Idea 1: The child is working on detection. Read a simple book to the child and have them clap their hands every time they hear the letter A sound at the beginning of a word.

Idea 2: Use minimal pairs and choose a sound to work on. If you are working on the /p/ sound for example, have 2 words such as Pat and Bat. Use colored flash cards and show them a different colored card for each word, such as Blue for Bat and Pink for Pat. Ask them which color card was shown when they heard the word "Pat". Repeat as many times as needed for the child to understand the concept and keep using the same-colored flash cards and find more minimal pairs.

A variation of this would be to have them read you the recipe and explain in detail what you should be doing as you prepare the food.

Age: 5-6 years

Idea 1: My first idea to work on identification skills would be to introduce the animals from the story ‘The Mitten’ by Jan Brett (e.g. rabbit, badger, mouse, bear, fox, owl, hedgehog and mole).  First read the story, point out the animals in the pictures, get familiar with their names, what they look like and act out the storyline with animal figurines. To practice identification, I would then read the story again but not show the pictures of the book, and have the child find and hold up the figurine/animal as it appears in the story/when the child hears the animal’s name.

Idea 2:  To further practice the target vocabulary, we could also create a Bingo game with the animals of the story. Instead of showing the animal picture card drawn from a pile, I would present the animal name auditorily only to check if the child can identify the words and match them with the animal pictures on their Bingo board,

We would have them "sequence" the timeline of the book. They could do this chapter by chapter or based on what they read in class that day. We could either present pictures (scenes of the book) to them or have them draw their own. Another aspect we could add is to "sabotage" the story and create a fake scene to make sure that their comprehension is up to scratch. The general idea is that we are checking their comprehension of the story as well as their processing skills. We could further our assessment by asking them how they would feel if they were in the same situation as the characters in the book or asking them if they can make any comparisons to the character's reactions.

In order to keep the student engaged I would try and incorporate images of things they are more interested in along with vocabulary they need to address. I would like to print out a images sheet with 5-10 images and practice identification of a sound and the visual that should be associated with it. For example the sounds of, baby crying, fire engine siren, car horn, bees buzzing, dog barking, someone chewing loudly ect would correlate to an image of a baby, firetruck, car/horn, bee, dog barking, someone eating/ close up of the mouth. With this practice I can not only assess the Childs understanding of the sounds and what they are associating them with but also see at what frequency he or she can hear them best in a side assessment of detection. Obviously with a student in a higher grade the images and sounds would be more elevated and fine tuned to their day to day classroom needs but this would be the basic idea for younger ages just beginning their early formative academic years.

Target auditory skills: Auditory comprehension through receptive/expressive language

Subject: Zoo animals in this specific example, but could be adapted to fit any vocabulary target

Activity: I'd first introduce our target vocabulary words by pointing them out on a visual representation (flashcards, figurines, etc) and modeling the name for the child, then having them repeat the word. Once the child is familiar with all of the vocabulary words, I’d begin to expand by asking them questions about the vocabulary words ("This is a lion. What color is this lion? Are lions big or small?")

Once the child seems comfortable with all of the vocabulary items, I’d continue to expand into assessing receptive language skills by asking the child to select animals first based just off of their vocabulary name (“Can you find the zebra?”) and gradually increasing complexity as appropriate ("Can you find the big gray animal that has a long trunk?”)

Once the child has a comfortable grasp on all of the vocabulary words, I would encourage expressive language through open ended questions (“Here’s an elephant, and here’s a zebra. What’s different about these two animals? What’s the same?” or “Which one of these is your favorite animal? Tell me something that you like about it”)

This activity could be easily modified to fit various subjects/vocabulary targets and can be adapted to be more or less challenging to fit the individual needs of the child. 

Age Group: Pre-K through First Grade

Focus: Pre-Literacy Skills

Rhyming and Dab Worksheet

For this activity, I will provide each student with a Rhyme and Dab worksheet and a dot marker. The students will work in small groups to assist one another.

First, they will identify the picture on the worksheet. Next, they will collaborate to dab the words that rhyme with the picture shown.

For example, if there is a picture of a cat, the worksheet will list eight words: "Mat, Bat, Ten, Fat, Ham, Get, Rip, That." The students will then dab the words that rhyme with "cat."

To work on identification skills for spatial recognition words such as "under, on top, behind, between", we could do a scavenger hunt with items that the child is interested in such as constructions vehicles. I would hide items of their interest around a room and say something like, "I hid some really special toys that I need your help to find." "I think something is hiding under the blue chair" and give them time to find that area of the room. I would also incorporate sound effects such as the sounds of the vehicles and exaggerated body movements to keep the child engaged. When they find the intended area in the room, they would find one of their special toys and we could do an activity of their choice once all of the items are found.

Age: 1st grade.

For this exercise I would tell the student a story about anything that I can come up with. To keep it more engaging it should be something that the child is interested in the story. I will ask the child to keep track of how many times that I say a name of a character in my story or we can also mix this up to include names of places and other key elements in a story. I think this would help the child pay attention to the story and stay engaged while also trying to differentiate the different parts and elements of a story and in turn help with their comprehension of sentences and their structure.

