This is one of my groups from this morning. I got these Christmas word cards on Teachers Pay Teachers from Mrs. W for FREE! I laminated them in long strips and laid them out on the table . The kids took turns tossing red or green poker chips and naming the word that their chip landed on. Later in the day I had one group make sentences with the words, another group gave definitions. They thought it was great fun!
It’s all about novelty. Kids love to be excited by something new. So I like to have a lot of different choices in my therapy bag of tricks. Here is a great way to use some of your TeachersPayTeachers materials in conjunction with your iPad.
Let me show you how I recently used the Doodle Buddy app with some antonyms and synonyms worksheets from Nicole Allison’s awesome new product, Leveled Vocabulary Intervention. Click here for a link to this incredible product. I have been using it for the last few weeks and it has quickly become a go-to vocabulary resource. Thanks Nicole!
After you make your purchase, open it on your iPad in Ibooks. Take screen shots (hold down main button and on/off button until you hear a click) of the worksheets you want to use.
Open the Doodle Buddy app.
Click on the tic-tac-toe icon.
Choose photos. Go into your photos and choose the first worksheet you took a screenshot of.
Now the fun begins. Tap the chalk icon and choose your drawing tool and color. For the example I chose glitter in red. Students use their finger to complete the worksheets. They love it! 
Then when it is completed just shake the iPad to clear the screen. Magic! Just click on the tic-tac-toe icon again to get another worksheet. Another really fun feature of Doodle Buddy is the stamp feature. Click on that and a menu of stamps will appear. I chose the snowman for this example.
Students use their finger as a stamp to make the line. AND each stamp has fun audio, the holly jingles, the lips make a kissy noise. It’s really great fun! My students have been having a great time with it.
Doodly Buddy is FREE, yay, how great is that?! The Tic-Tac-Toe feature is really fun too. I have been using it as a way to match pairs of opposites. I just write in the words quickly and let the kids use the stamping feature to match them.
Fun, motivating and easy! I hope you give it a try!
Moving my speech room has set off a domino effect. Our old school is bursting at the seams and we had to add a new 5th grade teacher to our team. A large classroom was needed and mine fit the bill. I had to move.
It’s so easy to be inflexible and not want to change. But I chose a different route, (after one day of kicking and screaming in my head). Which means learning to tolerate discomfort and finding ways to be extra nice to myself during that time so that the stress doesn’t take over.
Also, I have accumulated a lot of “stuff”. Being in a large space for four years allowed me to expand my materials in size and quantity. Moving to a space half the size has forced me to downsize. Well, not forced, I could keep everything if I want to be cluttered and cramped. I don’t. So I’ve been sorting through files, papers, activity books, toys and games. if I haven’t used them or referred to them in a year, I am letting them go. The games and toys are in the “Big Prize Box”, the kids get to choose something from that when they reach the end of their sticker chart (usually about halfway into the year). The other items I gave to some of my teacher friends; the rest will go to Treasures for Teachers.
It’s an upheaval for my students too. A lot of them said they didn’t want me to move and that they were going to miss my room. Some of them helped me move. Most of them have so much going on in their lives that they can’t rely on or control, Room 4 was a nice constant for them. I am helping them learn that we can bring that feeling with us to Room 20. The rest is just geography.
And a little bit of unpacking!
I was talking to my sister Cati, another book nerd like me, about The Book Whisperer. We were brainstorming ideas of what I could do to get my students excited about reading. Her 11 year old son Jack (yep, another reader) was listening to our conversation and told us about the time his class walked into an empty room. They found a paper by Anonymous that said “I hate to read. I don’t like Language Arts. Why do I have to read? I hate to read. I don’t like Language Arts. Why do I have to read?” Just those three sentences repeated again and again for the length of the page. Sigh. Poor kid.
With so much focus on testing comprehension and regurgitating facts we are vacuuming out all the joy and companionship found in stories. 
Recently when I was doing activities to go with the book Dragons Love Tacos I read the story aloud for two consecutive sessions with one group. On the third session, I said “this time you get to tell me the story”. My sweet little 8 year old student sadly shook her head “but I can’t read.” My objective was to have her do a story retell, but I wanted her to have a positive experience with reading even more. We held the book together, I read aloud and she moved her finger under the words. She felt empowered.
Books are so rich with language, I love using them to stimulate language and build vocabulary. Working with books can take a little more time and thought. And while it can be more difficult to get measureable results when talking about books; the conversational back and forth is so much more naturally occurring than worksheets and drill.
Since I have been reading The Book Whisperer, I have been talking to my students about books. I ask them what they are reading and I don’t roll my eyes if the say Pokemon. I ask them what their favorite books are and why. I am learning a lot.
Kids love a good story. If we can help our students and clients learn to equate reading and book time with entertainment and imagination, we are giving them a gift that will far outlast the short time we spend with them.
I have been reading Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer and I’m hanging on every word. Yes, I am a book nerd. I have always been an avid reader. I love everything about books: the colorful covers, the back flap, the different fonts and the feel of the edge of a page as I get ready to turn it.
Through books I travel, I make friends, I build character, I open my mind, and for a brief time, escape the demands of the day.
When I was a little girl, about 8 or 9 years old, my mom took me to one of my favorite places, the library. She told me I could stay while she went across the park to the grocery store. This was in clean, green Boulder city, a safe little town (back in the day). I was in heaven and quickly became lost in my book reverie. When I had my stack of books, I placed them on the counter and waited to check them out. And waited, and waited.
I was really shy then, but soon called out a timid “Hello?” No answer. I had been so quiet, the librarian didn’t realize I was there and had left. When no one answered, I went to the door. Locked. I was scared and trapped. No cell phones back then, I had no way of contacting my mom.
I opened the mail slot in the heavy wooden door and looked out into the street. I must have started yelling because I remember a lady on the sidewalk saying “Little girl, are you locked in there?” Luckily, the police station was right next door and my mom came to pick me up right as the police were helping me out. I’m sure she got a scare!
I still love libraries, no permanent damage was done. My point is how many of the kids that we work with love books and reading so much that they can get lost in them? How can we get them to be enthusiastic about books when they have language impairments and reading disabilities? Is it possible?
Donalyn Miller says a resounding “Yes!” and I agree with her. But it’s not going to be easy and many things will have to change.
The Book Whisperer is all about making reading magical again. In Donalyn’s classroom there are no book reports, comprehension worksheets and group reading. The focus is on independent reading and individual choice of reading material. The kids get excited about reading and learn authentic reading behaviors. Her 6th graders read 40 books a year AND achieve high scores on standardized tests. Best of all, she is creating a new generation of readers! I want to do that too! Watch for upcoming posts on what I try.
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Hey there I’m Anne Page. I help heart centered SLPs and educators put the fun in functional communication. 