"Bears Like....." (Revision of previous book) Free Printable Interactive Book

Can you believe it----SEVEN years ago, I posted an interactive book on this blog---"Bears Like.....".
A few thousand of you have enjoyed it, and some of you may have even printed it.  It's a great book for early readers or for early communicators.  It fits nicely with a unit about bears and I hope someone actually used it in their work with children.  I've completely revised it, so the old links don't work.

Since original publication, the image rights in the original book have changed, and I've been switching from using Boardmaker symbols to Smarty Symbols.  I love Boardmaker, but no longer have it, but do have a commercial license for Smarty Symbols.  All of the pictures in this current version of  "Bears Like..." are either Pixabay (public domain) or Photos for Class.

Here are a sampling of pages from this book. Icons for matching in this interactive book are at the end, as well as sentence frames.

You can download the current version of the book here.  

I hope that the end of this January finds you in an uplifting place in your life.
My daughter has taught herself how to knit and crochet.  She made this lovely shawl from silk yarn she found at a thrift store.  I'm in awe of her creativity!

Verbs of Winter-- Printable Interactive Book (Repost)

Update:  My sister lives in Erie, PA, where the temperature is going down to 3 degrees this coming Monday with 25 MPH winds. Thinking of those very cold people up north,  I took a look at this book (that I had posted in 2014) and changed it to a pdf file, and used a different font.  Otherwise, it still looks appropriate for the kids and season.  It's great for many targets.

Enjoy (again!)  No snow here in NC, and the temps on Monday will go down to a balmy 19 degrees.
I won't need to trudge off to school, though.  #retired

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2014 blog below

Happy Winter, Everyone!    I hope this post finds all of my school SLP buddies well-rested, and searching for materials to start off the new year!

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I've made a new interactive book---Verbs of Winter.  This is posted (by me) on Tarheel Reader, and downloaded to Google Drive, with some icons added to make it a bit interactive.  This is a nice book for Verbs, Pronouns, Simple Sentences, and Literacy.

See for yourself and download for your class.

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 Kids can use the icons to select the correct pronoun, and then use the pronoun and verb icons as a simple cue to produce a sentence to describe the pictures.  Each picture features a different verb.


The ending is a surprise, and will help to be a springboard for a discussion about seasons, bears, and hibernation.

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Happy winter everyone!

Click here to download the book.
Print, laminate, velcro if you wish.



If you want more winter materials, go HERE

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Valentine Animals---Free Printable Interactive Book

Nothing in life is free---unless you visit Chapel Hill Snippets!

I love Valentine's Day in school, even if I personally don't make a big deal over it at home. For language therapy purposes, the day lends itself to communication, and creative materials can be used to have fun and learn.

Here's a book ("The Valentine Animals") I made using 'Photos for Class' (public domain), 'Pixabay' (public domain), and Smarty Symbols (I have and paid for a professional license).  The theme is animals, and each page has a simple repetitive sentence.
Pictures are cute, and the kids can match icons to photos.  I put some comments in there, because not all the animals look particularly happy about posing!  I'd like to know what that pony thinks! Read the book to see the pony, ha ha.

   There is a sentence frame at the end.  Use it for all pages but the last.

I think that both the kids and adults will enjoy the pictures.    You can laminate it (or not), cut out the pictures and have the kids match and read.


DOWNLOAD THIS PRINTABLE HERE FREE

You can also find other Valentine products (both free and $$) here.

On a personal note, my husband and I are getting ready for a Cuban vacation. 

We can't wait!    Any words of advice?  I love retirement!

Collection of Valentine's Day materials, some free

I think North Carolina has dodged a snow bullet (I like snow, though), and it's just going to be a cold rain tonight.  Since it's so hard to go anywhere, I thought I would compile all my Valentine's Day materials---free and TPT--into one post.  Maybe I'll add a new free thing tomorrow!  We'll see!

As usual, if you are a CF, or are adversely affected by the government impasse, let me know if you want an item from TPT.   email speech40@gmail.com

Hearts Everywhere---free printable

Friendship Hearts---free printable recipe booklet

Love Bug (Smartboard and link to low tech activity) free
--to be honest, since I don't have access to Smartboards now (I'm retired), I don't know if the Smartboard program still works. The link in the page to the low tech activity does work still, though)

TPT -- 

Valentine Activity Pack- Book, Bingo, and recipe with communication board

I Love You printable book and symbols---free

Newest TPT product---

Interact

Valentine's Day Packet--Perfect for Speech/Special Ed collaboration

When I was working in the schools, Valentine's Day was one of my favorite times.  The day lends itself to fun, crafts, giving, thinking of friends, and hugs.

