Kangaroo Island Photo Classifying {App Review & GIVEAWAY}

I just love Super Duper's products and apps!  I am so excited to share with you my review of Kangaroo Island Photo Classifying.  This is a super adorable app perfect for elementary aged students/kids.  Students can learn to name and classify 336 items into 15 different categories using the cutest games!  I can bet your students will love "touring" the island all while exploring and learning! 

As seen above, there are SIX different games/activities included with this app.  By clicking on the "lighthouse" on the left hand side of the screen, you can view the various categories in this app.

By clicking on the "tiki" man on the right hand side of the screen, you are able to add/edit players, view session dates/times and all players scores. You can also change settings for players such as viewing pictures and/or text, hearing audio for categories/item names, and selecting specific categories.  

When you click on the "i" located on the home page, you will be able to read/view all the directions for using this app.  It is extremely informative and a good idea to review before using the app!  

Keep reading to learn all about the SIX activities included in this app.

Class-A-Roo – Help Sally the Kangaroo find her friends by choosing the correct item that goes with the category and putting it in her pouch.

 As seen above, the student will click and drag the correct item to match the category (listed by the kangaroo).   Once several correct matches have been made, one of the kangaroo's friends will appear!  (as seen below).

Picking Parrot – Sort all the items into the correct categories and then feed Paul the Parrot.

 This awesome parrot will explain how the activity will work.  My students just LOVE him.  Next, 5 different blocks with various categories will appear.  Students must drag the items at the top of the screen into the correct category!  Once a few rounds have been completed, Paul the Parrot will be ready to be fed!

 Students will click and drag the food item into Paul the Parrots mouth.  He's hungry and will certainly be happy when he is rewarded by your students!

Skink Ball – Roll the ball down the lane that matches the correct category. Earn a ticket and choose a prize after each game.

 Students will decide which category (lane) the item (ball) needs to be rolled down.  This activity happens to be many of my students favorite!  As soon as they were introduced to this activity, many of them said, "I play this game in the arcade down the shore!".  This brings "ski-ball" right to your iPad!!

Turtle River – Put each turtle on the island with the correct category.  The turtles will move across the center of the screen.  Your students must move quickly and drag the turtles to the correct islands (categories).  

Koala Canvas – Help Cole the Koala identify the correct items in a category while painting a picture.

Students will choose a color palette and picture (as seen above and below). 

 Next, they must choose a paint color (category) on the right hand side of the screen and then tap the corresponding items.  For example, if a student chooses "pink" first (transportation), then he/she must choose all items that fit into the transportation category.  Once all of the items have been correctly placed in their categories, the entire picture will be beautifully painted!  Cole the Koala will appear and praise your students for doing such a great job!

Seal Search – Find Cindy the Seal by choosing the item that does not belong from a group of four.   As seen below, once the correct item that does not belong is chosen, a piece of the puzzle will disappear and reveal part of the hidden picture.

You can find out more about the Kangaroo Island Photo Classifying app by heading over to Super Duper Inc's website.  This app is only $12.99 and is available on the iTunes app store.  I hope you all enjoyed this review!!  Be sure to enter below for a chance to win your very own copy of this amazing app!!

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Summer Fun Language Activity!

Have you started your summer already or at least getting ready to?  I hope you can use this activity with your current students, ESY students, children, and more!  The summer graphics are super adorable!!   It is used to target social skills, details, attributes, grammar, sequencing, listening, and more! 

Included: 

36 colored game cards and 36 black and white homework/activity sheets.

How to Play: 

Print and laminate all colored game cards. Cut apart cards and place face down on table or playing area. Students take turns drawing cards and reading the scenario. Students will talk about the given scenario/situation using attributes, complete sentences, grammar, details, sequencing, and more! Each student will use a dry erase marker to cross off a summer icon each time a detail is given. Have the students provide at least three details for each given scenario. The student to collect the most cards is the winner! The included homework/activity sheets allow students to practice the above skills for carryover. Each summer icon should be colored in each time a detail is given.

