Speech/Language Holiday Hints

This month many of the students in speech and language therapy have enjoyed practicing their target sounds using computer games. The Speech webpage on the Prairieview school website has links to Internet sites that feature games and activities for articulation practice. To get to Mrs. DeYoung’s page on the Internet, go to www.ccsd66.org , click on Prairieview Elementary, then scroll to the bottom and click on SPEECH. Winter break is a great time to try some of the games at home. (You may need to remind your children that if they are practicing talking, they will need to play the games aloud.) You can also find lots of vocabulary activities at www.quia.com/pages/wordowords.html.

Teachers remind us that chorale reading promotes reading fluency. It also is a great tool for speech practice. You can encourage students to use their best speech while singing carols or reciting holiday poems. Your family can have fun reading or singing your holiday favorites together.

Wishing you all
a joyful holiday season &
health and happiness in
2009.

Mrs. Marilyn DeYoung
Speech Language Pathologist
Center Cass Dist.66

Elaborating

Making Your Writing More Interesting

Add Details
Use Describing Words
I wore my coat.
I wore my new red coat.

The girl ran.
The girl ran slowly.

Appeal to the Senses
Mom served brownies.
Mom served warm chewy brownies from the oven.

Tell Where
Tom left.
Tom left for his friend’s house.

Tell When
Tom left for his friend’s house.
Tom left for his friend’s house after dinner.

Identify the Characters
The boys played outside.
Steven and James played outside.

Mrs. Jones sang in the choir.
Our next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, sang in the choir.

Describe Emotions
Susan went to the party.
Susan was thrilled to go to the party.

The firemen searched for the victim.
The firemen searched desperately for the victim.

Explain Cause and Effect
Charlie stayed home.
Charlie stayed home because he was sick.

It was snowing outside, so Charlie stayed home.
Our team had to forfeit the game when Charlie stayed home.

Include Dialogue
The umpire yelled.
The umpire yelled, "Strike three. You’re out!"

Mrs. Most told us to wait.
Mrs. Most told us, "Wait until the bell rings to go outside."

Focus on Learning Strategies

In Speech/language classes we are continuing to read and discuss various passages using the "think aloud" strategy. Students at Lakeview have read articles or web pages that relate to their Science or Social Studies curriculum. The sixth graders compared the lives of people from Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece, while seventh grade students reviewed vocabulary from an article on heredity and genetics. Next week they will draw conclusions and answer essay questions about what they have read. Prairieveiw students have read a modern version of the Three Little Pigs and discussed different characters' points of view. They inferred character traits and found details in the story to support their conclusions.

Third graders are learning to summarize using a "who, what, when, where" strategy. This is also a great strategy for sentence formation. They had fun describing pictures and asking WH questions! Children with articulation goals are focusing on evaluating their own speech while they make up silly sentences or answer questions. They are being encouraged to take responsibility for their communication.

Parent Conferences- Dec. 2-4

Conference notes for Speech/Language will be sent home on Monday Nov. 24. Please return the note by December 1, to schedule an appointment. If you are unavailable to meet in person you may contact Mrs. DeYoung to set up a telephone conference. (630)783-5157 mdeyoung@ccsd66.org

Better Than Google!

www.Internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm

This is a terrific website for finding age appropriate internet activities for students at any grade level (K-12). The site lists links according to various subject areas and learning standards. Mrs. DeYoung uses this page constantly to search for online exercises for her students. It is a wonderful resource when searching for review material or practice activities for any concept or skill. Many of the sites feature interactive quizzes that students can complete online.

Encourage Critical Thinking

Some of Mrs. DeYoung's groups at Lakeview are answering essay questions about a passage they read. They are stating their key idea, giving evidence from the text for their opinion, and explaining the significance or interpreting the evidence. Students are focusing on critical thinking and use graphic organizers to express ideas and plan paragraphs. This is challenging for many students since writing essays involves comprehension, abstract reasoning, expression, organization, and composition.

