How to Make the Easiest and Most Fun Social Stories Ever!

Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted in about a million years! I kinda had a baby last spring and I have been super busy becoming a bilingual mommy. Anyway, someone requested a copy of my Mr. Roger's power point and I was thinking the BEST social stories (in my opinion) are the ones that you make for your students custom. A child feels so special when they read their own special book, one with their name on it, and pictures of them! And it is soooooo fast and easy. Let's get started!

1. Choose the behavior that you want to correct. Think about what behavior is causing you the MOST trouble. Then choose a behavior or behaviors you would like to replace it with.

2. Take pictures of the student smiling, and doing the replacement behavior (I chose sharing with a friend). I would take a picture using a school-issued iPad and then simply email it to myself, then I save it to my school computer and insert it into the power point where needed. Taking a picture of a child on your personal phone or camera is a no-no unless you have written permission from a parent.

3. Write your social story using Power Point, feel free to use my format and change it as you like! There are lots of options to choose from to make the story look attractive using the design and layout options on Power Point. I like to insert clip art of butterflies, robots, and toy cars.

4. You can print off copies of the social story and give to teachers, and parents as needed. If you print each slide to a separate page it prints out like a cute book! I also have translated social stories into Spanish for use at home. Hopefully, you have access to a translator for any language you might need. My parents are always happy to have something they can use to help their child.

5. Read your story with the child as often as necessary. I like to read it with them every morning, or before a time when an unwanted behavior occurs. You can read a hard-copy, read it on an iPad, or on an elmo-projector. Children who love computers may want to view it on a tablet.

My Homage To Mr. Rogers

Good morning,

I hope you are all having a great weekend! I was watching the presidential debate earlier this week and Mr. Romney talked about cutting funding to PBS. I remembered seeing footage of Mr. Rogers defending PBS in 1969 when they were in danger of losing funding while Nixon was in office. If you have not seen this video it is worth watching.

I thought that the song he talks about in the video, "What Do You Do With the Mad that You Feel" would be so great to share with children. You can watch the video, read the lyrics, download sheet music and listen to the song here: http://pbskids.org/rogers/songLyricsWhatDoYouDo.html.

I created a short social story based on the song lyrics that I might use with children with autism or behavioral/emotional disorders. If you are going to do a short lesson using the social story I might watch the video or sing the song first and then read the social story with the child/children.

If you would like a copy of this social story in power point format please email me at mikahstuible1@gmail.com.

Have a great week!

File Folder Game

Good morning,

Today I wanted to post pictures of a file folder game that I made for a child with autism who happens to also be an English-language learner. This would be a great activity for taking data on a very functional skill, learning where to buy items and find services in the community. There are 10 items so that it would be very easy to take data on this task (7 out of 10 equals 70% correct). It could very easily be used in a pre-K or Kindergarten classroom or EL classroom. I found all of the pictures on Mrs. Riley's Page Builder but, you could make something similar out of the coupon section of the newspaper. The "goods/services" on the left are laminated on to the file folder and the "places" are movable. I put Velcro tape on the file folder and the back of my "places" pieces so that the child can move them around. To introduce a child to this task I might give them two options saying for example, "Where can you buy ice cream at the ice cream store or, the pet store?" Showing them the two picture options and pointing to the ice cream as I say the word ice cream. After a child completes the task correctly with adult assistance we can read all of the sentences together in order from top to bottom, left to right as if the file folder was a book.

File folder game- I taped the items in place and had the entire thing laminated at this stage.

Completed file folder game- you cannot see it but the places are attached with Velcro tape. Soft side on the file folder, rough side on the "places" pieces. This game can be played over and over again.

One thing that I would change, if I made this activity again, would be to add a period after the "place" pieces to reinforce that skill.

I hope you enjoy learning about goods and services and reading sentences with your students!

Mikah

Films and Phonemes

Good morning,

I often use the Spanish Developmental Norms chart in my report-writing and evaluations of children who speak Spanish and English or who have Spanish-influenced English. The chart is found here on the ASHA website http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/practice/multicultural/SpanishPhonemicInventory.pdf#search=%22spanish%22.

Having a chart is helpful but there are also dialectal differences that you need to hear to get used to. I notice that final consonant sounds are often produced very soft or dropped entirely and the /s/ is produced differently in Spanish than in English. One of my mentors once pointed out to me that when a /d/ is produced in between two vowels it often sounds more like a voiced "th" sound.

My favorite ways to listen for and pick up on how sounds are actually produced by native Spanish speakers is to speak with native Spanish speakers. My second favorite way? Movies! That brings us to. . .