To help celebrate this time of year and keep the kids motivated, I've created a new 40 page packet.  It's perfect for speech and special education collaboration, consisting of two interactive books and a craftivity. Extension activities are provided, along with numerous visuals such as craft communication board, sequencing worksheet, and a core-36 board.  Photos are public domain from Pixabay.com, while clip art is from Smarty Symbols (copyrighted). 

Here is the complete description:

This is a literacy/activity pack to go with a “Valentine’s Day” theme. This pack meant for the more linguistically challenged students and is perfect for speech/special education collaboration. This is nice for integrating literacy and language activities.  Clip art is from Smarty Symbols, and is copyrighted. 

Enclosed are:

• “Verbs of Valentine’s Day” Interactive Book--pages 3-13

• Icons for the “Verbs of Valentine’s Day” book– page 14

• Extension suggestions for “Verbs of Valentine’s Day” -page 15

• “How Many Hearts” interactive book–pages 16-27

• Numbers for “How Many Hearts” –page 28

•Icon/word bank to use when describing hearts in “How Many Hearts?” -page 29

•“Make a Heart Man” craftivity pages 30-37

•Communication board for “Make a Heart Man” -page 38

•Sequencing worksheet for “Make a Heart Man” -page 39

•Yes/no and wh-questions for “Make a Heart Man” -page 40

•36 location core board to use with any appropriate activities -page 41

 I've been on a bit of a hiatus from creating materials lately, but an SLP party and 'yankee swap' prompted me to suddenly create this Valentine's Day packet.  I gave it out free to my Chapel Hill colleagues, and have posted it at a modest price on TPT.   If you are a starving CF, however, or are affected in a negative way by the unfortunate government shutdown (don't get me started on this, I'm a Democrat), email me at speech40@gmail.com, and the product is yours. No questions asked.

You can find this product here on TPT.


Here's a snippet from my own life.  My youngest granddaughter turned one yesterday. She's really growing fast, and we all adore her. 

Not quite walking--won't be long!

Orange Pumpkin Book---Revised; Get Ready for Halloween!

Back in 2012, I found an awesome Halloween book on Tarheel Reader, and after adding interactive icons, put it up on my blog.   It has been a huge hit, and when I was working in the schools, my students read it year after year.  Today, I decided to actually look at the book and my blog entry.  I still liked it, but when I took a look at the photo credits on Tarheel Reader, I found that some of the photographers had changed their usage rights, or had removed the photos.  In addition, back in 2012, I knew very little about copyright laws and image use.  The bottom line--I've revised the book using Photos for Class  or provided a link back to the photo website (provided the photographer allows use of the photo in the first place). I'll be taking down my original book.

The book is the same pattern, but some images are changed.  I also changed the font to make it more child friendly.

There are also the same icons as previously, both in Boardmaker and as a pdf.

For those of you who don't know about adapting books, I like to print out and laminate the pages including the icons.  The kids can match colors and item pictures to the book as it's read to them, or as they read it themselves. 

Links for downloading are below.  Happy reading! 

Click here to download the icons in pdf

Click here to download the icons in Boardmaker

Click here to download the revised Orange Pumpkin book in pdf


Off topic, does anyone else love Joan Baez?  Her farewell tour is coming to Durham NC this weekend.  

"What do I see in the Fall?"---Free printable interactive book

It's fall!   My favorite season!    In the spirit of giving, I found a new book on Tarheel Reader and adapted it (changing out some of the pictures, adding icons, and adding a sentence frame). You can print or display it, whatever your preference is.

The book focuses on a few core words ('I', "see", "go") along with fringe vocabulary ('fall' words such as 'rake', 'acorn', and 'leaves').
Kids can add pages if there are other items that they see outside---that's just a quick extension activity idea :) 

This was originally found on Tarheel Reader.
Tarheel Reader is an excellent resource for simple books with vivid pictures.  These can be printed or downloaded to an ipad.  I print, and edit.

