Having a WILD Time in Speech!

I go to the gym four times per week. I attempt to get in 10,000 steps per day. I’m big into movement. My kids go to a school that values movement as well. The PTA paid for weekly yoga instruction for many of the students a few years ago. This year, my daughter’s entire class is using exercise balls in lieu of traditional chairs. Movement.

Although my students have to move to come into the speech room (because they need to walk to the other end of the school to get to me!), sometimes the students need a little bit more movement to improve their concentration and focus. Here as some great ways to squeeze in a little movement during speech time:

Use equipment designed for movement breaks.

This idea will not work for everyone depending on the size of their speech room (aka closet), but if you can fit it in, the following are awesome movement activities that can be done before or during speech. They also work well as a reinforcer for the end of speech! Click on any of the images below (Amazon affiliate links) to see the product on Amazon.

My son used to sit on my exercise ball during dinner. It was certainly distracting for the rest of the family, but it provided a great way for him to get out his extra energy.

We’ve had a mini-trampoline at home for years and I’m considering bringing it into school soon. In the meantime, I sometimes take students across the hall to a classroom that does have one.

If your location allows it, a swing in the room is just about the greatest movement/reinforcer activity ever.

Use equipment NOT designed for movement breaks

The things in your room may already provide plenty of opportunities for breaks.

I’ve used my office chair both for pushing kids around and spinning them around with great success (and we had a lot of fun!).
Use your table to having kids march around or crawl under!

Stepping stools are great for doing step-ups! I do them in one of my exercise routines and they’d work well for students to use (carefully) as well.

Use your own body

I’ve being trying out a new workout called the “7 minute workout“. I’m using a free app that tells me what to do without needing to look at the screen. If you decide to “Go Pro” for $1.99, you can change the workout to include any exercises that you choose and make the times as short as you like. So… you could use it as a 90 second workout! What great way to get kids moving in the middle of speech!

Alternately, you could use “S’cool Moves” activities or Brain Break activities to prompt body movement.

Or pull out a few of these awesome yoga cards or Alphabet Movement Cards to use during group!

No matter what you do… be wild in speech!

To go with the wild theme, I have created a wild freebie and book companion!

Work on similes with this FREE activity!

And purchase my book companion to accompany the story, “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendack. The book is not included in this download. The activities in this unit are designed to foster language and articulation skills while also learning from a great book.

This unit is designed to accompany the story, “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendack. The book is not included in this download. The activities in this unit are designed to foster language and articulation skills while also learning from a great book.

“Where the Wild Things Are Speech Therapy Book Companion” is aligned with Common Core State Standards:
SL.2: Recount or describe ideas or details from verbally presented materials
SL.3: Ask and answer questions
SL.4: Describe familiar people, things, and places
SL.6: Express ideas clearly
L.1: Use correct grammar
L.5: Determine and clarify meanings of unknown and multiple-meaning words

“Where the Wild Things Are Speech Therapy Book Companion” allows the educator to use the same book with most students their caseload. Activities and worksheets are divided into the following levels:

Level 1: CCSS Kindergarten—1st grade
Vocabulary, Regular Past Tense, Describing, Story Comprehension

Level 2: CCSS 2nd—3rd grade
Vocabulary, Irregular past Tense, Describing, Story Comprehension

Articulation
Mixed /l, r, s, z, th/