Do you ever feel like you run out of ideas when it's time to work on generalization of speech sounds to conversation? If you're like me, you run out of things to talk about! You can only ask about their weekend so many times without sounding like a broken record. And I'm honestly so tired of hearing about Minecraft! Lately, I've really been racking my brain to find new ways to target speech sounds in conversation. I thought I would share them here in case anyone else needs some new ideas!
1.) Crazy Pictures - I have a whole post here about the different ways that I use crazy pictures in therapy. But one of my favorite ways is articulation carry over. Basically, when I see a ridiculous picture somewhere, I screenshot it and save it in a file on my phone (a favorite is the baby duck taped to the wall!). Then I can pull up these pictures to talk about with my kids! I have them tell me what they think happened or what will happen next. Sometimes, I can find pictures that include images of specific target sounds (like the time I found a ton of silly pictures of chickens for a student working on "ch"). The kids love them and they keep therapy light-hearted and fun! In my original post, I included some links to websites where you can find these crazy pictures - just make sure they are appropriate!
2.) Sequencing - I have my students sequence picture cards in the correct order, then explain what is happening. I can often find sequences that contain specific target sounds (ex. bath time for "th"). If you don't have cards, you can also just have them explain the sequence to you verbally without the visuals. I have a ton of sequencing card decks because I find I can use them for so many purposes besides sequencing!
3.) Articulation in Conversation Mega Pack - I made this resource a few years ago after being super frustrated when working on generalization of those rarely occurring sounds - like "j" or /v/. The packed contains activities to target each sound. It includes reading passages with question prompts, tongue twisters, would you rather games, fact or fiction games, conversation prompts, and semantic absurdities.
4.) Make Up A Game - I will give a student a few random items from my therapy room - like a paperclip, a dice, a bouncy ball, etc. I tell them to make up a game that uses these items. Then they have to explain the game and the rules to the others in the group. If possible, we even try to play the game. I can give them items that have their speech targets in them. For example, I gave a kiddo working on /s/ blends a slinky, a stamp, stickers, a roll of smarties, and a spoon.
5.) Conversation Jenga - I grabbed a a generic Jenga game from Dollar General. The blocks were blank, so I was able to write various conversation prompt questions on them. I wrote 2 per block. We play Jenga and answer the questions as we go. I uploaded a free list of the prompts I used to my TpT store. You can find it here.
6.) Story Retell - Much like the sounds in sentences portion of the GFTA, I will often have patients retell a story to me. I can choose stories loaded with their speech sounds to increase the amount of trials.
7.) Design a Pet - I give them a piece of paper to draw an imaginary pet. Then they have to describe the pet to me. What are the parts of it, what does it do, why is it special, etc. Then they have to name their new pet - using only words that have their speech sound targets in them.
8.) Tongue Twisters - Can they make up their own tongue twisters? How many words with their speech sounds in them can they jam into one sentence? It doesn't have to make sense - the goal is just to practice their sounds.
9.) Explaining - Ask them to explain how to use a certain toy or play a certain game to someone that doesn't know how. Bonus points if you can choose a toy or game with their speech sounds in it's name.
10.) Make Up a Recipe - I will give my patients 3-5 "ingredients" that contain their speech sound. For example, for a kiddo working on /l/, I told him to make up a recipe using apples, watermelon, lemons, limes, and lettuce. He could add any other ingredients he wanted, but he HAD to use those. Then I asked him to make up a dish and write out a recipe for it. Then he explained his recipe to us. He made a lovely fruit salad - and even added "Italian Dressing" to get another /l/ in there! The recipes can be serious or silly! Just make something up!
11.) Spot the Difference for Articulation - I made this resource to target articulation at the conversation level. Have your students find the difference between the two pictures. In order to explain the differences, they will have to use their target speech sound. These are purposely designed to be easier for younger students.
What other, fun things do you do to work on articulation in conversation?
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