Groups at Prairieview continue to practice using clear speech while playing games or discussing current events. Fourth and fifth graders talked about the voting process or answered questions about a reading selection. Like the older children, they are learning to give reasons for their answers and explain their ideas.

Happy Halloween

Many of Mrs. DeYoung's students played Spooky Bingo this week to practice their articulation and vocabulary skills. They had fun defining words like jack-o-lantern and masquerade. Some third graders were explaining similarities between common objects to develop expressive reasoning and vocabulary. Other students played articulation baseball or continued discussing stories that they had read last week. Fourth grade children used context clues to infer meanings of unknown words from the passage. Jr. high groups have begun to work on answering essay questions using supporting details from the text. All of the groups focus on improving vocabulary and thinking skills in oral and written language activities.

This Week's Highlights

Speech and language therapy students at Prairieview have been practicing their speech sounds and completing activities to develop vocabulary. Some of the fifth graders made a list of spooky verbs and adjectives to use writing a scary story. Next week many third, fourth, and fifth graders will play Halloween Bingo and monitor their speech while thinking of sentences with Halloween words.

Language therapy students at Lakeview are beginning to use the "Think Aloud" strategy to understand and discuss what they read. They are encouraged to ask questions about the text and increase abstract thinking skills. Next week they will write a response to Casey At The Bat,
which we read this week in group. Students working on articulation skills have been focused on monitoring their speech during conversation and small group activities.

This Week's Strategies

Using Context Cues, Forming Sentences, and Questioning

This week many of the speech and language groups at Prairieview reviewed target vocabulary from a story they had read. They used context cues to infer meaning of unfamiliar verbs and adverbs and then made up their own sentences with the new vocabulary. Mrs. DeYoung gave examples to help students think of original sentences. For homework the children will be thinking of other descriptive words to use to write scary stories.

Students at Lakeview continued to practice the questioning strategy while reading from a novel. They thought of questions to anticipate characters' feelings and predict events. The sixth and seventh graders were encouraged to think about themes in the story as well as the plot. An author may use a narrative to teach a lesson while telling the story.

This Week's Strategy

Asking Questions



This week Mrs. DeYoung's language groups have focused on asking questions while they read to check comprehension. We read a ghost story and used the questioning strategy to predict outcomes and learn meanings of unfamiliar words. Students practicing articulation skills read orally to self-monitor their speech. Many of the students received a word search to review new vocabulary from the story. Next week we will review the vocabulary and brainstorm other descriptive words to write scary sentences.

This Week's Language Strategy

Paraphrasing

This week students in language groups have been practicing paraphrasing as a strategy to check comprehension. When we paraphrase we retell the story or information in our own words. It is a great way to make sure that we remember what we read or understand directions. When students aren't able to recall information, they can reread or ask the teacher to repeat what was said. Speech/language groups have been challenged to paraphrase silly directions or explain social studies text in their own words. Try it at home!

Oral Motor Activities for Tongue Movement

1. Bite on a toothbrush as you move your tongue to different places in the mouth. Do not drop the toothbrush.
2. Practice licking popsicles or pretzel sticks. Move your tongue, not the stick!
3. Put peanut butter on the roof of the mouth and try to lick it off
4. Put a small piece of food (cheerio, raisin, etc) on the tongue. Hold it there for 5-10 seconds. Lift the item to the hard palate (roof of the mouth).
5. Click your tongue 5 times.
6. Say “kkk” “ggg” a few times. Watch the back of the tongue go up.
7. Brush the sides of the tongue with a toothbrush. Then raise your tongue so the sides of your tongue are spread along the top teeth. Slide your tongue back and forth against the teeth.
   

Communication Strategies

Listen
Take Turns Talking
Look at the other person
Stay on topic
Use body language...... and facial epressions

To Share Your Message!.

