We are linking up with Kacey at
Pop on over to Kacey's blog to check out who else is linking up on the fun.
I have a true confession.
I do not love to decorate my library.
Not even for Book Fair.
I know some of you are completely talented and make your rooms gorgeous!
I hang up a few things and call it good.
But this year for our Book Fair, I heard it was a monster theme.
Then, I started thinking.....I have some A-d-O-r-A-b-L-e monster clip art from
Creative Clips.
I got inspired to decorate this year.
Our Book Fair was already scheduled this week.
I think we might just have a monster-themed Book Fair next October, too.
Just keeping it real.
Check out our blog next week for specifics on book fair decor.
 I think y'all know that Laura loves DisneyWorld.
I mean, Lisa and I love Disney, too.
But we cannot hold a candle to Laura.
Laura's feet on are on Disney property as you are reading this.
Unless she is on the awesome ride, Soarin' at Epcot!
Lucky Laura!
Laura and her family are joining up with Minnie, Belle, Donald and Goofy for
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
And Laura is already planning our July trip to Disney for the
TpT Conference year 3!
Whoo-to-Mickey-and-Minnie!
Lisa and her PreK Peeps are having so much fun with their sweeties!
Can you spy Goldilicious?
That is our adorable Lisa.
Of course, you recognize Goldilicious is hanging out with her friends
Pinkalicious and Silverilicious.
And I am a witch this year for Halloween.
If you missed it, I shared my favorite Halloween memories last Friday.
I love the witch's hat Lisa got for me years ago.
It is beautiful!
Here I am with one of my favorite little Minions!
I am lucky to have met many authors and illustrators over the years.
Some write books for children, while others write books for adults.
But some authors are in a league of their own.
Such is Mr. Bill Martin, Jr.
I was at a Professional Development Week hosted by 
Bill Martin Jr. over 20 years ago.
The experience was so much fun.
Laura was there, too.
One afternoon, Mr. Martin dimmed the lights to the school auditorium.  
Next, the magic began.
He performed his story "The Ghost-Eye Tree" by walking slowly, 
speaking confidently while holding a flashlight in his hand.
I was familiar with the story.
But on this day, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next.
Mr. Martin made his words come alive that afternoon.
Thank you, Mr. Martin for that wonderful memory.
You made it to the end of our post today, so grab your goodie!
We are excited to share our latest freebie with you.
Download it by clicking on this link:

Happy Halloween, folks!
The Frenzied SLPs are coming together to talk about
 The Frenzied SLPs
Let's start out with a trick. Two years ago, I fell in love with the Year-o-graphy series from Simple Stories and went a little crazy putting it in my room. I had some stickers left over, some plain buckets from Target - and bam! A little work makes a fun game container for students!
What goes in the bucket? Game cards. Lots and lots of game cards. Especially from Linguisystems' Games to Go. I haven't used Pumpkin Games in a while, but I have a stubborn /h/ omitter, and this game is great for saying "My pumpkin has...". Plus - it has a homework page!
Of course, I have to have some books. Back in the mid-1990s, I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing the next day in therapy, so I headed to my then-version of Amazon Prime, the small book store in the mall. The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything was there, and I'm now on my second book since the first one finally fell apart from so much use. I love the repetition and sound effects, and it's always been a big hit with students. I'll also be using some interactive books, like Where Is Pumpkin? from Jenna Rayburn.
I bought this spider web at The Dollar Tree. It came with glow-in-the-dark spiders, but those are long gone. Thank goodness for Target - again! Target had these great colorful spiders. We get in real-life practice with spatial concepts  - on top, in the middle, etc. And putting spiders actually under the web is always a lot of fun! Students get to touch the fuzzy web. 
And here's a storage trick. I only use the spider web one week out of the year, It doesn't need to be front-and-center. I store it in my big cabinet on the top shelf - above a plastic container for clothespins and fabric I don't use very often and below wax paper and baggies. Out of those, I use the baggies the most, so they are the easiest to reach - just open the doors and grab. The spider web involves opening the doors, moving the top stuff, and then getting the web. Since it's out all week, I don't mind an extra step in retrieving and storing it. But if it were on top of my more-used baggies, that would get annoying. Store materials according to how much you use them.
And here's what I'm making this week. Trick or Treat Spatial Concepts and for early next week, Dia de los Muertos, A Wh- Game.  As the cultural presence of  Dia de los Muertos increases, I want my students to know why they are seeing decorated skulls in Wal-Mart and HEB.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to look at the other wonderful ideas linked up below! You can start at Doyle Speech Works.

