Smart Mouth-Game of the Week February 17, 2008

• 
  
  My students love playing Smart Mouth. The game itself is a little more challenging than you may initially think. The goal is to be the first to generate a word when given the parameters of an initial and final letter. This is one of the games in my collection that I use as a quick, 5-10 minute filler as the beginning or end of therapy.
  
• The Original Rules: Each pair of letters represents the beginning and ending or a word. The player that comes up with the best word receives a certain number of points. A 5 letter word would be worth more points that a 4 letter word. Words that end in ed, er, est or plurals are discouraged.
  

Modified Way to Play:Skills Targeted: vocabulary building, word retrieval and pragmatic skills

• Rather than making this a competition, I have the students take turns.
  
• If the student is unable to come up with an appropriate word, I will either let the others take a guess or move to the next student. It really depends on the student’s level and abilities.
  
• We don’t keep score, when they generate an appropriate word I slide the letter tiles over to them.
  
• Most of the kids either line up their tiles or count their matches. I often run out of time or very nonchalantly mention it is time to clean up. The fun actually seems to be the excitement of generating the word.
  
• I allow the kids to produce 3 letter words.
  
• For most therapy groups, I also let the students use words with common suffixes. I actually may remind them if they are struggling.

Working in the public schools, I often have students who are very language disable. For those students I will just present one letter at time. Most are successful at this level and seem to have fun. If for some reason my more involved students are not having success generating an appropriate word, I may give an extra cue to help them come up with a word.

Game of the Week-20 Questions for Kids February 3, 2008

20 Questions for Kids is another one of my top games in therapy. The cards that come with this game are a speech and language therapist’s dream come true. Put out by University Games, should really be called 20 clues. I will use it for a whole session or for quick 5 minute filler.

The Original Rules:
To be honest I never really followed the rules and it has been a long time since I have read the original rules. Each card gives 20 clues about a person (real or fictional), place or thing. The children take turns listening to the clues and try to guess the target word. To keep track of which clues are read, chips cover individual spots numbered one to twenty. The game board is a path in the shape of a question mark. Lots of my students have found this interesting.

Modified Way to Play:
Skills Targeted: Drawing Inferences/Conclusions, Auditory Comprehension, Memory, Pragmatic skills

• I take control of the chips just to save time.
• When working with a group I am usually the only one read the clues. unless I am playing or have the kids working in teams.
• The language used in the clues is sometimes tricky; however, the cards have the answers on the bottom so I instruct the kids to cover the answer with their thumb so I (or other players) do not see the answer when I help with reading.
• I will go through the pile to make sure the children have a reasonable chance of guessing the item, Is it something they would know?
• In a small group setting, I usually have the students take turns.
• The student selects a number; I cover that number with a chip and read the corresponding clue.
• Depending on the abilities of the student, I may rephrase/repeat the clue or even previous clues.
• Now the student can make a guess.
• At this point I may talk about whether the child made a good logical guess or ask them to tell me how they came up with that answer, maybe even reread the clues to tell them why that answer would not work.
• The following student must wait for the next clue before they can respond.
  If the student guesses the answer after only 4 clues, they can move 16 spaces, after 10 clues 10 spaces…..
• If I only have one student with me, we will take turns reading the clue cards to each other. This is still fun and targets individual needs.
• Sometimes I will use the cards without the game board, reading from top to bottom, as a quick activity.

This is a game where we tend to have a lot of fun. There is a lot of opportunity to practice individual skills. Occasionally, a student will be a little disappointed that they can’t figure out an answer. However, I will take that as a teaching opportunity pointing out that some of the clues are clearly easier than others. I might point out some of the silly responses other have made (all in fun and only when appropriate). I am not big on letting kids win all the time but I will often make sure I listen to a few more clues before I guess just to show them it is not always easy. In the process of writing this, I found that there are 2 new versions of this game. I plan on purchasing both today. (Attn: Do not purchase the "new edition" if you already own the original game-the questions cards are identical 2/23/2008). The Original 20 Questions for Kids is recommended for children 7-12 years of age. The 21st Century 20 Questions is recommended for ages 8-adult. The variety within the cards makes this game extremely versatile with middle school aged language groups where the abilities of the students often vary.

Sample Descriptions: Click on Picture

Blurt Game of the Week January 27, 2008

Blurt is my absolute favorite game to use in therapy. I have actually worn out 2 game boards over the years. We play it a lot at home too.The

Original Rules:Blurt is advertised as a “Game of Word Racing”. The general idea is to be the first to Blurt out the correct answer after a general description. Players take turns reading the descriptions or one person becomes reader. To start someone rolls the dice. The number on the die determines which description to read and how many spaces the first person to Blurt out the answer will move. The player who moves their piece around the board first is the winner.

Skills Targeted: Word Retrieval, Pragmatic skills, Auditory Comprehension
Modified Way to Play:

• I take control of the dice just to save time
• When working with a group I am usually the only one read the description unless I have the older kids working in teams.
• Since my students often have difficulty coming up with the correct answers quickly I play several rounds of individual Blurt to get them moving around the board.
• Then I throw in a few “True Blurt” rounds just to add a little variety and excitement to the game. This means we play Blurt using the original rules to the game. Obviously, I am very careful to make sure that none of the students will feel bad or get upset if they are not successful. If I note this happening I switch quickly back to individual Blurt.
• I only choose descriptions that I feel the student has a reasonable chance of getting correct and may go through several cards in the process.
• Depending on the abilities of the student, I may rephrase or repeat the description, emphasize specific words or give an additional clue.
• If I only have one student with me, we will take turns reading the descriptions to each other. This is still fun and targets individual needs.
• If the student has difficulty reading the descriptions, I instruct them to cover the answer with their thumb and show it to me.
• Sometimes I will use the cards without the game board as a quick word retrieval activity.

I try to make sure the kids are laughing and having fun. Everyone gets lots of turns when we play Blurt and lots of chances to work on their specific needs. You can pace Blurt to move quickly or slow it down for students who need it. Blurt comes with two sets of question cards, a junior version targeting the 7-9 age group and an version recommended for 10-adult. This makes it extremely versatile with middle school aged language groups where the abilities of the students often vary.

Sample Descriptions:

Junior VersionA large, round fruit with a thick, orange rind, used for making pies and jack-o-lanterns.A place with runways where aircraft can land and take off.Someone who cuts and sell meat.Older VersionA long plank balanced on a support in the middle.Someone who makes things out of iron, such as horseshoes.To learn by heart.