ARtIC Lab {product review}

ARtIC Lab is a bilingual Response to Intervention (RtI) program for Articulation. The ARtIC LAB is developed for elementary aged students who are demonstrating mild articulation deficits.  

The program is meant to be used for sound placement instruction, intensive drill work, and sound generalization before referral for speech and language services. That's an ideal situation.. the 'before referral'. In my school program I used it after referral and screening completed by the SLP for student who demonstrated a mild deficit, where I did not suspect a disability requiring a full evaluation.  Over this year I had about 10 different kids in a tier 2, pull out group for RtI instruction. The ARtIC Lab was perfect for this group of kids. It would also work well for SLPs with enough room to run 'stations' in your room. 

The contents:

- 5 Echo Microphones

- 5 Webber Phones

- 10 Homework Folders

- 10 Practice Pages Folders

- Electronic Spinner 

- 5 Tally Counters

- Chart

- CD with form and probes

- Resource guide with forms and probes

- English stimulus easel

- Spanish stimulus easel 

The program targets Errors on R, L, S, SH, CH. In Spanish it targets R, S, CH. The program is developed to be 20 hours long. It was field tested in Texas. During the testing most of the children made enough progress that they did not require referrals to intervention. In years past I have completed RtI intervention with children each year. During my experience usually on a couple of those student go on to require continued services. I used the activities in the ARtIC Lab to support that intervention strategy used in my building. All activities were age appropriate and supported by intervention strategies.

Why on earth do the kids go NUTS for this electronic spinner?!

We sat on the floor and the table to break into two groups during most of our time together. The variety of activities helped. The activities provide up to 5 learning stations depending on the number of students (3 kids, 3 stations). Since my groups were big and my room was small I had two stations each day and the kids worked in pairs. One student completed their work while the other student monitored their productions. The different stations include: listening, gross motor, emotion, building, game, writing, and SLP monitoring station. 

The kit contains test probes for each targeted sound, creating easy to track baseline data. 

Pros: The program is great for those SLPs who are new and don't have closets full of echo mic's, whisper phones and tons of worksheets for each sound. It's great for any SLP who wants to open the box and get going with the RtI! My friend and I always say we will pay for convenience! This program does that!   The bilingual option is helpful for many I'm sure, just not me particularly! 

Cons: The program doesn't have too many 'new' materials that most seasoned SLPs don't already have in their closets! With the price near $200 seasoned SLPs might find it frustrating to open a box to have similar items already found in their rooms. Most of my students still need direct intervention weekly on production and placement. I felt the program assumed that children are able to generalize and acquire sounds on their own. In actuality, I parked myself at one of the stations to work on accuracy EVERY session instead of just at the monitoring station

ARtIC Lab is available for purchase for $199.00 on the Super Duper Website. 

Have you tried this product? DO you use a center approach to therapy?

Speech Corner Reviews

The Speech Corner is a materials company for Speech Language Pathologists. If you’ve been to a state conference lately you’ve probably seen their booth filled with ‘Dot’ and ‘Double Dice’ products. When Rachel reached out and asked if I would like to review some of their products I said a quick ‘yes’! I already have a stack of the ‘Dot’ series on my desk, so I knew their other products would be interesting too!

My box arrived full of Double Dice products. Double Dice products center on the use of a special die that includes a larger plastic 12-sided die with shapes. Inside that outer shell is a numbered 12-sided die. The activities throughout the workbooks and card decks center around this unique dice set. In most game instances of play the child rolls the die and determines which shape is on the outside. They can then use the number inside to determine how many repetitions of that skill to practice.

I was sent a copy of the /l/ and /l/ blends workbook. Here is what is included in the workbook:

·       Reproducible worksheets targeting one, two, and three syllable /l/ words in the initial, medial, and final positions at the word, phrase, sentence, and carry-over levels. It also addresses initial /bl/, /fl/, /gl/, /kl/, /pl/, /sl/, mixed clusters, and challenging ”rl” at the word, phrase, sentence, and carry-over levels.

·       Contains a guidelines for play page, a game variations/suggestions page, certificates, tracking chart, and blank master pages.

·       Includes a unique large twelve sided double dice.

I also tested out some of the card decks that accompany the double dice. My favorite was the inferences deck. Play by spreading out the 9 different shape cards the table. Roll the double dice and determine which shape to uncover. Then listen to the social story and answer the corresponding question.

Pros: As you can see in the picture above the biggest asset to this set is the ability to use it in mixed groups. Each student can work on their own goals using the common tool (the dice). The kids loved it and it was really entertaining but not so entertaining that we didn't get work done! ((It's a fine line you know!))

Cons: I wish there was an articulation book that covered all sounds. It would make it much easier to be prepared for all the kids on my caseload. To cover all my current caseload I would have to purchase about 7 more books! 

The products in this review were provided, although no other compensation was provided. The opinions are solely mine. 