I hope you all enjoy!!!  Head over to my TpT store to grab this activity now!

Live Love Speech

Easy Summer Ideas for Speech/Language Development!!

I'm not sure about all of you, but my favorite time of year is definitely summer!!  I love the warm weather, beach trips, NO school, and being able to RELAX.  Many of you have probably already began your summer break.  I have 9 days left (but who's counting?!).  I wanted to share some quick, easy, and FREE (or very affordable) summer activities to help with continued speech and language development.  These ideas are perfect for SLPs, teachers, and parents to use with their children and/or students.

Read Books and Ask Questions

There are so many adorable books out there!  You can visit your local library or bookstore and browse for some "summer" themed books.  The picture below is of three new books I picked up that I absolutely LOVE.  The pictures are fantastic and they offer many opportunities for asking "wh" questions, developing vocabulary, finding rhyming words, and more!  While you are reading with your child or student, start asking questions!  It is a great way to improve reading comprehension, vocabulary, answering questions, basic concepts, inferencing, and more.

Treasure Hunt
This is super fun for kids and can be used for multiple goals/objectives.  All you need are objects/cards to target the student's goals and a flashlight!  Hide the objects/cards around your classroom, house, yard, etc. and have your student/child start looking around.  If it is a dark room, the student/child can use the flashlight to go on his/her treasure hunt.  Once they have collected all the items, lay them all out and start a discussion.  Ask questions like, "Where did you find this one?" or "How can you use this?"  This activity is great for articulation kiddos.  Just hide some articulation cards and once they are all found, students practice the words or put them in sentences.

Start a journal or create a scrapbook
This is a great project that can be worked on all throughout the summer.  Use pictures, magazine clippings, craft supplies, and more.  Set aside a day or time each week for your child or students to write down a few sentences about activities they have done or will be doing in the near future.  This ends up being a great keepsake!  Be sure to date the pages!

Cooking/Making Snacks
Preparing ingredients and following recipes are great ways to target language and articulation goals.  Get out some cook books or look up recipes on the internet that are perfect for summer time.  Fruit salad, tacos, and pasta salad are just some easy and yummy recipes to try.  One of my personal favorites is making "dirt"!  If you haven't heard of or made this before, it is definitely something you need to try.  Below you will see a recipe with pictures I created for my students to follow.

Sidewalk Chalk and Bubbles
What kid doesn't love being outside in the summer especially when the weather is gorgeous?!  See how creative your child/student can get with sidewalk chalk.  Have him/her draw pictures and describe them to you or try playing Pictionary.  Take turns drawing pictures and guessing.  Be sure to have a bucket of water close by to "erase" pictures in between turns.  It should dry quickly when the sun is out!  I have an entire post on bubbles that you can check out HERE.

Visit somewhere new
Take your students or children on an adventure!  Visit a local park, zoo, aquarium, lake, etc.  There are tons of opportunities to practice speech sounds and language skills when discovering new places.

Some other quick and easy ideas include:  Downloading free apps, practice word lists (can be done anywhere!), play board games, and set up "play" dates!  I hope you enjoyed reading these ideas and can use some this summer!  Feel free to leave comments about your very own summer plans!

Kristine
Live Love Speech

Social Skills Chipper Chat by Super Duper {Review & GIVEAWAY}

How many of you own or use products from Super Duper?!  Personally, I have been using them for years! This company absolutely has the best speech and language materials around.  

Do you have students that are currently working on manners?  What about students who need extra help with building and maintaining peer relationships? These topics and more are all part of social skills and pragmatics.  If you need a new game to help build skills in that area then keep reading to hear all about Social Skills Chipper Chat.  This game is perfect for elementary aged students who need help with discussing and understanding appropriate ways to deal with social situations.  I love that is common core aligned as well!!

