Quick & Easy Back to School Tips {Guest Blogger}
Back to School Baseline Data
Hey everyone. I know that many school based speech-language pathologists have already returned to work and many will start back soon. Tomorrow will be the beginning of my 4th week back at work and 3rd week for students. After the initial excitement and sleepiness of going back to school and work has worn of, speech-language pathologists need to make sure that they take baseline data on their students’ IEP objectives. For many kids there will be some variability in their scores from the end of the school year to their beginning of the school year data. However, with a quick re-teaching of the skill they are back to where they were previously.
Some of you may be thinking, so what really is baseline data? This is the data, percentages, or measurable information that you collect to informally assess specific skills outlined in a child’s IEP objectives. ASHA’s Evidence Based Practice Glossary states that baseline is “a benchmark, measurement, or calculation used as a basis for comparison.”
Many SLPs consider the first data point gathered on a skill an accurate measure for baseline while I have heard others say that they consider 3 data points as baseline data. I have created several quick informal assessment and/or progress monitoring tools that will make it easy for you to gather this data. Just click here to access these digital downloads to help simplify your SLP life.
I have assessment tools for oral story retell, basic concepts, vocabulary (Tier I semantic processing- object function, similarities, differences, etc), associations, wh questions, irregular plurals, irregular past tense verbs, speech fluency, speech intelligibility, synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, and English/Language Arts Tier III curriculum vocabulary. I have personally used these tools frequently in my speech language sessions with students on my caseload.
I suggest making several copies of the forms that you need to record baseline data and keep them in a binder. I typically select the forms that I need for each student and place them in my daily student therapy files. Using informal assessments/progress monitoring forms have truly improved my ability to quantify the skills of my speech-language students. This also helps as I record progress check data throughout the school year.
I hope you have a great school year! Make sure you subscribe to
my blog: Building Successful Lives by entering your email in the right hand column above. This way you will get my blog articles sent directly to your inbox. I look forward to you reading what I have to share 🙂
Tamara Anderson
August Children’s Literature Reviews
I love using children’s books in my speech-language therapy sessions with my students. I enjoy reading aloud to my students and popping in that oh so lovely CD to play an audio book for different group sessions. Either way it is a win win situation because students are typically engaged in the story and there are so many speech language objectives that can be addressed.
Last week, I used the audio CD that read aloud the book, Teacher’s Pets, by Dayle Ann Dodds. I was lucky to have multiple copies of the book so that my students could follow along with the read aloud. The audio teaches them to listen for a chime to turn the page.
This is a delightful book about Miss Fry and her elementary school aged students. In their class, each Monday is sharing day. One Monday, Winston has the creative suggestion for his classmates to share their pets. Your students will love turning the pages to find out the pet each character in the book brings to school. This is a great way to discuss sequencing of story events.
The first Monday, Winston brought in his pet rooster. The next Monday, Patrick brought his pet tarantula. Then the class got to see Roger’s cricket, Alia’s goat, Amanda’s dog, Jerry’s snake, Megan’s cat, Mitchell’s mice, and so on.
Last week I used this book with my speech-language students with co-occurring autism, moderate intellectual disability, and learning disabilities. They all smiled as they listened and eagerly turned the page with each chime! After listening to the story, they verbally answered literal “wh” questions about the characters, setting, and events in the story. One of my students in my intellectually disability group especially struggles with initiating oral expression. For her, I wrote out the questions and showed her a visual choice of 3-4 answer choices. After that, she did a fair job with indicating her responses with visual prompts from the story as needed.
The previous week, I read aloud, Charlies Goes to School, by Ree Drummond.
I love this story because the pictures are so vibrant as well as realistic and it is told from the perspective of Charlie, the ranch dog as he explores the ranch for the day. This is a great time to remind students about the meaning of the word fiction as the main character engages in activities that dogs don’t do in real life, such as teach school to animal friends. Charlie invites the reader to explore what life on the ranch is for his human and animal family.
