Speech Therapy Schedule Template & Tips for How to Make EP 104

Speech Therapy Schedule Template & Tips for How to Make EP 104

by | Sep 5, 2023 | Real Talk SLP, Uncategorized

When it comes to making your speech therapy schedule in the school setting, the process can be overwhelming and ever changing. There is no PERFECT way to make your speech therapy schedule, but after making a schedule for many years, I do have some tips and tricks for you. In this Real Talk SLP podcast episode, I share my biggest piece of advice for how to approach the speech therapy schedule as well as tools, tips, and tricks for streamlining the process.

Tools and Software to Help You Create Your Speech Schedule

Using paper and pencil can work really well for creating your speech schedule, but there are some digital tools that have speech therapy schedule templates to help with updating your schedule throughout the school year. Here are some of the tools mentioned in this episode:

 Swivel Scheduler by Maureen Wilson

SLP Scheduler

Google Forms for getting teacher requests (free Google Form for getting classroom teacher requests)

Speech Therapy Schedule Template

Free Speech Therapy Schedule Template

Speech Therapy Schedule Template

Put your speech therapy schedule on a Google Doc (there is a free one on this podcast episode) and make a copy each week to make any group changes, add in meetings, when you will assess students and other tasks you need to do.

 

Steps for Creating Your Speech Therapy Schedule

 

  1. Get the master schedule from the school secretary for recesses
    • Find out the teacher’s schedules either by asking for a copy if they have that or send them a Google Form to fill out times to avoid pulling their kids.
    • You can tell them to give 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices, but explain in your email that you have X amount of students on your caseload and cannot fit in 50 kids from 8-8:30 or 2:30.
    • If you are considering doing co-teaching, take the time to meeting with those teachers to find the best times, discuss roles and expectations. Schedule those first.
    • Your self contained classrooms tend to have a little more flexibility so if you run into scheduling shifts, maybe approach them.
    • Get PE, RSP services and RTI schedules
  2. Block off your assessment and  paperwork time. We had a day to switch between our sites to do paperwork, testing, etc. Do not put students during that blocked off time.
  3. Get RSP schedules, RTI to reference and check in with those specials to see if there is anything they are doing with scheduling
  4. Use post its or some sort of system for documenting the students age, teacher and service minutes. Know when you CAN’T see students.
  5. Create your first draft of the schedule and either do a run through making notes of what worked/didn’t work, or send it out to teachers via Google Doc for them to see if there are any issues with their student’s speech time.
  6. Make changes as needed throughout the school year.

 

Speech Therapy Schedule Template

Tips and Ideas for Streamlining Your Speech Schedule

Speech Therapy Schedule Template

  • Speech is beautiful recommends color  coding students by feature in your schedule

     

    Try to group by classroom or age group. If you can group by similar goals that is a benefit or try to look at language goals to see which  ones are easier to do with other articulation and phonology sounds

     

    Consider having a scheduling party in the lunch room, bring donuts have them find times for their students.

     

    Whatever you do, send out the schedule to each teacher and let them check it out. They usually can help spot errors or issues that you may have not seen.

     

    If you have any tips for creating your speech therapy schedule share in the comments!

Ep 104 Speech Therapy Schedule Template & Tips for How to Make

by The Dabbling Speechie

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If You Take a Mouse to School Speech Therapy Lesson Plan – Ep 103

If You Take a Mouse to School Speech Therapy Lesson Plan – Ep 103

by | Aug 15, 2023 | Real Talk SLP, Uncategorized

When it comes to speech therapy lesson planning, it can get a big overwhelming because we don’t just serve one specific treatment area. We serve articulation, phonology, language, social pragmatics, fluency, narrative language, etc. So, today I wanted to share how you can use the book If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff to cover a LOT of speech and language goals.

Updates and Resources Mentioned in the Real Talk SLP Podcast:

 Join the Themed Therapy SLP membership (doors are opening for the year next week of August 21st)

 New sets of the Simon’s Cat Speech Therapy Cheat Sheets Growing Bundle will be added at the end of August or sooner!

