Bite Me!

Bite Me!  No...really, it's the name of the app!  This is a free app (you can buy more levels) that is great for verbal reasoning, R/L hand coordination, sustained attention, whole body listening, space proximity with others, visual scanning, fine motor, motor planning (would have to consult my OT friends), and best of all, TEAMWORK!  Essentially, you need to 'feed' monsters that appear by keeping your finger pressed on them. The monsters appear randomly in groups of 2-4+.  If you lift up with your finger, the monster goes hungry and eventually you lose. More monsters appear and you must stay alert! You can select the difficulty level.
How did I use this app?
I had partners work together.  They needed to come up with strategies ahead of time and discuss who would press on monsters in each area of the screen.  They needed to come up with some "if..then.." situations and tell each other how they could problem solve.  The game is a bit like Twister, but is for your fingers.  I mentioned this app in another blog note. After each round, the students are asked to review how their turn went, what went wrong, and how they could fix the situation.  This app is great for those students who either 'take over' an activity or for those students who 'let someone else do the work'.  It's a great opportunity for students to practice advocating for themselves. The pre- and post-discussion portions are the 'verbal reasoning' portion of the app.
For students with social needs, we discuss which Unthinkable characters from the SuperFlex curriculum could try to interfere with our game:  Rock Brain, Destroyer of Fun, Space Invader, Body Snatcher, etc. Of course, we also list how we can defeat these Unthinkables so that a fun time is had by all.

Here are some of the questions that are asked:
What were the directions?
What is the main idea or goal of this game?
How will you get the highest score?
What will your job be?
How will you work together?
What skills will you need?
What went wrong?
How can we fix the problem?
What Unthinkables got us?
How can we defeat that Unthinkable?

Make Dice for Anything!

Make Dice Lite is a really FANTASTIC app and it's FREE!  You can buy the upgrade, but I find the Lite version to fit my needs perfectly (the upgrade is also ad-free).  You can adapt this app to meet any possible therapy or educational need.  I personally use it for: sentence formulation, grammar, articulation, conversation, emotions, social skills, etc...really the possibilities are endless.  Essentially, you are making dice.  The dice are slightly 'hyper'...they are very sensitive to bumps and they really bounce around, but the students think it is hilarious.Why not try it for Math (adding, subtracting, multiplying), Reading words, vocabulary words, picking students for a special task/chore, etc.?

Articulation:
I made dice for my articulation students.  For some students, we made our word lists together, which was practicing in itself.  We named them too.  I also have my own 'kit' of dice for all target sounds.  I have multiple dice for each sound, ex: 3 /r/ initial (6 words each), 3 /r/ medial, etc.   The kids 'throw' their dice and wait for them to settle down. Then the practice begins....some students say a word 3x (also add a number dice...the number determines how many times they say the word), some say 3 words (3 dice with different words), and others use the word in a sentence. 

Grammar:
The students and I made dice to meet their goals, ex: irregular past tense verbs.  I put the present tense verb on the dice and the student then rolls and changes the word to past tense/uses it in a sentence.  I have dice for: all verb tenses, plurals, etc.

Language formulation:
I made dice for conjunctions, relative clauses, academic vocabulary, etc.  Again the students need to use the target word in a sentence.  I also made dice for comparing...compare the 2 items that, tell how they are similar and different.  One of my favorite uses for this app is question formulation.  I made wh- question die and paired that die with a conversation topic die.  The students took turns formulation wh-questions.


Social Skills:
I made dice for emotions...one student tosses the dice and then acts out that emotion for their peer. I also had each group of students list topics (each group had their own dice).  I also made name dice.  The students played a round-robbing style game working on conversation. They needed to ask each other questions based on the topic and group member's name.
Another fun variation for conversation is our game, 'Quick Talk'...We decide on a group topic, such as Summer, and use 1 wh- question die.  We set a timer for 3 min...and we do rapid turn passing and formulating questions...I am the scorekeeper and I try to write down all of the questions.  Afterward, we review the list and see if we stayed on topic, asked appropriate questions, and thought of the most important questions.
My OT co-workers had great ideas for incorporating the SuperFlex curriculum that we all use.  I will be making dice with the different unthinkable characters.  We would likely then act them out or identify what that character does/how to defeat them.

The list really goes on and on... =)

Tips for Use:

• To delete or change out dice, hold down on a die...it highlights and an "x" appears along with a list of other dice...you can delete dice by hitting the "x" or switch the dice. 
• To add dice, hit the 'plus sign in a box' icon...another die will pop out.  If you don't want that particular die, follow the tip above to change it.  
• To add a new dice (shortcut) just hit the plain plus sign. You can also go into settings (gear shaped icon) and add new dice.  It's pretty self-explanatory...just click add new dice, add your title, pick your color, add your targets to the sides. Make sure to SAVE it!!!!
• You can have up to 5 or 6 dice out on the table at one time. 
• You can also change the colors...the students like picking the color. You can also change the table background, which they like as well.  

