There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Mozzie

G'Day, folks!

Hope you're all keeping safe and well.

In light of this era of teletherapy and online learning, I'm sharing some creative ways to engage our kiddo's in reading and address their speech and language goals. I have filmed a read-aloud of a popular Australian-themed story titled There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Mozzie by P. Crumble and Louis Shea. It includes a couple of fun challenges that target language and literacy skills, and a surprise guest appearance at the end!

Feel free to share it with your kiddo's and use in your lesson plans if you see fit. Here is the Youtube link to access the read-aloud:  https://youtu.be/_OH9oGHguaU

Cheers!

Maree

Winter Themed Speech

Hi folks,

I would like to share what I have been using in my therapy sessions to adapt my session objectives/goals to my kiddo's needs and make therapy FUN! 😄

Books:

1. Written by Maureen Wright. Illustrated by Stephen Gilpin.

2. Written and illustrated by Scott E. Franson.

1. Sneezy the Snowman has a great rhyming pattern, which after reading a couple of times, encouraged my kids to fill in the words. This book easily allows you to target predictions and asking different question types. It also targets a variety of language concepts, including hot/cold/melting, prepositions/location concepts, clothing items, counting/colors, and more.


2. Un-Brella - Firstly, bathing/swim suits in Winter? Only in Florida! Secondly, this is a wordless picture book that prompted so many language opportunities for my little ones. When reading books with words, my kiddo's would expect me to talk. However, when there were no words, they seemed to "take the lead" and talk about what was happening in the pictures. I would expand phrase/sentence length and ask questions as needed. There are many language concepts to target in this book: predictions; hypothetical questions; seasons; hot/cold.

Craft:

I always like to pair a book with a craft/play activity to generalize language to other contexts. The pictures below show how to make a snowman using glue, cotton balls, and colored paper. If working on articulation, the child can glue a snowball on their snowman for each production of the target sound. Language concepts addressed may include size concepts (e.g., big/bigger/biggest), time concepts (e.g., talk about what you did first, next, and last), and a range of adjectives and verbs. Venture outside to find some sticks to use as arms, and you're set!

Perhaps you want to make a "snowball toss". Draw snowman faces on Styrofoam cups and throw cotton balls into the cups for each target sound/word/language concept produced.

Or, you could make "fake snow" with baking soda and clear hair conditioner: a great sensory activity! The end result is light and fluffy, and is even cold to touch! You could hide target words/objects in the snow and play a game of hide-and-seek. You could address receptive language and following directions. The options are endless!

Hope you all have a creative week!

Maree