Where to Find the Book for Your Literacy-Based Speech Therapy Sessions

Read the book at the carpet and then split up your groups into three stations. You can see this REEL with the group activities in action. While reading the book, make sure to include iconic gestures and shared book reading strategies. </p> <p>Station #1: </p> <p>Mystery Lunch Game where you put in school related items into a lunchbox or backpack. You can pair with themed mini trinkets, printables (we have school printables in the Themed Therapy SLP membership), or school items around your room and house. </p> <p>Station #2: </p> <p>Sorting School Items into Categories with the printables from the back-to-school push-in language lesson plan guide. You can work on sorting playground, lunch food, toys, etc. </p> <p>Station #3:</p> <p>Pretend play packing your lunch activity using your play food and a lunch box to work on following directions, sharing opinion, targeting AAC CORE words like/don’t like, modeling spatial concepts, sequencing the steps for packing a lunch, or play “What’s missing?” by giving inference clues for what they need to pack next in their school lunch.<br />

Grab the book on Amazon, use the YouTube read aloud, get it on Scholastic, or hunt for a copy at a thrift store! You can also snag a If You Take a Mouse to School story retell prop kit on Amazon as well.

 

Amazon affiliate links are provided for your convenience. I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Check out more details for how to set up your push-in lesson for If You Take a Mouse to School:

Read the book on the carpet and split your groups into three stations. You can see this REEL with the group activities in action. While reading the book, include iconic gestures and shared book reading strategies.

 

Station #1:

 Mystery Lunch Game, where you put school-related items into a lunchbox or backpack. You can pair with themed mini trinkets, printables (we have school printables in the Themed Therapy SLP membership), or school items around your room and house.

 

Station #2:

Sorting School Items into Categories with the printables from the back-to-school push-in language lesson plan guide. You can work on sorting playground, lunch food, toys, etc.

 

Station #3:

Pretend play packing your lunch activity using your play food and a lunch box to work on following directions, sharing opinion, targeting AAC CORE words like/don’t like, modeling spatial concepts, sequencing the steps for packing a lunch, or play “What’s missing?” by giving inference clues for what they need to pack next in their school lunch.

Read the book at the carpet and then split up your groups into three stations. You can see this REEL with the group activities in action. While reading the book, make sure to include iconic gestures and shared book reading strategies. </p> <p>Station #1: </p> <p>Mystery Lunch Game where you put in school related items into a lunchbox or backpack. You can pair with themed mini trinkets, printables (we have school printables in the Themed Therapy SLP membership), or school items around your room and house. </p> <p>Station #2: </p> <p>Sorting School Items into Categories with the printables from the back-to-school push-in language lesson plan guide. You can work on sorting playground, lunch food, toys, etc. </p> <p>Station #3:</p> <p>Pretend play packing your lunch activity using your play food and a lunch box to work on following directions, sharing opinion, targeting AAC CORE words like/don’t like, modeling spatial concepts, sequencing the steps for packing a lunch, or play “What’s missing?” by giving inference clues for what they need to pack next in their school lunch.<br />
Click here to get your Roll a Word Vocabulary Game

Some more extension speech therapy activities for the book, If You Take a Mouse to School:

Click here to get your Roll a Word Vocabulary Game

Make a story prop kit with items from the story to help with story retell and sequencing. You can also buy this set on Amazon.

 

Rock Chalk Speech Talk has some really fun ideas to go with this book like some Yoga poses, science experiment, and a DIY story prop kit for this story!

 

Pair a craft with the story, such as this mouse writing craft, shape mouse craft, or paper bag mouse craft. You can also use a pencil or bus craft in the Themed Therapy SLP membership.

 

Make up another version if you take a mouse to school and substitute it for a different animal, the child’s pet, or something wild like a lion or dinosaur.

 

With a plush mouse or the mouse puppet in the prop kit for this book, have the mouse visit different places and workers around the school. Work on where questions, who questions, and explain the jobs of the different school workers.

