Describing, categories, object functions, and other attributes in speech therapy: The research, therapy ideas, goal suggestions and more!
Happy October, friends! This is my favorite therapy month! Today, I want to share my latest freebie with you! Lately, I’ve been completely obsessed with articulation vocabulary books! I’ve made a thematic bundle and yesterday I posted a seasonal bundle! I decided to make a free version so that you can try them out with ... Read More about Halloween Articulation Vocabulary Books! {Freebie!}
Speech-language pathologists are known to often play games in their therapy practice. There is some debate about the effectiveness of games in intervention, but generally speaking, if you can combine best practices with fun and engaging format, why not go for it? But then the hapless SLP suddenly gets an AAC user on his/her caseload. Many SLPs are unprepared for AAC users. Augmentative - Alternative Communication is not a required course for getting a degree or license. Most schools do not offer such a course, and there are simply not enough qualified professors in this area to fill all of the positions that such a requirement would create. So, what's a clinician to do? Don't panic! Just keep on doing what you have ben doing. Simply change the mode of response. If, for example, you have a group of 4 students, all working on building vocabulary for describing and defining, and one of them is an early AAC user who knows basic verbs and nouns, but not many describing words, it's No Problem! Use the same activities you're already using. But instead of trying to retrieve the words needed from memory, your AAC user needs to retrieve them from his AAC system. 1. What can we describe? Anything. Take a look around the group. Can the students describe each other? Start off easily with shirt colors and designs. 2. Once you have some descriptions, start to compare and contrast them. I have a red t-shirt. Bobby has a blue t-shirt. They are different colors. That is one way they are different. They both have short sleeves. That's one way they are the same. How can your AAC user participate? Find the "describing words" folder or page in his AAC system. You'll find red and blue, and you should also find size words; like big and small, long and short, stripes and dots. 3. Turn it into an "I Spy" type of game. "I see something that is red, that is made from fabric, that you wear. What is it?" Looking for a more formalized activity; one that provides you to with specific questions to ask and a variety of types of responses? Try my "Define, Describe, Contrast" resource. There are 10 different scenes, each with 2 versions. Students can describe a single scene, or compare and contrast two similar scenes. There are multiple opportunities to expand descriptive language, whether you are simply looking to build up single adjective use, or want a student to expand sentences with rich descriptive vocabulary. Some scenes have "silly" elements and I try to see if students can tell me why they are silly or out of place. I also use the pictures as starting points for stories. The resource has several graphic organizers and visual cues to use. Have fun with your AAC users and, as always, Keep on Talking. An InLinkz Link-up
In speech, we often work on compare and contrast in basic ways, but in classrooms, it's more rigorous. So, I try to do more rigorous work in speech, too!
Hello, Friends! I heard through the grapevine that there are 39 more days until Christmas!! Seriously, I’m one of those people that goes right into Christmas-mode as soon as the last trick or treater knocks on my door. I would be perfectly content with skipping Thanksgiving and going straight to Christmas. haha! In my Christmas ... Read More about A Dab of Christmas
These FREE Boom cards™️ target compare and contrast skills! There are 15 cards included, each with 2 items to describe, compare, and contrast. On each slide, you can sort attributes to compare and contrast the items. This freebie is part of my Compare and Contrast No Prep packet. The sorts are level 1 of that awesome resource! You can click here to learn more! To see all of the Boom Card decks in my store, click here! Because these are Boom Cards, they work really well for teletherapy or digital speech therapy. You can read more about Boom cards below or on their website. Please note regarding Boom Cards: To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial. Boom Learning and Boom Cards are the trademarks of Boom Learning Inc. Used with permission. ☟ Let's stay in touch! Sign up for my email newsletter and follow me on social media to hear about freebies, new product releases, and helpful ideas for your therapy room! ☟ Sign up for my email newsletter! • Join my Facebook group! • Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!
