My post this week will be short, but I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!  It is still hard to believe that we are half way through the school year and that 2014 will soon begin!  It has been such a blessing to work with our students here at Duncan Creek Elementary.  Stay warm and I will see everyone soon!  

    On a speech therapy note, presents are a wonderful way to work on overall language skills.  You can have your child try to predict what the gift is based on the size of the box and if they can shake anything inside of it.  Also, once the gift is opened, have your child describe what the present is, including color, size, and function, plus how they plan to play with it, using their good speech.  They are working on speech and really not even realizing it!

Warmest Regards,

Ms. Hartwell

It is hard to believe that November is already here!  We have continued to focus on the season of Autumn and have now began discussing all things Thanksgiving, including history, vocabulary, and what it means to be "thankful". Some easy language activities that you can incorporate with your children is to go on a nature walk, right in your own neighborhood or even backyard.  You can finds leaves, discuss why they have changed colors and are falling down, as well as focus on the changing temperatures and make predictions on what changes may come next.  For articulation practice, with the change of season, it can be fun to play an "I Spy" game, focused on what is different between Summer and Autumn, having children using their best speech sounds!

App/Technology Highlight:  the Buddy Bear books and software through Linguisystems, is a wonderful way to target specific skills, including making associations, categories, opposites, grammar forms, wh-questions, and problem solving.  There are book sets, CDs, as well as apps through Apple, Google, and Amazon.  Although they can be pricy, the investment is well worth it!

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Hartwell

Autumn has officially begun, and it actually was a bit cooler this week!  I am continuing with an emphasis on Fall themes, through use of vocabulary to build background knowledge and literature to focus on answering wh-questions.  For the older elementary students, we continued the focus on figurative language, through use of Awesome Alliterations.  Within the social skills groups, the focus continues with how to take on another's perspective, inferring, and with how to be self directed problem solvers.  

Game of the Week:  Apples to Apples- wonderful game to focus on vocabulary skills, as well as articulation when having students make the case for why their card should be the winner.  This game is great for family time!

App of the Week:  Articulation Station Pro- targets consonant sound targets at varying levels and through use of flashcards and memory games.  Great way to practice when at home or while on the go!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Go DAWGS!

Ms. Hartwell

    It has been another great week here at the Creek!  I have focused on some wonderful books to target social skills lessons, as well as beginning with Autumn language units and a great game of the week to update you on!  Specific to those students working on social language skills, I incorporated use of the book, My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook, which provides children with a wonderful analogy to how their mouths can "errupt" when they interrupt others and how to help demonstrate better self-control.  How Humans Make Friends, by Loreen Leedy, focuses on an alien visiting Earth and discovering how people establish and build friendships. For the older elementary students, I have also begun discussions on inferencing within social situations, and taking others' perspectives.  
    Although yes, it is still warm outside, the last push of summer here in Georgia, I have begun with some vocabulary review for all things related to Autumn!  This will continue for the rest of September and October.  Initital literature that I like to incorporate, which you can also reinforce with your child, are:

Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
Apples by Gail Gibbons
Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish

Game of the Week:  HeadBanz!  I love this game and have used it for several years.  It is a type of schrades, in which, students are to try and guess a picture that is placed on their heads in a headband.  The children get a kick out of guessing, and you can focus on oral speech skills, vocabulary skills, question skills, and it is an overall good time!

Thank you and hope that everyone has a great weekend!

With regard,

Ms. Hartwell

Still cannot believe that August has already come and gone!  I hope that everyone had a restful Labor Day holiday weekend!  During the final week of August, my focus within our social skills lessons as been on times when we are worried/anxious, as well as with having to interpret facial expressions and emotions in others.  We completed a unit on the book Enemy Pie, in which the main character learns a valuable lesson on how to give others a chance and on building friendships.  We were also able to focus on answering a variety of wh-question forms and with making predictions.  I have continued to focus on using the software programs Buddy Bear and Matt and Molly to target specific social and language skills, including answering questions, sequencing, grammar, reasoning, and problem solving.  For those students working on articulation skills, we completed a target word crossword puzzle using the Mimio Board so that the students could incorporate technology with the lesson.

App of the Week:  Noodle Words through Kwiq Apps- within this app, children can manipulate a set of words and watch them come "alive" on the screen!  Great for vocabulary and grammar.

Game of the Week:  Blurt!- I use this most often with my students working on articulation.  The object is to listen to a clue and blurt out the answer as quickly as you can.  Great to see if they are carrying over speech sounds, as well as a good vocabulary game!

Thanks!

Ms. Hartwell

Wow what a great first few weeks here at Duncan Creek!  It has been wonderful to see so many familiar faces, as well as all our new students.  My targets within speech have been "Getting to Know You", in which the students completed an All About Me Puzzle.  We have also been incorporating specific language targets geared to how we define and answer wh-questions, and literature units focused on Back to School themes.  For those students working on articulation skills, we created a target word list using the site tagxedo.com, the kids are able to pick out cool pictures and have their words throughout the image, very motivating to then bring home and practice!  No homework to post this week, but please encourage your children to be practicing their speech sounds at home, as well as having your child answer questions with you during nightly reading to improve comprehension, as well as focus on being respectful listeners through appropriate eye contact and facing communication partners.  Looking forward to another great year here at The Creek!

Ms. Hartwell