Mixed groups can get a bit crazy sometimes in speech therapy
No-prep printables perfect for mixed articulation groups in speech therapy. |
Does this sound familiar? You have three or four or...gulp!.. five or more kiddos head your way for a session of working on articulation with maybe one or two of the kids with language goals as well. These children are antsy after doing work for the better part of the day. Quietly. With no talking.
So now you're asking them to drill, then quietly wait as you take a turn with each of the other students in the group?
I talked about three rules:
1. Reduce wait time and keep kids busy between turns.
2. Don't make kids wait as you shuffle a pile of prompts trying to find the right list for the next student.
3. Have a data-taking method that's quick and simple to.... you guessed it...reduce wait time.
Sensing a theme here? Wait time is your enemy.
You need an activity that keeps kids actively engaged, but won't eat up speech therapy time.
I love quick-play games, playdough, slime, and puzzles. Something to keep hands busy as others in the group take a turn practicing. Ordinary coloring sheets are fun for little ones, but my older students get bored with those.
So how about kicking it up a notch for your older students in elementary or middle school?
So how about kicking it up a notch for your older students in elementary or middle school?
My second through fourth graders love coloring intricate patterns...even the boys.
No-prep Zen articulation activities for S and Th sounds |
So when I saw these amazing Zen letters, I knew I had to create Zen articulation activities for you. There are three gorgeous patterns: paisley, flowers and hearts. I sprinkled all 3 in each pack, so kids would have a choice of patterns. Or choose a different one each session.
They are so fun to color, and kids absolutely love them. A quiet, highly engaging, calm activity? Check!
You need all your prompts handy and easy to find so there's no hunting and shuffling around for the right one.
Here's the challenge in speech therapy groups...You may have one student working on medial /l/ at the word level, another one on sentence-level vocalic r and a third on final voiced 'th' at the phrase level. Everybody's working on something different!
When you start digging for the right prompt, you run the risk of losing the kids as they wait... and that's when those off-task behaviors kick in. Reduce idle wait time! (Yep, that's my mantra for mixed groups.)
These no-prep pages make that super simple for you. Just pull a page with the right phoneme for each student's goals.
Super convenient, because you can address any level with a single page.
I like to have my sentence-level kiddos warm up on the word and phrase levels, before taking data on the sentence level prompts.
For kiddos that have mastered sentence level, there are also sound-loaded challenge pages with 4-5 target words per sentence.
Stay organized with word, phrase and sentence level prompts all on each page.
Vocalic R Articulation Zen coloring |
I like to have my sentence-level kiddos warm up on the word and phrase levels, before taking data on the sentence level prompts.
For kiddos that have mastered sentence level, there are also sound-loaded challenge pages with 4-5 target words per sentence.
Sound-loaded practice provides extra challenge. |
Tip: I find when you use coloring pages printed on an inkjet printer, the black lines sometimes smear a bit when using markers. Pages off the office copier don't seem to as much. If you find they smear, just use colored pencils instead.
What about working on language goals with this activity?
Will that work? Absolutely. Here are a few ways to work in language practice when you have a mixed group with both articulation and language goals.
- Define the word.
- What category? (If it's a noun)
- Use the word in a sentence.
- Tell an adjective/ adverb to describe the word, and use it in a sentence. (Prompt: ran. Answer: ran quickly)
- Provide a synonym/antonym for the word.
- Does the word have any other meanings?
No-Prep Zen Articulation Bundle |
To make tackling those mixed groups easier, I bundled my Zen Articulation sets together for these phonemes:
- L
- L-Blends
- S
- S-Blends
- Initial R
- R-Blends
- Vocalic R
- Voiced Th and Voiceless Th coloring pages.
You might even find yourself coloring the beautiful patterns too.
I hope you give it a try! You can check out the bundle HERE. Have fun.