Sweet Wednesday!

Day 3 of feeling like there is a candy shop in The Speechie's room!

No biggie though, the kids are loving it.  Because a lot of my kiddos are seen more than once a week (even those 30-minutes-a-week-guys due to switching my therapy schedule over to a more "burst"-like schedule) most of them are completely done with their pops.  Thank goodness! I can't take the temptation of this chocolate any longer,... I've been so good though! :)  My half marathon training began on Monday, and I am determined to stay on track. 

Anyways today we had a few "Game Days" going on.  Game Day?? What's that? Well, students in The Speechie's Room earn a sticker each time they come to their speech therapy session WITH their folder AND participate.  This is the key.  

Kids try to get me all the time,... (student without speech folder at the end of session: "May I get my sticker now?") Hmmmm.... Sorry Charlie! Now most of my co-workers will tell you I'm a softy... but I am a TOTAL stickler for the rules when it comes to Game Days.  You have to be.  Because otherwise, you will get walked all over. I repeat... all over! ;)

So I have a chart that each student is given at the beginning of the year with 25 spaces on it.  It looks like this:

You can see my rules at the bottom.  This was adapted from a chart I found online called a "Strive for 25 Chart" from SuperTeacherWorksheets.com.  

The students have to be present, bring their folder, and work hard 5 sessions in a row.  If they do that, they earn a (very coveted) Game Day!  This means they get to choose any game from the game shelves and play it during their session!  After filling up ALL of the 25 spaces they get to pick from the *glorious* prize box.  I get asked about the prize box alllllll yearrrr longgg. It's only used for two things "Meet the Challenge" chart & birthdays!

Here is said prize box :)

 And this below seems to be THE game to play this year. It's called "What's in Ned's Head?" 

Oh, you don't wanna know.  Well of course, you know if you have it.  There is some seriously gross-out looking stuff in there.  Namely "Ned's lost lunch" (you can guess what that looks like). 

Well I purchased MY Ned's Head at a garage-sale.  So Ned was missing quite a few things.  Not a problem at all, being as Ned (well, the creators) give you blank cards.  So in you pop some miscellaneous random items you have laying around (don't we all have those?) of which mine included: a green beanbag, a leopard gecko, a wiggly fish, and a green seahorse.

Ta-Da! Fully functional Ned. He's a very popular guy, too.

Ned gets used for all kinds of therapy activities as well as Game Days.  We can work on adjectives/describing words (i.e. soft, bumpy, squishy, wiggly, green), comparing/contrasting, pragmatic language skills (taking turns, following the rules, etc.) and many many more skills.  My favorite rule: "NO peeking!" many violators have been caught by their peers.  My speech kids are sticklers for rules, too! :)  

I hope you enjoyed Ned's story.  He's become an important fixture in The Speechie's Room!

Oh- and PS- I'll upload the Meet the Challenge Chart as a freebie to my TpT store! :) Just in case you want to snag it. 

Enjoy your evening, and Happy Wednesday friends!