10 Simple Ways to Get 100 Trials in Speech Therapy

Episode 49: 10 Simple Ways to Get 100 Trials in Speech Therapy

You're listening to the Speech Space Podcast, a podcast full of tips and resources for SLPs. I'm your host, Jessica Cassity, and this is Episode 49. Hey there, you guys thank you so much for joining me today. We're going to be talking about ways to provide reinforcement, to get lots of repetitions from your students without using candy or cheap toys. So, some time ago I actually did a blog post similar to this topic and it was a big hit. So I wanted to record a whole podcast about it. Before I start, I did want to make it really clear that I'm not generally a fan of the drill and kill method for just the heck of it. However, there are some students, as we know that need this method to improve. And when I say that I'm thinking motor-speech disorders or students with apraxia, for example. So I just wanted to throw that out there. All right, let's go ahead and talk about the ways to get a lot of trials.

All right. So the first idea that I have for you is to have your students build a tower. So you're going to give them either a block or another idea is to use paper cups. So after each repetition, I'm going to give them a small block or a paper cup, and they just add to their tower. So it's pretty simple but it's easy and it's fun. Now my next idea, idea number two is to plant a garden. Now, this is not a real garden but you're going to bring in a big piece of Styrofoam and a nice collection of artificial flowers. Now, after each target, your student is going to put a flower of their choice into their quote-unquote grass, which is going to be green Styrofoam. So again, really simple, really easy, but lots of fun and keeps it creative. Number three is color by numbers. So I would suggest getting these coloring pages at Target or the Dollar Store. You can even download some online as well. And then each time they say their target sound, then you have them color one of the numbers. Next up is to have a song that your student really likes. And what you're going to do is you're going to add a new verse after 10 trials. So every time they do 10, and you might want to have some sort of visual for them to represent that, you know, each one of those trials equals 10, and this is really perfect for preschool. And you might think about a song like the Hokey Pokey. So maybe you throw in a new verse, a different body part that you do each time that they complete those 10 trials. My idea number five is to do pom-pom art. And again, you can find these online for free. Generally, they're just little worksheets with circles and your student puts a pom-pom on the circle, and it usually has some sort of design like a rainbow or, you know, something like that. And my other idea that you could do with the pom-poms is to fill a glass jar or fill a bowl or something where they can see what's going in, and you can pretend that in the glass jar that it's food. I've heard that you could do, you could pretend that they're gumballs, and so that makes it a little more fun as well.

Idea number six is to use a 100 trials No Print. Now I just created a 100 trials download just for my podcast listeners. So if you want to check that out, you can go to bit.ly/spring100trials. And I will also link to that in the show notes so if you're driving right now or you're too busy to write it down, just make sure that you check out the show notes later, and that will have the link for you. Idea number seven is to play race to 100 trials. So what you're going to do for this is to have your students roll dice, and they're going to say their speech sound or word that many times. So if they roll a six, then they will say their sound six times, and then they're going to write down the number that they roll. And you can have them play this with a partner, or you can play it with them. But the idea is that whoever gets to 100 points first is going to be the winner. So it kind of makes it fun, even though you're getting a lot of repetitions in. Idea number eight is to use beads. Now with this, your students could make a bracelet or a necklace or string these on a pipe cleaner. They're a great visual and also a really fun craft. Idea number nine is to do a puzzle. Now I would say, you definitely don't want to do a puzzle that's too complicated because this is going to take too much time. So a puzzle that is either easy or that your student is familiar with, and then they can add a piece to the puzzle either after each trial or say after 5 or 10 trials. My last idea for you, idea number 10, this is really fun is a Make-A-Wish game. So you're going to have a hundred pennies or you could also do dimes and have them hit 10 trials to get a dime. But if you wanted to have a lot of fun, have a bowl of a hundred pennies, and they're going to throw one in a small jar or bowl filled with water after each repetition. So they're pretending that they're throwing a penny in to make a wish after each repetition.

So I hope that you guys find these ideas to be a really fun and a nice way to get in all of those trials that some of our students so desperately need. But this, this is just a nice way to mix it up a little bit, to keep it fun, keep it light, and not so much of that kind of drill and kill mentality where we think of just that kind of repetitive, boring type of a session. So I hope that you enjoyed listening to today's show and as always, if you like what you heard, please take a moment to leave a five-star review on iTunes. And that is a way to help your fellow SLPs find this show. To access the show notes from today's episode go to bit.ly/100trials. And if you'd like to learn how you can cut back on your prep time, this year, head on over to thedigitalslp.com/digitalslp. All right, my friends, that is it for me for today. I thank you so much for tuning in, and I hope that you have a wonderful week.