Here is what you will receive in this game:

144 Social Scenes

12 Social "Theme" Boards  (Each "theme" has 5 identical boards)

Activity Book with CD-Rom

Magnetic Wand and Chips

The 144 Social Scenes (12 per theme) include colorful and fun pictures that your students are sure to love.  The themes include:

1. Polly Parrot Politeness

2. Race for Responsibility

3. Peer Relation-SHIPS

4. Camp Compliance

5. Assertion Asteroids

6. Staying Focused

7. Operation Cooperation

8. Building Body Language

9. Problem Solving Solution

10. Self-Management Soccer

11. Ice Cream Social Rituals

12. Negotiation Nations

How to play:

First, decide which area you would like your students to work on and choose a board (s) accordingly.  Lay the card on the table for your students to view.  In the example below, I chose one of the social scenes from "Peer Relation-SHIPS".  

Next the SLP or teacher will grab the activity book and read the story that coordinates with the chosen social scene (as seen below).  There are two levels for each story.  Level A is a short, simple story that describes the basic actions in the scene.  This level is perfect your younger students.  I used this level for many of my K-2 students.  Level B is a longer story that goes into more detail and expands on the facts.  This level is perfect for older students with larger attention spans.

Each story includes relevant follow-up questions:

Why Question

Related Question

Reasoning/Predicting Question

Personal Discussion

Each student in the group (up to 5 students) will receive a social theme board.  The border color of the game board matches the scene cards.  The group will listen to the story and get ready to answer the questions.  Each time a question is answered correctly, he/she rolls the dice and collects that number of chips for his/her board.

Now comes probably one of my students favorite part of the entire game, using the "magic wand"!  This game has those awesome little magnetic chips making it fun and easy to clean up with the wand.

Be sure to head over to Super Duper's website to purchase this must-have game.  It is currently on sale for $38.97 which is an AMAZING deal!!!  AND because the people over at Super Duper are extremely generous (and AWESOME), one lucky winner will win their very own Social Skills Chipper Chat!!  Be sure to enter below!  Enjoy everyone!!

Kristine 

Live Love Speech

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Summer Fun Book Activities and Crafts!!

I'm sure many of you are either finished with the school year or very close to finishing up.  If you need a few more "summer" activities then keep reading.  These simple activities that go perfectly with "summer" themed books can also be used during ESY.  

First up is The Rainbow Fish craft which is perfect for preschool and elementary aged students.  I read the book to my groups of students and asked various "wh" questions.  Next, we got started with our craft.

Here is what you need: 

 The Rainbow Fish book, "fish" printable/coloring page, glue, pieces of tissue paper in various colors (pink, purple, blue), and pieces of tin foil.     

   

How to put it together:

Each student gets a "fish".  I printed mine on blue paper to cut down on time that would be spent coloring.  I had the students partner up and gave each pair a large handful of different colored tissue paper.  After all the colorful pieces were glued on, I handed out a few shiny tinfoil pieces to each student to glue on.  They really look beautiful and so similar to the "rainbow fish".

I'm sure you have heard of or read the book, There was an old lady who swallowed a shell! by Lucille Colandro.  There are so many activities and printables that go with this book.  Last school year I used some of the printables from the Beach Pack by 3 Dinosaurs.com.  You can head over to the website by clicking here.  One of the activities I used with my students was finding what is different.  We also worked on sorting and categorization which is included in the pack.  Finally, I used the sequencing cards after we finished reading the story. 

This year I will also be using the awesome pack from Jenn @ CrazySpeechWorld.  She has the cutest "Old Lady" packs which are filled with so many different activities.  I really like the printable game board that way I can vary the goals for each group.  You can head over to her TpT store to grab this pack.

 Lastly, this adorable "edible craft" is sure to be a hit!!  Ten Friendly Fish by Debbie Tarbett is an adorable book that your preschoolers and younger elementary school students are sure to love.  I came up with this fun and yummy craft to go with the book.

Here is what you need:

Paper plates, vanilla frosting/icing, blue food coloring, vanilla and/or chocolate goldfish, and popsicle sticks. 

