Welcome back to school year 2008-2009!
Mrs. Denise McNicholas
Speech/Language Pathologist
Liberty School
708.364.3856
dmcnicholas@orland135.org
Hello! My name is Denise McNicholas and I am one of the Speech Pathologists at Liberty School this year. Mrs. Beth Donnelly is the other Speech Pathologist that will be working at Liberty for 2008-2009. Our schedule this year will be the following:
Beth Donnelly: Monday, Tuesday, every other Wednesday
Denise McNicholas: Thursday, Friday, every other Wednesday
Just a few things to start the year off smoothly: Each child will be given a folder to be used specifically for speech. Please check the folder periodically for any notes from us regarding speech stuff. I will also try to update my website when I have any important news for you.
The speech folder will also be used to hold any work that your child has completed in speech, as well as any practice sheets assigned for homework. Please see below for the specific speech areas your child may be receiving services for and suggestions for how they can practice at home. I have also included some useful links at the bottom of the page.
Articulation Practice:
Children should be practicing 3-5 times a week at home. Your child will receive a monthly speech calendar for them to keep track of when they practice. Please initial or sign on each day that they have practiced at home. Depending on the level that they are at, your child may or may not be receiving articulation worksheets for them to practice with. Below I have listed suggestions for the different levels of articulation for home practice. We often hear from our students that they have forgotten to bring home their folders with their practice sheets, if that happens they can always do one of the other suggested practice items below:
isolation level: If your child is just beginning to work on a specific sound they may just be beginning to work on a sound in isolation. If this is the case, they will not be receiving homework until they are stimulable for the speech sound they are trying to learn
word, phrase and sentence level:
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practice worksheets
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draw picture with your sound and then practice them
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write sentences with your sound and then practice them
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cut out pictures from magazines with your sound
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go to any articulation websites found in links on this page
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play hangman with words/phrases that include your sound
Conversational or Carryover Level:
At this level children should be using thier speech sound in their typical everyday activities. Suggestions for practice include:
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read out loud for 3-5 minutes
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play charades using good speech sounds
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describe pictures to someone
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play a board game and use good speech sounds
Fluency: Students should use easy speech at home when they are speaking with others. Remind the child to slow down if they use rapid speech, but don't interrupt. Let the child get their thoughts and ideas out.
Grammar/Syntax:
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practice sheets that are sent home
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write sentences about pictures in magazines
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describe pictures out loud
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go to any grammar website links found in the links section on this page.
Pragmatic/Social Skills:
Language/Vocabulary Skills:
- play memory with school vocabulary words
- go to language and vocabulary websites linked in this page
- read a story and then tell someone what happened in the story
Please feel free to contact me at any time throughout the school year with any concerns or questions. I welcome any suggestions or ideas to make my website more helpful.
Resources/Websites that I recommend:
Grammar Crackers
World of Words
Have Fun - Language Games
Have More Fun - Articulation practice Games
More Articulation Games
Wacky Web Tales - Grammar or articulation practice
