Are you looking for more ways to incorporate videos or technology into your speech sessions to keep your students engaged and motivated? Check out Mystery Doug!
I was recently introduced to a free website by a fellow SLP. I absolutely love it when you message me with fun therapy finds that you have! I am always eager to try out new resources and share how I use it with all of you! This awesome free website is called…Mystery Doug (www.mysterydoug.com). To access this website, all you need is an email address to get a log in. Side note: in order to access the archives of videos they have on the site, all you need to do is share the website with 5 friends. That was super easy to do and now I have access to all the videos! Totally worth it!
Are you curious about this site? Each week, on Mondays, the site posts another question that a child has and sent in. Doug answers the question and provides great visuals, explanations, and thorough examples to help students grasp the answers. They use popular concepts (Emojis) and seasonal topics (pumpkins, snow). I love that you can use this website each week and have something different to watch and learn.
How can you use this website in speech therapy?
Since it shares nonfiction information, you can use it to work on a variety of speech goals:
- Vocabulary – categorize, define, describe, use in sentences
- Recall details
- WH questions
- Summarization
- Sentence structure
- Verb tenses
- Articulation/Fluency
- Main idea
- And so much more!
Let’s Take A Closer Look At Some Ways I Addressed Speech Goals with These Videos
You can pair it with the Expanding Expression Tool (EET) and have students describe the object or concept being described in the video using details from the video.
You can use various graphic organizers with it to help them recall details and comprehend what they heard in order to answer questions or summarize.
See how I used a listen for WH question free graphic organizer to predict comprehension questions. Students were able to make their own “test questions” after filling it out. Grab the free graphic organizer HERE.
I also used the nonfiction summarizing graphic organizer from my nonfiction summarizing print and go pack to practice summarizing a nonfiction “text.” This helped them comprehend the author/speaker purpose, the topic/main idea, and significant details. We practiced verbally producing a summary after as if we were writing one for an assignment. They love when they can practice and not actually write one. It builds so much confidence and removes overwhelm! Learn more about this summarizing resource HERE!
We also made a DIY foldable. The three flaps said “what I know,” “what I want to know, and “what I learned.” We completed the first two flaps before we watched the video and just saw the cover image with the question/topic. It elicited great conversation about our background knowledge/schema. We completed the last flap after we watched the video and recalled details we did already know but what we can now add to our knowledge bank!
As you can see, there are so many goals that can be easily addressed with these short, engaging, and high-interest videos. You can even come up with your own questions to submit to them! How will you use this website in your therapy room? Feel free to leave a comment below to let us know!
