out for the child too take home. The colorful Apraxia Ville homework sheet will can be sent to your email or printed out on your AirPrint printer. 

Homework sheet example shown here.  Pretty cool, huh?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third activity in the Apraxia Ville app is, The Words Farm and its focus is on practicing sets of words.  Colorful pictures containing the words and phonemes chosen for each student are presented in two different windows located below cute farm animals. Users can hear the words in the group pronounced correctly by pressing on the green play button. They are also able to record and playback their own production for self-monitoring and to receive therapy session data at the end of the session if needed.

 

Pro's List:

+  We're loving the fun farm theme.  We saw the eyes of our little one's just light up when we presented the pictures of the barn and animals. Kids love farm animals!

+ We think that the cv and cvc word lists are terrific and hard to come by.

+ The words that are presented are age appropriate for the little ones and that makes the app functional.

+  We loved the presentation of all of the early speech sounds because they are the sounds that we want to target with the population that we would use this app with.

+ Just the very fact that this app targets apraxia is a plus.  Apraxia apps and therapy materials are hard to find and we are always looking for ways to add to our speech therapy tool box for this area.

+ We think that the video tutorial and helpful links back to Smarty Ears support is helpful and easily obtained.  A great supportive feature for app purchasers!

+ We loved the option of being able to work on the isolated sounds.  This is needed in early therapy phases.

+ We love the homework pages that can be brought up for each student and this cool feature is one of our most favorite things about this app and makes it unique.

+ We of course love the report summaries and the ability to use the Smarty Ears reporting center app to compile information for all of our students using all of the Smarty Ears apps.  Who doesn't love that?!

Con's List:

- We both agreed that the avatar children photos used to say the sounds were too small and that makes it hard for the students to see the productions.  We think that the use of a real faces would be ideal and most helpful. Also, it would be nice if the productions could be seen in a larger context.

- Our little kids kept pushing the pictures and were hoping for more to happen after their word or sound was shown.  This direct style of therapy of just showing pictures and not asking for any other type of interaction looses the interests of our youngest clients quite quickly. Maybe some type of game or reward sticker could be added to this app to make it more motivating for the real little ones?

- The option to be able to choose an end consonant would be terrific.

A quick summary:

Apraxia Ville is a wonderful new resource to use when working with students who have severe phoneme production difficulties. It offers a variety of levels that can be customized for each and every individual student. Students can see how sounds should be produced by pressing a button, they can even watch and record themselves during the therapy practice session, and that part can be quite motivating!  The app provides some valuable cv, vc, and cvc word lists that are hard to come by and some awesome homework sheets that can be quickly printed off at the end of each practice session.  The report that is generated at the end of the session can also be shared with the student's family or put into your therapy file for a great tracking ability of your student's therapy performance.

 

Why not go the App Store. today and download Apraxia Ville for yourself?  We think it would help to put some variety into your therapy sessions!  It would particularly be a helpful addition in the treatment sessions for your students with severe phoneme production difficulties. We all need a wide variety of activities to keep children engaged in therapy!

Would you like to win a FREE APRAXIA VILLE APP???? Just enter via Raffelcopter.  Have fun and good luck!

Sincerely,

Manda & Shanda, SLP's

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Congrats Jana!  You were the winner of the app!  You should be receiving an email today! Manda

We were provided with a copy of this app by Smarty Ears in order to complete this review.

We were not compensated in any other way for the review. Thank you Smarty Ears for giving us this opportunity!

Free Earth Day Pages + An Earth Day Speech, Language & Literacy Packet

First, please download the preview at our TpT and/or TN stores at the links below to find your FREE Earth Day pages and to read the contents of this speech, language, literacy, and concept packet that is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!

Link to Earth Day Packet with freebie pages at Teachers Pay Teachers

Link to Earth Day Packet with freebie pages at Teachers Notebook

We think that you will find a comprehensive packet that can be used for addressing a large variety of expressive and receptive language, literacy, articulation and concept goals! The packet is over 89 pages of original therapy cards, activities and worksheets that will be sure to keep your pre-k to 2nd grade students busy during the week that we celebrate Earth Day, or any other week during the year!

Enjoy this fun and useful packet by using it in your classroom or therapy room today!

Sincerely,

Manda & Shanda, SLP's

Life Cycle Sequencing & Learning for Butterflies, Plants, Frogs & Ladybugs

Try out this new Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy Document during Earth Day week (or any week)! 

We think that you will have a lot of fun if you do!  :)

 

Life Cycles at Teachers Pay Teachers

Life Cycles at Teachers Notebook

This unit will teach your students about four important life cycles!

What and How:

Sequencing of the life cycles would be a fun language activity!  The sequencing tasks can be presented in a lower level (4-step) or higher level (7 to 9-steps). That is why this unit is targeted for both pre-k and primary level and higher students!