Screen Shots: Here are some of the dice I have made...

A list of some dice that I made...

/r/ final words

Topic: School, ask a why question

SuperFlex Dice

Dice Match HD for Higher Level Verbal Reasoning, Fine Motor, and Attending!

Dice Match HD for higher level verbal reasoning, fine motor, and attending...phew, that is quite the list of goals! I am an avid fan of the game Farkle...both computer-based and board game versions.  This is not Farkle, but somewhat similar.  There are 40 die (dice) and you need to match the die based on the same numbers.  As long as the die touch, you can drag your finger and connect them to earn points...the more die you connect, the more points you earn!   Part of the strategy is not lifting your finger as you move from dice to dice. You are given 30 total turns. There are also special die with multipliers...which increase your score. How would this relate to therapy?

• Conceptual Terms and Following Directions: Instead of just one person playing on their own, try the game in partners with turn taking. You could do this two ways:  1) Student gives therapist directions, ex: "Look in the corner, find the 4's, drag your finger up, then to the left, then up, etc."  Then the therapist would give the student directions 2) The student picks their own route/group of matching dice, but must describe their route as they move, "First I will start with this 4, I go up, to the left, down, etc."
• Logic and Reasoning: Have the student explain why they are choosing a particular set of die.  "I chose the group of 4's because there were 8...the 6's only were a group of 3."  
• Fine Motor, Attending, Scanning, and Discrimination:  I thought this app related well to my fellow OT's.  One of my older student's commented that he knew the game would be hard because he would have to discriminate between the die, in addition to keeping his finger pressed down as he dragged it across the die. Even though he knew it was challenging, he was very interested in playing and increasing his scores.

I really enjoy this game for therapy, but it also is a personal favorite for situations like waiting rooms or having a good game night with my husband.  I would likely rate this app as most appropriate for students above 4th grade.  The coolest factor is that it is FREE!!!  You can upgrade to different screens and die styles for additional money, but I find the free version to be more than sufficient.

Fortune Cookie Conversation

 This is a fun way that I have been practicing conversation skills.  I found a google image of fortune cookies, printed them, and glued 2 together (front to back) leaving a space in the middle and top with no glue.  I generated questions for my groups in several ways:  I picked topics, I generated questions, and I had the groups brainstorm questions. Each student or group has different goals, so I color code the questions (for my sanity).  I simply print, fold, and slip the questions into my fortune cookies.  So if you can picture it, the fortune cookies make a little pocket that I can place strips of paper in and reuse from session to session and year to year.  I have paper plates that the students can use too...just something to add something 'funny' that the kids like.  The students take turns picking fortune cookies and either asking their peer the question or reading the topic to the group.  Again, each group is different, so while some students need specific questions printed on the paper strips....other students might just have key words or topics and it is their job to formulate questions with correct word order, provide additional questions, etc. Note: Of course I used my iPad camera to take a snapshot of these fortune cookies!

How do I use the iPad for this activity?

• Video: we often record our conversation and review it to ensure that everyone has stayed on topic and used appropriate eye contact/whole body listening.
• More Buffet! (itunes link): After a successful round of conversation, we use More Buffet! The students need to pick as a group what country they would like to choose from (great opportunity for vocabulary development with country and food names).  Then we take turns picking or making items.  Of course they can NOT just pick an item by tapping it!  I have them either describe the item they want and the peer taps it...or one peer uses nonverbal communication to indicate what they want (Peer 1 points to items, Peer 2 shakes their head yes/no).  We put all of our items on one plate (yeah, I know that could be icky), but we compare/contrast the items.  We also recall who ordered what and why they like that food.  Here are some screen shots of plates that my groups built. This is another way to practice...after you create the plate, take a screen shot to save them...nice for comparing/contrasting or writing a describing paragraph later!  Have the student construct sentences with their target, for example: conjunctions.  They must tell sentences using but/because/so/etc.  "I ordered a beef taco, but the shell broke!"  "I ordered a triple cheeseburger because I am very hungry!"

This activity is a great example of how the iPad is just part of the equation and even when we use the iPad, there are always several other 'hidden' goals that the students often do not realize I am targeting!!!!

Math? Is there an app for that? Of course!

