Game Time in Speech Therapy: "Guess What I Am"

Who likes to have fun?! We do! We do!

When working with children with various types of abilities such as in speech/language therapy and in special education, we are constantly trying to keep it motivating. "Game Time" is a great way to work on MANY speech, language, and social communicaiton/interaction skills. We are NO STRANGER to Game Time!

I came accross this game "Guess What I Am" a few years ago while I was observing a speech therapy session of an SLP that I supervised. It's made by Techno Source and I found my copy at Toys R Us for about $12 (pretty sure I had a sale or coupon deal!) I have also seen it on Amazon.com.

The game comes with cardboard characters with a large whole cut out for a face. All of the characters in this game are either animals or people. The game also comes with tokens and a die. The die is "non-traditional" and has multiple sides with the options "Ask", "Guess", "Lose a Turn", "Reverse", and "Wild".



The game itself is pretty simple. Students choose a cardboard character (without peeking) and place it in front of their face (this makes EVERYONE laugh at how silly everyone looks). Then the student has to ask a variety of quesitons in order to guess what they are. If you choose to follow the game format in the instructions, the die dictates whether you get to "ask" or "guess". The best part about this game is the variety of ways I have found to play it (aside from the way the instructions are written). Afterall, I really like to get the best "bang for my buck" when I'm choosing materials for speech sessions! Here are some ways we play and the goals we target:

Semi-Traditional #1: The traditional way of playing is great for basic asking questions and describing. I change it slightly and only have one student as the "character" at a time, and the others are the "clue givers" (in this version, I omit the use of the die). Many of the students are working on asking questions. Some are working on formulating questions with correct grammar, while some are working on figuring out what to ask so they can gain more information. I also require them to direct their question to a particular student by saying each person's name. This also allows for embedding social skills such as making eye contact, responding to your name, turn taking, showing attentive listening, and responding to questions. I also have the "character" recall and re-tell all of their clues after each question, and I usually require that they ask at least 2 questions before making a guess. Having the students recall each clue really helps their reasoning skills in this game. I found that when students do this, it helps improve their reasoning skills, because otherwise, they continued making guesses with little regard to the information they were given. For some students, it's also helpful to write down their clues or pair them with simple pictures to help their memory. Describing skills are also important and the "clue givers" are expected to use good descriptive vocabulary to provide "clues" to their friends. Since some of my students have a harder time with this than others, I created this tool to help them formulate questions and ideas: Guess What I Am--Visual Tool.

Semi_Traditional #2: In this format of the game, often with older students (2nd grade or higher), we use the die to keep it interesting and add a competetive edge. I also like to require this age group to limit their quesitons to "yes" or "no" type questions. This type of questioning really makes the game more challenging as they have to filter through "possible" descriptors of their characters. With this age group, we talk about how to "funnel" through questions by starting with broad categorizations and then narrowing down the options based on the responses of the "clue givers".

Additional social skills that we target using this game include: following rules and "cheating", identifying thoughts/feelings of peers when rules "are" or "are not" followed, whole body listening, and topic maintenance.

Overall, this is a great game to have on your shelf, and I definitely recommend it! What other ways do you think you would use this game? I'd love to hear your ideas!

~Orlanda

Tips for Organizing Small Classroom Spaces ~ Part Two!

This year I moved out of my spacious, mansion-like classroom....

                  Which looked a little like this...

Ok... maybe not, but in my fond memories I had unlimited storage and didn't have to store things in stacks like the leaning tower of Pisa. 

With our school growing quickly and bursting at the seams I knew it was only a matter of time until I needed to move out of the big classroom and find a "cozier" space that would work. I offered to move into the OT/PT combo room that was currently used as a PTA workroom. 

I spent a lot of time this summer purging and organizing materials and hauling a few storage shelves and cabinets up to school. Thankfully, there is a small alcove outside my room where I was able to fit the shelves and cover them with curtains to mask the materials. 

The classroom itself has an interesting layout. The "bigger" side is about 10x12 feet and adjoins a smaller space with a glass wall. I decided to make the bigger side the academic side and create a Sensory Center in the smaller side.

Because the space is so small, I wanted to be very careful to keep the distraction level low by limiting the amount of "visual noise". I deliberately left as much off the walls in the academic side as I could -- only keeping up the alphabet strip, number strips, expectations poster, the size of the problem visual, and the posters that define expected/unexpected behavior.

Here's what it looks like as you enter the room...

