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Activities, Goals, And More: Everything You Need For Vocabulary Intervention

Speechy Musings June 7, 2021 4 Comments

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If you need vocabulary activities, strategies, and ideas for speech therapy, you’ve come to the right place! Check out my:

• Vocabulary Worksheets for Speech Therapy ( 100 vocabulary words! Print-and-go, one-sheet, no-prep vocabulary worksheets that use REAL pictures , available in digital format as well for teletherapy/virtual therapy)
• Upper Level Vocabulary Worksheets ( 100 academically-relevant vocabulary words , simple, strategy-based vocabulary worksheets perfect for middle and high schoolers)

Alternatively, if you’re just in need of a quick vocabulary goal, scroll to the bottom of this post, or check out my amazing, FREE goal bank .

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the most important areas within comprehension so it’s critical SLPs target this skill explicitly.

Sure, you can cobble together your vocabulary instruction on your own, pulling out random vocabulary words from a book you are reading.

Or, you could systematically teach vocabulary strategies, starting with known high-impact Tier 2 vocabulary, using consistent visuals to really cement those skills.

Start By Teaching Vocabulary Strategies

Why do I teach vocabulary words my students already know?

I often introduce these worksheets using vocabulary words that my students already know, or are at least semi-familiar with!

For example, Consider words like “awful” – it’s a great one because while my students have probably heard it before, they might not know exactly how to define or explain it. ⁠You see, these worksheets are meant to guide your students in THINKING ABOUT WORDS.

That is key – the point is NOT to learn a specific word list or set of vocabulary words.⁠

The point IS to learn how to study words to understand and remember them better… to teach the use of tools or strategies.⁠ And sometimes, it’s easier to learn strategies like this with words you’re a little familiar with already. ⁠This is why I include easier words like “awful” or “empty” alongside more difficult, academic words like “analyze” or “descend” in this vocab resource.⁠ It allows you to use the same structure, tools, and strategies while building up in difficulty as you go!⁠

Our student with language impairments are already behind on their vocabulary skills. They are not going to catch up if we just try to drill words during limited speech therapy time. They need to have strategies to help them learn new vocabulary all the time!

Once your students have those easier/more concrete multiple meaning words mastered, consider moving them to more advanced, tier 2 multiple meaning words. They frequently come up in texts that students read in class!⁠

Strategies to Target Vocabulary in Speech Therapy

So what are these magical strategies?

Check out these evidence-based stratgies to increase vocabulary skills:

• Multiple exposures to the targeted vocabulary words (Hadley et al., 2018)
• Providing explicit, child-friendly definitions (Hadley et al., 2018)
• Encouraging children to use the vocabulary word expressively
• Making connections between known words and new words (Stahl, 2006)
• Providing examples and non-examples (Stahl, 2006)
• Drawing on the child’s background knowledge (Parsons et al., 2005)
• Identifying phonological characteristics of the word (Parsons et al., 2005)
• Writing the word and seeing it written in text in a sentence (Kucan, 2012)

You’ll notice that my Vocabulary Worksheets utilize most of these strategies to help your students achieve their goals.

They challenge your students to really think about a word and…

• use it in a sentence
• name a time they might use it
• write it, draw it, hear it, and read it!

Also, the worksheets directly target morphological features. For example, what is the difference between “cat” and “cats”? Or “dense” and “density”?

I love teaching similar words all together like that. I feel like I’m getting more bang for my buck by connecting words like “equator” with “equal” with “equalize”. Knowing that they all share a root (?equ- means equal in case you’re curious!) helps my students understand how words work!⁠

Another thing these worksheets do well is talk about how words change in different contexts, perfect for targeting multiple meaning words.

Shop This Post

One sheet vocabulary worksheets.

This is the vocabulary resource you’ve been looking for! These no prep worksheets give multiple exposures to both tier 1 and tier 2 vocabulary words… perfect for providing direct vocabulary instruction during speech and language therapy!

Speech Therapy Vocabulary Activities

Using worksheets is a great way to focus your intervention, but they shouldn’t be the only materials you use. Combining these worksheets with other activities such as picture books, videos, or projects can increase student engagement and understanding as well.

For instance, do you have any students who are into fire trucks or ambulances? Target the word “rescue” and pair it with a motivating book or toy!

One of my favorite vocabulary activities is pairing these with picture books that are related to the target vocabulary word. For example, you might read a book where the theme is courage and bravery and then complete the “brave” worksheet.

In need of a quick lesson plan? Here’s an idea for a therapy session using these resources :⁠

• First, read the book The Tiny Seed.
• Then, do a worksheet to dive deeper into the word “tiny”.
• Last, you could even open up a couple of seed packets. Compare and contrast the seeds. Talk about how they are “tiny” (and smooth and bumpy and round).

This is a super easy, functional vocabulary activity for the beginning of spring! It’s fun for a variety of ages too!

Also, these worksheets are both great for teletherapy or for sending home as homework if you’re required to provide either of those things right now.

In addition, playing videos are the perfect vocabulary activities! For example, I might search for videos of ancient ruins when using the “ancient” vocabulary page. Many relatable videos can be found by searching websites like YouTube.

Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy

Here are some of vocabulary goals for speech therapy that I use when working with my students:

• Given a sentence containing an unknown vocabulary word, NAME will use synonym or antonym based context clues as a clue to the meaning of a word and define the word in 70% of opportunities.
• NAME will define words by category and by two or more key attributes in 80% of opportunities.
• NAME will demonstrate understanding of words, including math vocabulary terms, by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms) in 80% of opportunities.
• Given 1 cue, NAME will define a curricular vocabulary word using a complete sentence with correct grammar in 70% of opportunities.
• NAME will explain the meaning of a multiple meaning word using context clues in 70% of opportunities given 1 verbal prompt.
• Given words, NAME will be able to define age-appropriate vocabulary words using synonyms, by negation (not a…), antonyms, and by example during structured activities with 80% accuracy and minimal cues.
• Given example words from her curriculum, NAME will state the meaning of 15 different prefixes or suffixes given no adult support.

Although it might be tempting to address these vocabulary goals by drilling or quizzing them on a specific list of words, I encourage you to teach strategies, then collect data when it’s progress time.

For more goal ideas and examples, check out my speech therapy goal bank !

One Sheet Vocabulary vs. Upper Level Vocabulary Worksheets

I have two products focusing on vocabulary intervention in speech therapy. You can read more specifically about my Upper Level Vocabulary Strategies in this blog post .

Otherwise, read on for a quick summary of the differences between my One Sheet Vocabulary Worksheets and my Upper Level Vocabulary Strategies Worksheets!

Here are the basics…

ONE SHEET VOCABULARY WORKSHEETS⁠

• One-sided worksheet⁠
• Includes 3 real-life pictures for increased visual support⁠
• Mostly tier 2 vocabulary words with a few more basic, tier 1 words⁠
• Provides a child-friendly definition for each word⁠
• Lower level alternative to…⁠

UPPER LEVEL VOCABULARY STRATEGIES WORKSHEETS

• ⁠Double-sided worksheets
• Increased focus on morphology and literacy (reading and writing)
• Does not provide a definition⁠ for students⁠
• Intended for grades 5+⁠

Upper Level Vocabulary Strategies Worksheets

Use these worksheets for your middle school students to teach a wide variety of vocabulary skills and, most importantly, strategies that work on increasing vocabulary AND word finding skills.

Both packets target 100 words and yes, there is *some* overlap in the word selections. I’ve found that this makes it easier to transition from one to the other.

Last, both packets are focused on vocabulary activities, strategies and word learning, not drilling or learning a specific set of words from a word list.

References and Resources for Vocabulary Intervention

If you want to learn more about EBP and effective vocabulary instruction, I would recommend the books below:

• Bringing Words to Life
• School-Aged Language Intervention Evidence-Based Practices

Research References:

Biemiller, A., & Boote, C. (2006). An effective method for building meaning vocabulary in primary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 44-62.

Hadley, E. B., Dickinson, D. K., Hirsch-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2018). Building semantic networks: The impact of a vocabulary intervention on preschoolers’ depth of word knowledge. Reading Research Quarterly. Advance online publication.

Kucan, L. (2012). What is important to know about vocabulary? The Reading Teacher, 65, 360-366.

Marulis, L. & Neuman, S. (2010). The effects of vocabulary intervention on young children’s word learning: A meta-analysis. Review of educational research, 80, 300-335.

Parsons, S., Law, J., & Gascoigne, M. (2005). Teaching receptive vocabulary to children with specific language impairment: A curriculum-based approach. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 21(1), 39–59.

Spencer, S., Clegg, J., Lowe, H., & Stackhouse, J. (2017). Increasing adolescents’ depth of understanding of cross-curriculum words: an intervention study. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.

Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Wright, L., Pring, T., & Ebbels, S. (2017). Effectiveness of vocabulary intervention for older children with (developmental) language disorder. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.

About the Author

Shannon is a pediatric SLP and the creator behind Speechy Musings. As an SLP, she is most passionate about language, literacy, and AAC. Outside of being an SLP, she loves hiking, camping, dogs, and travel.

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Reader Interactions

August 13, 2021 at 9:27 AM

I’m curious what your data collection looks like when you do progress reporting. Do you go through specific vocabulary you focused on during instruction through the quarter because you’re correct, we definitely want to drill/quiz for knowledge.

August 13, 2021 at 3:39 PM

Hi! I try to choose a variety of words when doing progress monitoring. They might include words we’ve targeted but are often more general. I have a few examples of vocab goals I write in my freebie library (freebies –> goal bank; and then scroll through the language one to find the vocab specific goals!) in case they would be helpful to see. For example, one goal might be “NAME will define words by category and by two or more key attributes in 80% of opportunities.” so I might ask them to describe a semi truck, washing machine, cell phone, and shirt… even if we hadn’t targeted those items before. Hope that helps!

October 27, 2023 at 9:46 AM

Hi! I really like the visual aids that are visible in a couple of the photos (colorful paper: verbs, simple sentences, vocabulary strategies). Are these included in one of your resources? Thanks!

October 27, 2023 at 10:22 AM

Yes! Those are from my Visuals for Language Skills resource. Hope that helps!

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17 Best Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy + Activities

If you’re a speech therapist looking for a great list of vocabulary goals for speech therapy this blog post is for you! 

I know what it’s like when you’re constantly trying to come up with iep goals and your brain is simply fried from the stressful workday and goal writing is the last thing you want to do. Okay or maybe ever?

I wanted to take writing goals off your to-do list! I wanted to turn this annoying and sometimes difficult task into a simple copy and paste.  I mean who doesn’t love a good copy and paste option? Am I right?

Below is a list of smart goals that you can use for your vocabulary intervention and hopefully make your workday a little less stressful today.

Speech Therapy Goals: Vocabulary

Pick your favorite measurable goal below to have your student start working on their specific communication disorders goal areas today. 

Feel free to use any of the following as a long-term goal or break them up to use them as a short-term goal.

Expressive Language: Vocabulary Goals Speech Therapy

Visual cues.

