Fresh Fluency Ideas for Spring/Summer

Things I love about the weeks after spring break and before school lets out:

1. Warm weather = outside therapy!
2. Teacher and staff appreciation week fun activities
3. The light at the end of the tunnel – home stretch, baby!

Things I hate about the weeks after spring break and before school lets out:

1. IEP and evaluation meeting marathons
2. Drowning in paperwork = feeling crazy overwhelmed
3. No time for therapy planning = sliding by on a wing and a prayer! ha.

If these sunny spring days didn’t put me in such a good mood, I think I’d be in danger of a nervous breakdown.  The weeks in the home stretch make me bonkers, with very little time for planning good therapy.  Are you in the same boat that I am?

Fluency is my jam (I think I need a shirt that says that!).  Maybe you evaluated a new fluency student or are running out of good ideas to use with your fluency kids at the end of the year.  Today, I’ll be giving you a few spring and summer-themed fluency ideas to put in your back pocket when days get crazy.

Spring-themed Pacing Boards for Slow Rate

Take out your tongue depressors or strips of paper and have your students make their own pacing boards with festive stickers.  Pacing boards are great for practicing slow rate.  Space out the stickers as wide as your student needs and have them slide their finger to each sticker while they say sentences or even answer questions.

Bubbles and Pinwheels for Full Breath

When I teach students to use the full breath strategy, I want them to breathe in from their diaphragm, relax their throat, and blow out gently.  We usually practice breathing and blowing gently before practicing speaking.  Bubbles and pinwheels are great for this!  Grab your bubble wands and have at it!

OR make your own fluency pinwheels with this cute freebie from my store!

Spring and Summer-themed Books for Pausing Strategy

If your kids are readers, have them practice placing pauses in appropriate places while reading.  Grab and easy-to-read book about spring or summer and have kids place pauses while they read.  I love using highlighter tape to have them place pause marks beforehand.  If they are non-readers, you can read the book to the child and have them signal when they hear you pause.

Hopscotch for Light Contact

To reinforce moving their articulators softly and lightly, I like to have my students move their other body parts softly and lightly.  Use hopscotch to emphasize the difference in hard, rough movements and light, soft movements.  They can hop across the numbers hard then hop across lightly.

Seasonal Fluency Binder Add-Ons!

If you use fluency binders with your students like I do, these seasonal practice pages are perfect for doing themed-therapy with your students.  Check out this Spring Binder!

This packet contains easy print-and-go practice pages for your convenience and lots of student engagement.  Grab this spring packet HERE or splurge for the whole Seasonal Bundle HERE to get all of the seasons (summer will be available soon!)

Hope some of these ideas were useful!  Let me know in the comments below how you tackle these crazy weeks before school is out.