 

For students working on syntax and conjunction goals, work on cause and effect with this story. You can teach connecting words such as “then,” “because,” “since,” etc.

 

Look through your book and write down any key vocabulary or verbs from the book. Grab a die and have students roll to see what number they get. Use the roll-a-word game to have students practice depth of knowledge with vocabulary words from the book.

What Activities Do You Plan with the Book?

If you have any great activities or ways you incorporate speech and language goals using this book, share them in the comments or tag me on social media! Felice Clark (thedabblingspeechie)

Ep 103 If You Take a Mouse to School Speech Therapy Lesson Plan

by The Dabbling Speechie

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Beach Theme Speech Therapy Tips for Targeting Multiple Goals

Beach Theme Speech Therapy Tips for Targeting Multiple Goals

by | Aug 13, 2023 | Themed Speech Therapy, Uncategorized

One of the many reasons I love themed therapy is that with one theme you can use all different books, activities, and materials to cover the wide range of ages and goals that so many of our caseloads entail. Not only does this create fun and relevant therapy for our students, but it also makes planning easier. During the summer months, using beach theme speech therapy activities is a great way to reinforce your student’s experiences with going to the beach. 

There are countless books, activities, and materials to use for beach therapy but I have made planning that much easier with my Themed Therapy SLP membership. Minimize your prep time with themed materials for your preschool through 5th-grade students who are working on speech, language, and social language skills.

Tips for Targeting Multiple Goals with a Speech Therapy Beach Theme

When using a beach theme or any theme with your speech therapy caseload, the key to targeting multiple goals in a session is to pick materials that have lots of opportunities to discuss the beach vocabulary and concepts. Oftentimes, books are a great material to choose from because you can easily adapt to speech and language goals.

Other options for beach-themed materials could include sensory bins, YouTube non-fiction videos, virtual field trip, pretend play activities, and hands-on STEM projects such as building a sandcastle. You will learn how to target a variety of goals with beach books, props and sensory bins.

Get tips for how to target multiple goals with a beach theme.

Beach Themed Books for Speech Therapy 

Learn how to adapt beach books to cover speech and language goals

Books are a fun way to experience the beach from your speech room! There are all different ways to break a book down to address speech and language goals. Let’s say I’m planning to use “A Beach Tail” by Karen Lynn Williams with my 2nd grade group. (Here’s where to buy the book on Amazon, and here’s a YouTube read aloud) This is how I’d use it to target different goals.

How to Target Different Goals with the Book A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams

  • Before I read the book, I’ll review tier II words such as sturdy, smooth, giant, scurry and suddenly with my students. Since these words are adverbs and adjectives, I’ll ask if they can think of something that is sturdy, smooth, giant, scurry or sudden. 
  • I also like to talk about the title of this book! What is a tale vs. a tail? Can they make a prediction about what this book might be about? What might happen in a beach tale? Why might the author have changed it to tail?

 

  • While reading the book, there’s ways to work on speech and language goals. For my students working on speech sounds, we’ll do a sound hunt! Can they find their speech sound in the book? If there’s limited examples of their sound in the book, give them a sentence starter that involves their sound. You can ask them questions throughout the book that they can answer with their sentence starter. (For /s/ or /s-blends/, “I see/spy…” For /l/, “Look! It’s a…” For final /z/, “It is…”)
  • Can your students find the examples of onomatopoeia in this story? There are so many examples of onomatopoeia (swish, swoosh) and other sound effects (uh-oh, zig zag, roar) in this story! Have your students find them and read it with different expressions (scary, exciting, surprising, etc.). 
    Learn how to adapt the book A Beach Tail in your literacy-based speech therapy sessions.

