Ideas for Mixed Groups

One of the biggest challenges I've had this year moving from private practice to school based therapy is how to effectively meet all my kiddos needs in groups.  My caseload/workload is considerably larger so often I meet with my kids in groups of 2-3 where appropriate.  In a perfect world all those kiddos in each group would be working on exactly the same goals but unfortunately this doesn't always work out.  So, I've had to adjust and create some activities to use with groups of kiddos working on different goals.  Here are my favorite (and easy!) go-to activities for mixed speech therapy groups!

This game is brand new!  I print a "game board" for each kiddo in the group. We discuss the goal we're working on and then get started.  Kiddos roll a dice, say the corresponding word (in words, phrases or sentences) using their correct speech sound and then color the block.  The first player that gets one column to the top wins.  One of my kids told me today after we played this that we had worked on math, reading and speech, and I realized he was right!  This game is super easy, no prep and lots of fun!

These have been time consuming to make but I'm slowly working on them one month at a time.  We use bingo daubers, crayons or cotton balls to cover up each word/target as we take turns in groups.  So far I've made a Santa Beard, Snowglobe, Shamrock, Egg and Rain Cloud.  The kids love hanging their work up outside the speech room. The best part about these packs is that I've made articulation and language targets so if groups get really tricky I have targets for both.  

These are the simplest printables I think I've ever made but because my kids get to use highlighters they love them!  I print a page for each kiddo in the group depending on the sound they're working on and then we take turns finding a word that has our targeted sound.  Super simple but at the end all the homework words are highlighted so it's super easy to send home for home practice too!

These have been out for a little while but they're still loved by my kiddos.  I just print a page for each kiddo, again depending on the sound they're working on.  We use a paper clip to make a spinner.  They  take turns spinning, saying their sounds and graphing.  This one definitely throws in some math skills which make it even more fun and engaging.  

I saved the best for last.  I have Don't Wake the Monster games for articulation sounds and language skills.  These are so easy to prep, especially if you have colored copy paper.  I print one page per kiddo on a different colors. So for this group I had three kids and we were working on /V/, /L/ and irregular past tense verbs.  Kids are assigned a color and know which color to chose.  I set the timer for 5-6 minute increments, flip over the cards and we pick/say pictures until the timer is up.  If a kiddo picks a monster card they must put all their cards back in the pile.  The player with the most cards when time is up wins!  These cards can also be used for so many more things than playing Don't Wake the Monster.  We use them for sorting easy words/tricky words, playing board games or just sending them home for homework.  

Flip Books

I have posted two new Flip Book sets this week and have to say they've been a huge hit in the speech room!  Obviously you can use them to make a Flip Book (and send it home for homework) but we've used the picture cards for matching games, drill practice, and tasks before taking a turn for games! I've been printing them on bright, colorful paper which I think helps too.  The two packs were made for kiddos who have difficulty with speech sound production of vowels or final consonants. For each vowel sound/final consonant sound a sentence book and a silly phrase book is included.  I think by grouping vowel sounds or all the same final consonant sound we've seen some great progress! You can check them out by clicking on either picture below!

Vocabulary Interactive Notebook
