What worked with my preschool and elementary school aged kids?? (part 4)
by
Purvi Gandhi
What worked with my preschool and elementary school aged kids??
This week, I’m going to continue talking on how I was able to use a variety of games, and paper-pencil-tasks and worksheets from my home to facilitate speech and language goals in children. Certain apps, board games, paper-pencil tasks provide practice with a variety of speech and language skills and facilitate repetition of a required task.
Use of Fun games and apps:
Who doesn’t like to play games, be it on computer, iPad or real board games??
I have used a variety of fun games such as, Pictionary and Hangman (sharing my whiteboard) , Connect 4, Hedbandz, Guess Who, Story cubes, Scattergories, 5- minute rule game, Rolling and Shooting ball, Scavenger hunt games, Mystery box, Simon says game, I Spy games during therapy sessions to improve and increase my client’s speech and language skills.
Goals:
Providing sensory/tactile feedback and movement.
Improving imagination and creativity in kids.
Following 1-step, 2-step, multi-step directions.
Asking and answering -Wh (what, where, who, why) questions.
Vocabulary building and labeling nouns.
Labeling action verbs, pronouns, prepositions, and adjectives.
Practicing rapid naming skills.
Practicing word relationships.
Comparing and contrasting objects/pictures.
Reasoning and Problem-solving strategies.
Building longer sentences.
Sequencing and retelling steps while engaging in a game with step by step directions.
Predicting and Describing items with reference to its attributes/functions.
Formulating grammatically correct sequential sentence structures using appropriate parts of speech, grammatical markers, and punctuation markers.
Writing sequential steps using descriptive language for older age groups, for example; use of story cubes.
Pragmatic language goals like attending, requesting items, taking turns, asking questions to clarify, and engaging and listening to the speaker.
Practicing articulation goals while playing games- have the child say a word/sentence with his/her target sound correctly before taking a turn.
Use of Paper-Pencil tasks, Graphic organizer, and Worksheets:
One can also use paper-pencil tasks, graphic organizers and simple worksheets during the session .
Goals:
Pragmatic language goals like attending, requesting items, taking turns, asking questions to clarify, and engaging and listening to the speaker and joint attention.
Acts as a reinforcer with younger kids.
Practicing articulation goals while drawing different objects.
Facilitates repetition of a task or an activity.
Following 1-2 step directions.
Expanding the length of utterances from single word production to 2-3 word utterances.
Answering simple -Wh ( what, where) and how questions.
Comparing and contrasting objects/pictures.
Sequencing and retelling steps while engaging in an activity with step by step directions, e.g., building a castle or a house.
Describing items with reference to its attributes/functions.
Formulating grammatically correct sequential sentence structures using appropriate parts of speech, grammatical markers, and punctuation markers.
Use of Graphic organizer helps to break down information into smaller categories.
Worksheets to work on grammar, writing goals, and reading comprehension tasks, especially with older age group kids.
Example of a graphic organizer used for storytelling:
