There’s clearly a push to use curriculum-based materials in our therapy sessions. It can be challenging to get students excited about using textbooks and activities from the classroom. However, I’m sharing six of my favorite tools to keep students motivated, focused, and engaged in their learning.
Before we jump into tools, the first (most important) step is to make sure that students know their goals and WHY they are in speech. Therapy becomes a lot easier when students understand their goals and the relevance of those goals. We talk a lot about being “professionals in training” and work on connecting their speech/language goals to their personal goals. It can be as simple as being understood by their friends or creating YouTube videos. Some are motivated by longer-term plans (e.g., becoming an engineer). Want more ideas? Check out this post.
The tools listed below are really simple, but they seem to magically shoot engagement through the roof. It’s amazing what switching out a few tools can do!
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive some compensation from Amazon.
Dry Erase Markers
Kids always feel like they’re breaking the rule with these! We write on the tables (or on the whiteboard) when targeting different skills.
Sheet Protectors/Sleeves
An easy way to make a reading passage or worksheet more exciting is to slip the page into a sheet protector or a sleeve. It always saves prep time because you don’t need to make as many copies! If I want to keep a copy of the activity, then I just snap a picture with my iPad.
Digital Counters
Desiree from SLP Talk shared about these gems during one of her live videos. A great way to involve students in taking data!
Erasable Highlighters
These get kids realllllly excited about citing evidence. (I’m not going to lie. I get excited about them, too.)
Pointers
Another quick and easy tool to use when citing evidence, identifying targets, and more. They’re also great to identify important steps when reading directions.
Notability
This is my go-to therapy app. It’s easy to open a PDF or snap a picture of a worksheet or a reading passage. Students can highlight, annotate, add emojis, record their voice, and more. It is a paid app, but it’s worth it in my opinion. If you want to get super fancy, kids get excited about being able to use a stylus, too!
Reader Interactions