Given 5 words with visual cues, STUDENT will define the word correctly with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Common Objects or Visual Prompts

Given a common object or visual prompts, STUDENT will use 2-3 critical features to describe the object or picture with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Use New Words

Given an emotional expression picture or story, STUDENT will use vocabulary to clearly describe the feelings, ideas, or experiences with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Identify Similar Words – Synonyms and Antonyms

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify synonyms with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify antonyms with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 5 identified words in sentences, STUDENT will provide a synonym/antonym with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given a story with highlighted words, STUDENT will provide a synonym/antonym for each highlighted word with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 pictures, STUDENT will match opposite pictures in pairs (i.e., happy/sad, up/down) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given an object, picture, or word, STUDENT will identify the opposite with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Describe Target Words

Given an object or picture, STUDENT will describe the object or picture by naming the item , identify attributes (color, size, etc.), function , or number with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Reading Passage and Context Clues

Given a reading task, STUDENT will define unfamiliar words using context clues with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Academic: Target Vocabulary Words with Root Words

Given common academic vocabulary, STUDENT will define prefix and/or suffix with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Correct Grammar and Complete Sentence

Given common academic vocabulary, STUDENT will define the vocabulary word using a complete sentence with correct grammar with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Receptive Language: Vocabulary Goals Speech Therapy

Given 10 common nouns, STUDENT will identify the correct noun by pointing to the appropriate picture with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common verbs, STUDENT will identify the correct verb by pointing to the appropriate picture with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 10 common adjectives, STUDENT will identify the correct adjective by pointing to the appropriate picture (size, shape, color, texture) with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

Given 3 to 5 pictures, STUDENT will identify the category items by pointing/grouping pictures into categories with 80% accuracy in 4 out of 5 opportunities.

SEE ALSO: IEP Goal Bank Posts

Teaching Vocabulary: Speech Therapy Sessions

When it comes to teaching vocabulary in the school setting the best practices are to teach the students the vocabulary strategies and vocabulary knowledge allowing them to learn how to define vocabulary words themselves instead of simply teaching them each new word that they then memorize. 

If you’re a speech pathologist, or special education teacher, or parent and you’ve been following me for a while now you know that I love spoiling my community! 

And that’s why I’m sharing with you 14 free pages from my newest resource perfect for the elementary age group! 

Using Targeted Words

This resource focuses on tier two vocabulary words. Tier two words are common academic words frequently used across multiple subject areas. 

Teaching tier two words is an effective method and great way to work on vocabulary that students will come across in multiple textbooks.

Sentence Level

Have your students practice their word at the sentence level by reading the word in a sentence, adding their word to a fill in the blank sentence, creating a sentence using their word given a visual cue, or practice by answering a question using their new vocabulary word. 

Picture Icons

Including picture icons of the words is another fun way to give your students a chance to use their new vocabulary word in a sentence that they get to create. 

Structured Activity

Using a structured activity with multiple exposures allows the student extra practice with one word at a time. 

Consecutive Sessions

Practice over consecutive sessions for additional exposure. 

Informal Assessments

The first step when starting a new goal is to collect baseline data. Simply use a couple of these worksheets as a great way to collect an informal assessment of your students’ vocabulary skills. 

Language Skills

Other language tasks a student could work on are the following: 

Do you have a student working on synonyms or antonyms , have a student working on using vocabulary words in a sentence , have a student working on describing a picture , have a student working on context clues , have a student working on defining new vocabulary words , have students answering questions ? 

No problem all these students can be working from the same worksheet!

Core Vocabulary Words: Free Activities List

Are you in need of additional free vocabulary activities? I’ve done the searching for you! 

After downloading my free 14 vocabulary worksheets above be sure to check out the following resources for even more vocabulary activities to help get you started on your child’s iep vocabulary goals.

SEE ALSO: 432+ Free Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives Bank

Picture Books

Using picture books can be a fun way to discuss vocabulary words with younger students as you discuss the pictures in the book together.

• Interactive Vocab Book: Mother’s Day Freebie by Jenna Rayburn Kirk – This interactive book uses velcro words so students can match the words to the correct page. There are extra sentence strips to support practicing sentences, describing functions, and describing locations. 
• Questions and Vocab, When I was Little: A 4 Year Old’s Memoir of her Youth by Jennifer Trested – This is a great book to use at the end of the year. This freebie includes depth of knowledge questions, vocab, vocabulary pictures, and definitions for each vocabulary word.
• Measurement and Data Vocabulary Book – FREE – Kindergarten Math Center by Keeping my Kinders Busy – This vocab book helps teach vocabulary surrounding the Common Core Kindergarten Measurement and Data Math Unit. It’s easy to prep – just print and the students can trace and color the pictures! 
• Interactive Vocabulary Books: Helping at Home by Jenna Rayburn Kirk – This book targets vocabulary, grammar, and language by using velcro pieces to match pictures to words. It keeps little hands busy and is great for preK – first grade! 

Correct a Simple Sentence

Practice vocabulary words by correcting a simple sentence to use their vocabulary word correctly.

• Editing Simple Sentences – Winter Sentences by Breaking Barriers – These are winter-themed sentences to help your students learn the editing process. 3 levels help with differentiation and skill-building!
• Concept of Words Simple Sentence Writing by Teachers R US – This activity includes 5 worksheets to help students practice the concept of words, and sight words. It is great for group work or individual work!

Create Complex Sentence

Another fun activity for practicing new vocabulary words is to create a complex sentence with your new words.

• Complex Sentence Vocab! By J-Mar – This is an editable google doc to be used with your vocabulary units. Students can roll a dice that prompts them to use specific conjunction around their vocabulary word.
• Word Work: Practice using Vocab to make Compound and Complex Sentences by Academic Language Central – In these freebies, students are prompted to write compound and complex sentences using their vocab words

Single Word

Practice one word at a time with multiple exposures to using the word in a sentence or to describe a picture. 

• Prefix Google Slides Word Search by Literacy Tales – Practice reading, vocabulary and sight words virtually! 
• Read and Draw Single Word Vocabulary Printable: PIG by Read & Draw – This is a fun, no-prep activity to help your students remember everyday vocabulary words! (This creator has multiple words!)
• Arctic Animals Word Wall and Vocabulary Matching by ReadingisLove – There are 2 ways to practice vocabulary words in this winter-themed set: a word wall and vocab matching. This is fun and interactive!  

Multiple Meaning Words

Using multiple meaning words is another great way to work on your student’s vocabulary skills.

• 193+ Multiple Meaning Words Grouped by Grade + Free Worksheets by Speech Therapy Store – Enjoy this awesome freebie I’ve created with almost 200 multiple meaning words to practice your student’s vocabulary skills. 
• Multiple Meaning Word Task Cards – Intermediate Grades! Test Prep by the Owl Spot – This will give your students the chance to practice with word meaning in context. There are 32 task cards and an answer sheet. 
• Which Definition Is It? (Multiple Meaning Words w/ Context Clues) by Ciera Harris Teaching – This activity helps students use context clues to figure out the definition of a multiple-meaning word! 

Structured Language Activities

You can also work on a language task and simply focus on the vocabulary words as you work through a language activity for more vocabulary practice.

• Follow the Clues: St Patrick’s Day Edition (A Descriptive Language Game) FREEBIE by The Speech Path for Kids – This freebie promotes descriptive language skills while following a St Patricks Day theme! 
• What’s Different? Language Activity for Fall by Keeping Speech Simple – This fall-themed, engaging activity promotes descriptive, specific language skills!

Younger Students

Here are a few vocabulary activities that would be perfect for working on with your younger students. 

• Back to School Smashmat – Preschool Speech and Language Therapy Activity by Homemade Speech and Language – This freebie targets so many learning areas for PreK and first such as early intervention, speech and language targets, and play skills!
• Caps for Sale Vocabulary by dayle timmons – Read this popular children’s book and identify 6 Tier Two vocabulary words as you read aloud!
• Crossword Puzzle: Animals, Objects, Fruits Vocabulary (Colorful picture clues) by The Mochi Lab – Use these fun, interactive crosswords as an easy way to learn vocabulary! 

These would also be perfect for your younger students working on cvc vocabulary tier one words, such as the words cat, bat, or dog. 

• Free Phonics Worksheets – Letter Sounds – CVC Words – Beginning Initial Sounds by These are fun, free and interactive worksheets for students to practice CVC words!
• FREE CVC Words Worksheets: No Prep Write Cut and Paste Activity for Word Work by Adapting for Autism – Use these 4 Worksheets to practice reading, writing, vocab and fine motor skills!
• CVC Word Family ‘AT’ No Prep Phonics Printables FREEBIE by Tweet Resources – This freebie focuses on ‘at’ words! 

SEE ALSO: 193+ Multiple Meaning Words Grouped by Grade + Free Worksheets

Communication device.

Do you have students using communication devices or boards? Here are a few premade boards to work on different vocabulary words such as expressing likes and dislikes, classroom vocabulary, as well as outside bug vocabulary.

• AAC Core Vocabulary Activities | No Print Speech Therapy | Distance Learning by Speech and Language at Home – Use this core board to have your students discuss their opinions “like” and “don’t like”.
• Core Vocabulary Classroom Labels for Autism and Special Education by The Structured Autism Classroom – Add these core vocabulary words throughout your classroom to help encourage their use throughout the school day.
• AAC Core Vocabulary Freebie | Interactive Books Speech Therapy | Look Outside by Speech and Language at Home – Get outside with your child or student and enjoy working on your student’s bug vocabulary words

Comprehension Questions and WH Questions

Answering comprehension questions and wh questions is another great way to work on vocabulary skills. 

• Free Kindergarten Reading Comprehension and Questions by Teaching Biilfizzcend – This is 20 free, fun and interactive reading passages to practice comprehension. 
• Free Reading Comprehension Passages & Questions by Mrs. Thompson’s Treasures – This free resource is for grades K- 4, and focuses on engaging students with the text and proving their answers!
• FREEBIE!! WH-Questions Pizza Party! Game for Speech therapy – 90 questions by Miss V’s Speech World – This is a fun and interactive game to get students practicing WH- and HOW- Questions. There are 90 question cards. 

Data Collection

If you’re in need of data tracking forms while working on your student’s vocabulary goals for speech therapy then be sure to check out my IEP goal data tracking for progress monitoring forms .

Or if you simply want a list of data sheets to choose from then be sure to check out my list of 35 free speech therapy data sheets roundup .

IEP Goal Bank

Want an even bigger speech therapy goal bank? Don’t worry I’ve got you covered! 

Be sure to check out my IEP goal bank made specifically for a speech-language pathologist covering even more language disorder areas such as final consonants or the phonological process of final consonant deletion.  Fluency goals using easy onset and slow rate or pragmatic language goals covering communication skills, social interaction, and topic of conversation and so many more educational goals.

In Conclusion: Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy

I hope you’ve found this list of vocabulary goals for speech therapy to be helpful in your IEP goal writing!

Be sure to grab your free vocabulary practice pages below by filling out the form below.

Fill Out the Form Below to Download Your Free Sample Pages!

Grab your 14 free sample pages, want even more vocabulary goals for speech therapy resources.

• 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle
• 179+ Free Speech Therapy WH Questions Printable
• 133+ Categories List for Speech Therapy
• 33 Most Common Irregular Plurals Flashcards [Freebie]

Want the Best of the Bests?

Be sure to check out our most popular posts below!

• 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy / Teletherapy
• Best IEP Resources
• 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios
• 432+ Free Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives Bank
• 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials
• 179+ Free Speech Therapy Wh-Questions Printable

Sunday 2nd of October 2022

I am looking vocabulary worksheets for Tier 2 kindergarten words

Melissa Berg

Monday 3rd of October 2022

Hi Yukari, You can buy the Kindergarten words here.

Do you have these vocabulary worksheets for all Tier 2 works I can purchase?

Hi Yukari, Yes, I do have a bundle that includes them all for sale. However, I only offer the entire bundle a few times a year. I'm hoping to offer the whole bundle again in November so be sure to keep an eye out for that email. All my best, Melissa

Tuesday 9th of August 2022

Any call to action with a link here?

30 Vocabulary Goals for Speech Therapy (Based on Research)

Need some ideas for vocabulary goals for speech therapy? If you’re feeling stuck, keep on reading! In this post, I’ll provide some suggestions you could use for writing iep goals for vocabulary and semantics. This blog post provides a list of vocabulary-based iep goals that should be modified for each individual student. They can serve as a way to get ideas flowing! Not only that, but I’ll also share some strategies for vocabulary intervention. Vocabulary skills are an important skill to work on in speech therapy!

Goal Bank of Ideas

If you’re a  school speech  pathologist, then you know you’re going to have a huge pile of paperwork!

We have a lot going on, and it can be helpful to have a suggested list of vocabulary goals that you can modify in order to meet the needs of your students.

Many times, we know what we need to write a goal for, but finding the right wording can be tricky.

Needless to say, it can be very helpful to have  a goal bank  that can provide a starting point for ideas. *** Please note, the article linked in this paragraph is a general goal bank- keep scrolling for vocabulary-specific goals!

Please note, the goals in  the goal bank  are just that: ideas.  We must always, of course, write goals that are individualized to our students . Which isn’t easy, and takes a lot of  your SLP knowledge and expertise  into account!

How to Write Measurable IEP Goals

It’s very helpful to learn  the SMART framework  for  writing specific and measurable IEP goals . There are some CEU courses available for SLPs. This  ceu course  discusses writing SMARTer goals. Likewise,  this course  also discusses IEP goal writing.

SMART  stands for:

Learn more about the SMART framework here .

Reference: Diehm, Emily. “Writing Measurable and Academically Relevant IEP Goals with 80% Accuracy over Three Consecutive Trials.”  Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups , vol. 2, no. 16, 2017, pp. 34–44., https://doi.org/10.1044/persp2.sig16.34.

Reference: staff, n2y. “Tips for Writing and Understanding Smart Iep Goals: N2Y Blog.”  n2y , 22 Feb. 2021, https://www.n2y.com/blog/smart-iep-goals/.

Target Vocabulary Words: Where to Start

It can be tricky to know where to begin when it comes to vocabulary intervention! However, vocabulary practice is important!

The first step for some children may be learning core vocabulary . If your student needs to work on functional communication, this is a great place to start. I like to teach core vocabulary during play or throughout a child’s school day.

Both younger children and older children, however, will greatly benefit from exposure and explicit instruction to a variety of Tier II vocabulary words.

What are Tier II vocabulary words? These are words that are used by more advanced language users, and they can be used across a variety of contexts. An example of a tier II vocabulary word is ‘observe’. Research tells us that Tier II vocabulary words are exceptionally important for reading comprehension.

Speech-language pathologists don’t need to wait until a child is older to work on Tier II vocabulary! Even preschool students can benefit from the exposure and explicit instruction during speech therapy sessions. A great activity for younger students might involve using picture books that contain tier II vocabulary words. Or, use a wordless book and the possibilities are endless!

Tier 1 vocabulary words are everyday words that your student likely has had a lot of exposure to naturally. The word ‘table’, for example, is a Tier 1 vocabulary word.

Tier III vocabulary words are domain-specific words. These could be the type of words that are taught during math or science.

References:

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002).  Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction . New York, NY: The Guilford.

Boshart, Char. “Exploring Vocabulary Interventions and Activities From Preschool Through Adolescence”. . SpeechTherapyPD.com.

Vocabulary Strategies for Intervention

Need a great way to implement vocabulary instruction? How about 15 great ideas to encourage vocabulary knowledge and development? These best practices for vocabulary building skills are based on research and can be used with a preschool student, an elementary school student, or a middle school or high school student.

Your students with language disorders will no doubt benefit from vocabulary intervention. Vocabulary intervention, along with grammar and sentence structure intervention , is an important component of reading comprehension success.

Vocabulary intervention can- and should- be fun and meaningful. So don’t hesitate to read engaging books, break out a sensory bin, or play games! Check out this list of recommended board games for speech therapy .

15 Effective Vocabulary Strategies Based on Research

The following ways may be fun ways to incorporate vocabulary activities and vocabulary intervention into speech therapy sessions:

• Select a small number of tier II words to focus on during your session, perhaps 3-5.
• Don’t be afraid to repeat those words- repetition is important!
• Keep your student actively engaged. Engaged learners will retain more information!
• If reading a story aloud, stop and have active discussions. It’s okay to take lots of time to finish the story, even across consecutive sessions.
• Have your student say the word aloud multiple times- this is called “phonological rehearsal”.
• Have your student write out the vocabulary target word.
• Have your student draw a picture to explain the definition of the target word. Keep the picture card and collect them and review them.
• Make sure to explain the definition in child-friendly terms.
• Have your student generate their own sentence and definition using the vocabulary word.
• Act out the word’s meaning.
• Don’t forget about the importance of morphological awareness and knowledge. Discuss prefixes, suffixes, and word roots.
• Talk about word relationships, synonyms, antonyms, or multiple-meaning words.
• Discuss similarities and differences between targeted vocabulary words.
• Print out a picture of an object (to represent the target vocabulary word) and color it or paint it!
• Try concept mapping .

Robust is a must | The Informed SLP. (2023). Retrieved 19 March 2023, from https://www.theinformedslp.com/review/robust-is-a-must

Vocabulary intervention: Start here | The Informed SLP. (2023). Retrieved 19 March 2023, from https://www.theinformedslp.com/review/vocabulary-intervention-start-here

Vocabulary intervention for at-risk adolescents | The Informed SLP. (2023). Retrieved 19 March 2023, from https://www.theinformedslp.com/review/vocabulary-intervention-for-at-risk-adolescents

Speech Therapy Goals for Vocabulary and Semantics

Writing goals can be a tough task, but it is so important. Well-written goals and having a structured activity or interactive activity in mind can also be helpful for data collection.

Here are some vocabulary iep goals that a speech therapist might use to generate some ideas for a short-term goal! As a reminder, these are simply ideas. Think of this as an informal iep goal bank. A speech pathologist will modify as needed for an individual student!

Also, don’t hesitate to scroll back up to read about writing measurable goals (i.e. SMART goals). You will want to add information such as the level of accuracy, what types of cues (such as visual cues, or perhaps a verbal cue), and what level of cueing (i.e. minimal cues). Don’t forget how beneficial a graphic organizer can be while working on communication skills!

Vocabulary Goal Bank of Ideas

• using a total communication approach (which may include but is not limited to a communication device, communication board, signing, pictures, gestures, words, or word approximations), Student will imitate single words or simple utterances containing core vocabulary in order to…. (choose a pragmatic function: request, request assistance, describe the location or direction of objects, describe an action, etc.)
• using a total communication approach, generate simple sentences containing core vocabulary in order to… (choose a pragmatic function to finish the objective, such as direct the action of others, request, describe actions, etc.)
• label common objects or pictured objects (nouns)
• label pictured actions (verbs)
• answer basic wh questions to demonstrate comprehension of basic concepts related to…. (location, quantity, quality, time)
• generate semantically and syntactically correct spoken or written sentences for targeted tier II vocabulary words
• use a target tier II vocabulary word in a novel spoken or written sentence
• provide synonyms for targeted vocabulary words
• provide antonyms for targeted vocabulary words
• provide at least two definitions for multiple-meaning vocabulary words
• provide a student-friendly definition for a targeted tier II vocabulary word (i.e. “explain in his own words”)
• identify unfamiliar key words during a read-aloud or structured language activities
• sort objects or pictured objects into piles based on the semantic feature (i.e. category, object function)
• label the category for a named object or pictured object
• state the object function (i.e. what it’s used for)
• describe the appearance of a given item or pictured item
• provide parts or associated parts for a named object or pictured object
• complete analogies related to semantic features (i.e. based on category- dog is to animal as chair is to… furniture)
• identify an item when provided with the category plus 1-2 additional semantic features
• explain similarities and differences between targeted items/ objects
• answer spoken or written questions related to temporal semantic relationships (i.e. time)
• answer spoken or written questions related to spatial semantic relationships (i.e. location)
• answer spoken or written questions related to comparative semantic relationships
• complete spoken or written sentences using appropriate spatial, temporal, or comparative vocabulary
• segment (or divide) words into morphological units (i.e. cats= cat / s)
• create new words by adding prefixes or suffixes to the base
• provide a definition for a targeted affix (prefix or suffix)
• sort words into piles based on targeted affix (prefix or suffix)
• finish a spoken or written analogy using targeted prefixes or suffixes (i.e. Regular is to irregular as responsible is to…)
• provide the part of speech for a targeted tier II vocabulary word (i.e. label it is as verb, adjective, etc.)

5 Recommended Vocabulary Activities for Speech Therapy

Need some ready-to-go vocabulary activities for those busy days? Here are some recommendations for school speech-language pathologists.

• Semantic Relationships Speech Therapy Worksheets
• Describing Digital Task Cards
• Analogy Worksheets
• Weather-Themed Morphology Activities for Speech Therapy
• Prefix and Suffix Worksheets for Speech Therapy

More Speech Therapy Goal Ideas

Are you in a hurry and need this article summed up? To see the vocabulary goals, simply scroll up.

Next, make sure to try out these best-selling vocabulary resources:

Finally, don’t miss these grammar goals for speech therapy .

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Build Your Child’s Vocabulary! Top Speech Therapy Activities

Image source: Grammar.net

Speech therapy activities often work to improve a child’s understanding of language. If you’ve read our recent posts on boosting expressive language and receptive language skills in children, you’ve probably already realized that vocabulary has a lot to do with those crucial areas. After all, how can your youngster follow your direction to “Stop aggravating your sister, Billy!” when he does not yet understand the word “aggravating”? Before jumping to the conclusion that your tiny tot is in a rebellious stage and is purposefully trying not to follow directions, consider whether he understands the vocab you’re using.

Building a child’s vocabulary probably sounds like a tedious task. But you can banish those images in your head of long hours spent doing flashcard drills (unless, of course, your youngster actually – gasp! – enjoys doing flashcards). Building your kidlet’s vocab can – and should – be fun! There are countless games you can play that helps strengthen vocab skills, and I’ve listed a few of them in this post to get you started. As always, it’s important to collaborate with your child’s speech-language pathologist (SLP). She can point you in the right direction for speech therapy activities that suit your child’s needs.

Introducing New Words

Introduce new words gradually so that your youngster doesn’t become overwhelmed with a bunch of unfamiliar terms. When you use a word, provide a simple definition that you know your child can understand. For example, you can tell your child that “aggravating” means “annoying,” but only if your child already understands the definition of “annoying.” Instead, you might tell your child that he’s doing something that his sister doesn’t like. You may need to define each word for him repetitively until he seems to grasp it.

