Reviews

Apps

Dynavox Mayer-Johnson Say It Right Articulation Flip Books
Dynavox Mayer-Johnson PCS BINGO and Memory apps
Dynavox Mayer-Johnson PCS Say it Right Articulaiton Flip Book
Tactus Therapy Solutions - Answering TherAppy
VowelViz - Complete Speech

Language Materials

The Narrative and Discourse Builder Tool 

This tool was created by Nicole Gerami, MA, CCC-SLP, and published by Northern Speech Services (www.northernspeech.com). I must say this was my favorite purchase this school year (and I got it on sale - so what girl doesn't LOVE a good sale! Retail $89.00, I think I purchased mine for $79.00). Once I began using it with my students, I was quickly impressed with it's functionality. So, I decided to write a grant to obtain more for my school.  I was able to fill two resources rooms and the reading lab with their own boards! So exciting! 

I am constantly looking for new ways to engage and help my older elementary students with writing, and I am so glad I found this tool. It's a hands on tool that visually helps the student map out the elements of a story, organize it for re-tell, and aides them in developing their own essay (or book report) about what they've read.  As the site states, "Read & Create...Write & Tell"

The set comes with 13, organizational dry-erase magnets, that then are filled out and placed in one of the three sections on the front of the magnetic board (Section One - Setting/Characters, Section Two -  Timeline of Events, Section Three - How did the character feel? What did they think?). Typically my students and I will begin reading a story, and fill out the magnets as we go. So, by the time we've reached the end, we've had a discussion about all of the major story elements. We then flip the board over, place the magnets along side (as visual reminders of the details) then we begin writing the summary (and in some cases their book report for class). It also comes with a short "work book" so the students can take a visual organizer (in paper format that looks similar to the board) home. 

I also love the fact that this board comes with a bag for storage (of it and ALL of it's accessories). At first, I was a little overwhelmed and thinking, "How in the world will I have time for this?" But, I just took it a step at a time, and after a few sessions, my students became pros (and would even stop me during a story and ask, "Can I write that on the board!") And that's always wonderful to hear! 

Here is a link to the product: Narrative and Discourse Builder