I created the layout by considering "zones". As you enter the room, I created a new behavior reinforcement system on the side of the file cabinet. I love racing, so I decided we would race to the treasure box. The kids cut out and colored race cars, I laminated them, and placed an adhesive magnet on the back.

In the academic portion, I have a small table with the fridge and microwave on top. Under the blue skirt I have hidden the Playmobil School set. We use the school for role plays and problem solving. My desk is to the right with a curtain over my bookshelf to decrease distractions. I strive this year to keep the piles under control on my desk. I can't say I'm being very successful so far!

I didn't take a picture of the school set under the curtain, but if you ever get a donation of money this is so worth purchasing! I totally lucked into getting it.

Because I didn't want to have the walls get too "busy" and because I teach so many different grade levels, I decided not to put up a word wall or other large anchor charts. Instead, I use a wooden paper towel holder on the table and put all the anchor charts in sheet protectors. It allows me to immediately display what we need to view for a lesson without the visual noise. I found the idea on Pinterest - of course! We have also created personal word walls that are stored in folders. This way I can customize for different grade levels and the kids tend to use them more effectively by having them right in front of their view without having to track from their seat to the wall.

The sink area is the only built in area in the classroom. I use the cabinet door to display the size of the problem visual. I added the short curtain on the door because the kids tend to be distracted by the traffic in the hallway. It is still low enough that adults can look in the room.

You can see the glass wall along the computer side of the room. I added white sheer curtains to decrease distractions while still allowing the light in from the one small window.

You can see the white panel curtain that divides the two spaces on the right. I hung a donated curtain panel on a shower curtain rod and created a tie back with ribbon and notebook rings which can be hung on a 3M removable hook. 

I keep the curtain closed to indicate when the area is "closed" or when I have groups with especially distractable students.

Here is the view from the doorway into the Sensory Center.

Yes, the fabric on my homemade Superflex bulletin board is sagging. I need to make time to haul out the tall ladder and fix it. There were no bulletin boards in my rooms, so I created this one from lightweight materials from Home Depot. I'll do a post soon on what to use to make your own bulletin boards.  The shelves hold fine motor activities.

Here is the view of the tent and the Learning Zone area...

Here is the side with gross motor equipment. The red stool hides video games that are used as motivators for specific students. The white wire cart contains puppets and stress balls. The hippity hop sits on top of the unit.

Here is a quick view of the bookshelf, tv for video games, peapod, and trampoline. This is the lone window in the space. It looks out on the kinder playground. You can see my favorite element in my space -- my student created Social Detective. Love him!

So many of us teach in small spaces. I hope some of these ideas get you thinking about how to reduce visual noise in your space. ~ Kelley

Toys to Talk About--The "Hoberman Expanding Sphere" Toy

Hello all! I'm still here! (And, quite frankly, my brain has REALLY been enjoying summer vacation!) I don't know about all of you, but when I shut down my computer after the last day of school, I think I literally switched "work mode" to "sleep mode". I have really been enjoying my time off from school, and my six year old son recently declared, "it's unfair for summer vacation to be shorter than the school year." (I didn't really have a good argument for that one.) So, aside from perusing Pinterest for new and fresh ideas to incorporate into speech therapy, I have made time for another favorite hobby. . . . .THRIFT SHOPPING!

I have always found that shopping "on a dime" has helped me find some great deals on "Toys to Talk About". Now, this has become an interesting topic at home with my kids (who happen to also serve as my own personal guinea pigs). I have lots of fun engaging with them to see just how many words and phrases ONE toy can elicit, it's like a game to them and me!

The first toy I found this summer was on my "wish list" and was inspired by one of the SLPs that I supervised this year during her Clinical Fellowship Year, Katie Ruffin. I observed Katie as she provided therapy to students in middle school and high school. We spent a lot of time brainstorming and developing ideas for many students who had minimal verbal skills and we spent a lot of time focusing on developing "Core Vocabulary" (future post on this important topic is yet to come). It was during an observation of her working with a student that I came across her using the Hoberman Expanding Sphere Toy and I knew that I immediately needed to get my hands on one myself! (I have to admit, I didn't know the exact name of this toy until I researched it for this post, but now I can give credit where it is due!) Here are a few pictures of the toy that I am talking about:

Retracted Sphere



Expanded sphere and Retracted Sphere

Now, I knew where I could go and buy one of these toys online or in stores, but I got lucky when I found mine for only 25 CENTS at a Yard Sale! So, not only was I excited to get my hands on this new toy, but the price made it SUPER EXCITING!