Reinforcing new Words

Reinforce new words so that he remembers the meanings. One great way to do this is simply to scatter them throughout your day-to-day conversations. So while you’re driving your youngster to school, you might say, “This traffic is aggravating me. I don’t like it at all, because now we might be late.”

Encourage your child to use the new words, as well. You could also challenge him to think of words that are similar in meaning to the new word. (Or, ask him to think of words that have the same sounds as the new word for another quick speech therapy activity.) Continue to use the new words in various contexts throughout the following few weeks to help reinforce the meanings.

Speech Therapy Activities – Play Some Games!

And last but certainly not least, play some games! For some vocab games, all you need is paper (or an activity book) and a pencil. Create a hangman game with a new vocab word, or do a word find puzzle with your child. Just remember to define each new word in the puzzles or hangman games, give your child an example of the word in a sentence, and ask him to create his own sentence with the word.

The next time you’re shopping, check out vocab-friendly stuff in the game aisle. Scrabble, Blurt!, and Bananagrams are some good possibilities. If you’re not familiar with those two newer games, Bananagrams is much like Scrabble in that children take tiles from a banana-shaped pouch and create their own crossword puzzles. Blurt! challenges kids to think of words, when given their definitions, as quickly as possible and blurt them out.

As well, use books to expand your child’s vocabulary . Pick out unfamiliar words in the books, ask your child to repeat the words (for articulation practice), and define them for him. You could also turn the lesson into an interactive crafts activity. Draw pictures with your youngster that relate to the book and use the new words within the pictures. (For example, write the words “enormous elephant” next to a picture of an elephant.)

• Literacy Based Therapy

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The Bookshelf

Resource library, teaching vocabulary in speech therapy.

Teaching Vocabulary in Speech Therapy can be one of the trickiest areas to work on, mainly because there is no clear path for it. The best way we have seen however is to target address building vocabulary is to focus on using strategies and meaningful repetition.

Students need to comprehend at least 90-95% of words in a text to comprehend it (Nagy & Scott 2000) … So, This means working on vocabulary development is a critical element of therapy.⁣⁣ According to Storkel et al., 2019, students need at least 36 exposures to a new vocabulary word for it to stick. That means 6 different exposures to the word across 6 different sessions ( or 9 exposures across 4 sessions, however you want to work the math). ?⁣⁣

Before we dive into strategies, somethings to keep in mind when working on vocabulary and literacy. First, don’t feel you need to work on every possible vocabulary word in the book. Pick 5-7, tier 2 words, or words that are re-occurring in the text to focus on. Then, pre-teach these words before you even read the book. Give the students a definition right away rather then having them guess, and let the learning go from there.

Ok, onto strategies!

Vocabulary in Speech Therapy: CONTEXT CLUES

Using context clues has been an evidence-based way to help students boost and learn new vocabulary. No matter how much vocabulary a student has there will always be words they don’t know. This helps students understand how to find the relevant information for the word within the context it is being used.

Fair warning, this strategy can overwhelming for kids, so I have developed a concrete system to make things more straightforward. I call it the Clue Sandwich. You start by highlighting the sentence the word is in, then in another color, highlight the sentence before it, and finally highlight the sentence after it in a 3rd color. This gives a visual area for the students to focus on, rather than a bunch of daunting text. I have the whole strategy broken down in this post .

I use these Context Clues in Color pages to help students practice this breakdown in a structured setting before branching to using academic texts or passages from class.

Vocabulary in Speech Therapy: Prefixes and Suffixes

These little parts of speech can have a big impact on vocabulary. While understanding the full word may be tricky at first, students have a fighting chance if they can pick apart the ‘little words’ they do know. Seeing the word ‘reoccurrence’ might be intimidating to a student but if they recognize the prefix ‘re’ and know that it means ‘to do again’ then they can apply context from the text to get an idea of the definition. Suffixes can do just the same. Teaching prefixes as suffixes doesn’t have to be a long-drawn-out event either. I use a prefixes bulletin board with my students as a warm-up. We focus on two prefixes a week and it has truly helped them start to identify these prefixes in text.

Finally, kids who identify the part of speech of a word ( noun, verb, adjective ) had better vocabulary skills than those who could not. If a student can use clues to determine how the word is being used, it puts them one step closer to establishing meaning for it. My favorite strategy for this is Word Mapping.

It has the student break down the word into parts of speech, synonym/antonym, application, and illustration. As we complete each map, we keep them and review them at the start of each session to increase our exposure and repetition. I have used these Vocabulary Kits for years. These are best for students whose vocabulary deficits are in the mild to slightly moderate range. It gives you all the words, pretest/post-test, activities, and more.

These strategies are shown to give those students the actual boost in vocabulary development they need. Do you have a favorite method to teach vocabulary?

Elleman, A.M., Steacy, L.M., Olinghouse, N.G., Compton, D.L. (2017). Examining Child and Word Characteristics in Vocabulary Learning of Struggling Readers.  Scientific Studies of Reading . Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/10888438.2016.1265970

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Prefix bulletin boards, core vocabulary door hangers.

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Hey there! I’m Maureen Wilson, a school-base SLP who is data driven and caffeine powered. My passion is supporting other pediatric SLPs by teaching them how to harness the power of literacy and data to help their students achieve their goals…without sacrificing time they don’t have.

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50+ Terrific FREE Speech Therapy Activities You Can Send Home in a Hurry

A huge list of free speech therapy activities you can send for speech and language home practice.

Practicing speech and language skills at home in addition to therapy sessions has always been important for making optimal progress.

This isn’t news to speech-language pathologists. But events like the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters, and subsequent school closings definitely shined a light on the need for quality resources that can be accessed at home. Not only during emergencies, but for everyday home practice, school breaks, and summer too.

To help out, I’ve compiled an extensive list for you of free speech therapy activities you can find online. Some are online games, many are printables. All are no-prep to make gathering what you need easier for you. Here you go!

Free articulation resources online:

Tracy Boyd’s Articulation Games: Have More Fun site  has games for rhyme, syllables, CH, J, G, K, L, R, vocalic R, S, SH, TH, F, F, V, M, N

Articulation Word Lists by Home Speech Home

Printable picture cards by Testy Yet Trying

Articulation freebies from Speech Sprouts for you:

More great articulation freebies on teachers pay teachers:, free language resources online:.

Tracy Boyd’s Language and Word Games: Have Fun has games for analogies, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, homographs, categories, What doesn’t belong, same or different, irregular plurals, WH questions, idioms, and more.

Tracy Boyd’s Sequencing Fun Games include games for sequences like brushing your teeth or blowing up a balloon.

Word Search Generator from Puzzlemaker.com  Send home an articulation list, synonym or antonym list, category list, etc, and have kids make their own word search.

Language Word Lists by Home Speech Home including categories, verbs, adjectives, synonyms, antonyms, multiple meanings, and more.

Looks Like Language has a great post with lots of links:  10 Fantastic Free Resources  for Customizing Vocabulary Work 

Language freebies from Speech Sprouts for you:

Five Little Monkeys No-Prep Speech Therap y by Speech Sprouts. Open-ended printable activities for any target. It also comes with a few Quicklists for articulation, questions, and past-tense -ed.

Hoot Owl Homonyms Freebie by Speech Sprouts

That’s Fishy! Which does not belong? by Speech Sprouts Cards and sorting mats for a fishing game. Teaches category exclusion, color words, and sorting by color.

More great language freebies on Teachers pay Teachers:

Setting the Table and Language  by The Speech Meadow

Groceries and Language  by The Speech Meadow

Play With Dolls  by The Speech Meadow

Creating Language-Rich Experiences at Home by Ms. Gardenia’s Speech Room

Play-based Speech Therapy Homework by Primary Punch

Scavenger Hunt Vocabulary Activities  by Fun in Speech

Summer Homework Calendars for Language by Schoolhouse Talk Printable Picture Cards for Speech Therapy by Speech and Language at Home

Pronoun Puddle Jump Activity by Twin Speech Language and Literacy

Ants on a Log Speech Recipe by Creative Speech Lab

Weather Idioms Freebie by Activity Tailor

Fictional Short Stories for Language Comprehension by Talking with Rebbecca Bubble Gum Facts and Opinions by All Y’All Need

Free social language resources online:

Social Language Scenarios by Home Speech Home

Emotions Vocabulary by Home Speech Home

Pirate Emotions and Feelings Card Game by Communication Blessings

Articulation,  Language and Social Language Homework by Stacy Crouse

Social Skills Activities: Friendly or Not? by Looks Like Language

Social Skills Activities: TeenProblem Solving/ Social Inferences by Looks Like Language

Free fluency resources online:

Videos with practical tips for how to use speech tools from Stuttering Therapy Resources

Speech and Language Home Practice by Primary Punch includes parent suggestions for fluency, articulation and language home practice.

Fluency Skills Brochure by Primary Punch

Speech Therapy Stuttering Activities by The Gift of Gab

Free AAC Resources online

How you may use these resources

For speech sprouts free speech therapy activities:.

• Each SLP or educator who will be distributing these resources to students should download the file on Teachers pay Teachers for themselves. Parents are also welcome to download a copy of the digital file on TpT.
• You have my permission to  print a copy  of my activities for each of the students on your caseload.
• You may upload my resources to a private Google Classroom that only your parents and students have access to. Uploading resources to other file-sharing sites will continue to be prohibited.

I hope this makes getting activities out to your students easier.  Download the Freebie List HERE.

I hope this send-home resource list helps!

We’re all used to summer breaks, but emergency school closings like the coronavirus shutdowns or fire and flood emergencies can so be very stressful. I hope this list helps make those times a bit easier for you.

Wishing everyone health and safety.

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Speech Therapy Vocabulary Elementary Activities for SLPs

October 19, 2016 6 min read

Trying to find engaging Speech therapy vocabulary elementary activities can be tricky for any SLP. Today we thrilled to have guest blogger Truvine Walker here to share tips and tricks to help you get those older students excited to practice building their vocabularies!

My students are older…what type of speech therapy vocabulary elementary activities are available to me?

Some of the most commonly occurring goals school based SLPs or SLPs who work in educational settings encounter are related to vocabulary. If the goals are not specifically stated as vocabulary, we still encounter the need under the umbrellas of comprehension and expression. Regardless of how it’s worded we have the challenge of improving the vocabulary skills of children, and doing so in a manner that will keep them actively engaged. This can be somewhat of a challenge when working with older students. That’s why we need fun ways to make vocabulary exciting in elementary! Research has shown that it takes a child with typical language learning abilities at least 12 exposures to a new word to learn the word. One can only imagine how many times it will take a child with language learning difficulties to learn a new word.

The following suggestions are possible ways to approach instruction that might help make vocabulary exciting in elementary school:

Speech Therapy Vocabulary Elementary Activities

1. story based vocabulary.

Reading books has been identified as one of the best ways to improve vocabulary because books often have pictures and contexts to offer support. When using books, anticipate which words are possibly unfamiliar and preview the words by defining and describing prior to reading the story. When reading, restate the meanings of anticipated unknown words within the context of the story. Last, but not least, read with feeling and facial expressions that coincide with the events of the story.

