Using Stock Photos in Speech

One of my favorite ways to scaffold for my students is to add a visual.  Many of my kids with language disorders are such visual learners that it’s often the only thing that helps.  We’ll talk more about visual scaffolding in a later blog post, but today I wanted to share a fantastic visual to use…stock photos!  P.S. Stay tuned for a FREEBIE at the end of this post!

How I find stock photos

When say stock photos, I’m simply talking about real pictures.  You can get these from many different places.  Here are a few of my favorite spots to grab photos to use in therapy:

• These story starter photo cards from Super Duper are definitely worth the buy!

      Super Duper has a few other decks that use real pictures as well.  Peek around their site and check them out!

• Websites like iStock and Big Stock and Shutterstock are great for searching for photos.  You do need to pay for the images you use on these sites.  However, you could always pull the photo up on your iPad or computer if you just wanted your students to look at the photo.
• FREE sites like Unsplash and Stocksnap have beautiful pics too.  Use their search bar and find the pictures you need.

How I use stock photos in therapy

You can use a real photo to address SO many different speech goals.  It’s GREAT for mixed groups!  From articulation and fluency to vocabulary and grammar, the possibilities really are endless if you get a little creative.  I love using them as warm-up activities for group sessions or for carry-over of skills.

Here are a few examples of how I use them:

• WH questions – Ask students questions about the photo or get them to ask you questions.
• Narrative – Tell a story about the photo or identify story elements.
• Grammar – Have student write or tell a grammatically correct sentence about the picture.
• Inferences – Ask students inferring questions about the picture.
• Articulation – Locate items in the photo with their speech sound or tell a story about it using their best speech.
• Fluency – Students practice different fluency strategies while describing the photo.
• Social Skills – Students identify how the person in the photo is feeling or how they would respond to the situation.
• MORE!

They are also PERFECT for themed therapy!  Just search for a photo that has to do with your theme for that day or week.  It’s a great go-to if you need something quick and relevant.

There are also several fun packets on TPT that use stock photos/real pictures.  No need to search or find your own photos with these!  Even older kids really do love using real photos, so save some time and take a peek at some of these products:

• My Leveled Inferences & Text Evidence Packs
• Photo of the Week by Super Power Speech
• Making Comments by The Speech Bubble SLP
• Making Social Inferences Flipbook by The Dabbling Speech
• Inferencing Pictures by Speech Time Fun
• Endangered Animals Nonfiction Activities by Crazy Speech World
• Expressive Language Picture Prompts by Teach Speech 365

FREEBIE ALERT!

I’ve created a free companion pack for using stock photos for you!  It includes a cheat sheet plus some generic photo cards that you can use to address lots of speech goals.  Check it out!

It comes with a cheat sheet for SLPs on ways you can use real pictures plus mini worksheet cards for several speech skills. 🙂

 

Go grab this cute freebie from my TPT store HERE!  What do you think?  Drop me a comment and let me know if you can use this!