Practically Speeching

We're Groundhog crazy in the speech room - ya know, now that I finally realized that Sunday isn't just the super bowl this year! LOL I need to pay more attention to my calendar!

Along with using my packet that I reposted for you from last year (see post before this one), I'm having my kiddos think about what Phil might be thinking! After all, they wake him up from a deep slumber to perform meteorological duties!

I cut out the Groundhog you see in the photo using construction paper, and my own drawing. However, in this freebie, you can use the black and white template provided and have the kids color their own Phil!

You have the option to have students draw or write their answer using the same prompt. I like to have my students pretend their sleeping in their burrows, and then I "wake them" by knocking on the table and yelling "Oh Philllllllllllll!" -- yeah, we're a little nutty in Speech! LOL

You can download this freebie packet here on TpT...again,…

So, if you're following my instagram (@practicallyspeeching  or  #instacfy) you know that I realized a little too late that Groundhog's Day was Sunday! Good thing for old activities!! Enjoy this repost, along with some great YouTube videos that I found for good ol' Phil!


Link for the Groundhog's Day Post is HERE

Youtube Links are as follows:

2013 Prediction - here

Hibernation - here and here(note, this is an annoyingly catchy tune!)

All About Groundhogs - here

So we're going to be starting rhyming/poetry in honor of Valentine's Day! I was a little hesitant to do poetry with my little ones, but then I did some searching pinterest, youtube, and TpT and hit the jackpot! I'll be forming my own rhyming/poetry packet, but in the meantime, here are some awesome finds!


Kindergarten Poetry
Everything Elementary has this awesome packet on TpT that is FREE. It's a month-by-month poetry packet for Kindergarten. It has adorable poems for each season/holiday/month and they're printable - which is awesome!

Click here to download this packet.

First Grade Poetry
First Grade WOW has a 97 page FREE packet (talk about wow!) of printable 1st grade poems. She has a whole packet that you can use with kiddos to introduce them to poetry.

Click here to download this packet.

Second Grade Poetry
Ms. Russell's Second Grade Class is a school website (think e-chalk, or blackboard) that is run by this teacher. She has a ton of printable second grade-leve…

So I'm stuck at home because I couldn't get out of my neighborhood today - thanks Janus lol In honor of this snowy mess, I'm putting my mini book companion for "The Jacket I Wear In The Snow" up for free!

You can download it here on TpT. Please be sure to leave some feedback, and enjoy your snowy day if you're having one :)

So I have to share a data sheet I've been using that was created by my lovely mentor. She recently got into TpT, and I wanted to share her great ideas!
She works with middle school, and has some really great activities for the older kiddos in our building! Her data sheet is universal, and best of all - it's free!
You can download it here on TpT!
I'll be sure to share when she starts her blog. I know it's few and far between for middle school and high school activity sharing! Glad to support another great SLP! :)

I am super excited! My "sticker stop" activity has been shared on PediaStaff's blog!!

Check it out here on Pediastaff.com

Due to some family-related matters, Practically Speeching will be off-line for most of the week.

I appreciate your patience and understanding :)

<3 Alexis

I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers feel this same sentiment - how can I use other SLPs/Teachers resources when I'm promoting my own? I definitely struggled with using other people's packets in the beginning. It felt like getting all the ingredients for dinner and then going out to eat. Soon I discovered there really isn't guilt in supporting/using other bloggers items. It's nice to support the network of SLPs and Teachers on TpT, as well as contribute to the pot!

So, on that ever preachy speechy point - here are the items from TpT that I will be using this week.
Here's my disclaimer: all of these were free. Not all of these are SLPs (but our lovely teachers do good work too!). I will not be using all of these as they are intended to be used.

Here goes it:

Vocabulary
I will printing out Lindsay Messner's (teacher's bits and bobs) vocabulary cards. There are only 5 cards, but I will be using them with my Kindergarteners so it's perfect for what I need …

I give massive amounts of stickers. It's true. I give stickers for homework, I give stickers for holidays, and I of course give stickers at the end of sessions!

A recent visit from my supervisor led me to start thinking about how I can do an "exit slip" type carryover strategy. My supervisor suggested that as I'm giving them their sticker, I ask them what they learned. I tried this for a few weeks, with much success, but I found that we needed a visual.

Enter: Sticker stop. This is placed above the sticker chart wall, with a convenient makeshift sticker holder that I crafted from an index card. The kiddos have to make it from the "red light" - the why - to the "green light" - the how - in order to get their sticker.

I gradually started this by going through it each session and prompting for the answers I wanted - "I'm working on language/my sounds/my words" and "I can use this at home when I'm reading/watching tv/with mom&q…

Welp, my Christmas-themed days are over now that it's January! I spent most of the weekend getting ready for my Winter-theme that should take me to Valentine's Day!

I always have a word wall up for the season/theme/month. I also do idioms of the week to go along with my word wall. I crafted this one using some of the suggested vocabulary from enchanted learning.com, and grabbed some graphics from google images. I find that with the "winter" theme, it's hard to find clip art that can portray things like "cold snap".

So, because the season of giving should be extended a little longer, this one's a freebie! You can download it here off of my google drive. It includes 8 idioms, and 12 vocabulary words to get you through the winter season!

Happy winter :)

Yesterday was the first day back, and today we have a snow day! Talk about timing! We played hedbandz disney edition all day - partially because there was no way we were getting work done, and partially because their lovely clinician was zonked out from getting up at 5am for the first time in 2 weeks!

I always send a take-home worksheet, no matter what we do. Many people judge us SLPs for playing "games", but they don't see the benefit of these games. Case in point - my kindergarteners and firsties had zero clue about asking broad vs. specific questions - by the time they left they did though!

Download this take home worksheet here and enjoy your day of hedbandz! :)