No Prep Practice: Language {And a FREEBIE!}

Well another weekend has come and is almost gone.  My family and I spent ours at the American Legion baseball tournament (my husband is a baseball coach) and sadly his team was eliminated in two games but they had an amazing season so it's all good!  While we were on the road I worked on a few new things.  First up is a pack I'm super excited about because it involves NO LAMINATING!  I am laminated out.  But this is also my first shot at a "printables" pack.  I don't typically make printables but I deiced to give it a try and I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. It has 50 black/white printable pages that focus on 10 different language concepts.  I created it for speech therapy but can also work very well in a K-2 classroom for literacy as it has many skills that are included in the CCSS.  You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.

As you can see in the preview I made some cube activities which also gave me another idea for cubes.  Working on articulation skills with elementary kids who are at the conversation level can be done in so many ways and I decided to make some conversation cubes to add into the mix!  I included a few ideas of how to use these  (both in speech and in the classroom!) but the possibilities are really endless!  And even better yet is that it's FREE!  

{A note about freebies…I LOVE offering freebies because I really love just genuinely sharing a good idea when I know it's going to benefit so many kiddos and I truly believe that as teachers we spend way too much of our own money in the classroom. We will always want what's best for our kiddos so we will continue to spend our money and freebies here and there help out in a big way.  However, a lot of my free files have been popping up on school district wiki websites or file sharing websites.  PLEASE do not do this. I do have it in my terms of use that this is a violation and I really do not want to fight that battle. If you know one of my files is being shared on one of these sites (or on a private school sharing website) please ask them to take it down or feel free to contact me at deana.kahlenberg@gmail.com. If you want to share a free file with your teammates please e-mail them the link to it on TPT or the blog post. Thank you!!}  

Okay one more thing before I try to make it to the pool today (if only these clouds would go away!) Want to win No Prep Practice: Language Concepts??  Leave a blog comment telling me one thing you're planning to do before going back to school!

Schedule Card Update

I am back with a winner of the Guess What giveaway!  Congratulations Tammy S.  You won! An e-mail is coming your way! I used the random number generator to pick and it's below for anyone who wants proof. : )  

I have another update to a freebie to let you know about.  I have been getting lots of requests for additional Schedule Cards.  I think I have finally caught up with the requests.  So, if you sent me a Q&A in ohh the last year or so I probably added your cards to the set. : ) If you're looking for schedule cards head over and check these out.  The best part is that they're FREE.

If you're looking for fancier cards (You're so fancy…you already know…) sorry I had to sing it, as soon as I typed fancier it popped in my head and will now be stuck there the rest of the night!  I have have a deluxe pack too for only $2.50!

Guess What?

Happy Sunday!  Isn't Sunday so much sweeter when you don't have to work on Monday?  My sweet little baby is 2 months old tomorrow which means we are making a trip to the pediatrician for a mega round of shots : (  I am dreading it.  We took 2 month pictures today because tomorrow is going to be so busy!

I promise this post has a point besides just looking at baby pictures, as I'm sure you can guess by the title!  I'm working my way through my monster to-do list of things I want/need to create before summer is over and I just uploaded three new packs that focus on inferences for little ones!  I printed and laminated the animals pack today (and am working on the other two).  These packs have 15 clue cards with three clues on each.  One set has pictures and one has fun QR codes, you can choose either one to play and there are many ways to utilize the cards, I just included two ways to play in the packet.  The clue cards give three clues and the student has to use their inferences to guess which animal is being described! The clues get more obvious as you read them.  I created them for kiddos who are working on categories and also to help with making inferences and building overall vocabulary. 

I organize all my units/activities with manila folders. I have found that they hold up very well over the years and I like to tape the cover or directions to the envelope with the pieces inside.

Here's a few shots of the cards included in the pack.  I printed them 2 per page to save ink since my poor printer has been getting quite the workout this summer.  Each card is a full page in the packet. 

 I also included picture vocabulary cards for kiddos who struggle with visualizing or have limited prior knowledge.

And for older kiddos (1st graders and maybe lower performing 2nd graders who need to work on these skills) who can write down their guesses I also included a recording sheet and answer key!  

I put together the animals set today but I have also created a foods and household objects game as well! 

If this activity looks like something you could use leave a comment and I'll pick one lucky winner to receive all THREE for free by tomorrow night!!  

Articulation Crowns & Quick Notes

I have been on a roll the past few weeks.  Sometimes it is so hard to decide what I want or need to create and then other times I can't make them fast enough.  After creating my Articulation Cards I also put together a super fun pack of Articulation Crowns!  

To show them off I enlisted the help of my sweet family.  My husband said he'd only do it if he could make a silly face and Camden was just happy to stare and smile at the camera.  

Want to try out Articulation Crowns with your kiddos?  You can try the /P/ phoneme for FREE!  Click on the picture below to check it out.

