Ways to Help Students Memorize SGM Symbols

If you are using the Story Grammar Marker program, it is really important to provide the students with ample opportunities to memorize the different symbols.  When I first got the program, I jumped right into teaching what each symbol meant and giving lots of examples.  While the kids eventually did catch on, I learned that I should have started with just naming each symbol and making sure the students had those names memorized.  Once they knew the names of each symbol, I could move onto a more in-depth description of what that symbol meant and how it related to a story.

Here are some activities I had the students participate in to help with memorization of symbol names:

1) Mindwing's Card Deck:  It took me awhile to purchase this card deck because I didn't think it was completely necessary but now I LOVE it!  It's a great way to get the kids a ton of practice with SGM symbol identification and they have a lot of fun with it too!  We primarily played 2 games with these cards but I'm sure there are many more you could play.

• Go Fish:  We play just like the regular Go Fish game is played.  Each student was given 7 cards and then we went around the circle asking questions.  "Do you have the Setting?" "No, Go Fish." Pretty straightforward.

• War:  If there are only two kids in the group then I have them play this game.  Also if there is just one student then I play the game with them.  Same as the normal War rules but with a SGM twist.  The deck is divided into 2 and given to each player.  The players lay down their top card at the same time, say what symbol they have, and determine which one is higher (by the numbers on the card).  Player with the higher number keeps the cards.  So basically the only difference is the students have to state the symbol they have before anyone can get the cards.

These card games really seem to speed up the memorization process so they have a good base knowledge of symbol names going into the next phase, which is teaching them how those symbols relate to a story.

2)  Dice Game:  I downloaded an app on my iPad called Make Dice Lite where you can create your own dice and the students can press a button or shake the iPad to roll them.  I made some dice with a story grammar element on each side.  Each player takes a turn rolling the dice and then uses their student SGM tool/braid to point to the corresponding symbol.  I then just give the student a bingo chip if they get it right.

  

3) "Show Me":  This is a super simple activity where all you need are the student braids.  Each student has a braid and I simply say "Show me the Setting" and the students scramble to point to the Setting symbol.  The student who identifies the correct symbol first, gets a bingo chip.  

Does anyone use any other activities to help with symbol memorization??  I would love to hear about them!!

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WH Posters

Just wanted to share with you all a little project I worked on today!  My new Take Off Tasks require my students to generate questions in order to elicit a particular answer (the one on the slip of paper).  So for instance the slip of paper might say "to the store", so I want them to think of a question that would elicit that response (i.e. Where did you go last night?).  I didn't realize how difficult this task would be for them!!!! Even when given lots of examples, it proved to be very difficult for many.

Grab the Take Off Tasks here

I was meeting with another SLP in my district yesterday and saw that she had some simple WH Posters in her room that she uses with her kids to work on formulating questions or answering WH questions.  I decided my room definitely needed a visual aid like that as well! She let me use her PogoBoards program to create all the pictures and then I just glued them to some fun-colored paper and laminated them! Easy peasy!

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Oral Writing

Soon after discovering Whole Brain Teaching, I came across the Oral Writing approach.  Oral Writing is based on the belief that if children talk in paragraphs, they will write in paragraphs.  Here is the webcast on it:

This webcast was so interesting and informational! My kids have a really difficult time with writing.  Their sentences are incomplete, paragraphs disorganized, topics rarely maintained, and I could go on and on.  Writing is definitely an area of weakness.  This seems to be a great way to help address that weakness.  

Head over to Simply 2nd Resources for Becca's post on Oral Writing! She has an awesome post that includes important notes from the video above, technique descriptions, and pictures of her adorable classroom!!

Also check out The Teaching Thief blog for some FREE oral writing posters for your classroom!  



Here is where they live in my classroom:

I hope to implement this technique more as the year goes on! Has anyone else ever tried this technique? Is anyone interested in trying it out??

I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

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Whole Brain Teaching (WBT)

A 3rd grade teacher in my building uses an approach called Green Light Teaching in her classroom.  At conferences, she was talking about it to a parent and I instantly became intrigued with the idea!  I went home and searched the internet for this approach to see if it was something I could incorporate into my classroom.  In my search, I came across the term Whole Brain Teaching, which I found is very similar to Green Light Teaching....same sort of concepts it seems like.  

