If Only I Could Get Professional Development Hours For Following Blogs: PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS!

I cannot believe today is the last day!!  Have you had fun so far? I know I have!  It has been a blast gathering ideas and hosting giveaways!  If only we could count these hours towards ASHA CEUs! Haha!  Today's topic: phonological awareness!

Many of our speech students are struggling readers.  They could have articulation or auditory processing difficulties impacting their reading skills.  How do I work on this goal in my therapy room?

• I use colored blocks, M&Ms, or Skittles!  I use each color to represent a sound in a word.  I use these "blocks" to segment, blend, manipulate and sound out sounds in words.  It helps students visualize the sounds and it also makes the activities multi-sensory.  If there are are two of the same sound in words, we use the same color twice!
• Minimal pairs: just like you would use minimal pairs to teach articulation, I use them to show students when reading/spelling, if you change a letter or sound it can change the meaning of the word.
• Elkonin Boxes:  Have you heard of these before?  All you need to do is put boxes below an image to represent the amount of different sounds.  Students can tap or write the sounds in each box to learn how to spell/read.  There are many resources available to make or easily print these.  Click HERE and HERE to see some examples and learn more!
• Where do you hear it?  I give students three index cards with the following written on it: beginning, middle, last.  I will provide students with a CVC word and have them tell me where they hear specific sounds.  I may create a dice with the free Make Dice app which will contain common sounds found in CVC words.  Once rolled, I will provide students with a CVC word and they must hold up the index card with the location of that sound.  
• Using the same app, I will use 3 dice, 2 with consonants and 1 with vowels. We will roll to create CVC words.  We will fold a paper in half and on one side write the CVC words that are real words and on the other side write the nonsense words.

I have created and posted in a previous post a handout for teachers on strategies to use in the classroom.  Click HERE to access it!

Are you wondering what your other favorite SLP bloggers/TpT sellers do in their therapy rooms?!

• "For rhyming, I love,"There's a Wocket in my Pocket." I also like to play "Hickety Pickety Bumblebee" "~Carrie from Carrie's Speech Corner
• "When targeting segmenting sentences into words, I like to use small square blocks. I have the students line up the # of blocks needed to equal one block per word of the sentence. When targeting segmenting words into syllables, we do clapping or stomping or beating a drum -- I try to make it very physical/active activity."~LyndaSLP
• " I love to use Dr. Seuss books for rhyming skills. I have students use blocks or pacing mars to segment syllables. My favorite go-to product is Super Duper's phonological awareness chipper chat."~Figuratively Speeching
• "This is a skills I LOVE to work on with parents, because they really understand it. I love to send home a list of apps so practice on mom and dad's phone!"~Jenna from Speech Room News
• " I've used tap lights to target segmenting before! (Pretty sure I got that idea from Jenna over at Speech Room News) You have out a row of tap lights and for each sound in a word or word in a sentence you tap one of the lights. I also love good old pacing mats, they are so easy to make yourself!"~Speech With Sharon
• " I really like to use nursery rhymes with younger students. Many children are not exposed to nursery rhymes anymore. This is a great way to begin targeting rhyming skills. Children who have delays in phonology, particularly need an extra jump start in phonological awareness."~Megan Moyer
• " Working on phonological awareness is my absolute favorite! This is a review I wrote about one of my "go to" games.   I wouldn't be without it for the older ones. It bridges the gap between speech and literacy.  For the earlier skills I use my rhyme and syllables packs."~Kids Games for Speech Therapy

How about another giveaway!  To win a copy of my Phonological Awareness Detectives Fun, enter below!

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