The full Articulation Crowns pack includes 19 phonemes, a crown and certificate in both color and B/W are included.  I am so excited to use these, I know my kiddos will love them!

And last but not least I also put together a small pack of "quick notes"! The quick notes allow you to give teachers and parents feedback after a session quickly with the data you took, while also giving suggestions for how they can continue to practice the targeted sound or sounds with the student. The pack includes 19 quick notes (one for each phoneme) and 12 articulation games/activity cards with explicit directions for parents or teachers.

Now I'm taking a break from articulation and moving onto language…I have a fun activity with categories, inferences and QR codes coming soon!

Non-Fiction Text Feature Posters {UPDATED}

This fabulous freebie was my first and one of my best creations.  Well, it just got even better with 4 new posters and a few tweaks to the originals. Timeline, Bullets, Cutaway and Graphs have been added. It now has a total of 20 colorful and fun posters! Even better is that it is still (and always will be) FREE!.  You can click on any of the pictures below to download it from my TPT store! I hope you can use it with your kiddos!

Articulation Cards

I am starting a new adventure friends, I am officially entering uncharted territory and am out of my comfort zone. I have so much to learn this year and am excited/nervous to get started.  I am talking about my new job as a speech-language pathologist!  I will not be working in the school system next year but I will still be working with children.  So, when I was thinking of what materials I am going to need the first thing that came to mind was articulation cards.  Articulation therapy is what most people think of when they think of speech-language pathologists and a lot of the kiddos I work with will be working on correcting their articulation skills (for example a kiddo could say "tup" for "cup").  

Instead of spending a lot of money that I don't have buying pre-made articulation cards I decided to make them and spend the next days (maybe weeks…) printing, laminating and cutting them out!  As I run the 128723 laminating pouch through my tiny home laminator (what I wouldn't give for the school laminator right about now) I keep telling myself this is saving me money. : )  I know most of you who read the blog (if there are any of you left, sorry about my hiatus this past year but being pregnant and having a baby took a lot more out of me than I expected) are teachers but there is a high chance you have one or more kiddos with articulation disorders in your classroom and maybe I'll pick up some SLP readers along the way??  

So, I am forging ahead with speech related posts, I totally understand if this is not your cup of tea but I do hope you stick with me and pop by every now and then. I haven't ruled out educational materials as many are adaptable for speech too and I have a ton of teacher friends that request materials so ya never know when I'll mix in something that is classroom related too.

The past few weeks I have created packs of articulation cards and finally got them posted to TPT last night.  Here are some previews of what I am working with.

All packs offer a total of 20 phonemes with 30 cards per phoneme (10 cards in each position; initial, medial and final).  The only exception is the R blends cards, they are all in the initial position but there are still 30 cards. I have also grouped them all into a bundle pack so you can save even more money and get all 150 cards for only $10.  Now I know there is a lot of prep work involved (trust me, I haven't even started cutting!) but you can save hundreds by going this route.  You can click on this picture for the bundle pack!

Here are a few pictures of the printed versions and my workspace for the day : )

I have a few more articulation resources in the works that just need the eye of my editor (my sweet husband) before they will be posted, more to come!

Complete Sentence or Fragment??

I have had several questions/requests for this mini-pack in the past few days.  I guess it has been floating around on Pinterest. : )  I took it down last year with the intentions of fancying it up and never put it back up!  Well, I am happy to say it has a new look and is still FREE!!  You can download it by clicking on any of the images below. I hope it is helpful!

Book Buddies

Hi Friends!  I hope you're having a wonderful summer!  Somewhere in between all the feedings and diaper changes I have been busy trying to wrap my brain around the new job I'll be starting in the fall.  More on that in a minute, let's first take a look at my sweet boy!  He is a little over 6 weeks old and is changing everyday!

I apologize for the baby picture bombardment on instagram and I know I am completely biased but I think he's just so stinkin' cute!  

Okay onto other business...I have officially graduated from grad. school and will be a working speech-language pathologist in a pediatric clinic this fall! Unfortunately, this means I had to pack up and move out of my beloved school that has been my home for the past 7 years.  It was where I met my husband and my best friend so needless to say it's been a hard transition. But, I am ready for a new challenge.  I won't have a classroom anymore but I will still be working with children.  Some of my therapy will focus on literacy and vocabulary which will be very similar to some of the activities I previously used with my kiddos in the classroom. Although some of my clients will be much younger than I was previously working with. So, in an attempt to build my therapy materials I created somewhat of a hybrid using some of my favorite books for younger kiddos.

These packs were created with literacy and language in mind and would work great in both a classroom setting or a therapy setting.  There are common themes throughout all four packs such as phonemic awareness, sight words, comprehension questioning, writing and vocabulary skills.  Click on any image below to check them out on TPT!

Anyone headed to the TPT conference in Vegas??  I am so jealous that I won't be going this year but have my fingers crossed for next year!