    Targeting Multiple Goals After Reading Your Beach-Themed Book

    Learn literacy-based speech therapy ideas for the book A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams
    • After you’re done reading the book, ask comprehension questions like Who went to the beach with Gregory? What did he draw in the sand? What did he find while making the lion’s tail longer? How does he find his way back? Don’t forget to follow up on the question, Why is this book called “A Beach Tail” and not “A Beach Tale?”
    • This book allows from some great sequencing! Students can practice using sequencing words first, next, then, after, last, etc. Have some visuals prepared and students can re-tell the story using the visuals. Don’t forget to include all the story elements, too
    • If you’re looking for social skills to target, consider some conversation starters related to the book. In the story, Gregory got lost after drawing a long tail on his sandy lion. Ask: Did Gregory follow his Dad’s rules? What happened when he didn’t follow the rules? Have you ever been lost? What did you do? What would you do if you were Gregory? 

    Adapting Beach Sensory Bins for Speech Therapy

    I love using sensory bins during my speech therapy sessions, and a beach sensory bin is no exception. There are so many different fillers you can use like kinetic sand, pom pom balls, water beads, real or plastic rocks, and more. Add in mini buckets, shells, mini paper umbrellas, mini beach animals and other mini figurines! Students will love to see a “mini beach” in your speech room! 

     

    Now that you have your materials ready for a beach-themed sensory bin, start thinking about how you want to work on speech and language with it! Use a sensory bin after you read a beach-themed book with your students. Work on beach-related vocabulary like noun functions and action words. Ask WH questions and work on basic concepts like position words, quantitative concepts, and qualitative concepts. Make word lists with your student’s target sounds or plan a carrier phrase with their speech sound for them to use while playing with the sensory bin. 

     

    For more tips on beach sensory bins, I wrote a whole post about them here. 

    Learn how to adapt a beach sensory bin for speech and language goals.

    Beach-Themed Props in Speech Therapy

    Learn how to do beach-themed props in speech therapy.

    There are so many props you can use with the beach theme, and chances are you probably already have them! Grab a towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, bucket, shovel, and beach bag. To learn more about where to find themed props head here. 

    Use these props to work on spatial concepts (“Put the sunglasses under the bucket”), answering WH questions (“Where are the sunglasses?”), or for pretend play.

    One prop-based speech therapy activity I love is packing a beach bag! Here are a few of my ideas:

    • Read (or listen to) “How Will We Get to the Beach” by Brigitte Luciani & Eve Tharlet. Then, pack a beach bag. Your students can sort things that you bring to the beach, and things to not bring to the beach. 
    • Make a list of what to pack and why you’ll need it. 
    • Pack a beach bag loaded with your students’ speech sounds! Students can reach in and talk about what they find. In a group with mixed goals, students can work on describing the items, including appearance, function, parts, and category. 

     

    Read all about how to use beach balls in speech therapy in my post.

    Learn About the Beach in Speech Therapy

    Whether you use a nonfiction passage or a YouTube video, learning new facts about the beach is just another way to target speech and language goals with your elementary school caseload. 

    Find nonfiction passages on Wonderopolis or Newsela. On Wonderopolis, read about Where Sand on Beaches Come From or How Sea Shells Form. With either of these passages, ask your students what they think the answer will be. While you’re reading, review any vocabulary words you find. Vocabulary words are highlighted in yellow and include definitions of the words! At the beginning of the article, there are a few questions you can ask your students at the end. Ask your students these questions and use their own words to answer the questions. At the end of the articles, there are a few ideas for extension activities! Try them out. 

     

    You can also use YouTube videos to learn more about the beach like What Causes Waves or Where Sand Comes From. Students can make predictions about either of these questions. While watching, stop the video and talk about what’s being said. Are there words they don’t understand? Ask comprehension questions to make sure they’re able to follow along. After the video, talk about if any of their predictions were right. Then, talk about what causes waves or where sand comes from. You can discuss concepts like cause and effect and/or work on sequencing. I often find myself learning something new about the beach (or other topics) when I use nonfiction pieces in therapy!

     

    Learn how to use Beach-themed YouTube videos to cover speech and language goals.

    Ideas for Other Summer-Related Themes

    Get beach themed speech therapy ideas and how to adapt for mixed groups.