Recall of the life cycle facts would be a great receptive language and memory activity.

Repetition of the life cycles would be a fun verbal expression activity.

Reading, writing, memory, and understanding can be practiced with the memory match, fill -in- the- blank to complete sentences worksheets, crossword puzzles, and the drawing of the life cycles worksheets.

The teaching possibilities are endless for this wonderful unit featuring cute and clear clip art of frogs, butterflies, plants and ladybugs!

By the way, we even provide the clip art pictures on their own and in ready made posters for bulletin board and door displays! The pictures would make a wonderful and cute addition to your classrooms during the Earth Day week!

Use this unit for teaching fun and interesting life science information to your students in the classroom or during a therapy session. We hope that your students enjoy it and also learn a lot of new and interesting information about their spring friends!

Have a wonderful spring!

Manda and Shanda

Naming TherAppy Review & Giveaway!!!

 

What would be awesome?

Answer: An app that could be used for working on a variety of goals with both adult clients with aphasia and children with speech and language delays.

What is the name of this app that sounds too good to be true?

Answer: Naming TherAppy

Who developed something so terrific?

Answer: Tactus Therapy Solutions Ltd! Tactus Therapy Solutions Ltd have developed a number of wonderful applications for clients with aphasia, but most of the apps can easily be adapted to also be used with children to advance their speech and language skills. The versatility makes their apps a double whammy of greatness!

Where can I find the Naming TherAppy app?

At the iTunes store for the current price of $24.99. Or, buy it bundled with three other wonderful language apps in the Language TherAppy app.  When you buy the Language TherAppy app you are supplied with three other great apps for working on reading, writing, and comprehension with your clients.  The price of the bundle is $59.99.

What else?

Naming TherAppy is the best-selling word-finding app to help people with aphasia and children with special needs practice important naming and description skills.

 

Easy “How to” Guide:

Main page has four different activity choices.  Choose the one that you would like to use. 

1) Naming Practice        2) Describe             3) Naming Test                   4) Flashcards

Or- Click on the info button to read instructions, developer info, and to see website links.

Or- Click on the settings button to choose between trials, default email address, and to turn the child friendly mode on or off.

 

 NAMING PRACTICE:

When you click on the Naming Practice button, you will first be brought to the categories page. It is here where you are asked to choose the amount of items and categories that you would like to have appear during your naming practice session.

Start naming practice by pressing the right arrow.  A colorful picture of a noun will appear with six buttons below it. This is when you can ask the client to name the picture that arrives on the screen.  If the client correctly names the picture, click the green check in the upper right corner.  If the client had trouble naming the picture, click the red X.  This is how your client’s score is calculated. If you would like the client to receive clues in order to name the picture, then click on one of the cuing buttons.  A written cue can be provided by having the word spelled out, a verbal cue can be provided by having a carrier phrase stated, a phonemic cue can be provided by having the first letter stated, a definition of the word can be given if you click on the book icon, or the whole word can be provided by pressing on the button that contains two quotes.  I love this cuing ability as I have always had to come up with these type of phonemic and content cues on my own in the past during therapy and now this wonderful app just saves me time and makes things much easier! I love the cues that are provided because when a client can name a picture when given just one or two cues, they stay motivated and positive to do more therapy because they increase naming success!

DESCRIBE:

First, choose all or just some of the categories and then advance on to play with the arrow.  A picture of a noun will appear and buttons asking for the client to describe it in different ways will be displayed all around it.  Work on a variety of describing skills by advancing around the picture and pressing on each button that is displayed.  The client could be asked to give type, what sound it starts with, what sound it ends with, where the object can be found, what shape it is, how many beats that are in the word, how big it is, what the word rhymes with, and what the object can do.  So many things!  This is just wonderful!  I can work on SO MANY goals with this besides just naming with this describe section.  The targeted areas range from naming, categorizing, the answering of “who” and "how" questions, phonemic development to receptive language!  I love, love, love!

 

NAMING TEST:

The Naming Test is a wonderful area that I will use now during my evaluations with aphasics or children to gain a better understanding of their overall vocabulary and naming skills. After selecting the targeted categories section, 30 different nouns will appear on the screen (one at a time).  The client is simply asked to name what they see.  The clinician is then able to help keep track of the score by asking to press the green check button for a correct answer or the red arrow button for an incorrect score.  I did this naming test with an aphasic client this past week and I was able to note several of her aphasic characteristics after doing this naming test.  For instance, she demonstrated perseveration, circumlocution and a delayed response time.  I took note of that on my own notepad.  I also jotted down her ability to use gestures in order to help describe the pictures that she could not name.  When I did this test with a child client, I took note of misarticulated sounds in his words and his ability to name or not name certain items in different categories.  Once the test was completed, I chose to have the results emailed to me and I put both reports in their client files.  The breakdown of what was named and in what category looked professional and specific.  I also emailed the child's results to his parents.  They appreciated seeing that!  