How to put it together:

 I stirred in a few drops of the blue food coloring to the vanilla frosting container.  The whole idea is to make it look like the blue "sea".  Each student gets a small paper plate with some of the blue frosting and a popsicle stick.  I told them to spread the icing all over the plate and that it would act as the glue for the fish.  Next, every student got 10 chocolate or vanilla "fish" to place on top of their blue sea.  I think they came out adorable!!  Finally, everyone got to eat their "ten friendly fish"!!

I hope you all enjoy and are able to use some of these fun activities and crafts.

Kristine

Live Love Speech

Describe It by Pocket SLP {App Review & GIVEAWAY}

Have you heard of Pocket SLP?!  If not, you MUST go check out their awesome speech and language apps!  I have been using several of them with my elementary students and they are a huge hit!  Do you have students working to improve their describing skills?  Then keep reading to hear all about an exciting app called Describe It.  Be sure to enter the Giveaway for your very own copy at the end of this post.

Describe It gives students audio clues in seven important areas for describing which include:  taste, touch, function, sight, hearing, smell, and category.  First things first, you will choose to "Study" or play one of the games, "Pass It" or "Guess It".  

"Study" Section

You will choose from one of the 7 categories: Animals, household, transportation, clothes, occupation, miscellaneous, or food.  In the above screen shot you will see a picture from the food category.  At the bottom of the screen you will see the 7 areas for describing.  Students will click on the various areas to hear the descriptions.  For example, if you click on "taste" for the ice cream picture seen above, you will hear, "It tastes sweet".

"Pass It" Section

For this section you will divide your students into teams.  You will choose which category or categories you want your students to focus on.  Next you will decide what amount of matches you would like your students to play.

One person from each team should be dedicated as the "clue giver" for each round.  The "clue giver" will do the best they can do by describing images to his or her team as quickly as possible.  He/she does have the option of touching the icons at the bottom of the screen for help with clues.  When the team guesses correctly, press "next" and pass the iPad to the opposing team.   

The object of "Pass It" is for team members to guess as many images as possible before time runs out.  The team NOT holding the iPad when the timer goes off wins the point for that round. 

"Guess It" Section

First, you will choose a category or categories and then press "Guess It".  A screen with a "?" will appear and the 7 describing icons will be at the bottom.  Students will press the icons to hear the various clues.  

When a student believes he/she knows what the clues are describing, it's time to guess!  The student can press the "reveal" button to find out if he/she correctly guessed the image.  

Lastly, another great feature of this app is the awesome tutorial and tutorial slides which you can access from the home screen.  They are filled with directions, the purpose of the app, and more!  

I hope you all enjoyed reading my review of "Describe It".  Head over to Pocket SLP's website to check out ALL of their amazing apps.  You can also go directly to iTunes to download this app now for only $6.99!  It is designed for both iPhone and iPad.  

Be sure to enter below for a chance to win a copy of this fantastic app!!!

  

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SLPs Care for Oklahoma!

I have always been extremely proud and excited to be part of the SLP field.  Over the last several months, I've also had the privilege of becoming friends with so many amazing SLP Bloggers.  This group is made up of amazing, generous, caring, and intelligent people with large hearts!  As most of you know, Moore, Oklahoma was recently hit by a tornado which destroyed several schools.  This area is close to the home of Amy Minor from Major Speech Pathology Fun by a Minor Girl.  There are SLPs in that area which unfortunately lost all of their materials and classroom items.  

Myself along with many SLPs across the country have put together bundles on TpT in order to raise money for the SLPs that have been affected.  Please head over to the store: SLPs Care for OK on TpT to purchase these amazing bundles and support the Moore School District.  Look for my contribution in Bundle #1!

There is also a Facebook Page set up with more information regarding SLPs Care for OK.

Please head over to Amy Minor's blog for much more information and details.  