I recently discovered a photographer on TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) who was offering a fabulous deal of a one-time payment for literally dozens and dozens of beautiful stock images to be used in resources or for marketing or your therapy or classrooms. I am always on the hunt for good photos that I can use both personally and commercially. Thinking about how I could use Elizabeth’s photos really sparked some thinking (which, I admit, still hurts my head some days). So, what are my top 5 tips for using these photos in therapy? Describing skills: tell me about this picture Compare and contrast skills: how is this picture the same as that one? How are they different? Barrier games: give 2 students the same photo and a group of other objects to place in the photo to play a barrier game (see this post on barrier how-to’s) Labeling skills: tell me what it is (my least favorite, by the way) Association skills: where would you find this? What else would you find there? Let’s start with describing. I want students to tell me everything they can beyond the label(s) of the item(s) in the photos. I always have visual cues for students who need the visual reminder to tell the category, location, function, size, shape, color, amount, texture, taste and sound and smell (if applicable). Then they can compare and contrast. There are multiple photos of the same object(s0 in this resource, so there might be a picture with 10 colored pencils laid in a neat row across the top of the page that can be compared to a picture with a hand grasping those colored pencils in a bunch. The pencils are the same, their colors and sizes and shapes and even degree of sharpening are all the same. Their location is different, and the addition of the hand in the second photo is different.. How about a barrier game? Barrier games are played by having two students facing each other, but with a barrier between them that prevents them from seeing each others’ papers. Both have an identical group of smaller pictures or objects to place on the page. One student tells the other which of these smaller objects to place on the photo, and where to put it/arrange it. At the end, the barrier is removed and students can compare their two pictures to see if they are the same. If not, where did they go wrong? Were the directions not clear enough? Did the listener not process the directions correctly? Help the students figure out what each did well, and where they went astray. Here is a post I wrote a while back about setting up barrier games. And here is a link to a bundle of fun barrier games in my store. I also have seasonal and other fun themes. Labeling and association are the easiest of the skills to work on. Can students name the familiar, every day objects in the photos? Can they name pencils, pens, markers, rubber bands, pumpkins, leaves, and more. Can they tell you what other things you might find in the same places? For example, if you have pencils and paper clips, can you tell me where you would find them, and name 3 things you would also find there? Bonus: You can also use clip art and symbol cards to create more therapy activities from these photos. For example, I might use one of the leaf photos and one of the pumpkin photos and have pictures of kids raking, jumping, carving, choosing, etc. Have students sort which actions go with which photo, then use a sentence to tell about what the kids are doing. Have fun with these great photographs. You can find Elizabeth Coller’s Stock Photos store on TPT. You can find more related resources in my store. Check out my activities for describing and defining and my visual cues for telling about. And.... keep on talking! An InLinkz Link-up
How Natalie Snyders, SLP uses famous art to work on describing, comparing, and contrasting in her speech-language therapy room with older students.
Many students, especially grades 3-6, have goals that focus on describing, categorizing, and comparing and contrasting. These goals can be tricky to teach and require a lot of background knowledge and skills, so some tips for teaching these skills within speech therapy sessions are listed below. T
Speech Therapy Activity Cards Kit (STACK): Compare/Contrast 90 Different Compare/Contrast Cards Comparing and Contrasting is an important language skill. Students must describe the relationship between two items with words. Use STACK: Compare/Contrast Cards in a variety of ways Have students compare the two pictures and state how they are the same/different Teach/scaffold how to compare and contrast with the cue cards given on page 3 Teach sentence making when comparing/contrasting using the cue cards provided on page 3 Use blank Compare/Contrast cards to create your own and write the answers on the answer page provided Use cards individually during therapy to: Expand vocabulary Use similarities and differences Increase describing skills Increase sentence making skills Organization of cards Keep cards on a ring and hung in the room for ease of use. Print and keep each STACK set in a box.
In speech, we often work on compare and contrast in basic ways, but in classrooms, it's more rigorous. So, I try to do more rigorous work in speech, too!
Target all of your comparing/contrasting and describing goals with these adorable fall monsters! Includes: 24 compare/contrast task cards Anchor charts Student describing reminder visuals Open ended game board plus game pieces and spinner Open ended dotter/coloring sheet 2 venn diagram worksheets for skill carryover/homework UPDATED 7/16/20 to include BOOM Card Version for easy distance learning Happy Fall! STAY CONNECTED Check out the Itty Bitty Speech Blog Follow me on Instagram
Are you familiar with EET yet?! EET, or Expanding Expression Tool, is a great multisensory way to teach new vocabulary and concepts. I love to pull out this tool and show students how to use it during various vocabulary activities. One such activity, comparing and contrasting. I was using my Compare & ...
