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Articulation Centers

I have to share with you something that I have found to be amazing this year. It is called Articulation Centers. I was hesitant at first to implement this new idea, as all new things are scary. But, if you’re anything like me, traditional articulation therapy can be a little monotonous for myself AND even the students at times. You know, the type where 3-4 students come in, we pick a game, each person says their sound at the word/phrase/sentence level then they take a turn at a game, THEN they have to wait for three other people to say their sound and take a turn. I was over it and it was the second week of school. 🙂

At my new placement, 70% of my caseload is working on articulation. That is A LOT. I needed a creative way to spice up articulation sessions and this is just the ticket. My gal pal, Shannon from Speechy Musings, is full of great ideas and I just happen to come across her Articulation Centers resource on Teachers Pay Teachers. I modified it a bit to fit my style and what works in my speech room but here is the gist…

Set Up:

Get a visual timer. Set it for 5-7 minutes at the beginning of each rotation.

Set clear expectations.

Explain each session in detail the first session.

Center 1 – Race to 100

This center is where the student will work with the SLP one-on-one and try to say their sound 100 times. My students LOVE getting to 100 and surprisingly, within 5 minutes, most of them do!

Center 2 – iPad

Articulation Station- This app is AMAZING and the kids really enjoy getting some iPad time in! I like this app because the students can grade themselves and it saves all the data from each session. It is really cool to see how they think they sound vs. how I think they sound. Don’t forget to set clear iPad expectations at this center.

Center 3- Sort the Cards

Students are responsible for knowing what sounds their working on in speech. This increases independence and self-monitoring outside the speech room. Students choose which seat to sit in and sort the articulation pictures.

Center 4- Exit Cards

I use tongue twisters or Nicole Allison’s Tier 2 Vocabulary cards at this station. The students read the sentence and that is their exit ticket out the door.

*Tips*

-I have all decks of all the phonemes at my desk and at center 3 so that I can quickly grab and go.

-My sessions are 20 minutes long. I set a timer for 5 minutes for centers 1,2, and 3 and Center 4 takes about 2-3 minutes before they’re out the door.

-If I have a group of 4, I group two students together that are working on the same sounds. That way, they can use the iPad together.

I totally can’t take credit for articulation centers. I originally got the idea from Speech Musings on Teachers Pay Teachers. She has written a post on how she sets up her sessions, too. Check it out here!

One Comment

  • Love this post! I've been using "centers" for a few years; in fact, a coworker & I did a poster presentation at ASHA a few years ago on this subject. I really like it, and the kids like it because it's something different. 🙂

    Reply

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hello there!

Hello! I am an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist working in the school setting. I love sharing therapy ideas and creating resources that SLPs can use in their sessions!

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