So, let's talk about how this toy became a "Toy to Talk About". Some of the words and phrases that I observed it used for in a speech therapy session included:

• BALL (of course)
• OPEN
• CLOSE
• IN
• OUT
• MY TURN
• YOUR TURN
• THROW
• I THROW
• YOU THROW
• CATCH
• I CATCH
• YOU CATCH
• I WANT
• MINE
• YOURS
• ON
• UNDER

In order to facilitate communication with this toy, a communication board was also used with the student. This board could be used with or without voice output depending on the needs of your students. Also, I observed this in an individual therapy session, but it can certainly be just as engaging and useful for language in a small group therapy session! Here is an example of a communication board that might be used in a session with this toy. Go to this link to grab this board from the Boardmaker Share Website: Core Vocabulary--Go-Talk-20. For a younger student, I would likely cover the unnecessary pictures or cut them out and use them as picture exchange versus pointing.

Here are some photographs of how this ball was used in a therapy session that I observed:


"The bird is IN" the ball."
"Put the bird IN."




"The bird is OUT of the ball."
"Take the bird OUT."

In addition to playing with the ball in the ways pictured here, the SLP and the student also played a game of "catch" and also incorporated other objects to throw the ball into and to take in/out of the ball. While I was researching this toy online, I also came across an image of a much larger version that looked like this:


Boy, wouldn't this be fun!?! The language opportunities would be endless! I envision using it to teach and learn positional words and many other vocabulary words, and this would be great fun for turn taking and building social communication skills too! Guess I'll have to add the "kid size" version to my wish list now!

I hope you find this toy will create "something to talk about" in your classroom! I'd love to hear how you might use this toy with your students! How many more words and phrases can you think of to teach to your students using this toy?

Looking forward to Saturday morning Yard Sales!
~Orlanda

"Keep Your Brain in the Group"

It's January 19 and it's technically Winter. . .but as I write this, I am sitting on my back deck in sunny 70 degree weather while my two young boys dig in the dirt. One of the benefits of being a South Texas girl!

So, anyway.  . .After reading Kelley's post about "Whole Body Listening", I immediately thought of the next concept that we are CONSTATNLY trying to teach our students in new and meaningful ways. . ."Keep Your BRAIN In the Group".  Getting the other body parts to help you listen is a fairly concrete task:  body is still, mouth is closed/quiet, ears are listening (that one is automatic in most cases, right?). . .but the concept of "brain" in the group is one of the trickiest ones that I can get my students to understand, it is just such an abstract concept.  This, too, is an extention of the WBL concepts described in Michelle Garcia Winner's work, and this particular piece is found in her book called Think Social.

This curriculum is defintely our GO TOs for concepts and ideas, I would call it a part of our backbone!

During the days I spent with my previous co-teach partner (and wonderful special education teacher), Angela Cardenas, this visual was developed (originally it was hand-drawn stick figures and thought bubble, I only recently found an image to match it). . . .

This concept is one that is used constantly in my co-taught groups AND most of my other language therapy groups.  The concept of "topic maintenance" is not one that is reserved for any particular group of students, rather it is just a small part of the whole pragmatic communication skillset.  Now, we have expanded topic maintenance to include not only "speaking" on topic but also "thinking" on topic.  Also, I quickly learned that many of my students with language disorders had other needs, and difficulty maintaining attention is one the most common so I needed a quick reference to keep those kids in check!  When teaching this concept, I talk to the students help them to "think about what the speaker is saying" (create a picture in their mind) and "think about their own ideas and/or experiences that are similar to what the speaker is saying" (make connections using schema). 

As we continued to teach this concept, we could not ignore the fact that many brains were often "out" of the group, that was when the "brain check" was born!


When it seems that the group is moving in various indivdual directions (rather than in one group direction) we can stop and say "Brain Check!" and fill in each person's thought bubble.  If we find that someone's thoughts are "off topic", then we can quickly help get them back in the group.  Sometimes, all it takes is a "brain check" moment, and we are all back to thinking and speaking on topic.

I have also created this nifty handout to describe some ways to use these visual tools (some of which are described here), print this and add it to your toolbox if you wish!



Of course, it is just as easy to create these visuals "on the fly" by scribbling it out on a white board or blank piece of paper. . .We still do this, too!  But I also like to keep these posted in my therapy room and start my sessions by getting everyone's brain "IN" the group.

     ~Orlanda

Whole Body Listening

I began brainstorming the list of topics that I'd like to blog about and the one that kept smacking me upside the head is that without Whole Body Listening we've got nuthin'!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had the experience of working with a small group (or even an individual student!) and struggling to keep a lesson from being hijacked by near constant blurting, wiggling, and off topic commentary. Sometimes getting through a thirty minute lesson can be as exhausting as a full workout! Too bad it doesn't burn as many calories...