He introduces us to the other characters: daddy, cowboy Josh, mama, the kids, Suzie the dog, Kitty Kitty, ranch horses, cows, and Walter the dog. He tells us that his human family goes to school at home and gets inspired to teach his animal family reading, math, and history. Well you can just imagine how well turns out for the animals! They have difficulty focusing, want to play, and Walter the dog even falls asleep.
Since I read Charlie goes to School aloud to my students, I modeled “think alouds” along the way by making additional comments and asking questions to check for story comprehension.
I definitely recommend these awesome books for use during speech-language therapy lessons or reading class.
I also recommend a rubric to measure students’ abilities to orally retell fiction stories. The SLP or teacher records a score of 5 to 0 in each performance element category: characters, setting, problem or rising action, solution or falling action/conclusion. To calculate a score, just add up the points in each category. To calculate a story retelling percentage of accuracy divide the score by 20, that is the total possible points. I recommend audio recording your student’s story retell for easier scoring using the rubric.
This product was revised last week and it is available in my TPT store here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Oral-Story-Retelling-Rubric-819201
Thanks for visiting the blog today! 🙂
Tamara Anderson
SLP Resources for Back to School
Many students will return to school this week in the Atlanta area and other school districts will begin the new school year soon. This is a great time to gather new speech language therapy resources for students on your caseload with communication disorders.
Have a great week!
Back to School Activities in Speech Language Therapy
It has been almost one month since school has started in the school district where I work. I have gotten to know my new students, heard summer stories from my returning students, and managed to take baseline data on many of their IEP goals.
The majority of my caseload are students who have receptive and expressive language disorders. I used a variety of resources and activities to collect beginning of the year or baseline assessment data on specific skills related to their IEP objectives.
For example, I used my Back to School-Synonyms & Antonyms, Back to School- Irregular Plural Nouns & Irregular Past Tense Verbs, and my Back to School Word Associations activity packets to gather information on vocabulary and grammar language targets.
I also used my Beach Themed Monster Truck Activity- Synonyms & Antonyms, Beach Themed Multiple Meanings Memory Activity, and Basic Concepts Baseline Data & Progress Check Activity to gather information from other students as well.
These activities are all available in my online store here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Baseline-Check-Irregular-Plural-Nouns-Past-Tense-Verbs-831665
Other favorite resources that I used were the Quick Take Along Mini-book Series by Super Duper to elicit students’ knowledge of vocabulary and grammar concepts. You can get more info on these resources here: http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=TA230&s=vocabulary-quick-take-along-#.UiSrQxusiSo
Basic Concepts Baseline Data & Progress Check Activity
Hey there everyone. Several of my students need direct vocabulary instruction and practice to master basic language concepts. This speech-language objective extends beyond the toddler and preschool age as many of my elementary school students with language disorders struggle with concepts. Their classroom teachers report that they are unable to follow basic directions in the classroom. This is often due to the fact that they do not comprehend the vocabulary in the verbal directions.
This product may be used as an assessment or progress monitoring tool. It has 25 spatial/location vocabulary cards and 25 quality/adjectives vocabulary cards that may be used to elicit their comprehension of these specific concepts. I have also included 2 forms to record your students’ understanding of the terms with ample space for additional progress monitoring administrations and recordings as well.
Here is a preview:
This is available for purchase in my TPT store at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Basic-Concepts-Baseline-Data-Progress-Check-Activity-843349
I have 2 additional forms available to assess students’ knowledge
of quantity, sequential, temporal, and social-emotional/feelings language concepts as well. Check back for product availability for that time saving resource for student baseline data check and progress monitoring.
****Product Update October 2015. I’ve added 3 additional levels of vocabulary elicitation cards. The spatial and qualitative concepts now include pictures that illustrate the concepts. When giving this informal assessment, you should give the student 1 step verbal direction paired with objects or pictures. These are the 4 levels of elicitation cards:
1) receptive ID- school themed illustrations with text
*pair with classroom object prompts
2) direct instruction- concept picture prompts with text
3) receptive ID- concept picture prompts only
4) expressive naming- concept picture prompts with cloze sentences
Thanks for visiting my blog today! Have a great day!