It's time to get outside! Spring is here and I am sharing a few ideas to help you bring speech therapy outside!
I thought it would be fun to share this fun, winter interactive book. You can use it to target positional concepts and 1-2 step directions.
Have you been loving my "pictures" activities?!! By your feedback, it seems like you do!! Well, my next one is ready and available!! This activity uses real life pictures and a few illustrated ones. Some cards have specific items while others have "why are these objects/images the same/different?" This ...
Speech therapy compare and contrast examples, worksheets, and teaching tips, plus my best speech therapy IEP goals for classroom success!
BOOM Cards include: 65 cards Describing different items from multiple categories: food, animals, sports, electronics, furniture, clothing, transportation, and outdoors. Each card has a describing visual. Compare and Contrast portion with "same" and "different" visuals and boxes for typing. Enjoy! Stay Connected: Follow me on Instagram & Facebook
What is the EET? It's an incredible product SLPs can use in their speech rooms - the Expanding Expression Tool! Click through to learn more about using it!
The commercial aspect of the Winter holidays is well under way. Even before Halloween was over, ads began for sale prices and get-'em-now d...
Free speech therapy worksheets and activities (articulation, receptive/expressive language) for speech-language pathologists, teachers, parents.
Whenever life gets hectic, I try to go back to the one thing that makes me remember to slow down. More often than not, I come back to my old climbing tree. It has been my good friend ever since I can remember. The branches held me aloft in my safe princess & mermaid fantasies as a child. I practiced my gymnastics and ballet beside this tree. It also protected me from the harsh light of the sun. I still love to sit on the lowest branch every now and then to remind myself of our time together as silly as it sounds. This is one of the craft projects I made during the great camera FAIL of 2013. I bought several packages of these little colored cups from the Dollar Tree's Hawaiian themed section. The colors just pop and that's definitely a motivator. However, I suggest putting a large piece of felt under these cups as they are less forgiving of accidents than the waxed kind. The concept is very similar to the "artic towers" found on pinterest. I just added my own little twist by making every cup have two related words. My students have to describe how the objects are similar and different in order to earn the cup. This is a great way for them to practice sounds at both word and sentence level. You can find two of my word lists in these older posts: http://thethriftyslp.blogspot.com/2013/05/another-1st-experience-carson-dellosa.html and http://thethriftyslp.blogspot.com/2013/04/under-weather-blues.html My other idea from Dollar Tree is geared towards categorization. I know that the large serving trays have been a huge hit on pinterest. They are really handy for most groups. However, I have some students that are overwhelmed by that many sections. My solution is to buy the three sectioned trays. It reduces the amount of options, but they also give extra space to toss in a few more items. You could also use these trays as a way of self-tracking. The students can have a "good" and "bad" (sounds, speech, behavior, etc) compartment. The markers go in the additional slot so there's no chance of them falling on the floor. Summer is almost here with two more IEPs to go! Hakuna Matata!
Check out these all-in-one speech therapy worksheets. Cover your whole caseload with one awesome worksheet (elementary and middle school)!
