Language/Literacy
(In this section: Articles Worth Reading, Categorization, Cause-Effect, Community Helpers, Fact or Fiction, Feelings, Idioms, Gestalt Language, Narrative Skills, Phonological Awareness, Pragmatics, Pre-Linguistic Skills, Prepositions, Pronouns, Questions, Semantics/Vocab, Syntax/Sentence Construction & MLU)
For information on Reading and the SLP, see the Reading Resources page.
Check out the new website on the block that has all FREE materials for all kinds of language targets. FreeSLP.com
Articles Worth Reading
Nice chart of various strategies! Language, Speech & Hearing, Services in Schools, 42, 102-139. Elksnin, L.K. (1997)
Article from ASHA Wire, Mar/Apr 2023.
See Also the Goals Page for a variety of goal banks!
Article by Megan Taylor Stephens, M.A., ESL; M.S., CCC-SLP about how kids are evaluated in schools.
From Kelley & Spencer, 2021. Learn the key language skills to help your students succeed academically.
In-depth guide on how to get started with Loose Parts play. Interesting new trend in early education that has tremendous possibilities for speech therapy.
Looking for short videos to use in your language groups? Just "google" this: "best short videos for language therapy". You will get tons of lists of awesome videos, along with suggestions for how to use them. (Note: ALWAYS preview them first!)
CATEGORIZATION
Several free categorization activities - printables, smartboard, Boom cards, and more.
52 Cards (2/p), each w 6 pictures. Student must name items, and tell which does not belong and why. Categorizing by function, color, shape, location, descriptive characteristic, rhyme words.
6-box chart to sort pictures into functional categories – words that tell Who, What, Where, What Doing, When, and Describers (feelings). Use with pictures from your stories.
CAUSE-EFFECT
Printable: Picture/sentence cards and circular event chart.
-Ellen Weber, 2021 rev.
You can also use circular stories like Laura Numeroff's. See my Story Theme Units page for these two:
COMMUNITY HELPERS
14-page booklet/interactive board lesson for 1st gr. / special ed classes. Introduces topic/vocab of community helpers. Good for WH- questions. Use with the Sentence Builder activity below.
Match worker with vehicle. Print on cardstock to use as lacing board, or cut out to play Memory.
Template for creating Who+is doing+what sentences. Writing lines provided to encourage writing the sentence.
CLICK HERE for word cards to use with the templates.
Community helper vehicles - picture & word with beginning letter missing to write in.
FACT OR FICTION?
Same basic lesson as the Fact or Fiction Intro Book, but with related literacy lesson for The Mitten by Jan Brett. -Ellen Weber, 2008
Printable introductory lesson for Fact or Fiction. Emphasizes the need to listen to the words, not look at the pictures. Cover answers with sticky notes, or use on an interactive board and hide the answers.
Set of 20 short stories of a couple sentences to practice determining fact or fiction.
FEELINGS
Lots of free goodies - posters, free clipart, I Spy game, facial expressions, craft project, and tons more.
GESTALT LANGUAGE
Free download of this 39 page reference guide - everything you need to know about gestalt language processing.
This is a free list from SLP Toolkit of all kinds of articles, books, podcasts, courses on Gestalt Language.
Several materials for GLP are free on TpT, including AAC flipbooks, games, reference charts, and more.
From Songbird Speech in TpT. Free at time of posting. She has other freebies to check out as well.
IDIOMS
Includes idioms about body parts, things teachers say in the classroom, and lots more.
Online activity to determine meaning from a sentence context. Two answer choices for each.
A list of the most common idioms used in English, and their meanings. Created for English language learners.
Five stories, each short story of two to three paragraphs provides approximately 15 idioms with definitions, and quiz.
68 idioms about every day activities, animals, and body parts.
NARRATIVE SKILLS
Note: Most of these materials are to use with Braidy the Story Braid or Story Grammar Marker programs from Mindwing Concepts, but are easily adaptable.
