Rain, Rain Go Away!

What a week!!  This week Louisiana has seen nothing but RAIN, and in many places, flooding.  Lots of flooding. My parents had, like many people in my little hometown of Mamou, LA,  water creep into their house :( 

 The picture below will give you an idea of what happened there.....

Where I am, in Ascension Parish, we had over 30 road closures.  Most of the schools in the surrounding areas were closed but not us.  We took shelter in our school buildings while under Tornado Warnings and Flash Flood Warnings.  

Luckily, we fared well!

 However, with no recess or PE, the kiddos were stircrazy!! 

I'm praying that everyone battling water will dry up quick!! 

It's Sunday and that means, preparation for a new school week is seriously underway in my house!  I have to post this quick because there is some major grocery shopping and ironing waiting for me!

January in my speech room means PENGUINS and WINTERTIME fun!

We don't get much actual WINTER here in Louisiana but I don't let that stop me!

Here are a few of my favorite wintertime games that I like to incorporate into therapy...

Do any of these look familiar? What I love about them is that you can use ANY of them to reinforce any skill.  Once a child does the skill you require of him or her X number of times,  they earn a turn at the game (fluency drill, articulation drill,  answering questions, reading sight words, doing addition problems, etc).   Easy, peasy and motivating!

For all you SLPs, another speech therapist in my school district, Lauren LaCour, has a GREAT articulation activity to go along with Don't Break the Ice. Check it out HERE or at or at her blog. 

I have my own little fun activity for winter that I'd like to share.  It's what I call STAMP-A-STORY. I've made them for all seasons but this is the one I'll be doing in my class this coming week (for winter!) 

You see, I have TONS of rubber stamps.  Most that I have had for YEARS and purchased from LakeShore Learning.  {I plan to post pictures of us using them in action tomorrow so check back!} 

I use my stash of rubber stamps along with this story in my speech and language therapy sessions, and my kids can create a unique (and often ridiculous!) winter story. 

This is a great carryover activity for speech skills. Instead of my students just repeating after me, they get to talk and chit chat and read and laugh - so that I can hear what their speech really sounds like when I'm not reminding them to use correct articulation (a.k.a pestering them to death).

I have my students read the story one sentence at a time (out loud of course) and use their choice of rubber stamp to fill in the blanks. 

I keep my ears pelled to see if they apply their speech stategies, and I have them read their stories aloud in the therapy room. If they're having trouble, I have them highlight their problem sounds in the story to serve as a visual reminder.  

• Then (because I'm bossy like that) I make them read their finished story to a teacher and/or a parent.  Notice there's a place for mom, dad or other family member to sign (this is their speech homework!)   Nothing makes me happier than when it comes back signed by a BUNCH of people! 

If you need a fun activity to get you through the winter, you can download this one for free HERE AT MY TPT STORE.  Just download it, print the 2 pages, and use! Voila!

Stay Warm and Stay Dry until next time!

-Mia 

(if anyone could teach me how to add my signature here you'd be my new best friend)