Many of my students struggle in the classroom or regular conversation. It’s just too fast paced. My room can be a welcome respite. A place where I’ll wait (and wait and wait some more) while you reason it out, search for the word or organize your articulators into position.
Except for when I don’t.
If my students are to have any hope of competing “out there” I need to occasionally bring some pressure into the treatment room. I find this to be especially true of my speech students. Slow, odd prosody with perfect articulation (a weird, but not uncommon therapy side effect) is easier to negate if I force a faster rate. My fluency students will often become much more fluent with me despite reports of continued struggles with classmates which leave me searing for ways to manufacture breakdowns (Mean, I know.) The easiest and most fun way is with a game.
I’m listing a few of my favorite “pressure games” here, but I’d love to hear your favorites so please be sure to leave a comment! (I’ve provided Amazon affiliate links if you’re interested in more info.)
- Spot It
! This is so cool to me. Each card has a variety of objects and every two cards will have just one of those objects in common. Players race to see who can spot the pair first. This is a great game especially for addressing word retrieval and fluency. I also like that there isn’t a huge language component which makes the kids feel like they’re playing on my level. (Note: Spotting the match isn’t always easy and sometimes I’ll have a student that can beat me handily!)
! This is so cool to me. Each card has a variety of objects and every two cards will have just one of those objects in common. Players race to see who can spot the pair first. This is a great game especially for addressing word retrieval and fluency. I also like that there isn’t a huge language component which makes the kids feel like they’re playing on my level. (Note: Spotting the match isn’t always easy and sometimes I’ll have a student that can beat me handily!)
- Zingo! There are a few version of this now, but I’m partial to the original. Each player has a Bingo board and on each turn one person slides the “machine” to reveal two pictures. Yell out the on(s) you need first to cover you squares. The slider is so cool to kids.
! There are a few version of this now, but I’m partial to the original. Each player has a Bingo board and on each turn one person slides the “machine” to reveal two pictures. Yell out the on(s) you need first to cover you squares. The slider is so cool to kids.
- Scattergories The Card Game: Flip over a category and initial letter card on each turn and race to be the first to come up with a word that satisfies both.
: Flip over a category and initial letter card on each turn and race to be the first to come up with a word that satisfies both.
- Don’t Wake Daddy: This game doesn’t technically fit, except that Daddy does sort of panic everyone who plays (in a fun way). On most turns, you’ll find yourself pushing the alarm clock until POP, Daddy explodes up from the bed. The excitement/nervousness this brings out gives you a “pressure situation.”
: This game doesn’t technically fit, except that Daddy does sort of panic everyone who plays (in a fun way). On most turns, you’ll find yourself pushing the alarm clock until POP, Daddy explodes up from the bed. The excitement/nervousness this brings out gives you a “pressure situation.”TPT has extended the “Teachers are Heroes Sale” another day! All products in my store (even hard good games and books) are 20% and by using code: HEROES you can get an additional 10% off your entire purchase (for 28% total)! Click here to start shopping!
This Post Has 6 Comments
I love Love LOVE Spot It! It is a therapy favorite and they will work their hearts out to get to play it for just a few minutes. We have both the original “spot it” and “spot it party” which has different pictures and things you can do. I haven’t seen the other games yet, but will have to go check them out.
What fun! I haven’t heard of the party version (I’m checking it out now). I know there are some with written words and pics and even a Spanish edition. I’ve loved this game since mine were little 🙂
I’ve never heard of “Spot It”, but it sounds perfect for my fluency kids! Thanks for the suggestions.
I think it’s GREAT for fluency students! Let me know how it goes or post a pic and tag me 🙂
I just bought a game after Christmas at Wal-Mart called Shark Mania. Many of my students commented that they had seen it on commercials (so it MUST be awesome, right?). Like Don’t Wake Daddy, it is just a regular game that incites a little bit of panic because the shark tail knocks down the boardwalk as you’re trying to get to safety before the shark pops up. I don’t use the tokens when we’re doing speech drills. It’s too much to manage at one time. It is great for young kids who are at the single word level, but, like your post says, you don’t want them to take all day carefully and slowly articulating each sound. Thanks for the fun ideas, as always, Kim!
Brynn,
I can’t wait to take a look at this! Thanks so much for taking the time to share and read 🙂 Kim
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