Simple repetitive language is throughout the book.  "I" and "see" are core words.  Kids also need the fringe (in this case, 'fall' vocabulary).

Icons are provided to make the book interactive, along with a sentence frame.  Icons are from Smarty Symbols----I pay a professional subscription to create and share materials.   These symbols are copyrighted, so please don't create new materials using them.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE BOOK "WHAT DO I SEE IN THE FALL?"


If you are interested in this free book (which does focus on nouns and 'fall'), you may also like an item I listed on Teachers Pay Teachers which is also fall-themed.  This packet includes two interactive books, a craft booklet, and a fall scavenger hunt for a nominal price. As usual, if you are a starving CF, or in a disaster zone (such as a Hurricane Florence area), email me at speech40@gmail.com, and the packet is yours free.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FALL LEAVES PACKET ON TPT


Let's pray for no more hurricanes. We were very lucky in Chapel Hill, but my heart breaks when I see images from the coast.

No more, please!

"I See Trains" --free printable interactive book

Who doesn't like trains?  I've ridden them in the US, in Indonesia, in Italy, in Spain, and in Norway.  I'd love to go to Japan and ride the Bullet Train.  Kids often are facinated by trains too and several I worked with were familiar (obsessed) with Thomas.  Some owned myriad Thomas toys, and even when they didn't really have functional communication skills, could name all the characters instantly, putting my limited Thomas vocabulary skills to shame. 

In honor of train travel, I've adapted a Tarheel Reader book I found. I changed out some of the pictures due to copyright issues, and added icons, and a sentence frame at the end. The original book is here.      The link to my interactive rendition is below.  I liked this book with its repetitive language, use of modifiers, and vivid pictures.  If you are working on core AAC vocabulary, there are several words here along with a variety of fringe vocabulary.  If you are working on kindergarten reading level, this book works for that too!   The symbols are from Smarty Symbols and  I pay a subscription fee which allows me to create and share materials

. 

All pages follow the 'I see a _____ train' pattern.

Icons are provided for matching, and a sentence frame is on the last page. 


You can download the free printable book from this link.







Long ago, my husband and I along with our two boys took a trip across the country on Amtrak. 
It took a long time with many stops along the way to explore  Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Glacier National Park, and Seattle.  Needless to say, we had loads of fun and an experience my boys will never forget!

New Gluten-Free Vegan recipe--Butternut Squash Coconut Chili

I'm not a vegan.

That being said, I occasionally have to cook vegan, and found a perfect recipe which accomodated vegan and gluten-free diets.  When there are multiple food restrictions occuring in the same meal with different people, cooking sometimes gets a little complicated!  I do want to prepare a meal for a friend at times, and accomodating another's special diet is the first step to having a good time.

The recipe is for Butternut Squash Coconut Chili.  I found this on a beautiful blog that looks as though it's been abandoned.   I'm working on making sure my own, Chapel Hill Snippets, continues to be up and running.

I made this today, and it was delicious.  Please go to the Fig Tree for the recipe.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention our state's weather disaster.  Hurricane Florence devastated the eastern part of North Carolina.  My community, Chapel Hill, was relatively unscathed, but I worry about all the people down east, many with flooded homes and little relief in sight as the flood waters continue to rise.  The news is terrible and sad.

We did have a bit of a downpour yesterday which gave us a taste of the power of water.  Our little babbling brook down in the ravine turned into a major torrent in the matter of a few hours.

Deal of the Century

Hi readers and friends,

It's been a while---I'm retired.  My hubby and I took a trip to Madrid and Barcelona in April. Then in June, we visited Norway, Estonia, and Finland.  We've also spent quite a bit of time taking care of our two sweet grandchildren.  That all was delightful.

Sadly, my wonderful mother-in-law passed away in June.  She was my role model in life.

Suffice it to say, not a lot of time in there for creating materials and blogging, but I'm back.  Keep reading,

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I have a fantastic deal for all of you-- especially those of you who work with the more linguistically challenged children.  I am on the board of New Voices Foundation.  Click on the link to find out more--but basically we support classrooms and teachers of students who have severe communication and physical challenges in central North Carolina. 