    Before or after your beach theme, don’t forget to use an ocean theme to cover the land and sea! I have a few other ideas to help you plan for summer speech therapy sessions like some camping activity ideas or pool play sets. These posts will help a bunch with your PreK-5th grade caseload!

     

    Between books, sensory bins, props, and nonfiction passages, a beach theme is sure to be a hit in your speech sessions! During the summer, so many of our minds are thinking about the beach! It’s safe to say using a beach theme in speech therapy will decrease planning time and keep you and your students engaged! How do you bring the beach to your speech sessions? Share your ideas on Facebook or Instagram and tag me @thedabblingspeechie 

    Shark Week Speech Therapy Lesson Plan for Upper Elementary

    Shark Week Speech Therapy Lesson Plan for Upper Elementary

    by | Jul 19, 2023 | Themed Speech Therapy, Therapy Plans, Uncategorized

    It’s late Summer and you turn on the Discovery Channel. What do you find? Dun dun… dun dun… SHARK WEEK! Each summer, Shark Week mesmerizes everyone with wild stories and footage. What If we take shark week from Discovery Channel and make it into Shark Week Speech Therapy? You can use this theme as a lesson plan for upper elementary students and adapt it for small groups and co-teaching (push-in or whole class lessons). To read more about push-in setup, check out this blog post. At first glance, it may seem like this is a one-week kind of theme, but I’ve put together a few of my favorite ideas that will help you plan shark activities for at least 2 weeks.

    Amazon affiliate links are included for your convenience in this blog post. When you use my affiliate link, I receive a small comission at no additional charge.

    Get Your FREE Themed SLP Planner

    Want to keep track of your lesson plans for future years? Use the free editable themed therapy lesson planner and idea guide to help you plan out your themes for the school year. It’s a free download on this blog post.

    With a themed speech therapy calendar that is editable and over 100 seasonal and nonseasonal themed ideas, you will have your monthly themes planned out for the school year!

    Get your free SLP planner for themed therapy.

    Shark Week Book for Speech Therapy

    Learn about shark themed books you can use in your speech therapy lesson plnas.

    “Shark Lady” by Jess Keating is the perfect book for shark week speech therapy. Buy it on Amazon or watch it a YouTube read aloud by Story Time with Ms. Jay. Get Epic also has an animated Shark Lady book. Use EdPuzzle to listen, too.

    The Before: 

    • Review any Tier 2 vocabulary words with your students. Some tier 2 words I found were fearless, doubt, eager, myth, and devise. 
    • Ask your students a big thinking question such as “Have you ever seen an animal that you thought was beautiful but other people thought was scary or ugly?”

    The During

    • Stop every couple of pages to ask a think-aloud question. 
    • Point to pictures in the book that represent some of the vocabulary words. 
    • Talk about character traits. How would they describe Eugenie as the story goes on?
    • This EdPuzzle has questions built in with picture choice answers.

     

    The After

    • Complete this Quizziz about the story. 
    • Discuss how the word “fearless” relates to this book. How is Eugenie Clark fearless?
    • Create a timeline about Eugenie Clark. What other questions do they have about her?
    • Do a word search like this one from Wordmint.

     

    Want a cheat sheet for “Shark Lady”? I have a full lesson plan cheat sheet for this book as part of May’s “Ocean Animals” theme in the SLP Themed Therapy membership.

    Use this easy shark week speech therapy lesson plan for upper elementary.

    Shark Week Videos

    Get shark week speech therapy lesson plan ideas for upper elementary.

    Videos are the start to some great shark activities that you can use in small group or whole class instruction.

    SciShow on YouTube has great options with Super Sharks or How Sharks Find Food with Electricity. After watching the video, ask comprehension questions. What questions do your students have about sharks?

    If you’re using this as a push-in lesson, here are some ideas:

    • Break your students into groups and assign staff members to different groups.
    • Provide whiteboards and dry erase markers for each group.
    • Pause the video after a key point is shared and ask the class a question.
    • Allow each group to write an answer on their white board, and then share it with the class.
    • When the video is finished, you can have the students write out the main idea, supporting details and a summary sentence about the video.
    • Don’t forget to float between groups and ask questions or help keep students engaged.
    • Close your session with: What is one cool thing you learned about sharks?

