As I am getting ready to head back to school after Christmas break, I am starting to think about my January Speech-Language Therapy plans. This month will mostly center around a Winter Theme. Here are some of the materials I will be using:
1.) Winter No Prep Articulation Packet - I will use this to target articulation skills for my 3rd-5th graders the entire month. I will use some pieces of this packet for my PK-2nd graders later in the month. With over 200 pages of material, this packet can literally last you the entire month!
2.) Mitten Search - I will use this to target articulation skills in PK-2nd grade early in the month. It's a great sensory bin activity. I fill my sensory bin with cotton balls and hide the mitten cards. This also pairs very well with the book The Mitten by Jan Brett.
3.) Winter Speech and Language Packet - this packet is loaded with worksheets to target a variety of concepts, grammar skills, wh questions, following directions, negation, pronouns, etc. I will use this packet with my students working on language skills. The packet also has a Winter Bingo game. I will use the game to target vocabulary and as a reinforcer during drill activities. This packet also includes a parent handout to send home at the beginning of the unit.
4.) Don't Break the Ice - we will play this game across several grade levels. I will pair this game with flashcards, articulation drill, pragmatic skills, etc.
5.) Snow Day Open Ended Game from Mia McDaniel - this is another good way to spice up drill with those students who really need it. Due to varying nature of the snowflakes, it also lends itself well to describing activities.
6.) Books - We will be reading There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow and The Mitten. There are several great book companions on TpT for these books, but there are my favorite ones:
7.) We will also use Mitten Di-Cuts as an easy craft and as door decorations. We will cover the Mitten DiCuts with articulation words, spatial concepts, sequencing words, describing words, plurals, verb tenses, vocabulary words, etc... the possibilities are endless.
At the end of the unit, I will attach them to these dicut handouts to send home with the students to practice.
8.) I will also be bringing in winter clothing items - scarves, hats, earmuffs, gloves, mittens, etc - to work on winter clothing vocabulary.
9.) I also like the Ketchapp Winter Sports app to use as a reinforcer and a way for students to experience winter themed activities within the school setting.
10.) Dough and Data Mats are one of my new favorite things from Jenna Rayburn Kirk at Speech Room News. I will be using her winter themed ones with my Pre-K kiddos.
11.) Jenna also has awesome parent handouts for preschool aged students.
12.) There are some winter themed/arctic animals that we will also be talking about. I have animal figurines for moose, penguins, polar bears, seals, walrus, rabbits, etc. These animals can be used for describing. We can also compare and contrast animal qualities - I use a blank Venn Diagram visual for this. We compare and contrast arctic and non-arctic animals as well. I will target part whole relationships by having students label or identify various body parts on the animals. I use them for spatial concepts by placing them in various places throughout the room and having the students find the item in a specific place or have the students verbally express where they are. We can also use them for vocabulary building and play based therapy - verb tenses, demonstrating verbs, etc. For some older students, I will be working on the characteristics of these animals that make them suitable for the arctic climate.
13.) Nicole Allison has some great resources that I will use with my older students. One that I like for Winter is her Nonfiction Reading Passages - Winter Edition.
14.) For my students struggling with pragmatic skills, we'll use these flashcards to target various winter-themed social scenarios from several view points - working in problem solving, social skills, and theory of mind all in one activity.
That should keep us busy for most of the month! I love using activities that can spread across multiple groups and therapy targets. Hopefully, these resources will work for you as well!
What are you doing in therapy for winter?