Teachers in this area are in dire need of training, specifically in the use of PODD systems.  New Voices provides funding to the teachers to attend trainings (so they don't pay out of pocket) but demand has outpaced the New Voices budget.  A month ago, I created a Go Fund Me page for teacher training.  Response to this has been a bit slow, so HERE'S THE DEAL!


Donate to this project---ten dollars or more.  I will gladly send you two products from my TPT store free.  If you don't want or need my products, consider donating a modest amount anyway.  It's for the benefit of children with severe communication needs.

If you donate and want products, let me know at speech40@gmail.com

Check out my TPT store and let me know what you would like (two products including any bundles).
I have some great items for back-to-school and fall.



This is a worthwhile cause which will impact the lives of many of our children in a positive way.
Please consider donating.

Love
Ruth

"My Beak, Your Beak"-- Free Companion Materials for Comparing/Contrasting

Now that my little granddaughter is four, she totally loves books.  I found one at our awesome library that would be great for teaching comparing/contrasting in a speech/language therapy session. It's "My Beak, Your Beak" by Melanie Walsh.

From Amazon: "Melanie Walsh, creator of Do Pigs Have Stripes? and Do Monkeys Tweet? shows her skill in reaching the youngest readers. Walsh shows differences between pairs of animals and then shows how they are similar.
Lions are big and have hairy manes. Kittens are small and fluffy. But . . . they both have scratchy claws!
There are birds and bats, sharks and goldfish, penguins and birds—who at first may seem very different, but share similarities, too. Children will love guessing on their own."  

The author compares 5 pairs of animals, with clear illustrations, and simple language--perfect for our kids.  I've created a set of visuals to go with this book, all free, just for you.  You will have to find the book--it's for sale online, or you can check out your local library, which is what I did.

The visuals have clipart from Smarty Symbols for each animal, along with a sample Venn diagram and a blank Venn diagram.

The book is loads of fun, and the kids will all love this.

For the free set of visuals to go with this book, click here.

A while back, I made a comprehensive set of visuals to go with 'Nothing Like a Puffin' along with some supplemental teaching materials, and a compare/contrast game.  You can view 'Nothing Like a Puffin' companion pack here on TPT.

Enjoy!!!!!

Open the Door! Make a Simple House Craft--printable directions, sequencing, communication board

Last week, I posted a free simple book to elicit the word 'Open'.  This week, I'm sharing a craft also designed ultimately to elicit the same word.  Links to download are at the bottom of this post.

This craft comes with free downloadable step by step directions, a sequencing activity, a simple communication board, and some sample yes/no and wh-questions.

Sample instruction page

Simple core/fringe communication board.
Use the child's own core board and system if you want.







                                Sequencing page activity

 

This activity was originally meant for a Teachers Pay Teachers product.  When I looked at how many 'core vocabulary' products were for sale on TPT, I felt the market was a bit glutted there (as in 1,470 products listed when I typed in 'core vocabulary' under speech therapy) so I switched this to free on this blog.  Core vocabulary words are beautiful because children can use them in any school or daily living activity all day long.  This is a simple craft to elicit a few, including the target word 'open'.  

Have fun!  This can go with my previous blog post where I listed a free book "What Can Open?"

Click here to download this craft booklet.
Click here to also download a free book, "What Can Open?"

This picture was too good not to share--my granddaughters.  As an SLP, I can't help but marvel at the eye contact and happy smile on the 6 week old baby's part, and the ablility of the fun-loving 4 year old to elicit a response.  

"What Can Open?"--Free Printable Book with Icons

A very functional word to teach your students is 'Open'.  Everything seems to open, so here's a free book to let the children practice using this word with a variety of nouns. (13 pages including icons)

The symbols are Smarty Symbols---Please do not use these in another product as they are copyrighted. I have a commercial license.

The images are from Pixabay---public domain.

The last two pages are icons (Smarty Symbols) for matching, and a small sentence frame.

Here is the download link:

Click here to download "What Can Open" 


For an extension craft, go here. The kids will be provided step-by-step directions for making an 'open the door' house craft.

Icons for the "What Can Open" book

If you are interested in another Core Vocabulary Product, go here for a packet highlighting
"Look and Go".

In the ongoing saga of my life, I have retired again, however, with our new little addition to our family, I have important grandmother responsibilities.  The picture below illustrates a typical morning.