Do you have mixed therapy groups? No need to fear, with some of my tips and tricks, you will master this challenge in no time!
Here are a few of my favorite ways to deal with mixed groups (whether it is a group of articulation, language, fluency, and/or social skills OR one type just different levels!)
Play-based therapy:
- Students can role-play or pretend play. You set the props or problem and have it incorporate a social skills goal, a category of vocabulary words, or an articulation target. For example, have the students pretend to be in a cafeteria, eating carrots, and someone catches a cold. You have a setting, a problem, and tons of /k/ words. How about a firefighter eating french fries and finding a five-dollar bill?
YouTube:
- Find commercials or videos that depict a social skill you are addressing or has vocabulary words. Each student can be responsible for answering questions based on their goal. What was the body language? What can they infer? What articulation sounds did they hear? Was the character in the video using smooth speech?
Storybooks:
- I love using wordless picture books!! Students can create their own stories using the pictures. There can be many right answers which makes it nice! Click HERE to read about my favorite wordless picture books.
- I have MANY storybook companion packs in my TpT store that can help you take popular storybooks and address tons of different goals. Read the book to the entire group and have the students complete the tasks based on their own individual goals. Click HERE to see all of the goodies in my store!
Apps:
- Chatterpix: You can use this app easily to have students give voices to each other, pictures from a storybook, teachers, objects, and more! They can work together, incorporate articulation sounds, use fluency strategies, retell stories AND SO MUCH MORE! Oh and this app is free!
- The Bag Game: For $1.99 students can play a guessing game with images on the app. They can take turns guessing the object using the EET or whatever strategies you use! Great for turn-taking, perspective taking (what could their peer possibly pick!?), and can select from categories or one with an articulation target sound.
- To see my entire round-up of free apps to use in speech click HERE!
- There are tons of apps created for SLPs that allow you to select a different goal or set of questions for each student. Virtual Speech Center and Smarty Ears Apps are my favorites for this feature!
TpT:
Of course, I am a bit biased but I do have several products that are easy to prepare and can be used with mixed groups. Here are my favorites:
Differentiated Question Scenes
Roll and Tell An Articulation Story
Articulation Word Search Using Tier 2 Vocabulary
No Prep Seasonal Scenes for Mixed Speech Groups
Science Experiments for Speech Therapy
SLP Elevate:
And my newest favorite resource to use with my mixed groups is SLP Elevate! SLP Elevate is the first membership designed specifically for older students in grades 4+. The high-interest themes in this membership have been a hit with my mixed groups!
SLP Elevate comes with:







I have many more but those are my favorite!
For favorite games, products, books, and more view the Amazon Affiliate links below:
Do you want to watch my live video on the topic? Watch the video below!!
Did you know that I have a FREE email course all about mixed groups? It has tips, tricks, and free resources!! Click HERE to learn all about it and to sign up!