Focus: Science vocabulary development. (Tami Lynn)

Insects: Structures and Functions

Step 1: Interactive Diagramming of 3 insects' body parts (label together & discuss functions of each structure)

Step 2: Lottery Q&A

Students draw random question cards to answer.

Ex. Which body part does a butterfly use to smell?

Step 3: Bug in a Bag guessing game

Students ask questions to figure out what plastic insect is in the paper bags.

Ex. Does this insect have wings?

Step 4: Directed drawings

Teacher dictates directions for students to draw insects.

Step 5: Match structure and function

Students pair up to match structure and function cards and pin to an insect.

Subject: Weekly vocab words

Activity: For this activity I would focus on working on identification with children. I would start by reading them a story that would focus on weekly vocabulary words they're learning in class. When reading the story, the child would have a list of their vocab words next to them. I would have the child make a tally on the list of vocab words next to the word they heard. At the end we would count the tallies and practice spelling, letter detection, and annunciation.

Subject: Types of weather

Auditory skill: Identification

For this activity, after the child has learned about weather in his pre-K class, I would have a printed poster with labeled pictures of all kinds of weather on it. Sunny, rainy, windy, snowy, etc. I would say the word for each type of weather, and have the child put an M&M on the picture of each word he hears. When he is done, he can keep the M&M's.

Subject: ELA: high frequency verbs

Auditory Skill: Identification

Activity: Have a stack of verb cards with pictures. Say the verb and have the child repeat the verb or beginning sound depending on the child’s abilities, then act out the verb. Show the picture, say the word again with a possible sound cue and act out with the child. Repeat some verbs in random order, especially ones that they struggled with, to practice identifying the meaning of the words / sounds they hear. Maybe also identify other verbs with the particular sounds that they are struggling with to work on.

Subject: Language Arts

Age: This activity could be adjusted for anywhere from kindergarten through high school with various words/difficulties of words

Activity: The child will identify various parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.). With older grades you could add in more advanced parts of speech like participles and Prepositional phrases. The child will make a mark or some kind of motion every time the part of speech is read from a passage or sentence. (could be a sticker, a tally, a dot marker, a star, a snap, clap, put your hand on your head or nose, pat your lap, etc.).

-Vanessa Carrillo

Identification

Subject- Animal categories 

Activity- The child is preferably learning about animals in the classroom during this time. I would print out about 10-15 pictures of different animals. Examples may include a cat, dog, fish, mouse, horse, whale, etc. Then they would be hung up around our speech room in different places. As I say the animal out loud, the child must first repeat the animal I said and then find the animal in the room. If the child identifies the correct animal, they get to keep the picture and place them on a table. The goal would be for the child to correctly identify 80% of the animals. At the end of the activity, the child will name all animals that they named previously to ensure identification and then we will go over any animals that were not correctly identified. You can also increase or decrease the difficulty of this activity if needed. 

Subject: Animals

Age: Preschool - 4 years old

Activity: Matching Game

You would have several different, but simple animals printed out. You would need at least 2 of the same animal. Then spread them out across the table and the child would have to pick out the animals that are the same. Then you could give the child two options and ask if they are the same animal or if they are different.

Age: 6th grade

Subject: Space

Activity: For older kids they often feel that some activities are for “little” kids so a great way to keep them interested is by using podcasts rather than a read aloud book. Some kids find this interesting because it's new to them. There are some really awesome educational but fun podcasts for kids that are helpful when you are trying to incorporate subjects they are learning in the classroom. The Tumble Science Podcast for Kids has an episode called, “How Does it Feel to Be in Space?” This is great because a lot of vocabulary can be found in this episode and is a great way to work on comprehension. The student will need to listen to the story, pick out keywords, and summarize what they heard. After listening to the podcast I can ask questions about what was discussed or what the meaning of a word was.

Age of child: 1st grade

Activity: Bingo

In this activity, I would make a homemade bingo card. On the bingo card, it would have specific words for the child to listen to, some words would be easier like articles, and others would have spots like "a plural word" or "a possessive word", and other spots would have regular words that are likely to be mentioned in a classroom or in a conversation. The child would then be engaged and maintain their attention while also trying to win, especially if there were a prize at the end like a candy or just general praise.

Subject: Following Multi-Step Directions

Age of Child: 6 Year Old

Activity: Direct Drawing

To help the child practice listening and comprehension skills with multi-step instructions a listen and draw activity can be used.  I would begin by choosing a simple image to have the child draw with verbal instructions.  I would give the first few instructions one step at a time and build on that to give two steps at a time giving the instructions verbally, having them listen and then draw.  Once the child has been able to be consistent with two step instructions, I would increase to a three step verbal instruction for the child to finish the drawing.  Using a progressive approach to multi-step instructions can help determine at what point the child begins to have difficulty remembering multiple instructions and will not overwhelm the child right at the start.

Subject: Shapes

Auditory Skill: Identification

Activity: Play this game like musical chairs, each corner of the classroom represents a different shape by having a poster of it. Play an age appropriate song, and when the song stops the teacher shouts of a shape.