2. Picture/Word Dictionaries

These work great for individual books and/or thematic word lists. The older your students, the more details you can have them include in their dictionaries. Even if they have to copy your pictures, definitions, or other content, each student should make his/her own picture word dictionary. Be sure to have the students repeat the words, definitions, related words, etc. if they are not able to read. Repetition is very important. Here is the link to one of my favorite forms to use for student made dictionaries. My students love it too!

3. Guess Who (Vocabulary Edition)

This activity is based on the format of the popular “Guess Who” board game but can be altered to use vocabulary words instead of people. Students may need to be taught or given a list of questions to ask. My “go to” list of yes/no example questions target categories (ex. Is it a place? Is it an action? etc. ), functions (ex. Does it make a sound? Does it move?), locations (ex. Do you find it in a store? Do you find it on a farm?, etc.), attributes (ex. Is it noisy? Is it big? Is it alive? etc.) Again you may have to help the students; but, this method of vocabulary instruction not only improves their vocabulary, it facilitates asking questions, critical thinking, and problem-solving. This can be used with individuals or adapted for a group activity.

4. Vocabulary Choice Boards

These usually have an array of at least 6 items, but some have more. These encourage students to participate in essential vocabulary activities by allowing them to make choices within specific parameters. You can easily make your own, you can use many of the options found on Teachers Pay Teachers. Here are some FREE examples:

• Speech and Vocabulary Choice Board – Truvine Walker
• Speech & Vocabulary Choice Board – Free to Teach

5. Jeopardy Vocabulary

There are electronic versions or Jeopardy or you can make your own the old fashioned way. Some suggested categories include: Defining Words, Labeling Definitions, Antonyms, Synonyms, Part of Speech, Describing. You can download free Jeopardy Templates here:

• Jeopardy Template (PPT)
• Editable Jeopardy Template

6. Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt

Allow your students to “scavenge” your room to find vocabulary words. Hide them so that they’re not too difficult to find so as not to waste all of your therapy time looking for the words. In order for the students to “claim” the words, they must be able to define them or use them in a sentence that demonstrates understanding. As students “claim” words, the words can be added to their personal “treasure chests” (I use the envelopes that they’ve decorated by coloring a treasure chest and gluing it on the outside.)

Kahoot is one of my favorite FREE online Speech therapy vocabulary elementary activities that is easily customizable. It can be used for vocabulary as well as other language and learning tasks. Get your free account here , and start the fun. Your students will absolutely love it!

8. Act it Out!

Some people call it “Guesstures”; some call it “Charades”. Whatever you call it, the students love it because it incorporates movement and creativity. You have to utilize guidelines for time and number of guesses or you could possibly spend the whole session on one word.

9. Word Clouds

Students can make word clouds on paper by drawing a cloud or using a cloud template then writing the vocabulary word in BIG print, and surrounding it by related words and definitions. There are also websites and apps for word clouds. A few of the websites are: Wordclouds , Wordaizer , and Wordle . There are also a few FREE apps that have similar options. A few of them are Wordsalad, Wordle, Wordables, etc. Simply search your store on your tablet using the search terms “word clouds” to see what options your particular device offers. It’s entertaining and addictive!

10. Vocabulary Toss

Using a bean bag or soft die, the SLP begins the activity by stating a word and tossing the bean bag or die to a student. Once the student has defined or described the word and/or used it in a sentence, he or she states a new word and tosses the bean bag or die to a peer in the group. If students have difficulty, I allow them to enlist the help of a peer in the group; however, I try not to help if at all possible because I like for my students to collaborate.

11. Musical Vocabulary Chairs

Play school appropriate music or educationally themed “hip” songs. YouTube has educational songs that fall in the genres students typically prefer. Just do a search and see what you find. When the music stops, allow each child to name and tell a designated number of characteristics/features of the vocabulary word on which he/she landed. Once the requirements are met, remove that word from the rotation for the session/day.

12. Vocabulary Feud

Use the Family Feud Game format to address synonyms, antonyms, related words, etc. You can create your own “low(no) tech” version like this one , or you can incorporate a lot of technology by using one of the many free or paid templates found online. Here is an example of a free template that has a tutorial.

There are many fun Speech therapy vocabulary elementary activities. I’ve found that the best way is to incorporate my students into the instructional process. With that being said, I hope the previous suggestions are helpful; but, my BEST advice is to GET TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS and use their interests to drive your vocabulary instruction! It may require you to “think outside the box” , be a little more creative, and invest a little more time in planning; however, their reaction and participation will make it all worthwhile. All the best Super Language Powerhouses!

Bio: Truvine Walker obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech-Language Pathology on the beautiful campus of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA. After 3 years of working in the public schools in northern Virginia, Truvine decided to broaden her horizons and explore the world of travel therapy. As a traveling SLP, Truvine has worked in schools, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient clinics, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities in a total of 8 different states. Truvine is finishing up her 17th year as an SLP, and is just as excited about the profession as she was in the very first year. In addition to loving learning about all things speech and language, Truvine loves bowling, reading, sightseeing, spending time with family, and of course, traveling.

★ If you enjoyed this post, you might also like my Speech Therapy Brain Breaks post ★

★ my Speech Therapy Reading Activities post ★

★ or my SLP Kindergarten Vocabulary post ★

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How to Target Core Words in Speech Therapy (part 1)

February 24, 2020

Implementing core words in speech therapy is a widely-known, research-based practice among SLPs.  Teaching these words to students with expressive language deficits is highly effective because:

• Core words are much more versatile than concrete nouns.
• You need fewer words to be an effective communicator when using core vocabulary.
• Because core words lend themselves to forming phrases easily, it creates more opportunities for spontaneous language and generalization.
• By not teaching core vocabulary, you could restrict further language development and limit the ability to communicate anything new.

When you begin implementing core words into your speech sessions, it might be a little overwhelming.  Where do you start? How do you do this effectively? Here are a few of my favorite ways to incorporate core word vocabulary :

1. Word of the Week

One popular way to teach core words is by doing a word of the week.  Essentially, you take one core word and practice it throughout the week over and over again with your students.  You get teachers and staff on board and everyone reiterates the word in a variety of contexts .  

I love this resource from Jenna and use pieces from it all the time when doing my W.O.W.  Also, check out this post by Praactical AAC for some great information on getting started with core words.

2. Sensory Bins

In addition to using a word of the week, I love making sensory bins that center around that particular core word.  It provides a multi-sensory approach to learning the word as well as multiple opportunities to practice it. We know that research shows that sensory play builds connections in the brain’s pathways , making this a really effective therapy tool in general.

I have Core Word Sensory Bin resources in my store if you need some ideas on getting started with them! You can also check out this post on how I use sensory bins in speech.

3. Vocal Play

Practice saying the words in silly voices or unique ways .  Say them loud, soft, like a dinosaur, like a pirate, etc. Pretend play with the words using toys.  Act the words out. Use the volume setting on any AAC devices and let your students with alternative communication participate too!  

I always try and choose a book that highlights the core word I am focusing on that week.  It gets students to practice sitting and focusing on a book, which is a pretty essential academic skill.  It also provides a unique context to practice the word again and again.

Example: I love using the book “What’s In My Truck?” (affiliate) when targeting the core word “in.”  I also found this list of books that pair well with different core words.

5. Songs and Videos  

Simple kid songs and videos are a great way to engage students and help with recall.  Did you know that music activates more areas of the brain than language does ? Use that to you advantage and practice that core word vocabulary with a little music.

Example: Check out this song on YouTube for the word “help.”

I do include book and song suggestions for all of the core word targets in my sensory bin resources!

Now that you know several different contexts and ways to implement core words, we’re going to be talking about some specific research-based therapy strategies to help you while teaching them.

Be sure to head back here next week to dig deep into all my favorite strategies for targeting those core words in speech therapy!

[…] my previous post, we discussed several different contexts and ways to implement core words. Let’s talk about some […]

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Stacy Crouse

Digital tools and ideas for busy slps, 25+ free speech therapy activities (that you don't have to print).

Are you looking for some new speech therapy materials to liven up your sessions? Better yet, resources that you won't have to print, prep, or pay for? Download any (or all!) of these time and money-saving activities for immediate use on your iPad, computer, teletherapy platform, or smart board.

Free Articulation Activities

Keep articulation therapy fun and fresh by using these digital activities on any device.

Initial /k/ Interactive Articulation Cards

Articulation cards... but without the storage! This interactive PDF has checkboxes for students to click (on a computer) or tap (on an iPad) as they practice each target word.

/r/ Blends Articulation Picture Search

In this fun activity, students race to find, count, and produce /r/ blend words scattered on the page.

Initial /r/ Digital Articulation Cards

Try these articulation Boom™ Cards ( available here on Boom ) for drill practice. The deck has 30 initial /r/ words, including an audio recording and bright and engaging pictures for each word.

Vocalic /r/ Word Lists

Having lists of words for each type of vocalic /r/ is the handiest SLP hack ever! The clickable checkboxes ensure you can get lots of trials, too.

/z/ Articulation Doodles

In this Boom Card activity ( available here on Boom ), students get to show off their creativity as they draw (and practice) each of the 30 target /z/ words.

Articulators of Speech Visual

Display this one-page diagram to teach speech students about the articulators of speech (which will help you with eliciting new sounds).

/s/ Dots and Boxes Google Slides Game

Target /s/ in any word position using this strategy-filled Google Slides game. You can also annotate the PDF version (or send it to students for homework).

/s/ Clusters Click It Game

This fast-paced Boom Cards game ( available here on Boom ) welcomes a little friendly competition to your articulation sessions as students race to find the duplicated picture.

Free Language Activities for Speech Therapy

Target vocabulary, figurative language, syntax, and more in your speech therapy sessions with these free language resources.

Animal Adjectives Boom Cards

For your animal lovers! In this Boom Cards deck ( available here on Boom ), students identify words to describe animals in real photos.

Idioms in Context

In this Boom Cards activity ( available here on Boom ), students work on figurative language within the context of short paragraphs. A literal illustration of each idiom gives your students a laugh as they identify the meaning of each expression.

Regular and Irregular Past Tense Verbs

On each of the 10 cards of this Boom Cards deck ( available here on Boom ), students identify the past tense form of the verb to complete a sentence about a picture.

Answering Wh- Questions (Beach Theme)

This deck of Boom Cards ( available here on Boom ) is loaded with visuals to help students understand and practice answering wh- questions about the beach.

Fast Food Flashlight Search

Another Boom Card deck ( available here on Boom ) with a high-interest topic– food! Students use a flashlight to search 3 darkened picture scenes and locate the listed vocabulary words.

National Parks Passage and Activities

For your older students, this interactive PDF contains a passage about Acadia National Park and coordinating questions for various language goals.

Free Social Language Activity

Pragmatic language goal setting activity.

This resource guides your students through a series of questions and activities that help them identify their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to social communication.

Free Themed Speech Therapy Activities

Find some seasonal or holiday-themed freebies to use throughout the year in speech therapy.

Back to School Memory Matching Game

Ease back into school with this Boom Card game ( available here on Boom ) that's loaded with school vocabulary and language opportunities.

Halloween Ghost Search

This activity is a speech staple around Halloween. Open the PDF on any device and flip through the pages as students look for the ghost on each one.

