Ready-to-Go Ideas and Freebies
Has the process of creating home activities become a time-consuming part of your week? Have you been struggling with the format or appropriateness of speech homework? Here are some quick and easy ideas and links for home activities that will get your students and parents talking!
Interactive Easel Activities:
TPT Easel Activities is a source for already-made home assignments. Authors from TPT have created interactive assignments that are available to you, some of which are free and others for purchase. These activities can be modified, annotated, and returned to you by students. The magic of the TPT Digital Activities lies in the ability to add text boxes and clearly annotate activities and the ability to work on language skills using moveable pieces during sessions in real-time. Students can also add their own text and modifications as responses for homework. TPT Digital Activities are convenient ways to keep students working across communication modalities with the support from you they may need.
Many of the TPT resources you have previously purchased may have Easel Activities or Assessments included with them, (Language Speech and Literacy has created Easel activities for all PDF resources) or may be eligible to open in Easel. You can find a full list of Easel-eligible purchases by filtering for Easel on the “My Purchases” page.
To assign an Easel Activity that you’ve purchased on TPT, go to the “My Purchases” page of your account, then click the “View 2 Files” button next to the resource and select “Preview & Assign” to begin assigning your activity
Here is a FREE REAL PHOTO ACTIVITY with WH question visuals and moveable pieces. See for yourself how easy and effective TPT Digital Activities can be. Simple directions are included in the activity. (Remember you can easily assign to your Google Classroom OR create and send a link to the student’s email.)
Boom Cards:
Boom cards have emerged as a practical tool to add visuals and cover those specific areas that sometimes got skipped or accidentally neglected during typical years. Children can make impressive progress on specific objectives that we are not always able to hone in on during the regular hectic school year. During sessions, on the spot, you can search for specific topics, or you can use one great set for many purposes as well.
If you are not already using Boom Cards in your therapy, give it a try! The initial learning curve is quick and there are so many great resources sure to save you time once you get going.
There are several options for Boom learning activities at home, one of which requires students to log in. Log-in burnout is real right now, so we suggest the fast option here that does not require a student login OR a teacher paid account.
With a free Boom account, you can simply copy the fast pin and paste it into an email to the student. The fast pin link you send home will be good for 5 days with a free account and 14 days with a paid account.
If you want proof of the student’s completion of the Boom card deck, have the student take a screenshot of the activity while they are completing it and email it back to you.
Here are links to a FREE favorite Boom Card deck that would make great home activities.
Never have we been able to use collective ideas of so easily so many SLPs and bring these techniques to our students’ and families’ homes. We do not need to spend our time recreating the wheel but instead can get these resources out to students who need them in as efficient and hassle-free a way as possible. These resources can keep students learning from home now and will be a great addition to our practices going forward.
