Free App February: Stories to Read

Read these story apps with your young students.
Enjoy these FREE book apps!



Riding with Rosa Parks by LAZ Reader 

Learning A-Z, from Language Technologies, Inc., has many other free titles. Definitions of key words and the simple language make books ideal tools for language lessons. 




Goodnight Safari by Polk Street Press LLC  


This interactive book for young children allows them to help the animals prepare for bedtime through seven interactive scenes. This simple story is perfect for practicing verb tense, WH questions, prepositions, and labeling actions. 

Shout Science! by Scott Dubois

Shout Science! is a comic storybook app for readers ages 7-11.  It consists of three narrative biographies that take place during the Scientific Revolution in Europe. Good for making predictions, inferences, and answering complex questions. 

Read and create simple stories with eight FREE Collins Big Cat apps by Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. Check out my 2013 post describing these apps.

Professor Garfield's Fat Cat Books - #1 By Paws Incorporated are perfect to use when working on phonemic awareness. 

Diana

© 2014

Free App February: Apps for this Winter Season

Read and retell the story Into the Snow: A Stella and Sam Adventure. Talk about making a snowman and things found under the snow. As of January 2016, this app costs $1.99. 

This app, Winter Animals Videos, Games, Photos, Books and Activities for Kids by Playrific, has activities perfect for describing, carry-over, increasing phrase length and a variety of speech and language activities. As of January 2016, this app costs $.99. 


Visit my post, Snow Day! - Apps and More, to find out more about the free apps Snow Man (and free visual supports) and Snow. Snow Man and Snow are not available as of January 2016.
 
The simple picture book, I Like Snow, by GrasshopperApps.com has beautiful pictures of children in the snow with simple sentences. Great for vocabulary. Customize this book by adding your own photos and a repetitive line. 

Draw With Hearts allows you to add hearts to your own photographs or screenshots. This works well when working on prepositions or cause and effect. 

Diana

© 2014

Free App February Is Back!

Last February, I posted free apps that could be used in therapy or to help you with everyday routines. I thought that it might be difficult to repeat that, but new apps come out everyday. 

During Free App February 2014, you can look forward to Apps for this Winter Season, More Tools for You, Stories to Read, Cats and Dogs (And Other Pets), Cars and Trucks, and more! 

Many of the apps that I posted last year are still free. So, if you didn't see these posts in 2013, check them out here. 

Tools for You

Apps for Readers

Apps for Young Children

Apps for Young Readers

Creative App Ideas From Other SLPs

Apps that Promote Expressive Language 

Apps for Communication 

Apps for Articulation

Diana

© 2014

At Least Three Weeks of Penguins for Speech and Language

I am adamant about extending thematic units for three weeks to a month when working with language groups. Students need time to learn the vocabulary, language concepts, and might even be able to retell the story with some details after a month of repetition. Read the same literature selection at least four, five, or six times. Additional sessions might include a picture walk of the book or an adapted book - you might tire of the story, but your students will not.

I am not saying that you need to read the same book and ask the same questions during every session. Your sessions definitely need some variety. Add activities that build on the vocabulary and skills you are teaching. If the activities work (sometimes they don't), repeat those as well.

And, if you are repeating activities and using the same theme for a longer period of time, you are planning less and enjoying life a little more.

That said, here are enough penguin resources to get you through at least three weeks of language sessions! 

• A Teacher Without a Class has great penguin facts and photos on her blog. AND, free vocabulary cards (with definitions and pictures) as well as vocabulary activities - FREE at her TpT site.  As of today, there are an additional 16 FREE speech therapy penguin activities at Teachers pay Teachers.

• Rumble Grumble Gurgle Roar at YouTube (formerly at NickJr); the story of a hungry, little penguin. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. See the flannel board version at Putting Smiles on Faces. 

• Read Penguin Party, a story at lil-fingers.com.

• There is a talking penguin on the Happy Feet Two: The Penguin App who will imitate your students without inappropriate noises.  

• Check out Penguin and Pinecone, A Friendship Lesson For Speech Therapy at Play on Words. 

• Find a penguin craft with visual supports / sequence cards at Chapel Hill Snippets. She shares a link to Penguins, Penguins at Tar Heel Reader and, on another post, is a version of this counting book in Spanish. 

