Idea Exchange
Speech therapists are among the most creative people I know. Most of us have had to work at one time or another with little or no materials and come up with the perfect idea to remediate a skill. This idea exchange is written by YOU! If you'd like to share an idea that you have found works in therapy, please email me. I'll add your idea to the page. Please send me your name and where you are from so I can give you credit.
General
1. Reward System - This isn't
really a therapy idea. It's just my quick, easy & effective reward
system. I have speech-language tokens which mykids can earn.
There are 16 on a page, and they are just boxesw/ a place for the child's
name that say "Speech-Language Token". I have a separate system for
K-3rd graders and 4rth & 5th graders. The K-3 kids get to sign
one token for every time they come & follow the speech rules.
(This rewards kids who are just too young to remember their time, but there
is also an incentive for them to remember to come by themselves.)
K-3 kids get to
sign an extra token if they remember
to come on their own. 4th & 5th graders don't get to sign a token
UNLESS they remember to come. This really helps to motivate those
kids who are capable
of remembering to come. I
make copies of the blank token pages, which I made on EXCEL on my computer
(or you could make by hand). Then I 3-hole punch each page and put one
token page with each child's work in a 3 ring binder, filed in order of
the time and day they come to see me. For example, I have a Monday
& Wednesday book and a Tuesday & Thurday book. Some kids
are Mon, Weds & Thurs, so they have files in both books. When
kids fill up their token page, they get to choose either a prize from my
prize book or they get to play a game & bring a friend during
lunch recess. I have found
that this is an awesome, self-sufficient tracking system because kids can
visually see how many tokens they have & how many they have left to
sign before
earning a prize. Also, I
have found that it eliminates arguments over whether a child forgot to
mark a star on a chart or whatever because I write the date right on the
token. I don't have to do any counting or keeping track of stars
or stickers. Next month I am also starting something called "Speech
& Language Club Stars" whereby kids who have earned one token sheet
this semester will
have the opportunity to bring a
friend to speech (okayed by the teachers) & play a game. I believe
this will be a positive reinforcement for being pulled out of the classroom
and help kids to think of speech-language therapy as more of something
fun to do. Plus, through word of mouth, it will help to lessen the
uncertainty of classmates of what happens at speech-language
time. (Suzie Murphy, CCC-SLP, Kennewick,
Washington.)
2. Computer-based therapy for
preschoolers - Here's an idea for therapy that I use with preschoolers
but it could be adapted for any age group.: I really enjoy using
a computer, and if I'm interested in the
activity, it's easier to keep my
young clients interested, too. I use preschool-level software such
as the Edmark series (Bailey's Bookhouse et al.), Broderbrund, interactive
stories, Thinking Things - there
are lots) as a context for speech,
language and fluency work. For example, I have several children
on my caseload at the moment who are working on expanding their knowledge
of prepositions. Bailey's Bookhouse has anactivity wherein the child can,
by clicking on a word, place a character in, on, over, behind,
under (etc) a doghouse. I provide hand-over-hand assistance as needed
so the child is successful using the mouse to make things happen.We spend
several minutes on this, then move on to something else before boredom
can set in. I've found this to be a very effective reinforcement
of more hands-on activities, such as hiding objects around the room, then
finding them and describing the location ("It's under the table!").
My kids love it and can't wait for their turn. It also exposes them
to the printed words, and some of my four-year-olds are learning to recognize
the prepositions in writing. Of course, they are also learning computer
skills at the same time. Hope you find this useful.
(Nancy Worthen, CCC-SLP, Albuquerque,
New Mexico)
Articulation
1. Sound Walk - (For elementary school children). On one of first days of a working on a new sound, I take my students on a sound walk. We hunt for objects and people that have their new sound in them. I take along a clipboard and a paper and pencil so that I can be the secretary. I divide the paper into three columns: one for initial position, one for medial position words, and one for the final position. We may visit the nurse's office, main office, cafeteria, and on nice days, the playground to hunt for words that have the target sound. When we are finished, I make copies of the lists for them to put in their speech books. They can follow up by doing a similar sound walk at home with their parents. (Carol Casserly, Newton, NJ)
2. Guest Readers - (For elementary
school children). When my students are working at the reading level
in articulation therapy, they choose a book that would be suitable for
reading to the kindergarten class. Once they can read the book without
any articulation mistakes, we arrange for the student to go into the kindergarten
to read their book. We have 4 kindergarten classes, so the student
gets to choose which teacher he would like to visit. They usually
pick their old teacher. I accompany the student into the class so
that I can observe how well he uses the sound under pressure. We
then go back to the speech room to debrief. The students love reading
to the younger children and their former teachers enjoy hearing their former
students read using good speech. (Carol Casserly, Newton, NJ)
3. Preschool Therapy - This
is something that I like to do with preschoolers. It's not really
creative, but it does hold their
attention. I use a piece of colored construction paper, and I cut
out a letter, say "H" for example. Then I have the kiddo paste the
"h" onto the piece of paper & color a picture of an "h" word, say "hippopatamus"
from a coloring book. Meanwhile I read words that start with the
letter "h". Then I use pictures from Webber's Jumbo Artic book and
have the kid listen to me say words that start w/ "h" and words that don't
start w/ "h". I ask the kid, "Hhhh at, hat - does this word have
your air sound in it? You say it. Do you feel your air sound?".
Here's another example, "Sale - does this word have your air sound in it?".
