Penny Pushers - Back To School

 Penny Pushers - Back To School

Penny Pushers are another favorite activity I use for receptive language (any student) and auditory skill development (Deaf and Hard of hearing students).  Depending on the language level of the students, I typically use this with Knd-2nd graders, but have had older students for whom this was still very appropriate.  This activity was created by K Ratliff and is available for free download on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Penny Pushers are available for all four seasons and a variety of holidays as well.  Each set comes with around eight different stories that are approximately 3-5 sentences in length, so the activity is quick and repeatable within and across therapy sessions. 

I start by giving each student participating a laminated copy of the response chart.  I then give each child four pennies.  While the students often want to put them on the penny illustrations at the top, I find it more helpful to place them on the "wh" question words along the side.  This is a better visual representation of one per row.  If I am working with more than one student, I put up some kind of visual barrier so that they can't see each other's responses.  I tell them that I want everyone to do their own thinking.  Before I read/sign the story, we typically go over the possible response options for each row to make sure they understand the targeted vocabulary.  The "when" row usually needs the most attention, particularly for students who are not yet reading words at that level (Thursday, August, etc.).  

Once we've established that the students understand the possible response options, it's time to read and/or sign the story.  I always remind them that the rule is not to do anything but listen/watch until I say, "Slide your pennies!"  If I am targeting auditory comprehension with my Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, then the first 1-2 presentations will be using my acoustic hoop so that it is a true listening task or present it orally without sign support.  While this is a challenging listening task, having the pictures for support aids in word discrimination and identification.  If I notice that one of my Deaf/HoH students has only 1-2/4 correct, then I will reread the story with sign support to ensure comprehension regardless of mode.  After the story has been presented, we go over the correct answers, with each child getting a chance to go first for at least one question.  Some children choose to share how they did, but the barriers allow for each student's performance to remain private.  For the "who" row, I often ask them how they knew it was a boy/man vs. girl/woman vs. more than one person so we can highlight the pronouns used within the story (she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/their).  And, of course, if everyone gets 4/4 then we all stand up and do a "winners dance"!!!