Back To School Lesson Plans for Speech Therapy
Back To School Lesson Plans for Speech Therapy
I don’t know about you but I CANNOT believe another summer has flown by! I hope everyone sincerely enjoyed their summer breaks coming off of the most trying school year of all time. As we get ready to enter into another school year bound to be filled with uncertainty and anxiousness, I hope to ease the transition back with a round-up of all my favorite Back-To-School (BTS) products, games, and activities! Keep reading for some of my favorite BTS therapy ideas!
Start with a THEME
My favorite part of being in the SLP community is learning from all of YOU! I had a couple of really amazing suggestions for BTS themes in my Facebook Group The SLP Collab: Themed Therapy for the SLP! (click on the link here to join in on the conversation about themed therapy!!). Check out the themed suggestions below!
Classic BTS Theme: This is a great opportunity to review speech room rituals, routines and behavior expectations. Have new students? Get to know the lay of the land and the route(s) to take to get to your speech office. Read books, target school related vocabulary/people/places, and don’t forget to review their speech/language goals!
About Me Theme: Have lots of new faces this school year? This theme is perfect for getting to know your students and for your students to get to know you! Play ice breakers, get-to-know me games, and/or complete all-about-me worksheets and activities.
Kindness Theme: What a beautiful way to start the school year with learning about kindness, acceptance, inclusion, and diversity! Start the school year off with important life lessons that will show your students that your speech office is a safe space.
Crafts
Self-Portraits: Have your students draw self-portraits! If you have a caseload of new students, these silly drawings will help you remember your students in their own unique way! Pro tip: If you are in a school setting, hang these self portraits up around the room and at Open House try to see if their loved one can recognize them! (Grab the About Me Freebie pictured above HERE!)
Make Bookmarks: Cut out thick strips of cardstock and let your students design their own bookmark. Earn some points and surprise them as their next therapy session with it laminated!
First Day Photo Booth: Have your students create props (think mustaches, glasses, bows, etc!) and attach them to popsicle sticks for easy holding! Snap some photos and have fun! These will be awesome memories to hold onto for the end of the school year recap!
Games & Activities
Sensory Play: I usually use the first week of school to have my students explore the different types of sensory play materials (my Play Doh, my kinetic sand, fidgets, etc) and introduce them to what a sensory bin looks like. Throw in your favorite sensory material (e.g., rice, sand, beads, beans, etc) to a plastic bin. Stick some little characters, a tiny bus, and/or BTS themed sensory bin cards (like from my Ultimate BTS Thematic Unit) into the sensory bin and have fun!
Ice Breakers: These don’t have to be cringe-worthy!! Use ice breaker games to build rapport and informally assess how your students ask/answer questions and engage in reciprocal conversation!
I Spy: Play I Spy with items around your speech room as a fun and easy way to gain insight on your student’s vocabulary and speech goals!
Classic Toy Bus: For your younger students, grab a toy bus and some small characters (doesn’t have to be humans!) and pretend the characters are waiting for the bus. Let the characters make friends on the bus. Practice conversations students might have on the bus. This can be a really great time to teach social skills on meeting new people and friends, as our students often have different classmates each year!
Books
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes
I love reading this book at the beginning of the school year because many of our students experience some form of anxiety when entering a new school or new grade with a new teacher for the first time. This book is about the importance of not always getting it right and that making a mistake isn’t so bad! Check out my book companion for The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes here!
A great book to learn about children from other countries, how they live, what they do, etc. Pair this with any “get to know you” activity to discuss our differences and similarities!
Freebies!
TPT:
Boom:
Here are some of my favorite products for Back To School available in my shop:
Ultimate Thematic Back To School Unit
Digital Speech Schedule and Behaviors Visual
Quick Prep Season Book Companions
Back to School Bundle for the Busy SLP
Grab more ideas in my Free Lesson Plans here!
Check out some of my Amazon favorites for BTS, too!
Enjoy these ideas from my therapy to yours!