Find the Gingerbread Man

Similar to the ghost activity above, but students find the gingerbread man on each page of this PDF.

Winter Speech Therapy Activities

This digital PDF has a little of everything for targeting language goals with a winter theme. Just open on any device and use the buttons, text boxes, and checkboxes to engage students.

Free Organizational Tools for Speech Therapy

Use these free resources at the beginning and end of the year... and everywhere in between to make your SLP life a bit (or a bunch!) easier.

Editable Meet the SLP Letter

Edit and customize these letters to send to parents at the beginning of the year to provide an introduction to speech therapy. It includes both PowerPoint and Google Slides versions.

Themed Lesson Plans

Maybe the biggest SLP time-saver of all time! These lesson-planning spreadsheets open in Google Sheets and are full of links to hundreds of digital activities... but you can customize them with your favorites too!

Planning and Data Collection Spreadsheet

More free and helpful spreadsheets 🙌 Choose from an Excel version, Google Sheets version, or a PDF to streamline your planning and data collecting with these grids.

Last Day Countdown

This free Boom Card deck ( available here on Boom ) helps you count down the weeks or days to the end of the year. The bright visuals are a great way to build anticipation for summer break.

Other Free Speech Therapy Resources

Grab these miscellaneous freebies for even more fun and engagement during in-person or teletherapy sessions.

Speech Libs

Fill-in-the-blank stories are always a hit, and these free ones help you celebrate various occasions with your older students throughout the year, as well as target a variety of different goals.

Digital Sticker Book

Brick-and-mortar SLPs don't get to have all the sticker fun! Teletherapy SLPs can use digital stickers in so many ways. And if you give an SLP a sticker book, they are going to need some stickers to go with it. Grab a free pack of shiny star stickers , too!

Apple Tree Word Guessing Game

This word-guessing game can be played in Google Slides as a quick small group activity or reinforcer.

If you're new to teletherapy or using technology in your sessions, these free speech therapy activities will get you off to a great start. They'll help you explore what is possible in the world of digital speech therapy materials so you can determine what you need more of to serve your caseload. For veteran no-print users, I hope you were able to add some new tools to your digital toolbox!

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Targeting Vocabulary Development in Speech Therapy Sessions

• April 5, 2021

Happy spring everyone! Today’s topic is all about vocabulary and how to target vocabulary in a variety of ways when treating clients via teletherapy. We will dive into how to work on vocabulary with clients of different age groups as well. I will be incorporating resources throughout this post targeting vocabulary development that also goes along with a spring theme so you can use them in your upcoming sessions!

Quick tip for targeting vocabulary development in speech therapy sessions :

When planning activities that target overall vocabulary development, try using thematic instruction within your speech therapy sessions! Integrating themes within speech therapy sessions helps to support improved vocabulary development along with additional receptive and expressive language skills. According to research, thematic instruction helps children learn basic concepts, categories, semantic mapping skills, word retrieval skills, answer wh-questions, and so much more (Maria Del Duca, 2013). All of these skills help support improved overall receptive and expressive vocabulary development.

When working with a student who is struggling with vocabulary development, try planning speech therapy sessions to go along with themes. You can even carry out the same theme over multiple speech therapy sessions to continue to provide repetition of familiar vocabulary words and concepts. Bring the theme to life through pretend play interactions, reading books, sensory play, movement-based activities, music, etc.

Using a thematic instruction approach, here are tips and resources for targeting vocabulary development with different age groups while using a springtime theme:

There are many different types of activities you can plan when working with young children on vocabulary development.

1. Targeting new vocabulary while engaging in play-based activities: 

Whether you are conducting a speech therapy session in person or via teletherapy, try using toys and/or objects in these sessions when working on vocabulary development with younger students. Bringing in fun and interactive toys/objects within speech therapy sessions allows for increased engagement and more opportunities for vocabulary development.

Here are some examples of items you can use in sessions to work on vocabulary development with a spring theme:

• Easter Eggs: there are many different goals you can target while using Easter eggs in speech therapy sessions, all of which support vocabulary development. You can work on the child both receptively identifying colors as well as expressively labeling colors of eggs. Hide the eggs around the room and have the child find the various colors or tell you what color to find. You can also hide toys inside of the Easter eggs to go along with vocabulary development. Hide objects (or pictures of objects) that have associations with one another within the eggs (i.e. picture of sock in one egg and shoe in another – find the two pictures and put them together). You can even have the child guess what is inside each egg!
• Feed the Animal: young children love to play pretend with animals or dolls. One activity I love is “feed the frog”. You can find a frog puppet or… take a tissue box, put a picture of a frog on the box, cut out the frog’s mouth, and now you can “feed the frog!” You can talk all about frogs in your session, incorporate frog books, and then play your game where you feed the frog different silly “spring theme” pictures.

2. Using No Print resources to target vocabulary development in speech therapy:

There are many wonderful resources out there that you can incorporate into speech therapy sessions with younger children to target vocabulary development. Using fun and interactive no print resources can continue to encourage the development of language concepts along with vocabulary. I will share a few great resources from The Digital SLP site that go along with the spring theme.

Here are some examples from The Digital SLP website of resources you can use in sessions to work on vocabulary development with a spring theme:

• No Print Spring Actions Interactive Book Action Verbs : this resource targets expressive language to label the action within the picture shown. All of the pictures have a spring theme so you can talk to your students about the picture and relate them to your students’ personal experiences. Talk about puddle jumping, flying kites, or even feeding ducks! This resource also provides the opportunity to work on matching pictures.
• No Print Easter Vocab Builder : working on both receptive and expressive vocabulary development with young preschoolers, then this resource is for you! Talk all about Easter while learning new vocabulary terms. Not only are there sections to work on receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary, but you can also select “Learn About Easter” to read an interactive book with your students. If you are wanting to plan a vocabulary enriched session all about Easter, try using this resource and also bringing in the Easter egg idea from above!
• No Print Spring Vocab Builder : this resource is similar to the one listed above, but instead of only being about Easter it encompasses vocabulary pictures all about spring. There are many different concepts you can target using this resource and it is also a great choice when introducing the topic of spring.

Early Elementary:

There are several great resources and activities that target vocabulary development with children in early Elementary.

1. Targeting new vocabulary while engaging in activities: 

as your students get a bit older, remember to continue to engage in hands-on and interactive activities along with incorporating resources in sessions. Help your students improve their vocabulary development by engaging in sensory activities, pretend-play, etc. Here are some examples of ideas you can use in sessions to work on vocabulary development with a spring theme:

• Sensory Activities: Creating sensory bins that relate to the spring theme can provide you with several opportunities to target vocabulary development. Try creating sensory bins with “grass” using green tissue paper or use beans to create “dirt”. You can cut out bugs to put in the grass/dirt and have the student describe the bugs. Or you can even cut out spring-related pictures and play a game of “I-Spy” to work on describing as well as labeling vocabulary words. Don’t worry – you can use sensory bins over teletherapy too! Create a bin and make sure your students are able to see the contents in your bin. You can still plan the same activities and the students will still remain engaged!
• Books:  reading books in your sessions relating to spring allows for many opportunities to learn new vocabulary words. I especially love creating activities to go along with the books we read in order to enhance the new vocabulary terms we just learned in a more hands-on learning experience.

Here are some examples from The Digital SLP resources you can use in sessions to work on vocabulary development with a spring theme:

Language Packs and Interactive Spring-Themed Resources:

• Preschool Spring Language Pack : even though this resource says “preschool” in the title, this can be used both with preschool students as well as early elementary. This resource targets several receptive and expressive language skills, all supporting overall vocabulary development. Try working on pronouns and talking about all of the different spring-related actions. You can also try “Tell Me About It!” to work on hearing a description and labeling the spring-related object.
• Spring Elementary Language Pack : this resource is similar to the one listed above; however, it incorporates a bit more challenging skills to work on with your students. All of the activities are spring-related to continue to incorporate the spring theme in your session as your students are learning new vocabulary.
• Spring Pronouns Interactive Slides : use this resource to work on pronouns with your students while talking about the action verbs. Each picture depicts a different spring-related action (i.e. flying a kite, smelling flowers, blowing bubbles, etc.) allowing for continued opportunity for vocabulary development.

Later Elementary/Middle School/High School:

Web activity interactive slides spring reading passage.

Using a spring-related reading passage within your session may target reading comprehension skills, story retell, as well as vocabulary development. Have your students read the passage or listen to the passage, answering the questions as you go. Talk about the vocabulary terms in the story that your students may not know. Write out those vocabulary words so you can refer back. You can also relate these passages to the student’s personal experiences (i.e. Have they gardened before? What do they know about Earth Day?, etc.). Listed below are three different spring theme reading passages you can try with your students

• Gardening with Grandma
• St. Patrick’s Day
• Stretch-A-Sentence Language Expansion Activity : this resource may be modified for students both in middle and high school. Show the students pictures and have them describe what is happening in the picture. Prompt the student by asking “who”, “what”, “where”, “why”, and “when” questions in order to become more descriptive. These pictures allow for discussion using novel vocabulary terms to continue to work on improved vocabulary development.

I hope you have found these tips and resources helpful when targeting vocabulary development in speech therapy with students of all levels. Have fun planning your upcoming sessions all related to spring!

Kid Confidential: Using Thematic Instruction in Speech Therapy (Maria Del Duca, 2013).

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Speech therapy activities designed for therapists and kids to love.

Engaging Resources

Engaged therapy sessions, here you come! Speech & language activities that are guaranteed to catch the attention of any child. Perfect for digital learning and in-person fun.

BUNDLE Executive Function

✨ As seen on Boom Cards Featured Bundles!

This BUNDLE of executive function cards includes problem solving stories, social stories, predicting stories, sequencing stories, and flexible thinking stories.

Multiple types of wh- questions, why and how questions, labeling exercises, multiple choice, and drag and drop categorizations   are included throughout this bundle to encourage an in depth understanding of each executive functioning skill.

⭐️ 80 Problem Solving

• Multiple choice question
• 2 labeling exercises

⭐️   52 Social Stories

• Topics of social skills to choose from (feelings, manners, listening, sharing & turns, making friends, being kind)
• Sorting exercise
• 2 wh- questions

⭐️   50 Predicting (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• What questions
• How questions

⭐️   50 Sequencing

• 3 different what questions per story

⭐️   40 Flexible Thinking (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• Why questions
• Labeling exercise

Each deck includes a teaching slide and visual to help your students better understand executive function skills before practicing! 

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview.

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 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 .

Wh- Questions & Short Stories

15 short stories to target wh- questions, auditory comprehension, reading comprehension, recall, and more!

Multiple levels of difficulty, including both shorter and longer paragraphs for a variety of length and detail in the stories.

⭐ Wh- Questions in Short Stories

• 15 Paragraph Short Stories
• 6 Wh- Questions for every story
• Stories are 4-9 sentences in length
• What, where, who, when, why, and how questions for every story

*This product contains the same activities as the Boom Cards version. If you would like the Boom Cards version, view   Wh- Questions & Short Stories, Auditory Comprehension, Boom Cards.

Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast a variety of topics with 5 different activities and over 400 prompts! Improve understanding and use of similarities and differences using this comprehensive activity. 

This resource includes   5 different ways to practice comparing and contrasting , including stories, Venn diagrams, wh questions, short answers, pictures, graphs, and more. Real photos are included in this resource.

⭐️ Compare and Contrast:

• 5 stories with Venn diagrams
• 10 picture pairs with wh questions and Venn diagrams
• 10 picture pairs with wh questions and short answer questions
• 10 word pairs with wh questions and short answers
• 10 word pairs with graphs and word banks
• 2 blank templates

⭐️   Targeted Skills:

• Improve use of compare and contrast
• Increase comprehension of similarities and differences
• Expand skills for answering questions

Topics & Questions

80 unique topics with 4 wh- questions and a story prompt to improve expressive and receptive language skills, with REAL pictures. Questions and story prompts improve story telling and sentence generation skills. What, where, who, when, why, and how questions are included, with 4 different questions for each picture.

✨ As featured on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks ✨

⭐ 80 Topics & Categories

• 5 activities for each topic
• Real picture for every topic
• 4 wh-/how questions for every topic
• 1 story prompt for every topic
• What, where, who, when, why, and how questions included

⭐  Targeted Skills

• Improve receptive & expressive language
• Enhance skills for   answering questions
• Boost   story telling skills
• Develop   noun labeling and describing

Practice describing topics and categories, by answering questions and discussing a story prompt for each topic!

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 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 .

Conversation Starters

Conversation starters to improve commenting, asking questions, and answering questions during conversations. Conversation prompts has variety of ways to practice conversations, including questions, open response, fill in the blank, and more.

This resource includes   multiple ways to practice conversations , including pictures, comments, questions, asking questions, and more.

⭐️   All About Me Conversation Starters:

• 2 what questions
• 1 how question
• Open response opportunity

⭐️   Conversation Topics:

• 20 unique topics
• 3 open response opportunities to practice
• Practice asking questions and making comments

⭐️   Conversation Photos:

• 20 unique photo prompts
• 2 open response opportunities to practice

⭐️   Boom Cards include:

• 20 conversation topics
• 20 conversation starters with real photos
• Open response opportunities to practice

⭐️   Targeted skills:

• Improve conversation abilities
• Increase ability to ask and answer questions in conversations
• Expand commenting skills during conversations

NOTE: This resource includes 1 printable PDF with a Boom Cards companion. The Boom Cards contains part of the PDF resource, but does not include the "All About Me" conversation starters. Boom Cards are digital resources. PDF pages can be used digitally with PDF applications or can be printed for in person use.

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 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 ..

Problems & Solutions with Problem Size

Problem solving stories, problem size, solutions, common problems   and more are included in this set.   There are 80 unique problem solving and solution scenarios   for critical thinking. Open response questions and multiple choice questions are included in every story! You will receive problem size and common problem teaching pages, as well as multiple examples.

⭐️   80 Problem Solving Stories

• 80 unique problem scenarios
• Multiple choice question for every story
• 2 open response exercises for every story

⭐️   Problem Size Slides & Questions

• 5 in-depth teaching pages
• Problem size (small, medium, big) definitions
• Emotions related to problem sizes
• Color coordinated problem size visual
• 2 small problem exercises
• 2 medium problem exercises
• 2 big problem exercises

⭐️   Common Problems & Questions

• Teaching slide with definitions & examples
• 6 scenarios of common problems
• 2 free response problem & solution questions per scenario 

With 80 unique stories, 12 common problem scenarios, 6 problem size questions and multiple teaching pages, you will be able to use this resource for   many   teaching sessions. You won't need anything else!

Story Builders & Create A Story

Improve creative writing with these narrative and short story prompts! This set of   70 short story builders   comes with character, location, event and time learning targets.

Help your students improve their stories and increase their creative narrative skills. There is space for students to type or write their stories, as well as an organizing task for story parts. 

Your students will have all the tools they need to create unique and imaginative stories!

⭐️ Includes:

• 70 story builders
• 3 practice levels
• A combination of who (character), where (location), what (event) and when (time) story part targets
• 36 story builders that include 2 story parts
• 20 story builders that include 3 story parts
• 14 story builders that include 4 story parts
• Story parts organizing task with pictures
• Space for creative writing and narrative generation
• Instructions on each page 

⭐️ Teaching slides:

• In depth information about the 4 included story parts
• Descriptions
• Picture matching activities 

Save your time and energy, this set is NO PREP! Includes everything you need to elicit creative, engaging stories from your students.

Perfect for SLPs, teachers, or parents looking to expand language or writing in a fun and creative way!

Social Skills & Pragmatics

Social skills and pragmatic language set to improve executive functioning skills.   52 unique stories with sorting and wh- questions!

Social skills topic can be organized by category or practiced in random order, depending on your goals! Your students will sort each card into "appropriate" or "inappropriate" categories. They also will have an opportunity to explain how to improve social skills. Keep students engaged with interactive drag and drop!

⭐️   52 Social Skills short stories

• 2 scenarios per slide
• Drag and drop sorting for "appropriate" or "inappropriate" behavior
• What question to target improving behaviors
• Why question to target critical thinking

⭐️   Skills are able to be sorted by topic:

• Sharing & Turns
• Making Friends

BUNDLE for Executive Function Skills also available in Shine Speech Activities shop , which includes problem solving, predicting, flexible thinking, social skills, and sequencing/planning, too!

Use this deck to help teach and practice pragmatic skills - you won't need anything else!

Sentence Comprehension & Language Comprehension

Improve sentence comprehension, language and reading comprehension, and picture comprehension with 4 activities and over 125 prompts for speech therapy or classrooms! Target comprehending, receptive language, and more.

This resource includes   4 different ways to practice sentence comprehension , including wh questions, pictures, fill in the blanks, and more. Real photos are included in this resource.

⭐️ Sentence Comprehension:

• 40 sentence comprehension task cards with 3 questions each
• 30 real photo sentence comprehension prompts
• 30 multiple choice reading comprehension activities
• 30 fill in the blank language comprehension prompts
• Improve sentence comprehension skills
• Increase receptive and expressive language abilities
• Expand skills for understanding sentences and pictures

Categories with divergent naming, convergent naming, group, similarities, differences, and more! Words, cartoons, and real pictures included for a variety of ways to practice.

This resource includes   6 different ways to practice categories , including describing, naming, grouping, similarities, differences, and topics. Category cards include words, cartoon pictures to color, and real photos!

⭐️ Categories:

• 40 Describe the category
• 40 Name the category
• 40 Categories Grouping
• 24 Categories similarities
• 24 Categories differences
• 6 Categories Topics
• 10 Describe the category
• 15 Name the category
• 15 Categories Grouping
• 15 Categories similarities
• 15 Categories differences
• 5 Categories Topics
• Improve understanding categories
• Expand ability to describe categories
• Practice language with categories 

NOTE: This resource includes 1 printable PDF with a Boom Cards companion. The Boom Cards contains part of the PDF resource. Boom Cards are digital resources. PDF pages can be used digitally with PDF applications or can be printed for in person use.

Picture & Word Describing Webs

This set of 70 picture description webs targets describing pictures and words by color, shape, size, location, material, function, category and more. Includes 8 wh- questions for each word!

Teaching slides are also included to teach your students how to describe pictures.

⭐️ Picture Description Webs:

• 8 fill in the blank questions to target descriptions
• Color description targets
• Size description targets
• Shape description targets
• Location description targets
• Material description targets
• Function description targets
• Category description targets
• Who (who uses it?) description targets
• Color coded targets to improve memory of ways to describe

⭐️ Teaching Slides:

• Question example for each description target
• Concrete examples of each description type 

⭐️ Bonus Pages on PDF:

• Colored blank picture web template with 8 questions
• Black and white picture web template with 8 questions

BONUS! A blank PDF template for a color web and a black and white web are also included.   Your students have the opportunity to draw their own unique pictures and create webs.

70 trials, plus blank webs, allows for unlimited practice of picture and word describing. 

Help your students learn how to describe with this activity! PDF and Boom Cards versions are included.

Predicting in Short Stories

This activity includes   50 predicting stories . Unique and original scenarios for predicting practice!

✨ As seen on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks ✨

Each scenario   includes a "what" question and a "how" question   for further discussion and analysis for your students.

50 stories means you won't need any other activity for predicting! Use these randomized trials track data over multiple sessions.

⭐️   50 Predicting story slides

• Unique predicting scenarios
• What question for predicting
• How question for analyzing prediction

BUNDLE Figurative Language

This BUNDLE of figurative language cards includes idioms, metaphors, hyperboles, personification and similes. Over 255 practice targets with figurative language!

The set targets multiple skills so your students will have an in depth understanding of each type of figurative language! This set is a truly comprehensive approach to understanding and using figurative language.

⭐️ 60 Idioms

• Yes/no questions for every trial
• What questions for every trial
• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own idioms) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Metaphors

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own metaphors) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Similes

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own similes) for every trial

⭐️ 45 Hyperboles

• Free response (students have an opportunity to create their own hyperboles) for every trial

⭐️ 40 Personification

• Free response to give students opportunity to create short stories with personification

⭐️ 35 Allusions

• 2 what questions for every trial
• Free response to encourage building allusions in sentences
• Allusions to Historical figures, literature, famous fictional characters, locations/landmarks, Greek mythology, movies and more

⭐️ Each deck includes a teaching slide

• Definitions
• Help your students understand and identify figurative language before practicing

Preview Boom Cards HERE.

Prepositions & Spatial Concepts

This set of   prepositions targets spatial and location concepts with 60 trials ! Teach your students prepositions and location with this robust, comprehensive deck.

You can pick which preposition to target, or practice with randomized slides. The teaching module will   teach your students everything they need to know about each preposition   before practicing! 

⭐️   Prepositions include:

⭐️   learning module includes:.

Use the practice slides to practice prepositions with multiple choice. Navigate between the learning module and practice cards using the buttons at the bottom of each slide.

CLICK HERE for Boom Card Preview.

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 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 .

Main Idea & Supporting Details

Main idea and supporting details with 5 different ways to practice and 50 unique prompts! Improve reading comprehension and writing skills using this main ideas and detail resource.

This product contains a PDF version and a Boom Cards companion.

This resource includes   5 different ways to practice main idea and supporting details , including stories with questions, main ideas vs. details, create-a-story, grouping, and pictures with questions. Real photos are also included in this resource.

⭐️ Main Idea & Details:

• 10 Stories & Questions
• 10 Main Ideas vs. Details
• 10 Create-A-Story
• 10 Grouping
• 10 Pictures & Questions
• Improve understanding main ideas and details
• Increase reading comprehension abilities
• Expand skills for creating stories

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 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 .

Expanding Language with Wh Questions and Real Pictures

Expand expressive language using wh- questions and sentence generation prompts with real pictures.   Improve expressive language, answering questions, labeling verbs, and story generation!   What, where, and who questions are included for every picture!

⭐ Expanding Language with Real Pictures

• 80 real life pictures
• 3 wh- questions   for every story
• Free response prompt   for every story
• Large variety of actions and topics within pictures
• What, where, and who questions for every story
• Printable pages

⭐ Targeted Skills

• Improve expressive language
• Enhance skills for answering questions
• Boost sentence and story generation skills
• Develop verb describing and labeling

Sequencing and Planning

This set of 50 sequencing and planning activity deck will help your students improve their planning skills! The deck includes a variety of sequencing and planning scenarios and trials for your students.