Vocabulary Chipper Chat {product review}

If you’ve read my other Chipper Chat Reviews forArticulation, you know I’m a HUGE fan of this therapy tool. It’s the perfect group activity for preschoolers to middle schoolers. Chipper Chat has never let me down!

Super Duper Inc.’s newest addition to the collection is Vocabulary Chipper Chat. It’s Core Curriculum aligned and full of language activities. This one made me giddy! I love that it works on so many foundations skills of vocabulary. My IEP goals are written SO similarly to these skills that it made data collection super easy. 

Included in the game:

12 different game board designs with 5 copies for each board

360 vocabulary cards

2 foam dice

Magnet wand (THE BEST PART, DUH!)

100 magnetic chips

I have all kinds of mixed groups (I know you can relate!) so I used the included language cards a couple different ways. One girl was using sentences strips with the compare/contrast cards. The other students used the pictures on the back of another set of task cards to work on sentence level fluency. My last group member used another set of the cards to target articulation carryover.

The included vocabulary card target the following skills:

analogies, associations, attributes, categories, compare/contrast, context clues, figurative language, function, homonyms, homophones, synonyms/antonyms, and verbs.

Pros: The included cards are quite diverse in difficulty. I have been able to use this set with Kindergarteners and 4^th graders in back to back groups. I love an activity I can use all day with diverse groups!

Cons: $65 might eat up a lot of your yearly budget (if you get one at all!) I wish the game always game with two magnet wands. 

 You can find the product on Super Duper's Website for $64.99. 

Disclosure Statement: This item was provided to SRN to complete a review. The opinions expressed are only the authors. 

Inferencing & Dinosaurs {product reviews}

When I was cruising the Super Duper Inc. website last month, I was looking for items that fit the needs of many of my clients and products the target multiple goals. The two items I'm reviewing today, do just that! Let's start with the Webber Inference Big Deck

Each of the cards includes a 3-5 sentences story and 6 accompanying questions. The cards target associations, setting, part-whole, what happened? and predicting. I start each activity by having the student just make observations about the image before reading the story and asking questions.

The cards include 100 different images. I love that there are photos, because I can use the cards for other goals as well. I'm always looking for activities that target multiple goals. Specifically I used the settings cards in this packet to work on social pragmatic skills. I pulled out a card and asked my upper elementary social group to brian storm and act out some situations that might happen. For example, one girl used the baseball card above to initiate a situation where she 'struck out' and how her team makes could make her feel better. 

This item is available for $24.95. 

The other item I reviewed is the Auditory Memory for Dinosaurs & More cards.

So very many of my second - fifth graders need work on listening and reading comprehension. These cards are perfect for that because they allow me to work on the skills using an interesting topic and in short passages.

The cards included are divided into two different classification (general info and specific dinosaur info). I love using these auditory memory cards for articulation (reading) and fluency as well! 

The cards are currently available for $12.95. 

Do you have any favorite new therapy materials? What's on your wishlist?

Photo Classifying FliPS {product review}

I'm back today with a review of Super Duper's Photo Classifying FLiPS.

Photo Classifying FliPS features five categories of 160 color photos. Each category contains 32 double sided cards. One side contains just the picture, while the opposite side contains the picture with a label.

As you can guess, this set of FLiPS is for more than just classifying! Here's the rundown of what I've tried so far:

- Which doesn't below
- Receptive vocabulary identification
- Fluency at the sentence generation level
- Conditional & Multi-step directions
-Part/whole relationships
-Sentence level articulation
-Comparing and contrasting selected items within and across categories
-Identifying attributes
-WH questions

Pros: Just the act of flipping engaged my student from ages 2 to 8. The photos are very clear and the selected vocabulary is appropriate.

Cons: I wish there were more varieties in the FLiPS set. Five categories is a pretty limited set of stimuli for $45.


Photo Classifying Flips is currently listed at $44.95.

Have you tried this item out? Any other uses for it that I missed?!



Disclosure Statement: This product was provided by Super Duper for review. The opinions expressed are solely mine. No other compensation was provided.  

Ring Bling {product review}

We've been blinged out in my speech room for a bit now. I thought it was high time I shared this bling with you! No, no big rubies on this SLP budget, just Super Duper's new game  Ring Bling. 

In a nutshell, ring bling is a game for collecting rings! Each student (up to 4, with the option to buy extra hands). 

There are several suggested ways to play, but in the most direct game, students spin the included spinner and collect rings that feature gems, dinosaurs and sports. 

Gathering 'things' is always motivating and these ringers were no different! 

The game features 50 following directions cards including one step, temporal and conditional. The game includes 50 rings and 4 hands. 

Pros: I cant believe how much the kids love it! I have used it with kids ages 3-8. The girls and boys alike love it! It's a wonderful reinforcer for any speech and language learning target. 

Cons: 50 following directions is pretty wimpy. My group of 2 preschoolers ran through them in a single game. I wish the game came with lots of card options (like Granny's Candies). I also already had a ring break in the first week. Hopefully the rest of them hold up! 