This oh-so-helpful, no-prep BUNDLE contains my best selling Describe It! BOOM CARDS™ deck and its companion Compare and Contrast It! BOOM CARDS™ deck. These easy-to-use, multi-level BOOM CARDS™ decks feature engaging visual supports, graphic organizers, and a variety of cards targeting category identification, describing pictures/items by critical features, and teaching how to compare and to contrast items by critical features (attributes) both with and without answer choices specifically designed to save you time and to help your students master categorization, describing items/objects, and comparing and contrasting items/objects by their critical features! Great for individual or mixed groups, distance learning or tele-practice! This high-interest resource will have your students practicing and mastering categories and attributes in no time at all! By purchasing this bundle, you are saving 20% off the price of the individual units. Please see the PREVIEWS for a link to a free playable preview of each of these decks! This expressive language bundle includes these 2 time saving digital resources: Categories and Attributes BOOM™ Cards for Speech Therapy Compare & Contrast BOOM™ Cards for Speech Therapy Here's what this engaging bundle includes: - 25 category identification cards, - 25 drag and drop describing cards (answer choices provided), - 30 fill-in-the-blank Describe It! cards - I Can Describe It! Bookmark - 10 Multiple Choice Comparison Cards, - 10 Multiple Choice Contrasting Cards, - 25 Drag and Drop Comparing and Contrasting Cards (answer choices provided), - 20 Fill-in-the-Blank Compare & Contrast It! Cards using a Venn Diagram plus I Can Describe It! Bookmark - 15 I Can Compare & Contrast It! This BOOM card™ set is perfect for working on comparing and contrasting, describing items, sentence formulation and expansion, adjective, fine motor skills, written language, co-treats, collaborating with teachers, collecting data, home practice, distance learning or great on it's own! The first card in each deck is a menu card so you can quickly navigate to the desired target. Not sure how Boom Cards work? This purchase will give you a PDF that will lead you to the Boom Learning platform. WHAT IS NEEDED: To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a subscription. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial. THERAPISTS AND TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pinky Speech said, "This is such a great resource to use with both distance learners and on campus learners. The students loved the interactive aspect and I liked the concepts being taught. They are clearly explained and easy to use." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kat F. said, "I love this resource! It makes describing so much easier because it is scaffolded by level of difficulty. I will usually use the easier level of categories as a warm-up before moving on to describing." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Joan F. said, "This was SUCH a fantastic resource! It's got a lot of good visual clues to help children who learn better that way. I love that the different types of descriptive language are given as a visual next to the Venn diagrams to establish that you compare items based on descriptive characteristics. Thank you!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hayley D. said, "I have so many students working on describing, compare/contrast, etc. and I LOVED using these resources. So easy to manipulate and kept my kids engaged. Very awesome resource for distance learning AND in-person therapy." ___________________________________ You may also like… Figurative Language BOOM™ Cards Bundle for Speech Therapy and Distance Learning Stuttering Activities Boom Cards™ Articulation Task Cards for S and S Blends BOOM™ Cards Multi Level Word Retrieval Unit BOOM™ Cards for Speech Therapy Distance Learning Don't forget that leaving feedback earns you points toward FREE TpT purchases. I value your feedback! Also, follow me and be notified when new products are uploaded. New products are always 50% off for the first 24 hours they are posted. It pays to follow me! I hope you and your students enjoy! Thank you so much, Nicole Absher ___________________________________ Let's Connect! To keep up with the latest on new products, sales and flash freebies, connect with me on: Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram I hope that you are 100% satisfied with your purchase. If you do find any errors or have any questions, please contact me at [email protected] prior to leaving feedback so that I can fix it ASAP. ___________________________________ Copyright © 2021 Nicole Absher at TWOSISTERSTHERAPY.COM All rights reserved by author. Permission to copy for single classroom/therapy use only. Not for public display. About the Author: Nicole Absher, M.A., CCC/SLP is an ASHA certified Speech-Language Pathologist. She works as a school based SLP in Texas.
Pictorial stimuli and prompts to describe similarities and differences. No prep and you don't even have to print.
The overall goal of learning about text structure is to get your students to have a better mental representation and organization of the information they read, hear, or see. This will make skills like summarizing or retell much easier. There are 5 main text structures that I teach to my students: These 5 text structures […]
Do you have students who have articulation AND language goals? Do you have speech groups where one student is working on articulation, and another on language? Now you can offer both! You can: Elicit high rates of /s, z/ and /r/ sounds Teach how to describe using photo stimuli and graphic organizers Practice comparing and contrasting using paired photos and graphic organizers You can print the picture pages or show them digitally on your tablet or computer. You can earn TPT credits by clicking “Leave a Review” and sharing about this product. I love to receiving feedback on all my products. It helps me to learn what is valuable to you as I create new materials. More articulation materials: /r/ Deep Testing for /r/ Comprehensive /r/ Word Lists Intervocalic /r/ Words Carryover /r/ Activities Carryover /r/ - Would You Rather? /s, z/ Assessment /s, z/ Comprehensive /s, z/ Word Lists Carryover /s, z/ Activities Carryover /s, z/ - Would You Rather? Other Articulation Targets Carryover Activities /th, sh, ch, j, l/ Carryover Activities /f, v, k, g/ If you’re interested in similar products, check out my TPT store and my website: BeverlyPlass.com. Be the first to find out about my new products. Follow me by clicking the green star by my name on TPT.