The Movie Review

Today I am going to review two Spanish-language movies both made in Mexico. The first is Sin Nombre, written and directed, by Cary Fukunaga. Please be warned that this movie contains graphic violence. Sin Nombre is a true romantic tragedy in the vein of Romeo and Juliet. This film is gritty, beautifully shot and has a great soundtrack. It follows two stories, that of Casper, a Mexican teen moving up the ranks of the mara  salvatrucha gang (known to us as MS-13 in the USA). And that of Sayra, a Honduran teenager, traveling with her father and uncle on a terrifying train journey to the United States. The dialects in this movie are sometimes difficult to understand. Luckily, the movie is good enough to watch over and over again. 

Find Sin Nombre's IMDB page here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1127715/

Miss Bala was directed by Gerardo Naranjo and written by Mauricio Katz and the director. Viewers should take note that this movie also contains graphic violence and violent sexual content. This may not be a good date-night movie. Miss Bala follows Laura as she enters a beauty pageant and somehow becomes embroiled in terrifying gang violence. I think that this movie is less about a story and more about how people (especially women) are continuously exploited, terrorized, trapped and victimized by the drug war on the Mexican/United States border. This movie was filmed beautifully, and has great acting. However, I wouldn't say that it is fun to watch. I think that great films can be tragic and even difficult to watch at times if they contain some hope. Sin Nombre, The Shawshank Redemption, and Life is Beautiful come to mind. 

Find Miss Bala's IMDB page here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1911600/

My rating scale goes from a 1 (¡Que feo!) to a 10 (¡Buenisimo!) Overall I decided:

Sin Nombre- 10/10  ¡Buenisimo! 

Miss Bala- 7/10 Mas o menos, esta bien 

Please, please, please feel free to leave movie, TV show or music recommendations in the comments or, send them to me at mikahstuible1@gmail.com. Also, comments, opinions, questions, information or examples of Spanish language sound production or any aspect of Spanish language are always invited and appreciated. 

Tengan una buena semana. 

Mikah

 

Overview of My Learning Strategy

Hola amigos,

now that we are acquainted I would like to share my overall Spanish language learning strategy. Just like  a personal fitness strategy might include diet, weight training and cardio, my Spanish language strategy includes:

Formal grammar and vocabulary training
     I attend classes at the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute (tfli.org). I also took Spanish classes in junior high and high school.  I don't trust myself to learn correct grammar and pronunciation without having a real person to correct me when I am wrong. However, some people might be able to fulfill this part of the strategy independently with books or online courses.

Informal exposure to Spanish from listening to Spanish speakers
     This part is really fun for me. I love watching movies in Spanish. I also love to talk to children and adults in Spanish at my school when appropriate (I do not give therapy in Spanish). In Nashville there is a Spanish conversation group (www.meetup.com/spanish-570).

Exposure to written language
     So much of adult language is learned from reading. No one speaks with perfect grammar in real life and no one uses as many different words while speaking as are included in books. Whenever I am in an airport I check the magazine racks for Spanish language magazines and newspapers. I also have my iPhone set on Spanish so that it says things like "mensajes" for "messages." I even read children's books in Spanish.

I think it is important to note here that I don't know if this strategy will work for anyone. I don't even know if it will work for me yet. I just wanted to let you know what I was doing and why. All children need formal instruction, exposure to printed material and a chance to listen to spoken language in order to become literate, functional speakers. I try to give myself the same well-rounded language environment in Spanish.

Please share any comments or personal strategies that you have used to learn Spanish!

Setting Goals and Sharing Strategies

Welcome! 

I am so glad that you have chosen to join me on my journey towards becoming a bilingual speech language pathologist (and person)! This journey started in earnest when I started my job working at an elementary school with a large Hispanic population in the fall of 2010. When I look back to my childhood I realize that my interest in other cultures and languages started practically from birth. These and my goals once I achieve "near-native fluency" in Spanish:

• To accurately diagnose bilingual Spanish/English speakers with language, fluency and speech disorders.
• To support teachers of bilingual and multilingual students. 
• To help bilingual, multilingual, Spanish and English speaking families to better support the growth of their children in a multilingual world. 

I am positively addicted to goal-setting and this really doesn't cover every little thing I hope to do. I think it summarizes my long-term professional goals right now. 

I was lucky enough to travel to Ecuador this past July to work and study Spanish. This was a huge turning point in my study of Spanish language and the culture of Ecuador. Unfortunately, I could only stay for a month this time, but, now I have to find a way to integrate Spanish language and Hispanic culture into my day-to-day life. It will be a challenge but I know we can do it! Please feel free to ask questions, comments and your own strategies and goals. 

Thanks! 

Mikah