The following speech and language therapy materials are free to download and print for your own personal use in speech and language therapy. Just click on the title!
This one-page oral mechanism exam can be administered in 2 - 3 minutes or less--as long as you know what you're looking for. The one-page QOE is provided along with 3 pages of detailed instructions. It is organized sequentially (first checking out the "outside," then heading inside to the oral mechanism. It's designed to give you oral information as a basis for speech sound production therapy.
Many of our language therapy kids have difficulty taking tests. In part, because they don't know the test terminology or how to find "the main idea" or "analyze" a passage or "compare and contract" two things, people, or events. This one-page list provides the most often used test terminology plus a short sentence that explains the term. A few activity suggestions are provided.
Love this one-page informal, interactive Basic Concepts survey. It's a great tool to use with kindergartners through second grade (depending on their capability), and specifies prepositions and other vocabulary the child knows or down't know. In other words, it let's you know what needs to be specifically addressed in therapy. Prior to administering, be sure to read the 1-page instructions sheet. Administer verbally; you need no manipulatives or photos--just you, the child, and the Basic Concepts form. Takes about seven minutes to give.
Use this form with all of your kids (ages 5+) with all type of speech sound errors. It's not speech-sound specific; it's universal. Use it to determine the best minimal context combinations to practice with your kids to establish proprioceptive movement memory. It's fun--and very beneficial--to practice with a metronome. Increase the pacing to increase lingual movement refinement. Small oral movements fit well into coarticulation. Big movements don't. This is an invaluable form.
Print several of these and put them on your clipboard (along with your therapy schedule and blank pieces of paper) and you'll have them handy as a teacher grabs your attention and wants to share information about a "new kid." You'll be at-the-ready with your questions. A great way to document baseline information.
This three-page Checksheet Chart is the supplement to the #49 Therapy Matters guest blog "The BEST Strategy to Teach Imitation" by Mary Lou Johnson. She's an experienced SLP who has worked extensively with young low-verbal children and their parents. Be sure to read her blog prior to using this form. It's in grid-format and offers suggested vowels and consonants to imitate. Page three is blank for you to write in your own preferences.
Use this one-page form to plan and organize and document your language therapy when using narratives (stories, poems, articles, or reader's theater). INSTIL is an acronym for: Interview, Narrative, Start with prior knowledge, Techniques,
Intensive Instruction, and Language expansion.
Use these tasks to prepare the lips and tongue for correct, comfortable, consistent oral resting positions. Not every child will need these tasks. Do only as needed. They are pretty self-explanatory.
The position of the lips, tongue, and jaw when at rest during non-speaking, non-swallowing times has a major influence when when they do speak and swallow. This one-page PDF depicts the desirable positions of the lips, tongue and jaw at rest. Use it to show your kids during therapy.
Happy Thanksgiving! Your kids will enjoy coloring a fun-turkey for the holidays; choose from five turkeys in this PDF. For a complete guide on how to use and incorporate speech and language targets within the activity of "coloring" in therapy, please refer to the #36 Therapy Matters blog on doing therapy while coloring. There are numerous ideas, strategies, benefits and resources.
"The Witch and the Broomstick" is a Mary Ann Hoberman paired-reading story from her Halloween book You Read to Me, I'll Read to You; Very Short Scary Tales to Read Together. This seven page PDF accompanies the story and provides materials for language instruction. It contains two story-formats, and three pages of cards: vocabulary, multiple meanings, and contractions. (A personal recommendation: Get the book! You'll want to use some of other stories, as well!)
This supplement is the paired-reading story "The Witch and the Broomstick" in PowerPoint format. Show it on your computer, or through an LCD projector or Smart Board. The words on each slide are bigger (than on a page) and each slide minimizes the amount of words the child sees and makes it easier for them to focus and read. It also easy ability to specify and highlight words during instruction.
This Deep Screening Probe is an analysis tool that contains representative words for both the unvoiced "th" and the voiced "th." There are six sections of initial, medial, and final words for each "th." Each section contains a variety of words in contexts, and provides a comprehensive view of the clients word-production abilities. You, the speech therapist, says each word, the client repeats. Once completed, each category yields a representative percentage of his/her productions.
