Last summer, the light box was the hit of the classroom. This has been the summer of the letter board. All the craft stores have. Heck, even Walmart and Target are getting in on the fun! I found my letter board at Walmart earlier in the summer. I work out of my house so mine often has witty comments (from the kids) or inspirational quotes. But then I brainstormed a few ideas to use the letter board in speech therapy!
Letter Board Articulation
If you are working with a group, have each child come up with a word with their target sound. Either allow the child to spell their word or you can do it on the letter board. This would be a great session starter to get the kids thinking about their sounds or end the session with this fun activity.
But if you are seeing clients individually, you can work with the letter board for a large part of the session. Help the child brainstorm words and spell them out on the board. These can be the words you drill during your game activity! Then you can take a picture of the board, send it to mom with a simple text to practice and BOOM-homework set!
Letter Board in Speech Therapy Groups
I think this idea is my favorite! When I was a school based SLP, I liked to have little “quick starters” for the kids to do while I took attendance, grabbed the group folders , etc. This idea was inspired by that. Put 1-2 language tasks on your letter board and place it in a place all of your students can see. Kids can either complete the tasks on paper or verbal-that’s up to you. I would suggest that the tasks go with your theme for the week, but it does not have to. In the picture below, the tasks go with my zoo/jungle animal theme.
Antonyms/Synonyms on the Letter Board
List a few opposites or synonyms on one side of the board. Have the kids (taking turns) answer with the opposite or synonym. Have fun with it! Discuss the concepts you are discussing. Give each child a sheet of white paper to draw pictures of one set of synonyms or antonyms. The visual will help tap into a different learning technique.
Sure you could use a dry erase board and markers, but where’s the fun in that?! These letter boards are so much fun! If you find some cheap enough, you could buy 4 or 5 to use with each child in your group! Each child could have a different task to tackle!
Need another fun idea for therapy? How about adapting puzzles for artic?