    Some other fun videos to watch are LIVE shark cams!ith these shark themed speech therapy activities. Here are a few I found:

    Tips for Using the Shark Videos in Speech Therapy

    While watching the live feeds, talk about what the sharks are doing. How many do they see? How are they similar and different? What other fish do they see? Research sharks with your students. 

     

    You can also use these as some conversation starters—Have your students been to an aquarium? What did they think of it? Did they see sharks? How do they feel when they think or see sharks?

    Lots of great shark speech therapy activities for upper elementary.

    More Shark Speech Therapy Activities to Extend the Themed Lesson Plan

    Planning for your upper elementary students just got easier with these shark themed speech therapy activities.

    Like I said earlier, there is plenty of opportunity to extend Shark Week into multiple weeks with even more shark week ideas. After you’ve read “Shark Lady” and/or watched some Shark Videos, check out some of these shark activities.

    Mystery Doug has some fun videos with some questions your students might have about sharks. Doug answers

    Before you watch, ask your students what they think the answer is. After you watch, ask students if their predictions were right. Don’t forget to ask your students what questions they have about sharks!

    Brain breaks are always fun with students, especially in whole class instruction! Coach Corey Martin has a great movement break for you to complete. This is a great tool to break up your push-in lessons.

    Last but not least, don’t forget about Shark STEM. Learn about shark buoyancy with this YouTube video from the Houston Public Library. You’ll need a plastic bottle, sharpie, 1 balloon, vegetable oil, funnel and a large tub filled with water. While completing this, pause the video and ask your students what they think will happen. After, they can draw a picture of the activity, and verbally explain what happened and why it happened.

    Looking for More Shark Week Ideas 

     

    Shark Week(s) is a great speech therapy theme for students of all ages. If you’re an SLP serving Prek-5th, Speech Sprouts has some great shark activities for the preschool speech therapy population. What shark activities you are using in therapy?

    Planning for your upper elementary students just got easier with these shark themed speech therapy activities.
    4th of July Speech Therapy Activities Ep 102

    4th of July Speech Therapy Activities Ep 102

    by | Jul 4, 2023 | Real Talk SLP, Themed Speech Therapy, Uncategorized

    If you are working during the summer months planning a 4th of July themed unit for your speech therapy groups can be easy with all the ideas in this podcast episode! Your students probably celebrated so it’s fresh on their minds. Today, you will get some great 4th of July speech therapy activities that you can use with preschool to middle school students.

     

    Amazon affiliate links are included in this blog post. I receive a small commission when you use my affiliate link at no additional cost.

    Take the Free Themed Therapy SLP Quiz

    Before I jump into lesson plan ideas for a 4th of July theme, I wanted to let you know about a free Themed Therapy SLP quiz I created to help you get information about using a theme-based approach. Whether you are a new to themes, trying to get more organized or need fresh ideas for planning by themes, you will want to take the quiz to get an email with links to podcast episodes, blog posts, and resources to help you with your themed therapy planning.

    Fourth of July Speech Therapy Activities

    Check out the 4th of July speech therapy activities for younger and older students

    You can read some books that talk about the 4th of July such as The Night Before the Fourth of July by Natasha Wing or Hats Off for the Fourth of July by Harriet Ziefert

    Here are some more patriotic picture books you can use with your caseload. 

     

    Fourth of July videos for Speech Therapy

    To explain about the holiday, use YouTube videos with your students. These work really well to keep students motivated especially with your 4th-8th graders. You can upload these videos into EdPuzzle and add in stimulus items for wh-questions, vocabulary, etc. to pause the video and discuss portions of the activity.

    Here are some great YouTube videos for speech therapy about the 4th of July holiday:

    For your mixed groups, you need to use the Simon’s Cat fireworks YouTube video because you can cover syntax, retelling, figurative language, wh-questions, and more. It’s a lot easier using this wordless short video with my Summer Simon’s Cat cheat sheets. 