The concept that saves my sanity on many-a-day is Whole Body Listening. No, this is not a new concept, but it is definitely one of the most valuable in my toolbox. This concept was originally published in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools by Susanne P. Truesdale. I use WBL in different ways depending on the age, maturity, and location of the student. 

In my classroom, I have a visual on the wall to remind students of what is expected when in group.

Sadly, I have no clue whom to credit for this visual. My cooperating teacher shared it with me when I was a student teacher. If you have knowledge of the original source, please tell me in the comments!

My Teaching Assistant and I use the same visual (copied, reduced, and laminated) on our lanyards to cue students within the inclusion classroom to use Whole Body Listening in all school settings. 

Another super cute Whole Body Listening visual for younger students is offered free by first grade teacher, Erica Bohrer from http://www.ericabohrer.blogspot.com. Check her out!

I also regularly use what we call Whole Body Listening Helpers in Social Thinking groups and academic resource groups. This idea was originally based on a technique described in Michelle Garcia Winner's Thinking About You, Thinking About Me. She described using small play-doh balls to represent each group member and "pinching" off a small piece of play-doh when the student's brain or body left the group. I originally tried this, but my students didn't really seem to care whether their play-doh was pinched. I had to up the ante. Hmm....what would they not want to lose? Oh, yeah! Legos! Legos are HIGH value in my world. I tried placing a Lego mini-figure on an index card. The rule was once the mini-figure was on the card then the kids couldn't touch it. As long as they kept their brain and body in the group then the mini-figure stayed. If their brain or body left the group, then I would take the figure off the card. The response was immediate and dramatic! They worked so much harder to stay focused in group and when their Lego guy left the group, they noticed immediately and corrected their behavior. Finally! A visual representation that was meaningful and effective!  

We've since branched out for some of the younger students who are more interested in animals. In the 1st/2nd grade Social Thinking group that Orlanda and I co-teach, we started feeling like we were getting whiplash from taking the WBL helpers off and putting them back on over and over again. We brainstormed again and decided to limit the amount of times the kids could lose their helpers and still be able to get a sticker on their chart at the end of group. Knowing how intensely distracted this particular group can be, we decided that they could have three chances per thirty minute group before they lost their opportunity to earn a sticker. We added three boxes to their index cards and put three animal WBL helpers in the boxes. When they lost a helper, it did not return. If they had at least 1 helper left at the end of group, they could put a sticker on their chart. If they managed to keep all three helpers, then they would earn double stickers. Whoa, buddy! That got their attention! Since putting this in place, we've seen a great increase in on-task behavior during group.

Finally, a couple of good books to use when teaching Whole Body Listening.

I love that several primary teachers at my school have invited me in to teach Whole Body Listening to their entire class. It makes me chuckle when I hear the teachers encourage their students to "Be a Larry!"

So, here's to all the Larry's in our lives! Please share with us how you use Whole Body Listening in your classrooms or treatment groups. We want to hear from you!

~Kelley


Truesdale, S. (1990). Whole-Body Listening: Developing Active Auditory Skills. Language, Speech, and Hearning Services in Schools, 21, 183-184.

Welcome to our blog!

We are excited to collaborate on yet another adventure together! Let us start by introducing ourselves a little and let you (our readers) know why we have put together this blog. We have known each other professionally for the last four years, and in August 2010, our paths crossed again and we were given the opportunity to work side by side. As a special education teacher and a speech/language pathologist, we found ourselves working closely together on many student cases, so we took this chance to increase our Brain Power by treating our students using a collaborative teaching method. This was the beginning of our adventures together as "The Dynamic Duo"!

During our last year and half together we have had many planning sessions and conversations about ideas we have used.  Suddenly, the number of tools in our toolbox doubled and has continued to grow with the help of many other innovative individuals. We also have found that from this, we have had to "tweak" some ideas or have developed some of our own new tools and methods, and now, we want to give something back. So, this blog was born!

Our goal is to offer our readers some ideas and tools for working with a variety of students with various special needs, and we also hope go continue gathering ideas from you to share as well. With the growing needs of our students, we have embraced the idea of being life long learners so that we can continue to offer our students the best outcomes.

Join us on our adventure of discovering new strategies, tools, and techniques that are effective with these fascinating young people we work with daily. We look forward to sharing what we are learning in our own practice and learning from your ideas as well.

~Kelley & Orlanda