Responding to RTI

This is an exciting year in District 66 as we begin to adapt our programs to meet federal guidelines and transition to the Response to Intervention model of instruction. It is especially exciting for me as a speech language pathologist (SLP) to reflect on how to best serve students and incorporate RTI in the speech and language therapy program at Praireview and Lakeview.
The intent of RTI is to benefit all children who struggle with reading and provide appropriate proven interventions that will increase their school performance. As a SLP, my job is to use my knowledge of speech and language development, and a language-based, diagnostic perspective to facilitate learning. Since reading is a language-based skill, it is logical that I become involved in the RTI process.
Therefore, my goal for this year is to make a conscious effort to utilize the RTI model while continuing to provide quality services . Since research supports curriculum-based assessment and intervention, I will thoughtfully consider the classroom context when evaluating students' speech and language skills. I have adjusted my schedule to allow more time to go into the classrooms to work with students. Intervention will emphasize evidence-based language strategies that apply directly to content students are learning in school. Finally, the focus of the speech and language program will begin to shift to include prevention of handicaps rather than just remediation.
Our students enrolled in speech and language therapy for 2008-2009 will continue to receive services outlined in their IEP's. Children with receptive, expressive, and pragmatic language goals will be taught strategies during their pull-out therapy sessions. Students with articulation goals will continue to attend speech groups. In addition, I will be going into the language arts classes of many students who are performing below state standards to assist in improving target skills in the classroom setting. Anyone referred for an initial speech evaluation will be invited to participate in a 9-12 week diagnostic group to provide short-term speech intervention and assess the need for further direct instruction.
For more information please contact Marilyn DeYoung at (630)783-5157 or email mdeyoung@ccsd66.org.

Speech Therapy Groups

It has been a busy week. Mrs. DeYoung has begun to see children who have IEP goals for speech and language therapy services. Students should bring notes home from Mrs. DeYoung telling when they are scheduled for speech class. All speech therapy students are required to bring their binders to Speech. They will receive a binder pocket to store their speech work. As part of RTI (Response to Intervention), Mrs. DeYoung will also be going into many classrooms throughout the week to assist students with language difficulties. Parents who have questions about speech and language therapy services may contact Mrs. DeYoung at (630)783-5157 or email her at mdeyoung@ccsd66.org.

Welcome Back!

Speech Screening
Group speech screening is being conducted with Prairieview students who are new to District 66. The purpose of screening is to identify those students who may need further speech evaluation. Parents will be notified if a speech and language case study evaluation is recommended. Other children attending Prairieview may be screened at the request of parents or classroom teachers. To request a speech and oral language screening, or gain further information about speech-language therapy services at Prairieview, please contact Mrs. Marilyn DeYoung, Speech-Language Pathologist, at (630) 783-5157. You may e-mail her at mdeyoung@ccsd66.org.

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. This annual event raises awareness about communication disorders and the professionals who can help.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. To learn more about ASHA and communication disorders and services, go to asha.org.

Articulation Activities To Do At Home

*Create a "challenge list" with your child. This list should contain 10 words with your child’s sound in them that he wants to work on. The words can be anything that he feels motivated to say better, (friend’s names, a favorite TV show or book, words that he says frequently, etc.) Have your child say them alone at first and then in sentences as he improves.

*Play a board game or card game with your child. She should say a word with her sound in it for each turn she takes. You can say words on your turn as well to provide a good model. The game is just something fun to do while you’re working on articulation. (Again, you can move to sentences as your child’s articulation improves.)

*Play "Concentration" and think of words with your child’s sound in them. This is an old game in which you slap your knees, then clap, then snap right fingers, and then left fingers in a steady rhythm. You pick a category (words with your child’s sound in them), and think of something in that category by the time you’ve snapped your left fingers. Each player does the movements in the same rhythm.

*While driving in the car, have a contest to see who can find the most things that have your child’s sound in them. As you find them, have your child put them in a sentence. You can also look for words on road signs, billboards, etc.

*Have your child read aloud to you for 10-15 minutes a day and remind her to think about her sound. You can have her look at the page before she reads it and underline the words with her sound in them. Increase the reading time as her articulation improves. This activity is for children whose articulation has improved beyond the sentence level.

*Designate a 10-15 minute period during the day when you ask your child to concentrate on making his sound while he tells you about his day, a favorite movie, book, etc. You can increase this time as your child improves. This activity is for children who need work at the conversational level.