Each open-ended short story includes 3 color-coded wh- questions to guide sequencing.

⭐️   50 Sequencing short stories

• Unique sequencing stories
• 3 wh- questions per story
• Color-coded questions, to match teaching slide

⭐️   Teaching slide

• 6 unique teaching  slides with visuals
• Color-coded information to match questions in trials
• Drag & drop activity
• Synonyms for key words
• Example of a story sequence

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview

Flexible Thinking & Reframing

This set of 40 flexible thinking and reframing thoughts cards   teaches your students how to improve flexible thinking   in difficult situations.

Each unique scenario includes   multiple questions as well as a labeling exercise   to encourage flexible thinking and increasing creative problem solving.

⭐️   Each Flexible Thinking trial includes:

• Why question
• How question

⭐️   Teaching slides include:

• Flexible v. rigid thinking comparison
• Flexible thinking examples
• Strategies for use of flexible thinking in difficult moments

INCLUDES: Both a PDF version and a Boom Cards version!

BUNDLE for Wh- Questions also available in Shine Speech Activities shop , which includes short stories and sentences!

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview .

*This product contains the same activities as the PDF version. If you would like the PDF version, view   Wh- Questions & Short Stories, Auditory Comprehension .

Inferencing & Context Clues

70 inferencing and context clues trials to improve critical thinking skills! Each trial comes with 4 unique clues to help your students make an inference. They can then provide their answer, and drag the cover away to see the correct answer and a picture.

⭐️   As featured on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks   ⭐️

⭐ 70 Inferencing & Context Clues Slides:

• 4 clues for every word
• Space to type an answer
• Drag to uncover the correct answer
• Pictures of the correct answer

⭐ Skills targeted:

• Improve inferencing
• Enhance ability to understand clues
• Increase critical thinking and executive function abilities
• Boost deductive reasoning skills
• Improve ability to draw conclusions

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Apple Theme Speech Therapy Activities for Engaging Lessons

Sep 17, 2024 | 0 comments

It’s that time of year when apples are in abundance, making it the perfect theme for your speech therapy sessions! Incorporating seasonal themes, like an apple theme, into your speech therapy lessons can add an extra layer of excitement while supporting speech and language goals. In this post, we’ll explore apple-themed speech therapy activities, books, and crafts that will engage students from preschool to 5th grade.

From sensory bins to dramatic play, I’ve gathered some creative apple-themed ideas that are adaptable for a range of speech and language targets. Whether you’re working with preschoolers or older elementary students, these apple activities for speech therapy will help you build out your lesson plans with ease!

There are Amazon affiliate links included for your convenience. I receive a small commission when you use my affiliate link with no additional cost to you. 

Apple Themed Speech Therapy Book List

Books are a fantastic way to target a variety of speech and language goals, and an apple theme offers plenty of options to choose from! Whether you’re working on vocabulary, sequencing, or comprehension, these apple-themed books are perfect for preschool through 5th grade.

PreK-1st Grade:

• Apple Countdown by Joan Holub
• Fall Apples: Crisp and Juicy by Martha E.H. Rustad
• Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

2nd-3rd Grade:

• Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell
• Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum

4th-5th Grade:

• An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glennette Tilley Turner
• One Green Apple by Eve Bunting

Additional Apple Books:

• The Biggest Apple by Steven Kroll
• Apples by Gail Gibbons
• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Price
• Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
• Applesauce Day by Lisa J. Amstutz
• Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway
• A Day at the Apple Orchard by Megan Faulkner
• Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss
• Pumpkins and Apples by Anne Rockwell

These books are perfect to integrate into your sessions, offering ample opportunities for storytelling, retelling, WH-questions, and expanding vocabulary.

Apple Theme Preschool Lesson Plans

Planning a preschool lesson around an apple theme doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Pairing an apple sensory bin with one of the preschool apple-themed books can give you an easy, adaptable lesson plan that engages students in a play-based learning environment. Use apple toys and games to work on speech and language goals like expressive language, turn-taking, and articulation.

Want more ideas? Grab this free Apple-Themed Guide that Kristine from Live Love Speech and myself.

Having your students investigate an apple is a great way to work on speech and language goals with science. And it’s even easier with this free printable from Preschool Play and Learn that helps them study apples. 

Apple YouTube Videos and STEM Activities

Bring apples to life with virtual field trips and apple-themed STEM activities! You can visit an apple orchard virtually or show a video of the biggest apple in the world. Use these videos to target vocabulary, sequencing, and summarizing.

• Biggest Apple in the World with Mystery Doug
• How to Draw an Apple : A great step-by-step video for working on sequencing and following directions.
• Learn about the life cycle of an apple to target wh-questions, summarizing, and vocabulary.
• Make your own caramel apples or learn about how to make caramel and the science behind it!
• Learning the history of apples, how they grow and facts about this great fruit is a great way to build background knowledge, learn vocabulary, answer wh-questions and more!

Explaining why apples are a superfood can also be a fun way to incorporate facts into your sessions!

If you want to use the book Ten Apples Up On Top, use this STEM apple balance lesson with your preschoolers and kindergarten students. We talk about this lesson in my free Themed Therapy SLP Facebook group with ideas on how to target different speech and language goals.

Join the Themed Therapy SLP Membership

If you love planning themed therapy lessons, you’ll love my Themed Therapy SLP Membership ! There’s a full apple-themed unit for PreK-5th grade, complete with book cheat sheets, lesson companions, articulation homework, task cards, and Google Slides. You’ll also find toy guides and apple-themed crafts that will make planning easy and fun! Join the membership for access to all these resources.

Apple Songs for Speech Therapy

Songs are always a hit in speech therapy! These apple-themed songs will get your students moving and engaging with speech targets:

• Danny Go’s Apple Song
• Apple Tree Song – Great for practicing rhythm and sounds.
• Ten Apples on My Head  – A fun counting song perfect for younger kids.

These songs can be integrated into circle time or movement breaks while targeting articulation, vocabulary, or sentence structure.

Apple Themed Crafts for Preschool and Elementary

Crafts are a great way to get students using language while they create! I have an apple tree and apple core paper plate craft with visual supports available in my Themed Therapy SLP Membership . Another fun idea is this apple stamping craft from Simply Full of Delight , which helps kids practice color identification and fine motor skills. Teaching 2 and 3 year olds has a fun 3-dimensional apple tree art craft that you can use as a prop for spatial concepts or adding to a sensory bin. Simply Every Day Mom has an easy handprint apple tree that is great for following directions and you can glue or write their speech targets on the back. 

Apple Articulation Activities for Speech Practice

One of the easiest ways to incorporate speech sound practice into an apple theme is to have sound-loaded phrases and sentence strips (we provide that in the Themed Therapy SLP membership.) Or, use word lists to come up with apple-themed words to practice that have their sounds. We have apple articulation flashcards and speech sound words lists in the membership as well. For students working on speech sound production at the reading and structured conversation level, use the articulation short stories in the membership or they are also available on TPT (there is a free S apple articulation short story in the preview .) To get high trials use this fun free apple opened reinforcer from Speech Sprouts with your magnetic wands. Or use toilet paper roll apple trees and pom poms to put in the tree for every production.

What Apple-Themed Speech Therapy Activities Do You Plan?

Do you have a favorite book, activity, video, toy, or material that you love using with an apple theme? Let me know your faves in the comments.

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Speech Therapy

Individualized programs for speech & swallowing disorders.

Difficulty speaking or swallowing is not an unusual problem for children or adults who have been injured or afflicted with certain types of medical conditions, such as a stroke. Speech therapists at Allied Services Integrated Health System create individualized programs for each patient designed to help them overcome difficulties with speaking or swallowing.

Speech therapists can help patients who are dealing with:

• Dysphagia/oral feeding disorders
• Auditory processing disorder
• Voice disorders
• Expressive disorders
• Cognitive-communication disorders

What You Should Know About Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPS)

Speech-language pathologist is the professional term for a speech therapist. These are highly trained medical specialists who focus on communication, cognition, and development. SLPS can work with patients of any age. They typically work with patients one-on-one to develop personalized treatments plans. However, patients may also participate in a group program guided by an SLP.

The primary interventions used by SLPS include:

• Language intervention activities – These activities engage the patient with games, books, or other activities designed to stimulate language development. Patients may also participate in vocabulary and grammar exercises.
• Articulation therapy – Some words are harder to say than others. In this therapy, SLPs mouth out words that the patient is having trouble speaking out loud. Patients learn how to physically create the sound with their mouths so that they can have an easier time saying it out loud.
• Feeding and swallowing therapy – These treatments are for patients who are having trouble swallowing or using their mouth. Patients learn exercises that help strengthen the muscles in their throat and mouth.

Family Involvement

Overcoming a speech disorder is easier when you have a support system. At Allied Services Integrated Health System, our SLPs help patients and their families/support team learn new strategies for overcoming these problems. It is important to remain positive and stay motivated. Treating a speech disorder can take time, but with dedicated help from a knowledgeable team, patients can see significant results.

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To find a nearby Rehab Center, please refer to the Locations section or contact us at 570-348-1360 (Scranton) or 570-826-3900 (Wilkes-Barr).

Its all too easy for a person with Aphasia to become frustrated, isolated and depressed. As their ability to communicate is affected, they may feel ...

Each year, strokes affect thousands of Americans, and each patient is affected in different ways. Strokes are the result of blood vessels in the brain ...

REPOSTED FROM WBRE/WYOU SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — May is National Stroke Awareness Month a time to focus on this so-called “brain ...

Speech-language pathologists (SLP) play an integral role in stroke recovery. Our work can be transformative, helping stroke patients recover their ...

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WALK FOR APRAXIA

The Walk for Apraxia is the signature fundraising event for Apraxia Kids. It brings together those touched by apraxia, uniting families and professionals in a community of support. At the heart of the Walk for Apraxia is the celebration of our Apraxia Stars. Each child with apraxia receives a medal in recognition of the hard work that goes into finding their voices. Join us at your local event and discover a network of support!

Apraxia Kids could not host Walk for Apraxia events without our dedicated and passionate volunteers. They organize walks so that our stars can have a special day that is all about them!

If you are interested in being involved, please click here .

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Boise Walk for Apraxia

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University speech clinic.

Find out if there is a University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic near you that serves individuals who have trouble communicating.

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Decoding Dyslexia [email protected]

Click here for National Support Services Resources.

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Idaho Assistive Technology Project Moscow 1-800-432-8324 or [email protected]

Idaho Assistive Technology for All Moscow 1-800-432-8324

Computers for Kids Boise 208-345-0346 or [email protected]

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Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc. (IPUL) Boise 208-342-5884 or [email protected]

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Children’s Developmental Disabilities Services Boise 208-334-6500 or [email protected]

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Game Changers Idaho Boise 208-917-0427

Special Olympics Idaho New Plymouth 1-208-353-3844

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Babby Farms Caldwell 208-455-4487

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Idaho State Department of Education Boise 208-332-6800 or [email protected]

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Idaho’s Infant Toddler Program Boise 208-334-5514 or [email protected]

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Idaho Center on Disabilities and Human Improvement Moscow 208-885-6000 or [email protected]

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