We are taking this Friday's Five for Friday to the spooky side.
Don't worry we are not very spooky.
Check out Kacey's Linky Party at Doodle Bugs Teaching.
Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!
I spy pumpkins.
So, if you love Pumpkin Spice Lattes or Pumpkin Patches, this is your time of year.
We are lucky enough to have a big pumpkin patch within walking distance of our school.
It is a fun, inexpensive field trip for the sweeties.
After the sweeties return to class, we can use our 
Pumpkins: Facts and Opinions lesson to work in some pumpkin-sized content.
See, no spooks here.
The huge Halloween parade is a long-standing tradition for my school.
These photos are from a few years ago.
Can you tell I live in Texas?
Our phenomenal coaches loved their colleges (Longhorns & Aggies) and Halloween.
They literally sewed together jeans and shirts to make their
Gym Divided costume!
These coaches always made Halloween a day to remember for all the sweeties.
Dancing to the "Monster Mash", "One-Eyed Purple People Eater" and "Thriller" 
were just part of the whole parade extravaganza.
Here I am hanging out with some of my favorite school peeps.
We were feeling witchy, not spooky!
Trick or treat?
I love treats.
We have another lesson to treat your sweeties with those oh-so-tricky spatial concepts.
Take a look at our
If you prefer a non-Halloween look at spatial concepts this month,
we have created the Pumpkin Patch Spatial Concepts activity.
Still no spook sighting!
At my last Professional Development, I found some books to add to our library.
I was familiar with author Vicki Cobb.
But I discovered some books I did not own by her.
Such as her The Science Play series.
This series includes:  
I Get Wet (discover the shape of water), 
I See Myself (discover how light bounces), 
I Face the Wind (how you know air is real),
and I Fall Down (all about gravity).

My favorite find of the day is Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian.
Maria was a little girl who refused to believe that insects were evil and came from the mud.
A wonderful biography of a young girl scientist.
Clip art is a definite treat for me.
Here are some of my most recent finds on TpT:

Glitter Meets Glue has a {freebie} that I love called Glitter Frames.

I adore Whimsy Clips.
So, I did not resist buying her Monthly Readers.
Oh-la-la!

And to shower a little love on another Texas TpT seller,
I love the pinks, gold, greens and grays Megan mixed together in this set.

Not too spooky at all.
We hope you all have a fantastic Halloween!
It's progress report week. I really need a never-ending supply of Route 44 Diet Cokes from Sonic. (Hey, those are allowed at school!) Instead, a quick game helped me engage students and finalize some data.

 Introducing Monster Munch Mania - An Open-Ended Game for SLPs by All Y'all Need!
 Monster Munch Mania by All Y'all Need
Monster Munch Mania is easy prep - print the two game board pages, glue inside a manila folder, and laminate. Print out the B&W drawing/homework page and make copies.

It's no frills - grab some game markers and dice that I know you have on hand, plus some card decks.

It's engaging - students start anywhere, roll around the board, and try to get parts to complete two monsters. If they aren't drawing, they can write vocabulary or artic words in the candy corn.

And - you decide the time limit! You know how one student always gets the lucky rolls and ends up winning with time left in the session? There's no Start or End to this game! Make it last as long as you need! None of my groups finished two complete monsters in 30-minute sessions. I told them they could finish it home - the better to take it out and practice, right? I hope so!
 Monster Munch Mania by All Y'all Need
The student on the left is drawing a monster, and the student on the right is about to roll the die. That's my favorite part. I needed a way to keep my students focused on their goals and not on who was on which space, who was winning, etc.
 Monster Munch Mania by All Y'all Need
And here's the homework page! While I'm taking data, the students are writing the words - and making their own homework! I just check the box at the top. This saves so much time! The students have ownership in their home practice, too.

Monster Munch Mania - An Open-Ended Game for SLPs is a Dollar Deal - for now. Thanks for taking a look!
The Elementary Entourage is having a blog hop, and we're excited to be a part of it!
 All Y'all Need
First up, a trick!
This trick comes from Laura, who is constantly trying to get or stay organized if even just for a few seconds. The problem? I saved stuff on my computer and couldn't ever figure out where it went. Downloads? Documents? Outer space?

The solution came when the world of desktop organizers came into view. Hallelujah! Now, I can save everything on my desktop! And then file it after I'm finished. It's my own little virtual corner. Let me show you how it works.

