Picture scenes are a great way to target speech sounds and get spontaneous productions from students. I absolutely love using themed picture scenes for the current season and holiday to help immerse my student with relevant vocabulary. It also helps promote naturalistic practice and allows you to target language goals as well as articulation goals. Some language goals that you can target with picture scenes include describing, inferencing, vocabulary, and answering questions. Let’s go ahead and talk about the 5 reasons why I love using picture scenes in my articulation groups, specifically my set of year-long picture scenes for all sounds.
1. Save Time in Prep and Planning
One of the best things about my picture scenes is that they require absolutely no prep. Just print the black and white version – no need for cutting or laminating! They also reduce prep and planning time when deciding what to send for home practice. The simplicity of the picture scenes make them perfect for easy-to-use and efficient home practice. Check point #5 for more details on how my picture scenes are tailored for home practice!
2. Lots of Trials and Repetitions
Each picture scene has 12 images which include the target sound in all positions. You therefore have 12 opportunities for practice per picture scene! If you ask the child to repeat the word 3 times, you have 36 trials; repeat 5 times and you get 60 trials per scene! Each scenes has targets in initial, medial and final word position, except for R which is separated into R in prevocalic position (that you see above here!), blends, and vocalic R. Further, having a word list right on the page makes data tracking easy, while at the same time rewarding your student with the chance to check off the word as they work through their list! Get the Spring picture scenes R blends freebie to try it out yourself!
3. Support Articulation Carryover – Especially for Emerging Readers
My students love to talk about their scene and describe so many of the details. It is such a fun way for the kids to practice their sounds in connected speech. While they’re busy chatting away, make sure you support their ability to self-monitor their own speech to further help with carryover and generalization to conversation. This is especially helpful when working with emerging readers. The versatility of these picture scenes allows them to be used with both readers and emerging readers. This is why picture scenes are among my favorite activities for articulation groups.
4. Keep Your Kids Busy When Waiting for Their Turn
Picture scenes are ideal in group settings because they keep students occupied even when it’s not their turn. That’s my favorite part of picture scenes for sure! So while they’re waiting, your other students can stay busy by:
- Deciding which of the 12 words they want to practice when their turn comes and silently (in their heads) rehearse it.
- Underlining their speech sound within the each word, priming them for when their turn comes.
- Happily and QUIETLY coloring their own picture scene! I cannot emphasize this point enough. Unlike activities where student have to wait their turn and may sometimes become bored and disruptive while waiting, with picture scenes we are keeping them engaged with pictures that include their target and keeping them busy the whole time. The picture scene is large enough that even in a 45 minute session, they’ll still have plenty to color and even take home!
Get the Fall and Halloween picture scenes freebie that includes both /s/ and /l/ sounds to try it with your students!
5. It’s Perfect Homework Material
Once the session is over, you can simply send the picture scene home for home practice! All my picture scenes include instructions right on the top of the page so parents know exactly what to do at home with their child. They also include a check box for you to indicate the practice level – word, phrase, sentence, or connected speech! This way, at the end of the session, all you need to do is check the appropriate practice level for each student and they’re good to GO! The activity is simple for both the child and family to follow – Win-win!
There you have it! These are 5 reasons I love using picture scenes in my articulation therapy groups! You can use it with your articulation groups and even mixed groups to target some language goals as well. My favorite reason for using these picture scenes is that it keeps the entire group of students busy and silently engaged with their speech targets even when it’s not their turn. Share with me which one is your favorite at [email protected], I’d love to know!
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Hosnia