    Show your students a clip of real-life fireworks show to demonstrate tier II vocabulary such as gleaming, fascinating, crowd, shimmering, dazzling, flashy, burst, blast, blaring, or deafening

    Plan an engaging 4th of July speech therapy activities unit for your preschool through middle school speech therapy caseload.

    4th of July Crafts for Speech Therapy

    Learn about some fun 4th of July speech therapy crafts and other activities you can pair with them!

    Using crafts in speech therapy can help keep your students engaged while working on speech and language goals. Plus, with certain goals, you can naturally target skills without your student knowing they are even working! Here are some crafts you can do:

    Additional Speech and Language Activities for 4th of July

    Use the song Fireworks by Katy Perry to discuss synonyms, antonyms, etc. 

    Brainstorm a word association map about the Fourth of July holiday. You can talk about the foods people eat, the activities we participate in, the clothes we wear, when the holiday happens, etc. 

    Need some funny jokes? These jokes from Simply Speech are great for articulation sounds, answering questions, icebreakers, and explaining why it’s funny!

    Use some of your leftover 4th of July-themed props from the day’s festivities to work on spatial concepts in speech therapy.

    For pretend play, you could use your Little People and have students plan out a parade, BBQ 4th of July party, or going to watch fireworks.

    Check Bamboozle or Quizizz for games that work on answering wh-questions, vocabulary, and grammar with a 4th of July theme.  

    Plan your next summer-themed speech therapy unit for your preschool to middle school caseload using a 4th of July theme!

    Ep 102 4th of July Speech therapy Activityies

    by The Dabbling Speechie

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    Pet-Themed Speech Therapy Activities

    Pet-Themed Speech Therapy Activities

    by | Jun 24, 2023 | Themed Speech Therapy, Uncategorized

    I’ve started to notice a pattern in my line of questions when I get to know a new student… who else lives at your home? Do you have any pets? This quickly starts a conversation about the pet they have, the pet they want, and/or the pets they cannot have. It made me realize that pets are not only relevant to most children, but they’re also super engaging for them. Either way, they share about their own pets or learn more about other people’s pets. As speech therapists, we can use this to our advantage! A pet-themed speech therapy unit can be used with all ages and to address a variety of skills.

    You can find materials for pet-themed activities almost anywhere, usually for a decent price! Not to mention, there are many options, no matter how simple or complex your activity is. Plus, this is a great theme that can be used any time of year!

    I’ve already shared my favorite Dog Themed activities. So today, I wrote this post to share my favorite pet-themed: books, play activities, games, highlights from the SLP-Themed Therapy Membership, crafts, digital activities, and language activities. 

     

    This blog post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience. I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

    Pet Themed Books for Speech Therapy

    With a little bit of preparation, you can use themed books during sessions and target speech, receptive language, expressive language, and even in social language! The Themed SLP Membership includes cheat sheets and story maps for themed books. 

    There are so many different pet-themed books for speech therapy you can read with your students. Here’s a list of some of my favorites. 

    PreK-1st:

    2nd-3rd:

    4th-5th:

    Get recommendations for pet-themed books you can use for speech therapy!

    For more themed therapy ideas, check out this blog post to get a free themed therapy idea guide and planner! 

    Pet-Themed Speech Therapy Activity Ideas

    Get ideas for your pet-themed speech therapy unit and plan engaging lessons for your preschool and elementary caseload!

    For your younger students, you’ll want to find some pet-themed play-based activities. Here’s a list of some of my top picks:

    • Pocket of Preschool has an amazing idea for Pet Store Dramatic Play; make sure to check it out here. 
    • My all-time favorite B. Pet Vet Toy or Critter Clinic is a must. Keep in mind, it only comes with 2 “pets” so you might want to find 2 additional pets for yours. Learn more about how to use this toy HERE. 
    • With this toy and a play based cheat sheet, you’ll be ready to go!  
    • Grab some pet stuffed animals & talk about how you’ll care for them, feed them, and play with them. Try to find some cheap “themed pet props”—bowl for food, toys for the animals, collar, leash, tank, and more (lots of these things are at Dollar Tree.)
    • Melissa & Doug Pet Puzzle (with sound) …hide the pieces in a sensory bin, talk about what pets they find, and what noises they make!

