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.