Here is the screen of my laptop. I've broken everything up into Current Projects, Most Used, and Other. The background is just a picture that I set, and then I dragged the icons into the appropriate boxes. Easy peasy!
Current Projects is on the left and contains everything I'm working on that will have a completion - at some time. This is the most moveable section. It includes my testing schedule, units to make, and notes.  After I'm finished, I can file these items into folders in Documents. The desktop makes it easy to find everything that's current quickly without searching.
Most Used is exactly what it sounds like. It has shortcuts, templates, and forms I will use all year. 
And then there's an Other, because Other is always an option. These are the computer-y things that I really don't know what they do. Since Technology put them on, I guess they are important. Well, I do know what Boardmaker does, I just don't use it on this computer much.

You can find many desktop organizers online and in TpT. All Y'all Need has two options for you - and they're free! Just go to Organization Wallpaper for Desktops in our store!
 All Y'all Need
And now, Lisa has a treat for you!

I created a little gift tag for you! Click on the picture to grab the goodie! :) 


 The Frenzied SLPs
Hi, and welcome to a round-up of Fun Fall-Themed Articulation Ideas with The Frenzied SLPs! Be sure to visit all the great ideas starting at Doyle Speech Works.

Well, it's a balmy 95 degrees here in October in Central Texas, and I am ready for some cooler temps! We've had a few, but they haven't stayed very long. Still, fall is my favorite season. I love the ideas of fall foliage, blankets and hot chocolate at football games, and the start of fireplace season, but my reality is green leaves, brown grass, and sunscreen.

So to pretend I'm in a fall-ish area and to teach my students that there are actually four seasons - Texas usually claims summer and three days of winter - I bring out the leaves, scarecrows, and pumpkins with Write & Say the Room: Autumn!
 Autumn Write & Say the Room by All Y'all Need
My students love this activity. Fall words are posted all around the room. Most are on the wall, like the top picture. Others are placed a little more sneakily, like under the table. And I copied my licensed assistant's idea of "camouflaging", like the card on the boy's head on our rules poster.

Students get a clipboard, pencil, and a paper to write down either 10 words with their artic sounds or vocabulary words. (I use the cute clipboard from The Speech Owl. My students use cheap-y clipboards from Wal-Mart). My room is small, but students get to move around. Of course, some finish faster than others. This gives me time to go over words with them individually. Students who are at the sentence level write sentences on the back. And the best part? Students are doing their own homework!
 Bats Facts and Opinion by All Y'all Need
My sister Amy makes wonderful Fact & Opinion activities, and one of my favorites is all about bats. While this activity is great for language students, I also use it for artic students. Students who are readers and at the sentence or reading level read their cards with speech sounds. Students who are younger or who are at the word level listen to the card then practice words with their speech sounds.

In between turns, students are writing facts and opinions on the recording sheet and underlining words with speech sounds. Again - students do their own homework!

Hope you are having a Happy Fall, Y'all! Be sure to check out more ideas at the links below! And for bloggers linking up:

Today we are linking up with the adorable Kacey
My kindergarten sweeties made their promise to take care of their library books.
They start taking library books home in October.
I make a BIG deal about promises.
We take our time signing our names on the promise page.
The promise page says,
"I promise to take care of my library books".
I take their photo making their promise.
After they check out their book, I give them a book bag.
This year's book bag says,
"I {heart} BOOKS"
The big production makes the sweeties very happy.
The promise page can be found our I Can Take Care of Books pack in our TpT store.
Do you have your own laminator?
I was late to the party.
Lisa has one.
But I was on the fence, do I really need one or can I live without one?
One gift card to Wal-Mart later.
I own a Scotch laminator.
Two words of advice:
treat yourself.

You will be so happy that the school laminator with low-rent laminate does not eat your stuff.
Or wrinkle it.
Or peel in less than an hour because it does not seal properly.
Or you need something today and the laminator is broken.
Again.
I am pretty sure I have mentioned before how much I watch, ah-hem, learn from Periscope.
Here is one thing I learned from Jess The Whimsical Teacher.
Jess is so energizing and entertaining!
She shared www.checkiday.com.
I have been loving celebrating with the sweeties some of the
odd-duck days.
We had a blast on Dot Day.
We learned about met Elmer and learned about elephants on National Elephant Day.
I also spent a little time "Under the Sea".
Laura and I had seen "The Little Mermaid" in Dallas awhile back.
This past weekend, I saw it again in Austin.
It was just as fantabulous the second time!
And Trudy's is always a delicious place to eat if you ever find yourself in Austin.
I have a movie recommendation for you, too.
If you are looking for a movie, go see "The Intern".
It has the talented Anne Hathaway as the boss of a start up company.
Her senior intern is none other than Robert DeNiro.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
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