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Literacy-Based Speech Language Therapy Activities
Marrying Sequencing and Cohesive Elements
Sequencing and cohesive elements are two sides of the same coin. One is the demonstration of
knowledge of the sequence (receptive language). The other is communicating the sequence through
specific words (expressive language). On the lowest level and with your youngest clients or students,
print out the four words and print out four pictures. Have the student place the pictures above the
words. Have her check the book for correctness or allow group members to use the book and cue
their friends when they have placed a picture correctly.
A word of warning, use “first” but stay away from ordinal numbering words (second, third…).
Ordinal numbering allows the student to blindly repeat a word without thinking about story order. It
is equivalent to the child who can sing the alphabet but can’t identify any letters.
For young students, you will write these out every time and have them repeat you before they tell you
the sentence that goes along with the picture. (SLP) “First…” (Student) “First, he went to the car.”
Asking and Answering “WH” Questions
Asking and answering questions is the other two-sided coin you need in your lit-based money purse.
A child answering WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE questions by pointing or speaking is
demonstrating his receptive language abilities and ensuring comprehension. A story that contains
WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE information is the smallest-yet-richest expression of language. We
all tell stories in sentences every day. When we leave one of these four components out, our listening
partner is forced to ask for the missing information:
“Today I went out to lunch with Nancy.” Where did you go?”
Learning how to answer “WH” Questions
What we are going to start with sounds simplistic. But again, if you don’t know what your student is
missing, this is a mini-evaluation of sorts. If your students have no trouble answering questions,
jump ahead. But I have found that most of students with language impaired are representative of
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