Basically, WBT is an approach that integrates an effective classroom management system while teaching your students in a way that their brains learn best. It incorporates lots of movement and gestures into teaching to make learning fun and keep kids engaged! 

Take a look at this amazing video where the teacher is using WBT with her 1st grade class:

Isn't that just the coolest thing?!?!

Now I know SLP's don't have an entire class to work with like this, however some of the techniques used can be used in our small groups or individual sessions.  Here is a picture of the specific techniques I use in my classroom:

Sorry, the camera on my iPad stinks so the picture is a little blurry.  The signs say "Class? Yes!", "Hands and Eyes", "Teach! Okay!", and "Mirror." I got these signs free from a blog but for the life of me I can't remember which one!!  You can go on the TpT website and search for WBT and it will come up with a list of freebies.  One that I don't have up there but wish I did is Bubble. This technique is for the kids who love to blurt out answers! I have way too many of those!  The kids hold up a fist to their mouth and blow the answer into their hand. When you tell the students to "Release!" they hold their hand up over their head, open up the fist, and answer the question aloud.  The Teaching Thief blog that I linked below says that Bubble is also a good way to informally assess students' understanding. They don't have time to look around and see what everyone else is going to say. Love it!

I have been using these techniques in my classroom whenever possible and the kids really seem to like it! The one I use most is Mirror.  For example, I might say "Taylor, mirrors on" (along with the gesture) and he would respond "Mirrors on" (along with the gesture). I would then tell him the thing I want him to repeat. "A Setting is where and when the story takes place." He would repeat that sentence.  So basically you are highlighting important information and having them repeat it so they have a better chance of remembering it/learning it. The more gestures or movements you can add, the better. It gives the kids a break from listening to me talk and gives them an opportunity to interact. The Teaching Thief blog has some examples of the techniques she uses. 

Here is another website that talks about the WBT approach and gives a little background on it.

In my next post, I will talk about Oral Writing which is part of the WBT approach.  It has the philosophy that if students TALK in paragraphs/complete sentences, then they will be able to WRITE in paragraphs/complete sentences.  I have tried this in my classroom and I think it is very beneficial for the kids! I have had so many teachers say the kids don't know how to write in complete sentences. I think Oral Writing may help! Stay tuned for that post :)

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Movie Trailers and Story Grammar Marker

Before beginning a new book unit with my kids, I decided to do a fun little activity I found on the MindWing Concepts Blog, posted by Sean Sweeney.  For those of you who don't know who Sean Sweeney is, you MUST go check out his blog SpeechTechie!!! It is an amazing resource for how to use technology in the speech and language classroom.

The activity he posted uses the Story Grammar Marker (SGM) to help map out elements found in movie trailers, which are Abbreviated Episode for those of you familiar with the SGM lingo!  An abbreviated episode includes a Character and Setting description, a Kick Off, Internal Response, and sometimes evidence of a Plan. Movie trailers are the perfect way to depict that abbreviated episode structure.  It is also a great way to get students engaged and motivated!

Prior to playing the various movie trailers, we had a brief discussed on what a movie trailer was. Many students thought that it was a place where movie stars lived and/or got ready on set.  Makes sense! However, this is obviously not the movie trailer we are talking about. We talked about the word 'preview' and how a movie trailer is basically just a preview of the movie.  It gives a little snapshot of what the movie will be about.  We then discussed the word 'abbreviated'.  Some students heard of this word before but some had not.  I gave examples of abbreviating words (mr/mister, dr/doctor) and told them that abbreviating is making something shorter or a shorter version of a long word.  They latched on to the idea after those examples.  I compared the Abbreviated Episode to the Complete Episode, which is what we are used to talking about daily.  Last thing we talked about before playing the clip was how a normal Abbreviated Episode in a story usually includes the Tie Up, however a movie trailer does not include the Tie Up.  I asked them WHY they think that might be? We discussed that they wouldn't include the Tie Up in the trailer because then it would give away the ending! 

After these discussions, I gave each student a graphic organizer for an Abbreviated Episode (like the ones shown on the link for the activity above), a pencil, and a clipboard. They already had out their SGM student tools (they grab one off the wall right when they walk in the door, EVERYDAY).  

