Do
you know an SLP who doesn’t want quick and easy tips to save time for years to
come? Of course not! So be sure to save this post to your tips board!
TIP
1: Remember that the holiday vocabulary is not the focus of the session.
While
it isn’t worth our precious time to teach holiday words that only get used
yearly, nothing says that we can’t incorporate holiday themes into our therapy
sessions in a fun way! This lets students continue to make progress on their
specific IEP goals in a festive way.
TIP
2: Cut out basic holiday shapes and laminate.
All
you need is some holiday-themed construction paper to cut into basic shapes. If
you know someone with a die-cut machine, it is even easier!
TIP
3: Individualize the shapes.
In
the picture above, you can see the colorful pilgrim shapes that I used for
years. They are individualized with the
addition of pictures for the students’ goals added on with double-sided sticky
tape. If you don’t have double-sided, a
rolled-up piece of sticky tape will do!
You
can also use a dry erase marker to quickly write on the words your students
need to practice, or let them say the words 5 times correctly and then write it
for you!
TIP
4: Quick changes are fast and easy!
If
you
don’t
feel like making enough shapes for
all of your groups, just keep a full-page laminated sheet nearby. It is fast
and easy to swap out a set of articulation pictures for a set of action
pictures, for example!
TIP
5:
There are so many ways to use these!
👀 Make
mixed groups easy
by turning the picture side down
and giving each student a set. Combine varied sets of holiday theme shapes to elicit descriptive words:
• the
color item.
• small
or large.
• old
versus new, clean versus dirty.
• the
functions of the various shapes.
👀 Place
the shapes in a square array to have students request using positional words:
• the
color item on the bottom/middle/top.
• the
color item on the left/center/right.
• the
color item that is above/below the color item.
👀 Write
question words on one side and a picture on the other. Students are only
allowed to keep the card if they correctly ask and answer a question using both
words.
👀Add
in picture cards from any sets you own to target specific goals before choosing
a card. These Thanksgiving photo cards allow for a variety of goals to be
addressed.
Then
you can add little surprises like these to the backs of the cards that older
students appreciate, like:
• No
homework
today!
• You
earned an extra point!
• Bonus
minute
for
free
time!
The
sky is the limit with how these can be used! Just remember to erase or take off
the tape before storing them for next year!