Activity:
I would create a listening activity using key vocabulary from the government unit (for example: Congress, President, Supreme Court, Constitution). I’d say one of the words aloud in a short sentence, such as “The _______ makes the laws.” The child would listen carefully and choose the correct vocabulary card or picture that matches what they heard.

Purpose:
This activity targets auditory identification by having the child connect what they hear to the correct word or concept. It also reinforces important academic vocabulary related to their classroom learning.

This could be super beneficial especially for aural rehab pre-teaching for upcoming classes. This could be universal for any lesson.

Activity: Read a short paragraph aloud about the water cycle that includes key terms like evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection. After reading, ask the child to retell the sequence of the water cycle in their own words and point out which term matches each stage. This supports auditory comprehension by requiring the child to listen carefully, process the information, and demonstrate understanding of both the vocabulary and the concept.

Subject: Social Studies/geography vocabulary

Auditory Skill: Identification

Activity: Landform, Listen, and Locate

My role: I would place a variety of landform pictures in front of the child. Then I would say each landform one by one. (e.g. valley, plateau, island, canyon etc.)

The child's role: The child would be expected to pick up the correct landform picture that I say to demonstrate identification of that landform.

Difficulty level: To increase difficulty the child could draw each landform that I say out loud. To decrease difficulty I would reduce the number of pictures in front of the child.

Auditory Skill: Identification

Subject: ELA

Activity:

Have a variety of cards with everyday objects draw on them. Give a prompt sentence or fill-in-the-blank sentence that the child would respond to with the appropriate card. "You carry your folders in this" -backpack- You could introduce more similar items to the deck to ensure that the child truly understands. e.g adding a purse to the deck, or a briefcase

You could even practice comprehension by asking the child to produce their own clues about the cards and have you pick out the correct one.

Subject: Letters

Age: Preschool - Kindergarten

You will have a printout of all of the letters in the alphabet on cards. Plus, a bag of Starbursts. You are going to make the sound of a letter, and the child will then put a starburst on the card for the letter that makes that sound. When they are done, they are able to keep the starburst.

Auditory Skill: Comprehension

Subject: Life Science

Activity: At this age, children are learning about what plants need in order to grow. One activity I could do might be an exercise about potting a plant. I could either bring in a physical plant for us to put into a pot or have a printout with pieces for each step that can be glued on. To test comprehension, I would read off a paragraph with directions on how to pot a plant. Once I am done, I will ask the child which step comes first, and we will work on going through them together to pot the plant.

I might ask them to tell me step one, and then have them respond. If they are unsure, I will read off the directions again, and maybe even show them the steps in writing to help give them a visual aid. This not only helps to make sure they are comprehending step-by-step instructions, but also helps them to think about some concepts they are learning about in class. Physically potting a plant could be a fun project too, so as they come back for more appointments, we can continue to talk about how the plant is growing and center therapy topics around it.

Auditory skill: Discrimination

Subject: English

Provide the child with a set of single-syllable CVC words that either have a short vowel sound (like /ʊ/) or a long vowel sound (like

/u/). Have the child raise his hand whenever he hears you say a long vowel sound and to keep his hand down when you say a short vowel sound. Some words you can use might be "book" vs "boot", "bead" vs "bid", "sheep" vs "ship", etc.

Subject: English (Reading Comprehension)

Auditory Skill: Comprehension

Activity: Use a book kit specifically Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes. I would have the child read the book to me. Then throughout the book I would stop the child and ask them a few questions to see if they are comprehending what they are reading. I would also incorporate some vocabulary words and ask them what certain words meant. By also targeting and learning the vocabulary it will be easier for the child to comprehend. Then at the end of the book I would do a craft with the child using different items throughout the book we would work on sequencing the story together and see if they can retell me the story.

Subject: Identification of Vocabulary

My idea is to work on the identification of vocabulary for a third-grade student. For this idea I would give a short list (maybe 5-10 words) of vocabulary words at the beginning of the week. I would then review these vocabulary words and throughout the week will be reading short passages or stories. When reading these stories, the vocabulary words are embedded into the story. The students will work on their identification skills by pointing out every time I use one of the vocabulary words. Once they identify the word, I would ask them to define it to the best of their abilities. This allows them to first identify the word and second cognitively think about the word's definition and how it was used in the story.

Subject: Science - space

Auditory Skill: Identification

Activity: The client will color all of the different planets them cut them out. After the planets are cut out I would place two side by side and see if they can point out which one I say to find. Them to take this a step farther I would have them place all the different planets around the room. Then I'll say a plant and see if they point to each one that I say.

Subject: Animals or Cars

Auditory Skill: Identification

Activity: For this activity, I would have the child bring his favorite cars or dinosaurs. I would then put them in a bag or a covered area and mix them up. I would then pull them out one by one and and ask the child "Could you tell me the name of this dinosaur (or car)?" I would then continue to ask different questions about the dinosaur or car. I would then keep trying this multiple times maybe with different objects intermixed to make the task a little more complex.