You can find Ring Bling current listed for $29.99 at Super Duper. Have you given it a try?

Disclosure Statement: Super Duper provided me with a copy of this product for review.

Speech Buddies {giveaway}

I loved all the feedback I got from my Speech Buddies review a few weeks ago! I wish I could let each and every one borrow my set and try them out! Luckily the really nice folks over at the speech buddy company are going to let me give away one to a Speech Room News follower!

You'll be able to select which one you need! I can't wait to see who wins! Just enter via rafflecopter below. 

OK. Stop. Collaborate. and Listen. I have the best news for you.

((after this youtube because you're going to have Vanilla Ice in your head anyway))

My friend CC is also giving away a set of speech buddies! Say what? Two chances to win?! Click on over and enter for your chance to win from CC (right after you enter below!)

Two chances! Ready! Go! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No-Glamour Vowels {review & giveaway}

When the authors of, No-Glamour Vowels, reached out asked me to review their new book from Linguisystems, I jumped at the chance. I have several children on my caseload with Childhood Apraxia of Speech working on vowels and there is a shortage of vowel materials available.

The app was developed by 3 school-based SLPs. It features 188 pages plus a printable CD-ROM that includes an additional 176 printable pages of therapy materials! 

The book targets 13 different vowels including short, long and diphthongs. Each vowel sounds is targeted with the following resources:

• Vowel Information Page
• Word List
• Activity Ideas
• Picture Pages

The book includes a age of mastery chart for each vowel - information I hadn't ever had easily printed out to refer to! 

Start with the vowel screener. It includes pictures and prompts that the clinician has the student repeat. Score their abilities at the word, phrase and sentence level. 

The vowel information page contains information about spellings, age expectations and elicitation ideas. 

The Word List is separated by structures. 

The Activity Ideas are specific to the vowel. For example, playing a game with alphabet letter for the long 'e' sound. (9 letters of the alphabet end in the long 'e' sound.) 

Picture cards are included for CV, CVC, CCVC, CVCC in words as well as phrase/sentences. 

The book also includes extra worksheets provided on a CD. These include words sorted by syllable complexity for personalized practice.

So, what's the bottom line? 

Pros: I love that No-Glamour Vowels systematically targets the vowels with careful thought to the difficulty of the words. The book divides words by their complexity (CV to CCCVC.) There are so few vowel products, so a book with enough materials to target such a variety is a asset to most any therapy closet!

Cons: Although the book lists a page of activities for each vowel, I wish it had some simple worksheets to accompany each idea. That would be a huge time saver. For example, one 'long I' sound activity is to look at a map and talk about where you might drive.  I wish the book game with a map to use for this. If there was one activity included for each vowel those would be great ways to send home carryover work! 

The book is available from Linguisystems for $43.95. It's also available as an e-book download on the linguisystems website for 34.95 (a new feature!)

Disclosure Statement: Copy of No-Glamour Vowels was provided for this review. No other compensation was provided. 

The book authors, would like to give one lucky SRN reader a copy of No-Glamour Vowels! You can enter using the Rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Color Discovery Boxes

Today's post is coming to you from one of my best friends Megan Exner, M.A., CCC-SLP. Megan is an SLP with the Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Hospital. Megan and I both love to do therapy the same way. We like to take a single item and use if for multiple clients all day long. Megan has a caseload full of two year olds right now so she's sharing one of our favorite therapy tools! 

Color Discovery Boxes

One of my favorite activities to quickly grab for younger kids is this set of Color Discovery Boxes from Lakeshore Learning. Each box (yellow, blue, red, green) contains a ball, a crayon, a fruit, and an animal. 

I like to do activities with these boxes that get the kids up and moving. It’s always a nice break from “table time”. I typically set up the boxes on the floor and dump all the items into a grab bag. The kid stands a few feet away from the boxes, picks an item from the bag, and tosses it into a box. Depending on the kid, they either aim for the matching color, or I let them mix it up and throw it in any color.  Throwing things always makes the little guys more excited for therapy J. And lucky for us, all the items are soft!

I have used the boxes to work on the following language goals:

-        Expanding to 2 word phrases (blue box, yellow duck)
-        Working on colors (that was probably obvious J)
-        Structured sentences
-        Preposition work (Throw then describe where the object landed (e.g. next to the yellow box, in the blue box, etc.)
-        Where questions (e.g. Where did the pear go?, Where is the yellow crayon?)
-        Categories: animals, foods
-        Functions
-        Matching object to picture (using Boardmaker pictures)
-        Multi-step directions involving various concepts
I have also used them with an artic kids working on /b/ and final /n/ (I changed “box” to “bin” for the one).

You could easily add other items that you have around to the boxes, too.

The Color Discovery Boxes are typically $49.95, but I recently grabbed a set on sale for $29.95!

Thanks Megan!