Then the kid pastes the "h" pictures onto the paper w/ the letter "h" on
it. After the paper is filled up, I have the child say the words
for me using his good air sound. Then the kid takes the project home.
It's a nice activity that targets discrimination and production at the
same time, as well as targeting phonological awareness. It also
allows parents to see exactly what
their child is working on and gives them words to practice at home. (Suzie
Murphy, CCC-SLP, Kennewick, Washington)
13 Oral Motor Activities
1. Take a piece of plexus glass, cut it
into a square foot. Draw a face on it with Cheese Spread that comes in
a can (i.e., from Nabisco). Hold it up to the child?s face, about an
inch from the mouth. Have the child use his tongue to lick off the
cheese spread. You can also use thick chocolate syrup, strawberry, or
caramel.
***You can also do a language lesson and have them tell you what body parts
they want you to draw on the plexus glass. Or you can do shapes,
objects, etc. Use Fruit O?s (Fruit Loops, Cheerios, Apple Jacks, etc.) or
chocolate chips as the eyes, hair, etc.
2. Take a regular or mini pretzel, hold it an inch or so from their
mouth and have the child practice pushing their tongue through the
grooves, making sure that the pretzel stays far enough away from their
mouth so they really have to work on protruding their tongue. You can also
use peanut butter or marshmallow fluff, spreading it over the holes
(this gives them a better target to hit).
3. Take a straw, put marshmallow fluff on it (or the Nabisco cheese
spread from the aerosol can), and have the child lick the tiny spots off
that you put on.
***Try to keep the straw at least an inch away from their mouth, so
that they are forced to use their tongues instead of their lips.
4. Put cheese spread or Marshmallow Fluff around the middle of a 4 oz.
plastic cup. have the child hold the cup as to not get their fingers
in the Fluff, stressing protruding of the tongue.
5. Put marshmallow FLuff on a tongue depressor. Add a chocolate chip
on the end (or a small gummy bear, nonpareil, or other small yummy
object). Place the tongue depressor 1 - 1 1/2? away from the child?s mouth
to lick or push the object off the tongue depressor.
6. Take a regular or sugar ice cream cone. Smear the sides of it with
chocolate or strawberry syrup. Have the child lick it off, stressing
that they are NOT to use their lips, feeling the different textures of
the grooves.
7. Cut a large marshmallow in half. Put the sticky side of the
marshmallow on the upper or lower lip. (You can also use extra Fluff to
keep the marshmallow to stick on the lips/chin). Use the tongue to push
off the marshmallow.
8. Take some room temperature Apple Sauce. Put about 4oz. into a
plastic cup. Use straws of various lengths and widths. Starts with the
regular clear straws and demonstrate how you can suck up the applesauce
through the straw. Gradually shift to thinner straws, and if they
really catch on fast have them use a silly straw with all the curves. Have
the students race to see who can empty their cup first.
9. Mix rice crispies with Marshmallow Fluff. Put it directly on the
lower lip. Direct the child to lick it off. You can also put the
mixture on the tip of a straw and hold it below their tongue or above
it.
10. Take a piece of cooked sphaghetti, or a piece of Twizzler?s
Pull-A-Part, or any stringy candy and dip it in warm water to get it wet.
Demonstrate to the students how to ?slurp? it up like in the movie ?Lady
and the Tramp?, without touching the food item with your hands. You
may have to start out with smaller strands of food at first if the
child does not get good lip closure or has poor breath control.
11. A good resistance exercise: Put some jelly Fruit O?s or
Fruit Loops on a 12? piece of fish line. Direct the child to close
their lips to feel the texture and also taste it. Alternate activity: Put
ten Fruit Loops on the fish line. Show the students how you can push
individual pieces of cereal across the fish line to the other side
(about 8?). ***When you do this activity, hold the string approximately an
inch or some from the mouth, telling the child to sit back against the
back of his chair.
12. Take a frozen Q-tip with Fruit Juice on it. Place it at the back
bottom of the tongue and have the child try to depress their tongue and
also say the sound at the same time. Good exercise to say the /ch/
sound.
13. Take one of the candy filled straws (pixie sticks), open one end,
and sprinkle some of the sugar at the very base of the tongue. Direct
the child to try to taste it, having them depress the tongue (?taste
the sugar spot?).
(Elizabeth S. McNeill, M.A., CCC-SLP,Goddard Kindergarten Center,
Brockton Public Schools,
Brockton, MA 02301)
1. Plural Grab Bag - (K-2)
For students working on plurals, I place multiples of objects or pictures
into a bag. The student closes his eyes and takes out one object.
He then states, "I found a _______". When the second or third matching
object is found, he states, "I found another ________. Now I have
2 ________s." I use common classroom objects such as paper clips,
pencils, markers, crayons, small toys, etc. For irregular plurals
I use pictures. (Carol Casserly, Newton, NJ)
2. WH Questions - I work
with students from 3rd grade to 5th grade. When we are working on
wh-questions, I like to play a
fun guessing game. One student or the
therapist chooses a picture card.
The other students take turns asking "good
wh-questions" to figure out what
the picture is. In the beginning, I
give them a chart with all the
wh-words. I help them keep track of "info
we have learned so far".
This is a great activity for learning to ask and
answer wh-questions appropriately.
It also helps with learning to
organize and remember the info
they have learned. This activity is also useful
for children working on attributes.
Best of all, it's a game!
(SARAH M.S., CF-SLP Chatham,
IL)