categories - same/different

Categories seem to give my kiddos are hard time... the concepts of "same" and "different" do too...  So here's a technique I used today with my 4th graders that seemed to help a lot:
1.  I had the kids color and cut out pictures that belonged in the same category.
2.  After they cut and grouped the pictures, I had them turn the card over and write out the name of the category.
3.  Then I said, "see how they are all the same?  They are in the same category.  Now flip them over.  Let's talk about what's different."

A light bulb came on!  I love "ah-ha" moments!

the many uses of an Original Memory Game

A beloved history teacher used to tell us “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  And this is probably true with the field of Speech-Language Pathology in some respects… but the atmosphere is changing… we’ve got more kids to serve than ever before… we’ve got more regulations than ever before… and we’ve got a new generation of kids with unique challenges facing them.  So we’ve got to get creative in how we serve our kids.  And that’s the reason for my starting this blog- I need a place to organize and document my ideas so I don’t get bogged down under all the pressures!  But we can do this, right?!  For we are Speech-Language Pathologists!!

The Memory Game is a classic game with endless possibilities in Speech Therapy.  When I played this game with one of my groups today, I found myself going through the following language areas:

• vocabulary naming
• naming functions of objects
• Naming categories and items in a category
• Naming similarities and differences of the pictures that each child flipped over during a turn
• Naming attributes of the pictures
• Turn-taking & social language 
• Even articulation skills!  And fluency skills!

I felt so smart!  What a discovery!  Happy Speech Therapy, everyone!