It’s been a crazy week! My caseload seems to be at an all-time high, with some complicated and somewhat high-profile cases that keep my days (and nights) challenging. Paperwork, schedule chan…
Not sure which speech therapy activities to use to incorporate mini objects into your sessions with preschoolers? Or just not sure what the hype is all about?I'll be honest - I didn't get it either.I still don't really know what it is about mini erasers and mini objects, but they are magical. All of my preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary students LOVE them. They can be tricky to find (Walmart, Amazon, Michaels, Dollar Tree, and Dollarama) are my favourite places to get them. Mini objec
Free One Page Book Companions I LOVE BOOKS! Reading pictures books is a frequent, even weekly, activity in my speech therapy room. The pictures provide the perfect visuals for my early language learners and the themes or morals support high level thinkers working on metalinguistic skills. I often pull books that have a central theme […]
It’s been a crazy week! My caseload seems to be at an all-time high, with some complicated and somewhat high-profile cases that keep my days (and nights) challenging. Paperwork, schedule chan…
All About Me is a perfect theme for building rapport in a fun way. Get to know your students with this comprehensive unit and activity ideas!
Use Autumn Vocabulary to work on receptive language identification (field of three), yes/no questions, wh-questions or pictured scene descriptions, compare/contrast, inference skills, and describing items using semantic features. No Print: Autumn Receptive & Expressive Language Tasks contains both real photos and colorful graphics! A separate file is included that contains questions for the pictured scenes for students working on wh-questions or that require some additional prompts to describe a pictured scene. Made to use on a computer, tablet, smartboard. Great for Teletherapy! Work on: Receptive Vocabulary Yes/No Questions Wh-Questions Compare/Contrast Inference Item Description Other Products you may enjoy: Map, Mash, & Mark: Autumn Conversational Mats Receptive & Expressive Language Builder: Autumn No Print: Winter Receptive and Expressive Language Tasks Don’t forget that leaving thoughtful feedback earns you credit towards FREE TPT purchases and helps me to better help you! I love and appreciate feedback! *************************************************************************** Let’s stay in touch! Be sure to follow me to be notified when new resources are posted. New Products are always 50% off for the first 24 hours that they are posted! You don’t want to miss those savings! You can check out my blog TLC Talk Shop for tips, tricks, and to talk shop about all things Speech and Language related. You can also catch me on Instagram and Facebook and get all the latest on giveaways and exclusive freebies.
This product was designed to help SLPs and teachers who work with students grades 5-9 who have vocabulary goals. Academic vocabulary tend to be tough to implement without a lot of buy in by the student. This program allows you to focus on academic, tier 2 vocabulary that will be used across class settings and on a variety of assessments. This combined bundle of units 1-3 focus on the following words: evaluate, compare, contrast, analyze, describe, summarize, support, explain, infer, formulate, brainstorm, predict, remark, context, question, evidence, point of view, paraphrase, reflect, elaborate, explicit, implicit, perspective, persuade, synthesis, interpret, locate, articulate, cite, and comprehend. This program contains: a definition cueing card, pre/post tests, memory games, make a box games, tic tac toe, story writing tasks, student self reflection sheets, and data sheets. Download the supplemental free Google forms for easy pre and post testing for units 1-3!! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Units-1-3-Google-Form-Power-Vocabulary-Pre-Post-tests-3439493 Weeks of therapy ideas! Clip art by Revidevi https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Revidevi Borders and Backgrounds by Lovin Lit https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lovin-Lit
I thought it would be fun to share this fun, fall interactive book. You can use it to target positional concepts and 1-2 step directions. Or, expand
Do your students struggle with carryover for compare and contrast? Mine too! That's why I created these Compare and Contrast Stories for the entire year!