• You are not alone if you like Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. Fun in First has some wonderful freebies to use when working on adjectives, comparisons, and complex WH questions. Wise Owl Factory Book a Day has three posts pertaining to books about Tacky and all have FREE downloadable activities that can easily be used with a variety speech and language activities. 

• Penguin songs, videos (including Tacky the Penguin) and more on the app, Winter Animals Videos, Games, Photos, Books and Activities for Kids by Playrific (As of January 2016, this app is $.99).

• Download the free Penguin Memory / Describing Cards from Playing with Words 365. 

• I like My Itsy Bitsy Penguin Book and My Penguin book (for writers) found at KidZone.  

• Making Learning Fun always has good ideas. Adapt the Penguin Sight Word Feed  for students working on articulation or phonological processes - use the blank cards to make your own fish. I like the emergent readers. There are two on this page. 

Diana

© 2014

Van Woert, Michael. Stuffed emperor penguins on display in the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand. 1979. NOAA At The Ends of the Earth Collection. NOAA Photo Library. Web. 1 Jan. 2014.

Tuesday's Treasure Box: Snowbots and More!

If you like to use literature selections in therapy, you will like this link. No Time for Flash Cards posted Best Children’s Books We Read in 2013 and I want to read every book. 

Don't forget to read the comments section of that post as at least two more really good books are mentioned. 

Diana

© 2014

30+ Free Wintry Resources for Speech and Language Therapy

We haven't seen a bit of snow in my part of Virginia this year. This is a peek of my neighbors' snowmen taken in 2011. 

My most popular posts in 2013 were my lists of links so here are more than 30 links to resources for winter.

If you are looking for something to do on those first few days back, check out these New Year's Day activities. 

• Fun Facts for New Year's Day (aka I Mustache You to Recall Details for New Year's Day) is a FREE packet, made by The Thrifty SLP, to get her older students back into the routine. 

• At Speaking of Speech.com find My New Year's Resolution for Speech; a great way to talk about current goals. 

• We're Thinking About A New Year is FREE at Ladybug's Teacher Files. Work on this together in a small group to incorporate predicting, time/seasonal concepts, complex wh-questions, retelling, and more. 

• Find New Year Speech Sound Fireworks at Word Nerd Speech Teach.

• Two of the newest posts at Speechie Freebies.com include activities for New Year's goals. I love the Christmas Survey - a great way for students to compose and ask questions. 

• Back to School (after Winter Break!), a story booklet is a nice first day back activity from Ms. Lane's SLP Materials. 

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of links to activities suitable for speech and language therapy that incorporate a winter theme. Here are just a few. 

• The Snowy Day for Speech and Language Therapy, one of my prior posts, provides you with more than 18 links with ideas to use with The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. 

• Find two FREE snow apps at another of my posts, Snow Day! - Apps and More. 

• Increase Utterance Length with Winter Bingo for Early Childhood is the last of my re-posts in this list. 

• Ruth Morgan at Chapel Hill Snippets has posted her more than Modest Collection of Winter Ideas. All are FREE and most are printable. 

• At Playing With Words 365.com find Snowflake Gross Motor Learning and Penguin Memory/Describing Cards. Both activities could be used with a variety of speech and language objectives. 

• Download Language at Home, take home activities for The Mitten by Jan Brett, All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle, and The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel.  All of these and more resources from Heard in Speech.  

• A lot of work, but very cute Winter Dramatic Play at L. C., SLP. Build a snowman, ice skate, make some hot chocolate. 

• There's a great Winter Vocabulary List at Sam's Blog. 

• Allison at Speech Peeps has a free Winter Language Writing Activity for her older students. 

• Find Winter /s/ Blend Practice from Tracy Boyd and other winter themed activities at Speaking of Speech.com.

• Make Learning Fun has a lot of activities that incorporate snow and winter. I really like The Hat Emergent Reader that can be used when reading The Hat by Jan Brett. 

• Printable graphics and activities for The Mitten, The Hat, and The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett can be found at janbrett.com. 