Check out all of the amazing products you will receive in Bundle #1 and Bundle #2.  Be sure to support such an amazing cause!

Below are the products you will receive in Bundle #1:

Bear Snores On Book Companion Packet from Speechy Musings
Initial /S/ Blend Monster Trucks from Rae’s Speech Spot
What Planet Are You On? Social Skills Pack from The Dabbling Speechie
Behavior Management Strategies for Speech Language Pathologists from Smart Speech Therapy
Can I Take Your Order? A Receptive Language Activity from Teach Speech 365
Crayon Color Definitions from Major Speech Pathology Fun by a Minor Girl
Community Helpers Language Packet from Let’s Talk Speech Therapy
Cooking Up Context Clues from The Speech Bubble
F Match It Quick! from PSST! Let’s Talk
Magically Predicting from Live Love Speech
Mouse Gets the Cheese: A Following Directions Game from Carrie’s Speech Corner
Negations from KristinM12
Ninja Receptive Language from Speech2U
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell Language Unit from SLP Gone Wild
Paper Bag Princess Speech & Language Activities from If Only I Had Super Powers
Answer Me, Maybe? A WH Question Packet from The Speech Ladies
Pinwheel WH-Questions from WordNerdSpeechTeach
Prediction Pack for Speech and Language from Allison’s Speech Peeps
Problem Solving Scenarios for School from Ms. Jocelyn Speech
Race to the Princess Language Games from Figuratively Speeching SLP
Slow and Steady: Slow Speech Rate and Giving Directions from Home Sweet Speech Room
Idiom Soccer Game and Supplement Worksheets from Mrs. T SLP
Spa Party S-Blends for Speech Therapy from Speech Language Pirates
Explanation of Speech-Language Therapy Powerpoint for Inservices from Natalie Snyders
Fluency Tools Treatment Packet from Busy Bee Speech
Pronouns and Prepositions for Summer from Kids Games for Speech Therapy
Three Little Pigs Book Companion from Speech Room News
WH Question Game Dean Trout’s Little Shop of SLP


Below are the products you will receive in Bundle #2:
Initial /S/ Blend Monster Trucks from Rae’s Speech Spot
What Planet Are You On? Social Skills Pack from The Dabbling Speechie
Behavior Management Strategies for Speech Language Pathologists from Smart Speech Therapy
Can I Take Your Order? A Receptive Language Activity from Teach Speech 365
Crayon Color Definitions from Major Speech Pathology Fun by a Minor Girl
Community Helpers Language Packet from Let’s Talk Speech Therapy
Cooking Up Context Clues from The Speech Bubble
F Match It Quick! from PSST! Let’s Talk
Magically Predicting from Live Love Speech
Mouse Gets the Cheese: A Following Directions Game from Carrie’s Speech Corner
Negations from KristinM12
Ninja Receptive Language from Speech2U
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell Language Unit from SLP Gone Wild
Paper Bag Princess Speech & Language Activities from If Only I Had Super Powers
Answer Me, Maybe? A WH Question Packet from The Speech Ladies
Pinwheel WH-Questions from WordNerdSpeechTeach
Prediction Pack for Speech and Language from Allison’s Speech Peeps
Problem Solving Scenarios for School from Ms. Jocelyn Speech
Race to the Princess Language Games from Figuratively Speeching SLP
Slow and Steady: Slow Speech Rate and Giving Directions from Home Sweet Speech Room
Idiom Soccer Game and Supplement Worksheets from Mrs. T SLP
Spa Party S-Blends for Speech Therapy from Speech Language Pirates
Explanation of Speech-Language Therapy Powerpoint for Inservices from Natalie Snyders
Fluency Tools Treatment Packet from Busy Bee Speech
Pronouns and Prepositions for Summer from Kids Games for Speech Therapy
Three Little Pigs Book Companion from Speech Room News
WH Question Game Dean Trout’s Little Shop of SLP

I am so proud to be a SLP!!  

Kristine

Live Love Speech