A co-worker inquired about math apps recently, so I thought I would search around.  Since I do not extensively cover math in my Speech/Language sessions, I just thought I would list some of the free apps that I downloaded and list some of the pay apps.  Like any app search, sometimes you have to think outside of the box.  Simply searching for 'math' might give you 600+ results, which takes quite awhile to sort through!  There is everything from counting to higher level statistics/calculus/geometry/etc. Also, you might miss out on some really great apps that aren't specifically labeled as 'math'.  As another reminder, I only use my iPad as an additional tool, it's never the main focus of a session...and it takes extensive work on my end to find apps that fit my goals.  The iPad is not a replacement for traditional therapy.


Free (and installed on my iPad):
Kids Math Fun - Kindergarten level: basic addition and subtraction facts
Little Math: basic addition/subtraction facts, the app is so-so.
My Math App: basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Pizza Fractions: identify the fraction based on the pizza picture.
Math Matrix Lite: click jewels with numbers to total a number given.
Rocket Math: Do math (money, facts, etc) to earn money to build a rocket. Looks fun, I just have the lite version.
McGraw Hill Everyday Math: I have 9 apps that I got for free...all sorts of fun ones. Our district uses Everday Math, so downloading these made sense. The link given goes to 'Top It", but you can see what other apps McGraw Hill has through that link.   I got all 9 apps for free for a promotion one week, but now they are $1.99 each I believe.  The baseball math app is really cute/fun...great for baseball season!

Other apps that I came across:
Word Problems
Word Problems Level 3
Park Math: greater than/less than, addition/subtraction, sequencing, patterns, sorting, counting, etc. by Duck, Duck, Moose, I might buy this one, it looks good.

I really could keep listing apps (and I'll add to this list as time progresses), but like with any goal, it's really dependent on what your student or child needs.  If you have a goal and can't find an app, you are always more than welcome to list your question here and perhaps someone else knows of an app!

There are so many apps that I already have which are not identified as 'math apps', but could be tailored to meet a goal.  Shopping Cart is a great example of an app that would not be found under a 'math' search, yet it can be used for price comparison, more/less concepts, addition, sequencing, total/sum concepts, find the difference (money), etc.

Model Me Going Places

Model Me Going Places 2 is a FREE app focusing on providing photo slideshows of community places/trips, such as the hairdresser, mall, doctor, playground, grocery store, and restaurant.  Each slideshow is read aloud by a child's voice and shows real photos.  Most of the main steps are covered, for example at the restaurant includes: greeting the hostess, waiting for a table, sitting down, looking at the menu...etc.
This would be a useful tool for a parent, or for school situations such as recess, as they are similar to social stories and can help prepare the child/student for events, reduce stress/anxiety, and build vocabulary.
In terms of Speech/Language therapy, the app could be used for telling/retelling events. The therapist and student could have a pre-discussion of what steps might be included, listen to the story, and then the student could retell the event using proper sequence and specific vocabulary.
I have not used this app yet; however, it seems very useful. There is also an iPhone and iPod version.

More Toca Boca! Toca Doctor!

Toca Doctor, made by the same developer as Toca Tea Party and Helicopter Taxi, was recently released and also has a 'lite' version.   I downloaded the lite version and then bought the full version for $1.99.  There are 5-6 games in the lite version and 18 in the full version. You begin the app by having the Toca character do a body scan.  You can then see different areas where something is wrong.  When you click on each area, there is a puzzle or game to play.  For therapy, I would be able to use this app in some of the following ways:

• Fun reinforcement following other structured skills (ex: After saying 20 /r/ words, a student could choose one puzzle)
• Verbal reasoning: After targeting verbal reasoning skills in more structured activities, I could use this app as a concluding activity for the session.  We could talk about what might cause problems in the afflicted areas:  How do you think this person broke their leg?  How do you think we will fix it? How could that be fixed in real life? If your friend had a broken leg, how do you think they would feel?  What could you do to help them or make them feel better?
• As I use the app, I am sure I can find other uses for it!  The games are fun, but they might not be advanced enough for my older students.

***Just some notes...once you complete all 18 puzzles and games, simply reset the game by double tapping the home button on the iPad.  This will bring up a row of apps along the bottom of your screen.  This is how you reset and close out apps that are in use (which helps with speed). Hold down an app until it is in jiggly mode, then tap the minus sign.  This will reset this app and all puzzles will be ready to go. 

***Review:  While I like this app, and my near-4 year old son loves it, I would have liked it if it had more to do.  My son was able to finish all 18 puzzles in approximately 30 minutes.  He likes doing them over and over, but nonetheless I would have liked to see additional levels/games possibly. I might be cheap, but I think $.99 would have been a better price!