Have you ever tried to use a story book in a speech and language therapy session, but had difficulty with engaging all of the students in your mixed therapy group? And not only that, but planning something quickly because you don’t have much planning time as a busy school-based SLP!
You’ve come to the right place! Here are 4 of my super easy ways to add engagement during literacy speech therapy sessions:
- Pause and ask questions
- Use gestures and/or story props
- Encourage predictions
- Allow discussion during and after the story
Pause at key points and ask questions about story grammar elements (i.e., character, setting, problem, feeling, action, and ending.). Also ask questions to check for comprehension as you read the story aloud. Make sure to use a variety of yes/no and “WH” questions to really guage your students’ understanding of the story.
WHY SHOULD YOU PAUSE AND ASK QUESTIONS? Because this helps students think critically about what they are hearing and reinforces their understanding of the story. Make sure to allow for adequate wait time before answering the question yourself! Many of my students need additional wait time to comprehend the question.
Tip #2: Use Gestures and/or Story Props
Bring the story to life by using hand gestures or props that reflect the characters or speech targets. Engage the students by using super simple actions and gestures. For example, if a character is climbing a tree, use your hands to mimic the motion. OR, hold up a prop such as a photo or plastic tree. Stuffed animals are another great story prop to pair with books during your speech therapy sessions.
WHY SHOULD YOU USE GESTURES AND/OR PROPS? This helps bring more meaning to the story AND can help students visualize the setting and characters. Actions can help give the students something to do to help get their wiggles out so they will continue to be focused on the story through the rest of the therapy session.
Tip #3: Encourage Predictions
Help the students think ahead and look at context clues to try to predict what will happen in the story. Ask if they were right or what clues they missed that might have helped them predict more correctly next time.
WHY SHOULD YOU ENCOURAGE PREDICTIONS? This strategy not only increases student engagement in the session, it encourages students to use their critical thinking skills.
Tip #4: Allow Discussion During and After the Story
I LOVE when students make comments and ask questions while we are reading a story in our speech sessions. I have had some of THE BEST and most engaging lessons when students pointed something out and another student said "I didn't think about that!"
WHY SHOULD YOU ALLOW DISCUSSIONS? It helps students make connections to their own lives AND can help boost your students’ confidence.
These are just 4 of the easiest ways to increase engagement using books during your literacy-based speech therapy sessions: 1) Pause and ask questions, 2) Use gestures and/or story props, 3) Encourage predictions, and 4) Allow discussion during and after the story.
📚Books are such incredible tools for speech and language therapy sessions, but sometimes as a busy school-based SLP, it can be difficult to make books engaging for all of your mixed groups!
Want to learn even MORE evidence-based tips, ideas, and strategies for effectively using children’s books in narrative-based speech and language therapy sessions? Earn professional development hours (PDH) while learning how to:
- Choose the PERFECT book for your mixed group therapy sessions
- Find speech and language therapy targets in any book
- Plan narrative-based interventions
- Use books with mixed therapy groups
- Take data and write goals for narrative-based therapy
- Use books with gestalt language processors
- AND SO MUCH MORE!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Michelle R. says:
“This is a one stop shop when it comes to resources for using books in therapy. You’ll learn something new no matter what population you serve in a school setting. My jaw dropped at the amount of research and attention to detail that went into this. Stacey has thought of everything! You won’t be disappointed!”
Learn more TODAY by clicking the picture below.👇
Comments
Post a Comment