Social Language – The Speech Meadow https://thespeechmeadow.com Where good communication comes to grow Tue, 03 Sep 2024 12:10:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://thespeechmeadow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Favicon-01-150x150.png Social Language – The Speech Meadow https://thespeechmeadow.com 32 32 Bring Children’s Lit into Therapy with “The Hockey Sweater” https://thespeechmeadow.com/2017/02/bring-childrens-lit-into-therapy-with-3.html https://thespeechmeadow.com/2017/02/bring-childrens-lit-into-therapy-with-3.html#respond Mon, 06 Feb 2017 02:25:00 +0000 https://thespeechmeadow.com/2017/02/bring-childrens-lit-into-therapy-wi-3.html I have been feeling a little nostalgic of late and in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday, I thought I would talk about using the book, “The Hockey Sweater” in therapy (no affiliate links).  It is a classic Canadian children’s book.  It is about a boy growing up in Quebec in 1946. All he wants is a new Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens jersey.  What he gets instead is a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Needless to say, he was devastated. This is a great book for early elementary students, especially sports crazy boys.  

“The Hockey Sweater” lends itself perfectly for social language groups.  One of the reasons is that this really happened to the author, Roch Carrier. Here are some ideas:

1. Identifying emotions:  Roch goes from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.  Students can identify how he is feeling and why he feels the way he does.  

2. Problem solving:  There are many opportunities to talk about solving problems.  What would you do if you were given the wrong jersey? What would you say to your mom? Would you have worn the jersey? How would you have dealt with the hockey coach or all the other children who tease him? What would you have done if you got a penalty? What would you have said if your friend showed up with the “enemies” jersey?

3. Getting to know about another:  This provides a great opportunity to work on conversation skills. What is your favourite sport, team, player?  Why?  What should the children do if they don’t like another child’s favourite team?  This also makes a great writing exercise.


Here is a great National Film Board video retelling the story.  If you are thinking about showing it to your students, just know that there is a little French at the start and the narrator has a Quebecois accent. 

Along with social language, it is great for targeting hockey related vocabulary, verbs and I have also had the children work on describing different hockey jerseys.  In addition, I have had the children design their own jersey (homework) then describe it the next time in therapy.  How would you use this book in therapy?
]]> https://thespeechmeadow.com/2017/02/bring-childrens-lit-into-therapy-with-3.html/feed 0 Speech Therapy with Books by Nicholas Oldland https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/speech-therapy-with-books-by-nicholas-oldland.html https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/speech-therapy-with-books-by-nicholas-oldland.html#comments Sun, 28 Aug 2016 21:38:00 +0000 https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/bring-childrens-lit-into-therapy-roo.html As you know, I’m a big fan of using books in therapy.  This week I thought I would bring you a series of books.  Nicholas Oldland’s books are great for building vocabulary,  working on social language goals, story grammar and comprehension goals. They are well written and the kids enjoy listening to them and are perfect for children from grade one through grade three. Here are some speech ideas for books by Nicholas Oldland

The Big Bear Hug

Cover of Big Bear Hug by Nicholas Oldland. A black bear is hugging on a pine tree.Big Bear Hug is a story about a bear who loved to hug, especially trees. He spots a logger has to figure out what to do when the logger starts to chop down a tree.  This is great for problem solving, talking about feelings and the story talks about different types of trees which is great for building vocabulary.  For more information, check out how to use Big Bear Hug for Earth Day (click here).
 

Making The Moose Out of Life

Cover of the book Making the Moose Out of Life. Picture of moose with a cliff on the background. On the cliff is a black bear looking down at a beaver.Making the Moose out of Life  This is a story about a moose who always has an excuse about why he couldn’t join his friends fun.  Then he goes on an unplanned grand adventure. This shows that trying new things can be scary but life will be so much better when you try.  It again is good for working on building vocabulary.  It contains a variety of verbs, adjectives and words describing weather. 

