Summer Snapshots for Speech Therapy [guest post]

Today, I’m bringing you a guest post from Kristin, who blogs at Talkin’ With Twang!

Hey there, everyone!  I’m Kristin from Talkin’ with Twang, and I’m thrilled to be guest blogging here at Teach Speech 365 today.  I’ll be sharing a way you can use your summer adventures to get some great therapy materials with summer snapshots.

I am very lucky that I have the opportunity to travel a lot.  I grew up in San Diego, CA and moved to Texas 12 years ago.  Over the years, I have traveled to Costa Rica, Bali, several different states, as well as all over Texas.  We also went on our first cruise to the Caribbean last fall.

However, I live and work in a very rural area in Texas, and I have
many students who don’t get out of their small towns very much…if
ever.  Many of my students have only heard of things like taxis,
skyscrapers, and cruise ships.  They have seen them on TV, and read
about them in books, but first hand knowledge is limited.  I like to be able to share my experiences with my students and help them to “see the world” in way.

The way I do this is through photos.  I enjoy taking pictures when I travel.  In fact, I often take way too many pictures.  But these pictures can be therapy gold if you do a little planning.  Pictures are a great way to work on carryover of articulation and language skills.  They also provide students with new and unique images to use when practicing their skills.  They can help students see parts of their state, country, or world they may never have seen before.

The benefit of taking your own pictures, is that you can control what is in each frame based on the needs of your students.  Here are some tips for taking useful pictures to use in your therapy sessions:

1. Look for places/objects that are unique.  These can be great for describing/defining, inferring (what is the object used for or who might use it?), even writing.

2. Take action shots of your friends/family.  These can be great for working on making predictions, inferences, or discussing cause and effect.  What will happen next?  Why is the person doing what they are doing?

3. Take pictures of very busy scenes.  Beach scenes, carnival scenes, downtown shots, etc. are loaded with things to talk about.  Any kind of picture with a lot of people and things going on are great for writing, producing sentences, and articulation carryover.

4. Look for animals/foods that your students will enjoy talking about.  Maybe you traveled to a location that has animals your area doesn’t, or you encountered foods that are not common in your town.

Photos are a great way to share your experiences with your students.  They provide opportunities to use and practice a variety of language skills, and can be a fun way to practice articulation carryover.

I hope you have fun snapping pictures this summer!

Thank you to Teach Speech 365 for allowing me to share!  Be sure to find me on social media where I’ll be sharing some of my summer snapshots.