FLASHCARDS:

The flashcards are a wonderful tool for using with clients that need some extra naming skill practice.  In this section, scores are not calculated.  A colorful and professionally taken picture of a noun is displayed and the client is asked to name the picture.  The only clues that can be provided are the written word and the naming of the picture so the client can press the picture, hear it, and then repeat it.

CUSTOMIZATION ALSO AVAILABLE!

The Naming TherAppy also gives the therapist the ability to add words, prompts and cues.  A therapist can add their own photos and create a personalized vocabulary list for specific clients.  This a wonderful feature that will help to create more personal and individualized sessions for clients as they can then work on naming family, friends, and objects found in their  own environments.  Super cool, don't you think? :)


SUMMARY:

The Naming TherAppy application from Tactus Therapy Solutions Ltd is simply wonderful!  I love it for its colorful pictures, its ability to provide a variety of cuing techniques to help a client name items, the customization feature that promotes a functional and individualized session, its ability to keep score of a client’s progress and its ability to provide vocabulary understanding information!  It can be used during an assessment session and during therapy in order to target a wide range of goals with my adult and child clients.  It is professionally made and without glitches.  It is a perfect application that is helpful for improving a client’s naming and describing skills and a variety of other skills too.  Is it worth the money?  YES!  I don’t think that you will be disappointed in the purchase.  And I also think that it is possible that you could use the app almost every day with a variety of clients!

WANT TO WIN ONE THESE AWESOME NAMING THERAPPY APPS?

I'm sure you do!  This application would be an amazing application that will help you to have a much more complete language targeted app library. Tactus Therapy Solutions will provide a free Naming TherAppy app to one of our lucky readers.  Please enter via Rafflecopter and GOOD LUCK!!!! 

Sincerely,
Manda Riebel, MA-CCC-SLP
Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy

3-23-13: And the winnter is......
Congratulations Ashely H.!  We will be emailing you the Naming Therappy app FREE code today!!  Thanks so much for becoming a TpT follower of ours too! Manda & Shanda

a Rafflecopter giveaway

20% off March Madness Sale for Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy Products

It’s time for the Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy

MARCH MADNESS SALE!!!!
 

Stop by our stores in order to pick up some wonderful speech & Language materials. 

Everything will be 20% off for the next 3 days (March 10th-12th) at our TPT & TN Stores!

Some products that you may want this month include:

1)   St. Patrick’s Day Social Skills Packet

Social Skills at Teachers Pay Teachers

Social Skills at Teachers Notebook

 

2)  St. Patrick’s Day Super Sized Speech, Language, & Literacy Packet

Super Sized St. Patrick's Day at Teachers Pay Teachers

Super Sized St. Patrick's Day at Teachers Notebook

 

3)  EASTER Pre-K to 2nd Grade Eggstravaganza: Concepts, Speech, & Literacy

 Eggstravaganza at Teachers Pay Teachers

 

Eggstravanganza at Teachers Notebook

 

 

4)  Spring into the /NG/ Sound, A Comprehensive Unit for Helping to Articulate the NG Sound

Spring into /ng/ at Teachers Pay Teachers

Spring into /ng/ at Teachers Notebook

And how about picking up one of these freebies while you are at our store?

Enjoy them!!

1)      FREE Speech & Language Therapy Door Signs and Coloring pages!

Free Posters and coloring sheets at Teachers Pay Teachers

 

Free posters and coloring pages at Teachers Notebook
 

 

2)      FREE Easter /R/ Articulation Egg Hunt Game and Activity

Free Easter Egg R articulation at Teachers Pay Teachers

Free Easter Egg R articulation at Teachers Notebook

Thanks so much for being one of our followers.  You guys are the BEST!!

Sincerely, Manda & Shanda, SLP’s,

 

FREEBIE! Easter Egg Hunt Articulation - /R/ Sound Game & Activity

We hope that you enjoy this Freebie! It is an Easter themed articulation game and interactive activity targeting the R sound!

Go grab it at our Tpt or TN stores using the following links:

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers Notebook

 

Have a lovely Easter!

Manda & Shanda, SLP’s

Spanish Articulation Featuring the S, Ch, F, and H sounds + FREE PAGES

Link to Spanish Articulation packet at Teachers Pay Teachers

Link to Spanish Articulation packet at Teachers Notebook

First, please download the preview at the above links at the TpT and/or TN stores to read the contents of this packet and to receive your free pages!