Use The Conversation Code page with any of your speech-language-fluency kids, but mostly your language kids. Print it and post it. Post it so you and your therapy-kids can refer to it. It contains the 'Great 8' things to remember and do during a conversation. It is a CODE not a list of rules. It's a "conversation code" to live by, to help modify and train your language-kids as they converse during your therapy sessions. Use the numbers as a code to discreetly correct them as they share their information.
I think you'll enjoy the newly revised Speech Homework Tally Sheet. Kids and parents find it easier to understand what to do and where to "check," and you, the SLP, have more room to write the assignments. It is formatted in a "two-up" fashion, i.e., duplication of 50 copies yields 100. Suggestion: Take it down to Office Depot or Staples and ask them to make each one into NCR-2. You'll then have a white, top copy for the child to take home, and you'll be able to keep the yellow "carbon copy" for your records. It makes it much easier to keep tabs and records of what you ask them to do!
Your Reinforcement Form: The form to use to keep track of "money" earned and spent when your kids do their therapy-homework. Count up the number of times they practiced (as indicated on the Speech Homework Tally Sheet) and determine how much money each point is worth (I always equated it to a penny). So, if they practiced 10 times that week, they got to deposit 10 cents into their Speech Bank. Consider having a stash of items they can purchase.
Share this Speech-Language Homework form with the parent/caregivers at the eligibility/IEP meeting. It explicitly gives them information and ideas of how to help their child accomplish their speech-language homework. It's important, of course, to enlist parent/caregiver support to ensure homework compliance. It's one more step in an effort to motivate the child to follow-through with the items we ask the child to do outside of the therapy room. When they practice--they improve!
There are six words lists: 30 Test Terms (Words kids need to know to answer questions properly); Action Words (for vocabulary enrichment and/or word recognition); Contractions List (very helpful for children that are confused about reading and writing contractions); Irregular Plurals (groups for drill and instill); Irregular Verbs (tons of them); Synonyms for Words Commonly Used in Student's Writing (a really good 4-page compilation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 words).
There are five activities in this Bundle: The Features Grid (pick and items and brainstorm it's features; write them in the Grid); I Remember This Word (a nice form to include in the child's Word Book--write the word, the child-friendly word meaning, draw an appropriate picture, and write a sentence); Linear Array (an open-ended gradients form); Semantic Gradients (use the words from the Synonyms and Antonyms list and place them gradiently according to meaning, along the horizontal grid; discuss the shades of differences).
Taken from the "INSTIL" the Love of Words method (INSTIL is an acronym), there are four forms in this Bundle:
The P & D (Planning & Documentation Form) for Single-Word Vocabulary Instruction, and the P & D for Narrative Language Therapy (stories, poems, articles, reader's theater), as well as a Worksheet, etc., for The Dot.
One hundred words on one page. Keep track of the words your language kids know and the words you are working on. Share with the child, teachers, and parents.
Six hundred words on six pages. Keep track of the words your language kids know and the words you are working on. Share with the child, teachers, and parents.
Use this form with individuals or a group of children. Discover their interests to personalize their therapy. Helps you to provide relevant therapy topics. Children attend, focus, participate, and learn when topics are interesting.
I gave a BER Conference Keynote on this subject. Several SLPs requested a copy of the PowerPoint to use at their workplace. Here ya go! I changed the title slide and omitted the last slide, but otherwise it is the exact version of the PowerPoint that I used. Thank you for your interest in this very important topic.
Organized in four sections: Speaking and Listening, Language, Vocabulary, and Reading. Listed by grade levels, K-5
There are a lot of apps listed here: artic apps, language apps, turn-taking apps, interactive whiteboard apps, creating stories apps, alphabet and early literacy apps, drawing/art apps, stuttering, and alternative communication apps.
Similes are a great tool to teach vocabulary. I came across a great similes list and put them in "card" format. Use them with any activity you like.
Sometimes our language kids balk (or at best shy away from) answering questions. Perhaps they don't know the answers and feel put on the spot. Not good! Apply some of the items on this list of Questions Options--I think you'll see a change in your kids expressive participation!
Use this comprehensive three-page analysis tool to analyze your kids and adults that have a potential restrictive lingual frenum. Use the information in the book Demystify the Tongue Tie to assist you with administration and interpretation.
