If you feel like you’re in a Groundhog Day loop, there’s a good reason for it! Many of your students likely come to you with the same language goals, even if they need slightly different approaches. Language delays are found in children with a variety of needs and diagnoses, and it’s likely that you will need to address foundational skills for many students. Let’s dive into some of the most common language goals and identify engaging and effective ways to approach them!
What You Need to Know About Language Delays
Language delays are often associated with a variety of childhood disorders:
- autism spectrum disorder
- specific language impairment
- hearing loss
- ADHD
- traumatic brain injuries
- intellectual and developmental disabilities
- & more
Each of these diagnoses can impact a child’s ability to understand and use language. Children with language delays may have difficulty with vocabulary development, syntax, comprehension, and expression. By targeting specific skills, you can make a meaningful impact on their communication and overall development.
As you help your students learn to communicate effectively with others, you are helping build their confidence, improve social skills, and succeed academically (and in life!).
Most Common Language Goals
Working with children with language delays, you know there are a few language goals that frequently come up. This is because each of these skills is vital for children to understand and be a part of the world around them.
Here are 5 of the most common skills targeted in language therapy:
- Answering wh- questions (i.e. who, what, when, where, why)
- Expanding utterances (i.e. saying longer phrases)
- Using pronouns
- Using plural -s (e.g. cats, girls, trees)
- Using verb tenses (e.g. rode, jumped, talks, will run)
When children have a hard time putting multiple words together, answering questions, and using words correctly, it can be very challenging to communicate with others. When children experience ongoing difficulties, they may become frustrated and choose to withdraw from others or act out. Academic skills are likely to suffer when language difficulties are present as well.
Use these tried-and-true resources to support the most common language goals in your speech room:
Wh- Questions
Answering “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “why” questions is a vital part of effective communication. Working on these skills helps children in the classroom and when having conversations with others.
Use these print-and-go mini-readers to help students learn all about different wh- questions:
These resources include a fun cutting and pasting activity to keep students engaged and reinforce learning. Send the books home after your therapy session as homework practice with caregivers!
Utterance Length
Expanding utterances is another goal that many children with language delays need support with. This goal helps students learn how to put more words together, including what types of words go together and how to add descriptive language.
Work on this goal with students through play-based activities through modeling or with more structured activities like rolling a dice and encouraging students to add a certain number or type of words to an existing phrase or sentence.
Example
SLP: “You have a ball. Tell me more about the ball by describing its color and size.”
Student: “I have a large orange ball.”
Pronouns
Learning how to use pronouns can be challenging for some children, especially those who are Gestalt Language Learners. Teaching correct pronoun use is important for conversational skills and social interactions though, so taking extra time to focus on this skill is vital for early communicators.
Use this Personal Pronoun mini-book bundle to make learning fun and meaningful. It includes 7 different themes:
- Fall
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- Pets
- Sports
- Professions/community helpers
Each book has 7 pages with a WHO question at the top of each page. This interactive activity allows students to cut and paste pictures to match the pronoun question and answer— making it easier for students to apply their learning and generalize new skills.
It’s also easy to differentiate this activity! As is, the books each focus on one pronoun, but you can easily mix and match to accommodate higher-level students.
Plural S
There are also so many engaging ways to teach children about the plural -s.
Kids will love using your mini objects or common toys from your speech room to practice this skill in a hands-on, play-based way. Gather multiples of items (e.g. mini erasers, toy cars, figurine people). Encourage children to identify and label the items out loud. Begin with a singular item then practice with multiples.
Example:
- “One car”… “Two cars”
- “One girl”… “Two girls”
Verb Tenses
Finally, teach students to understand and use different verb tenses correctly. This Verb Readers resource set is an engaging cut-and-paste activity that targets regular past and irregular past in present, past, and future verb tenses.
Use this NO-PREP, repetitive resource for children who are practicing important grammar skills and parts of speech. Choose from a boy or girl character to make this activity more personalized for students!
Considerations When Addressing the Most Common Language Goals
As you work on these common goals, remember that every child is different!
They come from different backgrounds, have unique interests, and have different skill sets. They learn in different ways too. It’s important to keep all of this in mind as you tailor your speech sessions to best support your students.
Differentiation
Consider different intervention approaches to best engage each student. For mixed group therapy sessions, try rotations to allow for more individualized learning and keep students engaged.
These are all great options to utilize during group therapy sessions:
- Drill practice
- Play-based learning
- Conversation practice
- Worksheets
- Reading books
You can also differentiate sessions by learning styles. Some children learn better when they’re participating through hands-on activities while others do well with auditory and verbal practice.
Coaching Caregivers & Teachers
Involving caregivers and teachers is crucial to reinforcing language skills outside of your therapy sessions too.
Coach these adults on how to incorporate language goals and practice into daily routines at home and in the classroom. Encourage them to model appropriate language, ask simple wh- questions, and give their child frequent feedback— but keep it positive!
By intentionally sharing strategies and resources with teachers and caregivers and keeping them in the loop, you’re equipping them with the tools they need to support children’s language development all day long.
Working on the most common language goals with your students sets them up for success in communication, learning, and social interactions both in school and later in life. With the expertise and dedication you have, your students will succeed!
You may also be interested in reading:
Creating Systems: 3 Ways to Make Life Easier as an SLP
Encouragement for SLPs: Changing the World Through Caregiver Education
5 Practical Tips for Managing Speech Therapy Groups with Confidence & Success