This is a fun articulation packet featuring Cinco De Mayo clip art. We have provided a variety of activities from the CV to the word level for working on four different sounds:S, CH, F, & H. All of the sounds are presented in Spanish words. The articulation tasks in this packet are all accompanied by a picture and the English translation of the Spanish word. We think this will be a wonderful articulation activity during Cinco de Mayo and for all year round for our wonderful Spanish speaking teacher and student followers.

We hope you find it muy bien!

Gracias!!

Manda & Shanda, SLP's

A GIVEAWAY of our Fiesta of Cinco De Mayo Language, Speech, Concepts & Literacy Packet!!

 

First, please follow the links below to TpT or TN to download the preview and to receive your free pages and to read the content pages for this HUGE packet! We hope you enjoy your free sample pages and that after reading the content pages that you will have a nice clear idea of the trememdous amount of content within this packet.
 

This is a fiesta of activities that are all designed to increase speech, language, literacy and concept understanding with your pre-k to 3rd grade students. We think that it will bring a lot of fun to your classroom or therapy room! It is super comprehensive and should help to cover most of your speech, language, and literacy goals that you have for a large variety of your students.

 

We had a great time putting this together! The Cinco De Mayo clip art is super cute and fun and we hope that you can bring these fun worksheets, therapy cards, and activities into your classroom too!

Best wishes for a happy and festive Cinco De Mayo!

 

Link to Fiesta packet at Teachers Pay Teachers

 

Link to Fiesta packet at Teachers Notebook

 

Do you want to win one of these? If so, please leave a comment and your email address and we will pick a winner at the end of the week from our trusty hat. We LOVE giving away our documents!! Please let us know what treatment area in this muy grande packet looks like the one that you will probably use the most in your classroom or treatment room!
Thanks a bunch and good luck amigos and amigas!!
Manda & Shanda, SLP's
 

 

APP GIVEAWAY AND REVIEW: Categories Learning Center

Hello and thanks for stopping by Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy in order to read this Smarty Ears Categories Learning Center App Review and to enter to win a free one!

Title: Categories Learning Center

Released: February 21, 2012

Seller: Smarty Ears, LLC

Current iTunes price: $9.99

What is Categorizing?

Categorizing is the ability to group objects or ideas into groups with common features or relationships.

Why Work on Categorizing Skills With Children?

1)      Categorization skills can give a child more structure and organization to their day. Once they can categorize, they can better understand how concepts are related and that they can be related in different ways. 

2)      Developing categorization skills can help to increase a child’s thought organizing skills, problem solving skills, memory skills, and processing skills.  Basically, working on categorizing will help to increase overall cognitive and language skills!

App Review:

Categories Learning Center is an app that is designed to increase a child’s ability to identify and to categorize an object by associating common features. It can help a child learn to sort items that belong to a certain category, and it can also help to increase receptive and expressive vocabulary.

Features That I Like!

-          1 to 4 players can play at one time.

-          A variety of categorizing skills can be targeted at different levels.

-          A multi-level expressive language activity is included (name the category aloud).

-          Customizing skill level is available for either 2 or 3 category choices at one time.

-          Progress monitoring is possible.  This can be followed by the report that is given at the end of each session which can be emailed, printed or stored for later use.

Levels:

Level 1: Sorting of objects that are not similar.  Sort pictures into into three labeled bottles.

Level 2: Sorting of similar objects.  Sort 8 pictures into similar categories (field of 2 or 3).

Level 3: Where does it go? Place a picture of an object in the correct category (field of 2 or 3).

Level 4: Category Naming: Provide the correct category name for a group of objects without prompts. 

Level 5: Category Selection: Identify which category name (field of 4) that a group of objects belongs in. Reading skills required for this level.  

Pros for this product:

+ I enjoy the age appropriate kid voices on the recordings.

+ The pictures are clear and colorful.

+ Repetition is provided by pressing the pictures shown.

+ It helps kids to think past general categories.  For example, one category is not just, “animals”, but “reptiles”, and another category is not just, “household items”, but “bathroom items”.

+Cute ducks are colored in on the top of the pages to track progress. It is a great visual aid to see how many questions have been completed and how many are left to be tried.

+The ability to quickly see results at the end of each exercise.

+The ability to share results via air printer or email.

+The ability to change levels from 2 categories to 3 category choices.

+FIVE DIFFERENT EXERCISES TO CHOOSE FROM!! Great bang for the buck!

Want to win a free Categories Learning Center App?

Just leave a comment and your email address telling us what you like about this app or how you would use it in therapy, and you will be entered into a drawing to win one! The winner will be picked at the end of the week!  Best of luck!! And thank you to Smarty Ears for providing this great app for our review today and the free one to one of our lucky followers.  You guys are great!!

Sincerely,
Manda & Shanda, SLP's

Twin Sisters Speech & Language Therapy