Six Resources for Easy Speech Session Planning

There are many things I love about my job as a school SLP. Planning is not one. In a way, IEP goals make it easier-you know which skills you have to target each session, but you also need some sort of activity planned. Like many school SLPs, I may have the same students several years in a row. This means that using the same plans and same activities every year gets pretty boring for my students (and for me, if I’m being completely honest). Who wants to make the same back-to-school backpack (no matter how awesome and relevant), for example, if you made that exact craft last year? Unfortunately, I am not really a creative genius, and I have difficulty dreaming up fun, new, amazing activities. Therefore, I am always on the lookout for new therapy ideas. 

I’m guessing that some of you might be in the same boat, so to speak. Not to worry-I have some resources for all of us (and most are FREE)! I have even included some links (some which may be affiliates) for your convenience.

#1 Pinterest

If, in the unlikely event, you do not know about Pinterest, it is AMAZING. Find it here and sign up for an account. Then you can save any ideas you find to boards that you name. For example, I have boards called Speech-Articulation, Speech-Spring, etc. To find great ideas for speech therapy, follow other speech therapists and teachers. To locate others, I search “speech” or “speech therapy.” Another way to search is to look up the theme or area you are targeting. If you are looking for something with a back-to-school theme, you could type “back to school speech” and pull up a good selection of cool stuff for your speech-language plans. 

#2 SLP Blogs

You know the saying, “Two heads are better than one?” Following SLP blogs is like having hundreds of heads focused on the same goal: Being a GREAT SLP! Ideas, experiences, and often FREE resources can be found on these blogs. Two places I have found great SLP blogs are Bloglovin’ and this resource, The Best of SLP Bloggers, from Activity Tailor and SpeechSprouts.

#3 Teachers Pay Teachers

I love, love, love Teachers Pay Teachers. Do not let the name turn you off-there are many SLPs found on this site who have THE BEST resources. You can type in what you are searching for (r sound homework) and BOOM-over 1000 results. You can narrow by price (like FREE) or specialty (Speech Therapy) to help find the perfect one.

#4 Classroom Curriculum

My second graders read a story every year in their regular classroom about dogs. Guess what I use to plan for my second graders that week? That’s right-a dog theme! Sometimes I even branch out to include all pets with my other elementary kids too. In addition to facilitating planning, we can target carryover by using the classroom curriculum! How awesome!

#5 Children's Literature

Using children's books in therapy is not only fun, but smart. You can plan your sessions around a specific book, a series, or an author. This makes it easy to search for related activities and/or themes. Often, you can address multiple skills using one book. One of my favorites for winter is Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Caldecott Medal Book) by Simms Tabeck. In this book alone, I have targeted vocabulary, sequencing, questions, concepts, articulation, and fluency. In fact, I have a free story companion in my TPT shop that will help with session planning for this cute story. Find it here.

#6 Social Media

I have seen some fantastic therapy ideas on social media, particularly Instagram. Search and follow other SLPs by using hashtags such as #slpeeps, #schoolslp, #ashaigers, #speechtherapy, and #slpsfollowslps. Many SLPs are also active on Twitter and Snapchat, and have Facebook pages. You can find Facebook groups specific to your area of interest as well. 

I hope this helps make planning easier (and less boring) for you! If you have any other ideas, please comment below!