The Busy Beaver

Cover of the book, "The Busy Beaver." The illustration is of a large beaver eating a branch near a river with trees in the background.The Busy Beaver  This is a story about a beaver who is unaware of his surroundings and is careless. He gets into an accident and realizes he needs to change his ways.  This is a great story to talk about why the beaver is not a good friend in the beginning and how to apologize to friends.  It is also a great story for talking about why you need to be aware of what is going on around.

Walk on the Wild Side

Cover of "Walk on the Wild Side" Cover has a picture of a moose, a black bear, and a beaver walking in a line.Walk on the Wild Side  In this story, the beaver, moose and bear let their competitive nature get them into trouble.  This is another good story to talk about solving problems (e.g. “what would you do?”) I also like it because it talks about the different strengths of the animals.  A great extension activity is to have the group talk about their strengths.

Up the Creek

Book title, "Up the Creek" with a picture oc a moose, black bear, and a beaver paddling in a red canoe. Up the Creek  This is a story about the beaver, moose and bear going on a canoe trip and all the trouble that ensues. This is a great story to talk about team work and negotiating with friends and solving problems. Another great activity is to have the children plan their own trip together. This story also uses lots of boating vocabulary such stern and portage.  
 
If you are looking for some different materials to bring into your social groups, these books by Nicholas Oldland might be just the ticket. 
]]> https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/speech-therapy-with-books-by-nicholas-oldland.html/feed 1 Why I like to use cooperative games in therapy https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/why-i-like-to-use-cooperative-games-in.html https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/why-i-like-to-use-cooperative-games-in.html#comments Sun, 21 Aug 2016 22:19:00 +0000 https://thespeechmeadow.com/2016/08/why-i-like-to-use-cooperative-games-in.html

I frequently use cooperative games when working with 4, 5, 6 and 7 year olds. Here is why I find them valuable.

They reduce the stress some children feel when they are losing. We have all had those children where the game becomes more important than the therapy because they are sooo concerned about losing. Most co-operative games (at least the ones I’ve played) still have winners and losers but you win or lose as a group.  This group mentality seems to ease the fear that children have about losing. 

They help teach children how to behave when they lose.  There seems to be less temper tantrums and bursts of anger when you lose as a group. I think it has something to do with  working as a group. Losing provides an opportunity to talk about how you don’t always win, what could you do differently next time, and did you try your hardest? If they lost, I will almost always have them play that game again the next time I see them and talk about what they would try differently this time.

They are good for teaching children how to behave when they win. We probably have all had a child who goes over the top when they win and makes the other students feel bad (e.g. “Oh yeah! I’m a winner and you’re a loser!”)  Winning as a team eliminates the taunting. When they win, I talk about and show what winning should look like (e.g. high fives, talking about good teamwork). If a child is learning about how to win gracefully then they play these games before they play more traditional one player wins type games.

They “force” children to work together.  For the most part, you can’t win without working together.  Children are motivated by winning and with some guidance they start working together.  If they lose and did not work together then odds are they will try to work together next time.

They help with problem solving. Most of the games I have played have a strong strategy component to them.  Which character are you going to move on the game board? Which road piece are you going to put down? Are you going to give a card to another player?  It also fosters communication between the players.  They will often come up with plans (e.g. “If this happens we should do this…”) and negotiate what they should do. It is also a great teaching moment to help children realize that no everyone is going to follow their plan.

They are great for teaching social skills.  These games are great for helping children learn taking turns, negotiating which strategy they should use at a turn, when should they suggest a strategy, how to give compliments, and how not to hurt a team members feelings. These are just a few skills targeted with co-operative games.

They have some games geared more towards girls’ interests. Now I don’t believe in “girl” toys and “boy” toys.  The girls I work with don’t mind the games that are a little more geared towards boys but their faces light up with utter  joy when I pull out a game about mermaids or fairies. Funny side note: The biggest argument I had last school year was when I brought in a mermaid game for the girls in the class. The boys were all up in arms that they couldn’t play it first.  The game ended up in the classroom for a week and was played multiple times a day.

I have found that using co-operative games to be invaluable in therapy.  They are fun, the children really really like to play them and they are learning how to become better friends.


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