Tamara Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP
Common Core Standards Vocabulary Giveaway!!!
I am having a back to school giveaway over the next 7 days of my 4th grade English/Language Arts Common Core Standards Vocabulary Activity. This packet has 60 multiple choice questions that assess several English/Language Arts standards that are relevant to what speech-language pathologists instruct during language therapy.
It is important that language therapists integrate these national standards in our weekly therapy sessions with our students. The students’ IEP goals and objectives should of course relate to their needs, but they should also relate to curriculum standards.
These questions have been used in my language therapy sessions with my students last school year. I paired it with my basketball challenge game (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Basketball-Challenge-Speech-Language-and-Academic-Skills-717131) to maintain my students’ engagement. However, it may be paired with your students favorite turn taking game during therapy or used as a stand alone activity in a literacy center in a regular or special education classroom.
This school year, I plan to give my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade English/Language Arts Common Core Standards Vocabulary packet questions to my students in order to collect baseline data at the beginning of the year. I will note my students’ areas of mastery and needs so that I may effectively plan and implement future speech-language therapy lessons. These learning packets/task cards may also be used to review skills throughout the year and then as a reassessment prior to end of year state testing.
In order to enter the contest for a chance to win, you are required to “like” my facebook page, follow my blog on Blog Lovin, or follow my Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) page. Best of luck to you!!
So, head on over to my Facebook Page and sign up if you are not currently following BSL Speech Language there. Once there, click on the blue giveaway box for further details on entering the contest.
Best of luck to you!!
https://www.facebook.com/BSLSpeechLanguage
Thanks for stopping by!
Tamara Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP
Launch into Literacy
The beginning of the school year is an ideal time for speech language pathologists, teachers, students, and parents to intentionally launch into literacy. We are surrounded by the four essential areas of literacy on a daily basis: listening, speaking, reading, writing. I wonder how many moments a person could be observed engaging in one of these four domains. I’m sure the number would be quite high. Imagine what it would be like to have a literacy pedometer that counts how many “literacy interactions” you have everyday. Hmmm…something to ponder! Ha!
Tamara Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP
SLP Back to Work
Back to School Word Associations Freebie!!!
Hey everyone! This past week I returned from an awesome vacation in Cancun, Mexico. Here’s a picture of Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world!!
Here’s a picture of me in front of one of the Mayan ruins, Tulum.
Upon checking my mail when I got home, I noticed the usual “back to school” greeting letter from the principal at the elementary school where I work. You know the letter, the one saying how much we are missed at school and how the administrative staff are anxiously awaiting our return because they are eager to start the school year or perhaps it is just too quiet during the summer. Well, that’s when it hit me that my summer vacation is pretty much over.
In my school district, I return to work this Wednesday, July 31st and have 5 preplanning days. Students return to school on Wednesday, August 7th. As my summer vacation is still a very present and pleasant memory, I allowed this information to abruptly sink in. In anticipation of this, I created a Back to School Word Association Freebie prior to leaving for my trip to gently ease myself into the reality of returning to work. Don’t get me wrong, I love love love my job as a SLP!! However, the summer always goes by way too fast. Anyhow, I often enjoy teaching my students about word associations because it is a great way to address vocabulary, memory, and overall receptive/expressive language skills at the same time.
The Back to School Word Associations learning packet is ideal for students in kindergarten-third grade and targets 20 school related vocabulary words. I suggest doing a brief mini-lesson to introduce the concept of word associations before using the activity materials. Explain to your students that word associations are words that go together or are related by category, function, part/whole, synonyms, antonyms, etc and that today they will practice words that are related because they are in the same category of “Back to School.” The purpose of the activity is to allow each student in a speech-language group or language arts/literacy center to name 2-3 word associations for each target word. Here’s a preview of this packet.