• The First Grade Parade's Mitten Loads of Fun includes a very cute downloadable blend activity for students practicing /l/ blends.  She also created an adjective activity for beginning readers and an activity for making predictions. The math and writing activities could be used to ask questions and make comparisons. Use the Mitten Math word problems for articulation carry-over. 

• A search for "winter" at TpT revealed 95 free activities for speech therapy. Topics included inferences, pronouns, articulation, sequencing and so much more. 

• Print Make a Snowman Game at Activity Village. Students can practice saying their target phoneme the number of times on the die. Work as teams or individually. Change the rules to meet the needs of your students. 

• Visit Classroom Magic (scroll down) to see the Snowmen at Night graphic organizer. 

• Build a snowman and sing Ten Little Snowmen at Starfall.com.

• For unique homework activities, look at Fun Winter Speech and Language Activities for Kids to do at Home from The Speech Language Pathology in Motion Blog and 10 "Wintery" Games to Play Over Break to Build Speech, Language, and Listening Skills by Katie Yeh at Friendship Circle.org. 

Enjoy and stay warm!

Diana

© 2013

Books to Read in December AND Links!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

During the holidays, add one or more of these wonderful books to your therapy sessions. 

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff is my favorite holiday book. Find many links to activities in two of my 2012 posts, Taking the Mouse to the Movies and Taking Mouse to the Movies: Why Questions, Pronouns, and more. 

Read Llama Llama Holiday Drama, by Anna Dewdney, on your computer or whiteboard at We Give Books.org. This book gives you a lot of opportunities to talk about action words, work on verb tense, and ask and answer questions. At Teachers pay Teachers, Llama Llama Holiday Drama Activities Free! includes an adjective search and comprehension questions. Find vocabulary and other language activities in the Llama Llama Activity Kit from Penguin Young Readers Group.






Cookies are always a good topic for December. Kizclub has story props for the book, Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?, illustrated by Jane Manning and you can view the version by Christine Schneider at Vimeo. Find a rhyming activity at Cinjoella and, at YouTube, Kim Taylor-DiLeva explains how to use the rhyme with a group of students along with adding some sign language. 

Find story props for Bear Stays Up at 1+1+1=1 and a free sequencing activity for readers at Teachers Pay Teachers (Happily Ever After Education).  

OR, for a little less than a Grande Caffe Latte, you can purchase Bear Stays Up For Christmas: Speech and Language Activities by Jenn Alcorn of Crazy Speech World. Included in the 18 pages are activities for rhyming, synonyms, comprehension questions, wh questions, story retelling, and articulation word lists for /r/, /s/, and /l/. 

The other book companion by an SLP at Teachers pay Teachers is only a little more than that Grande Caffe Latte.  The 37 page Bear Stays Up For Christmas – Speech and Language Activities (Book Companion) by Mindy Stenger of The Speech Bucket targets sequencing, story retelling, comprehension, basic language concepts, following directions, written expression, and more.

The Easy Reader at Heidisongs.com is perfect for retelling, sequencing, syntax or to increase sentence length after reading Pete the Cat Saves Christmas. Use Parent Magazine's Christmas Addition with Pete the Cat and The Christmas Pup as carrier phrases for articulation practice. Addition facts are perfect for the phoneme /s/ and for practicing /l/blends - Seven plus one equals nine. Use the blank sheet to write your own facts and incorporate other phonemes. 



Find preschool activity suggestions for Snowballs by Lois Ehlert at Wannabwestern. 

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett is another favorite. Find another book companion at TpT by Mindy Stenger of The Speech Bucket. And, this one is free. Twelve pages of activities target sequencing, story retelling, comprehension, basic language concepts, early print awareness, and oral and written expression. 


Create a Gingerbread Baby House at JanBrett.com. All kinds of opportunities for speech and language production can occur as students give directions while one student creates the house.  Make several different houses, print, and use for barrier games. Practice articulation carry-over, basic positional words, syntax, turn taking, and more! 

Listen to Jan Brett read her story. Print masks from Jan Brett's site and students can wear them as they retell the story. Or, use them as story props.

I hope that these book suggestions and links save you a little time as you plan your December sessions. I will be taking a break from blogging this month and will be back in January!

Best wishes to you during this holiday season! 

Diana

© 2013