Handout explaining the elements we look for in a story retell. In English and Spanish.
PDF version of a PowerPoint contributed by Tiffani Hall. Basic explanation of what a character is. Thanks, Tiffani!
GLASSE approach to describing story characters. Contributed by Bonnie Bear. Thanks!
This is a sample of what you can do for progress monitoring. This is copyrighted materials.
From the Florida Center for Reading Research, this lesson and visuals on pages 1-7 help students attend to the details of the characters. Not just for use with Braidy.
For students to use to evaluate their stories or each others'. Regular and abbreviated episodes included.
Chart for students to search story and find/list vocab words for actions (kick-off), feelings, and planning words.
This is a sample of your thought process when analyzing a story. This material is copyrighted.
Template with icons for students to use as a book report. Good for helping them gather their thoughts for a verbal report. Contributed by Kim Baldwin. Thanks!
Printable folder game for narrative elements from Braidy program. Includes rolling cube, question cards, game board. Use your own game pieces. See the digital version in my TinyTap activities below.
For older students using Story Grammar Marker, determine what narrative level they are on. This is a sample, not to be copied/distributed as it is copyrighted.
Website that lets you create a story from three random prompts: character, setting, plot line.
10 Garfield stories, with dialogue missing, text, and story element icons. Good for quick lessons or homework.
This is a PPT file so you can edit it for the story you are working on, not a PDF file.
Document progress with narrative skills. Adapted from a rubric by Gillam & Gillam, 2010.
Chart that shows how the Braidy/SGM supports the Georgia Performance Standards for grades K-5. Good to share with administrator who is observing you. Contributed by Julie Williams. Thanks!
This is a sample of how to analyze the macrostructure of a story. This is copyrighted material.
Story element visuals to assist in answering WH questions about the story. These are great to give teachers to use as RTI intervention for kids who "don't understand stories" or ELL students.
Used in the Critical Thinking Triangle. This list of verbs was contributed by Jodi Codwise and Jean Blonde. Thanks, ladies!
PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS
From Reading Rockets, ages where 80-90% of children have mastered the skills.
PRAGMATIC SKILLS
For more information about Social Communication/Pragmatics, see the Autism Resources page.
Hierarchy of social/pragmatic skills related to executive function. Washington Univ., 2017.
Building Theory of Mind social skills: developmental sequence, resources, book list.
Printable activity to match message with photo. See also the digital version in TinyTap. -Ellen Weber, 2021, rev.
PRAGMATICS VIDEOS
List of the right things to do, with video clip of wrong way to join.
Created by UCLA, this social interaction program has free videos you can access, in several languages.
Students model both appropriate and inappropriate ways to take conversational turns.
Students model how to join and participate in a conversation, maintaining topic.
PRELINGUISTIC SKILLS
PREPOSITIONS
Folded paper game for describing locations. (Used to be called Fortune Tellers).
27 printable flashcards featuring verb + prepositional phrase, from BogglesWorldESL.com
Interactive booklet. Purfect for Thanksgiving. See a similar digital activity in TinyTap.
Interactive booklet for fun song to tune of Old Smokey. See it in digital form on TinyTap.
Cute animated scenes from the book of the same name. Great to have the students tell where they see the pigs.
PRONOUNS
QUESTIONS
Here's my pet peeve ... too many SLPs only teach Who, What, When, Where, and Why for question words. Probably because it is drummed into our heads from reading/writing stories in school. Don't forget Which (count how many time you ask the kids a Which question!) and Whose (which leads into learning pronouns). And of course How, which doesn't even begin with Wh-.
Make the work seem like fun and games with these ideas from HomeSpeechHome.com
6 reading passages for Kdg/1st grade. Free from Teacher Tam on TpT.
General knowledge questions, categorized by question word. Would make a fun trivia game. From HomeSpeechHome.com.
Lots of freebies from various sources, including no-prep, printables, boom cards, digital/online resources and more.
Free printable pdf worksheets for asking/answering all kinds of questions, as well as video lessons.