     

    Learn more about pet-themed activities for preschoolers and your entire elementary speech therapy caseload.

    Themed Therapy SLP Membership Highlights

    Become a Themed Therapy SLP member and have pet-themed speech therapy activities for your prek-5th grade caseload.

    The Themed Therapy SLP Membership has Pet Themed activities for Pre-K to 5th Grade with activities prepared for you to work with students with a variety of needs and goals. The activities include:

    • Literacy ideas with story maps and book cheat sheets
    • Sequencing Stories
    • Worksheets for speech and language
    • Boom cards
    • Short Stories and Nonfiction passages
    • Grammar & vocab activities
    • Lesson plan cheat sheet
    • Newsletters for parents
    • Toy Guide
    • Open Ended Games
    • Crafts to make a fishbowl, paper plate dog and tissue paper pet!

    Digital Speech Therapy Activities for a Pet-Theme

    As much fun as play-based activities are, I still enjoy using technology and digital-based activities in my sessions. Here are some pet-themed ideas: 

    • Some apps I would recommend:
    • YouTube videos to check out:
      • Simon’s Cat is always a huge hit with my students. I’ve used it to work on expanding utterances, describing, vocabulary skills, inferencing skills, speech sounds, and even more. Use my cheat sheets to help!
      • Pip: A Short Animated Film by Southeastern Guide Dogs is a great video to share with students. Have them narrate the video using their descriptive vocabulary, grammar targets, or speech sounds. This is also a great video with a clear problem and solution as well as a great lesson!
      Find pet themed digital activities for your next teletherapy session.
      • Online Games:
        • Panic in Pet Paradise on ABCYa involves inferencing, and following directions and can easily incorporate pet vocabulary, a variety of grammar targets (prepositions, negation, etc.), and speech sounds.
        • Giant Hamster Run on ABCYa involves many actions words (jump, slide, run, move), prepositions (under, next to, above, etc), verb tenses, and more!

      Easy Crafts for a Pet Theme

      Use crafts during your themed therapy sessions! Before you do the craft, think about your student’s goals. How can you elicit target sounds or language targets before, during, and after making your craft? 

      • Paper Plate Pets: Grab some paper plates, construction paper, crayons, scissors, and glue and make a paper plate pet. Ask your students what pets they have or want, and they can create the pet of their choice with paper plates and other materials. Don’t forget to ask their pet’s name! There are visual supports for a goldfish and dog craft in the Themed Therapy SLP membership. 
      • Did anyone else paint a “pet rock” when they were little? Bring some nostalgia to your sessions and have your students paint some pets of their own. Encourage them to use their imagination. What does their pet do? What will it need? What will they name it?
      • Pet Store Fish: Cut out fish shapes for your students to decorate. When they’re done, they’ll put them in bags. You can even have the back of the bag blue to make it seem like water. When you seal the bag, add a piece of paper with the pet’s name, type of fish, birthday, and a list of care instructions.
      Have visual supports for a goldfish paper plate craft for speech therapy

      Language Activities to Teach Pet-Themed Vocabulary

      Dog washing sequencing language activities for speech therapy
      • Seasonal flipbooks includes “All About Pets” flipbook.
      • Boom Cards were such a lifesaver during the pandemic that I still use them during my sessions! Here are a few pet-related boom cards that you can use to target language:
        • Dog Sequencing on How to Wash a Dog
        • Mystery Word Game…Have your students describe the scene with their pet vocabulary and grammar targets. After you figure out the mystery words, have them explain how they found the answer.

       

      Pets are a part of so many people’s lives. They become family members of many households! It only makes sense that we use pets as a theme in our therapy. What ideas do you have for your pet-themed speech therapy? Share them with us on Instagram or Facebook!

       

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