One more Squinkie therapy idea...

Just one more quick Squinkie post and then I'm done for at least another few months.  One of the things that I like about Squinkie's is that it allows me to use my clients favorite things for motivation.  Here was a quick activity I did with one client who needed to work on he/she pronouns and auxiliary + ing forms. 

First, I took a bunch of the He/She cards I made and put them upside down on the table.  I put a different Squinkie on each card.  

On my client's turn, they flipped over the card and had to decide if the Squinkie was a boy or a girl.  Then they placed the Squinkie on the corresponding verb card.  

Finally we practice saying the sentence:  He is yawning.  

We were still having some difficulty remebering to say "is" in the sentences.  So I added a physical cue.  On the name of the Superhero (or he/she) we put both our hands out in front of us.  We clapped our hands together when saying "is" and we slapped our hands on our legs when we said the verb  +ing forms.  This really helped get the client to start marking the "is" and by the end of the session, they were able to do with just a verbal model.  

How to make your own HE/SHE card decks

I came across a great website last fall called: http://www.senteacher.org.  It's an FREE site that allows you to print certificates, flashcards and some therapy materials.  If you work with students on emotions, you definitely want to check this site out.  There is an option to create a "Facial Fan," Thought Bubbles to print out and  Face Spinners for Emotion Recognition.  Awesome!
There is also a program called AAC cards which allows you to create choice cards easily.

I have a resourceful coworker who had created their own cards for receptive identification of he and she.  So, when I saw this program, I thought it would be a great way to make my own set of cards.  Here's how you can make YOUR own...

Go to http://www.senteacher.org/Print/Other/  Click on the AAC cards to start.

On the left side of the screen, you can type in your search keywords.  For this project I generally tried the present progressive form (ex. drinking) first to see if I would get results for both a boy and a girl.  If not, I would try boy drinking or he drinking.

You can also add the labels on the pictures by using the cream box on the right.  I couldn't find a way to save these, so this is an activity you need to complete and print off immediately.  The first two search boxes correspond to the first line of pictures.  Once you activate the search the program does a quick internet search of images in the flashcard box.

Continue creating sets of 4 rows of he/she cards until each box is filled.  Then print out on cardstock, laminate and cut out.  Repeat until you have a full deck of cards.

Here's how I use it in therapy:
1.  Receptive Identification: "Show me/Point To/Touch She is sneezing"
2.  Contrast practice: "She is sneezing." "He is sneezing"
3.  Verb tense forms
4.  Building verb vocabulary.  This one is fun to have them say the verb and then pretend to do it themselves.

Tell me, is this something that would be helpful for you to use?