Song video to remind you that we also need to include Which and Whose in the question words. From English4abc.
Fill in the blank with the correct WH question word. Link to story video that goes with it. Free.
Song introducing basic concept of questions words. From Songs for Speech Therapy and ELD (YouTube link).
Short stories about amazing facts, great for older kids to work on question/answer, summarizing, and other skills. From Readers Digest.
Contains all the info you need: developmental milestones, impact, downloadable flashcards, and more. From Edukania.com.
Video lesson of great strategy for helping kids understand where they are breaking down in this skill. Easily translated into a rubric. From JustWonderingMG.
Cute animated videos for different question types, from Speech Therapy Made Simple.
SEMANTICS/VOCABULARY
Word Lists:
Listed by grade level, these are the words most frequently encountered in reading English. Knowledge of meaning is a must for reading comprehension.
Judy Montgomery suggests teaching these 300 words as vocabulary to young children. (ASHA convention, 2008)
CLICK HERE for 1st 100 words flashcards
Edmark is an alternative reading curriculum used in Special Ed classrooms. These cards indicate in which program level and lesson the words are used.
CLICK HERE for SuperDuper Parent Handout
CLICK HERE for Tier 1 Word Lists and Activities
CLICK HERE for Tier 2 Word Lists, Gr. K-12.
Note: Tier 3 words are subject-specific and best taken from the text books.
Instructional Resources:
Suggestions for 5 different group games to work on Tier 3 vocabulary. From Edutopia, Jan 2023.
Free printable graphics and reference for developmental order, from Omazing Kids.
Research-based goals and instructional activities for vocabulary.
From EducatorsTechnology, this includes game sites, reverse dictionaries, resources for ELLs and students with dyslexia.
Animated video for high frequency sight words with irregular spelling, by PhonicsMan.
YouTube video channel with lots of fun topics, great vocabulary with context clues. Best for upper elementary.
Free to download these definitions with images, from Fabio DiSalva. New ones added frequently. These are Tier 3 science content words.
Use with any vocabulary. Spin the wheel to select a characteristic of a word - definition, antonym, synonym, part of speech, # of syllables, rhymes with __.
Vocab for older students to describe people/story characters. Each category has a downloadable pdf of the poster.
Tap on image to download. Author unknown.
See also my digital activities in TinyTap (free):
Not your ordinary opposites game. This one teaches strategies and the concept of word categories. Ages 3+
Strategies
Research-based tips and strategies for learning and remembering new words.
Using a continuum to help students understand relationship between related words (big vs. huge, etc.)
97 page PPT all about vocabulary, from Colorado Reading First. Targets Kdg-1st gr. vocabulary.
From educational guru, Robert Marzano, 2009. These steps have also been called the "word knowledge" approach.
Neuroscientists create an "atlas" of how words are organized in the brain. Not how you would think! (2016) See more research articles like this on the Articles Worth Reading page.
Includes forms, games, and other resources, from the New York Times, 2017.
Vocabulary - Test Prep:
SYNTAX/SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Most of these materials are based on the old FOKES sentence builder, which is a
great resource, sadly no longer available.
Originally published in 1976, similar to Colorful Semantics. Read my note about using color coding.
Sentence template and pictures for creating Who + is Doing sentences.
Includes sentence strips for:
Who + is Doing + What + Where,
Who + is Doing + Which + What, and
Which + Who + is Doing + What
Includes sentence strips for:
Who + is/are Doing + Where Where and
What + is Doing + Where Where
(These are for those compound prepositional phrases, such as "in the backyard at Michael's house."
Includes sentence strips for:
Who + is/are Doing + What and
Who + is/are Doing + Where.
From The Informed SLP. This chart is a suggested order to teach grammatical structures.
Expanding MLU
This site explains how to use Marion Blank's levels of questioning to increase language skills, especially MLU. Includes photos with questions for each level.
Free materials for an All About Me unit, using levels of questioning to expand responses.