Here are the movie trailers I played (stopped after each trailer to fill in the elements- Character(s), Setting, Kick Off, Feelings, Implied Plan):


Planet 51 (I always do this one first-icons easily identified)

Finding Nemo

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Toy Story

Toy Story 3


This activity proved to be a fun way to get the kids more familiar with the Story Grammar Marker, while working on other skills as well! I hope all of you SGM users out there find it useful too :)

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Treating Private Clients

A few months ago I started seriously thinking about treating private clients for some extra income.  I heard many stories about people either starting a private practice or seeing patients privately out of their homes while continuing to work their full-time jobs.  I think that would be amazing! I do absolutely love my current full-time position in an elementary school, but would love a little extra cash during the week or during the summer.

This idea to begin treating private patients came and went as searching the internet for how to go about doing it got a little frustrating and confusing.  I would get myself really excited to do it, but the thought of doing it wrong or making mistakes in the business end of it was just too stressful!    

One night while on the internet, I somehow stumbled across a website called The Independent Clinician.  The creator, Jena Casbon, was basically in the same position I was as she couldn't find a good "how-to" guide to treating private clients.  She wanted to make sure everything she was doing was ethical and wanted to be sure everything was being run correctly on the business end of things.  Those were definitely the same concerns I had.

I spent a few hours looking around her website and reading her articles, success stories,  testimonials, etc. I decided to go ahead and purchase her ebook The Independent Clinician: Guide to Private Patients.  I honestly wasn't even the least bit hesitant (despite the $49.95 price tag) because the reviews were so great and I knew this book would be an all-inclusive guide and I wouldn't need to continue searching the internet for bits and pieces of information that I had to put together and make sense of myself!  My sanity was more important :)

The ebook is an instant download so my impatient self was so happy to begin reading immediately after purchase!!!  However, if you prefer to have a physical paperback book, she does have a Coil Bound Version as well.  This book seriously include EVERYTHING you need to know.  This includes information about all that scary business stuff like liability, taxes, documentation, marketing, etc.  It also includes templates for keeping track of finances and data.  I like how she gives lots of tips through out the book based on her own experience. 

I just wanted to pass on the good word and hopefully save some people from spending a whole lot of time and frustration searching the internet for this same information!  In my opinion, it's definitely worth the money to have all of the information you need to start a successful private practice or see private patients on the side, all in one place.  Jena has been through it and has been very successful, which gives me the confidence to do the same! 

Let me know if you have any questions or comments :)

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Using Edmodo in the S/L Classroom

I found out about a website called Edmodo towards the end of last school year.  I thought it sounded cool, but didn't really know how I could incorporate it into my SL classroom.  I registered for it and then just started playing with it for awhile.  For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is basically like a Facebook for educational purposes.  It's a very safe environment as kids cannot look each other up or write on other kids' walls.  

At the beginning of this school year I added all my kids to my Edmodo class and gave them the opportunity to change their profile picture (there are images to choose from) and write a little bit about themselves.  They were all very excited to create these profiles!

I then started creating pre & post tests and other quizzes on there to get baselines for the kids.  Creating them is super easy as you can choose Multiple Choice or True/False format.  You create the questions and provide the possible answer choices.  So far I have created quizzes for Vocabulary, Story Comprehension, Irregular Verbs/Plurals, Articulation Placement, etc.  Once you create the quiz you can choose a due date and assign it to any group(s) you want.  You can also have the grades automatically added to your Edmodo grade book after the kids take it!




It's a really neat idea because my kids actually beg to take quizzes on Edmodo!! 

In addition to completing quizzes, the kids can also write on the group wall or my wall.  Sometimes we have 5 or 10 minutes left of a session so they log onto Edmodo and answer my prompt which may be "Tell me 2 things you learned today" or "What was your favorite thing you learned this week?"  This is good feedback for me as I can reflect on my lessons and figure out what things went well and what things I need to change or spend more time on.  As an extra step with answering question prompts, I always stress the need for basic writing mechanics (capital letters, periods, etc.).  


Is anyone else using Edmodo in their SL classroom? What do you use it for?

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