Using Song Lyrics In Speech Therapy

Struggling to keep older students motivated in speech?  Use song lyrics!  I will show you how!

You know those students, they are so challenging!  Nothing motivates them!  They give you an attitude each time they come to speech.  They are the ones saying “Why am I here?” or “This is so boring.”  Trust me, I have those students and I have heard those comments!  I had to be creative and find a way to keep them motivated.  I decided to use their interests to guide my therapy sessions.  They are interested in music and spend their free time listening to music or watching music videos on You Tube?  Done!  Let's use it!

Articulation:

Students can practice their articulation goals while reading/singing popular songs.  They can practice their sounds before singing to make sure they are ready and prepared.

Vocabulary:

Are there difficult words in the lyrics?  Have them use their context clues or their knowledge of what the song is about to determine the meaning.  Is the musician happy or sad in this song?  Use those emotions to help determine the meanings of the words.  Are there multiple meaning words?  Figurative language?

Inferencing:

What is the musician trying to express?  What is it all about?  How do they feel?  Can your students use their evidence from the song lyrics to answer higher level questions?

Social Skills:

How is the musician feeling?  What is the musicians perspective?  How would the person feel that they are singing about?  You can use song lyrics to elicit a conversation about the scenario.

So many goals…where do I begin?!

Think of songs that are popular but clean and appropriate for school.  Just Google any song.  I like to use Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran but always preview the songs!

Want to learn more about this idea?  View my video from my Facebook Live below!