Language: Have the leader announce the new movement every time they change to encourage new words! Imitation: those following the leader have to imitate the movements of the leader! Imitation is an important pre-language skill and crucial to language development (including those first words)! Turn-taking: each child gets a turn to be the “leader,” which encourages social interactions that are important for communication development! How does this help encourage speech/language? The leader gets to choose an action like walking, marching, jumping, skipping, etc., and everyone in line gets to copy the leader! Sounds simple, right? It is SO easy! Kids LOVE this game, especially when it’s their turn to be the leader! Follow the Leder can easily be modified for all skill levels! For example, if the “leader” is really young, simply copy ANY movements they do! Soon they will realize you are mirroring them and have fun with it! One person is the “leader” or first in line, and all other players line up behind them. Or have students create a personal vocabulary tracker digitally or on paper.Remember those classic games you played as a kid? There’s a reason why we (SLPs) love them so much! Not only are they fun for kids, but they also provide a ton of opportunities to use new words and language skills! We’ve highlighted some of our favorite “people” games and ways to use them to encourage speech and language development. Use a tool like Padlet to make an online word wall for the class with definitions and pictures for each word.For asynchronous learning, have students collaborate on an interactive whiteboard or shared document. For synchronous learning, use small group instruction or break-out rooms. Give students opportunities to collaborate.Or they can put paper inside a Ziploc bag and use a marker that can be wiped off (if they have these supplies).

If you’re asking students to draw definitions, they can use paper and pencil and erase their work to use the paper over and over.

Provide links to the text or audio versions (if available). Display the text on the screen and read it aloud or play an audio version.

Give students multiple ways to access the text during the lesson.

Either way, use UDL as you’re planning the lesson.

Guide students in a synchronous online lesson or record a video for asynchronous learning.

Find out what resources they have available and what they might need to support learning at home.

Then invite students to share their own examples of things that are and aren’t delicate. One thing that isn’t delicate is the cement stairs into the school. For instance, you could tell students that one thing that is delicate is a teacup. Examples and non-examples: Give one example and one non-example of how the word is and isn’t used.Picture perfect: Invite students to draw a picture that represents the word’s meaning.This activity works especially well if you pair the new adjective with a familiar noun. Or students can “vote with their feet” by moving to one corner of the room if they want a delicate toy or another corner if they don't.

A round of applause: If the word is an adjective, invite students to clap based on how much they would like a delicate toy, for example.

Call on students to share their responses. Then ask them to give a thumbs up if they’ve ever seen something delicate.

Use your senses: Ask your students to use their senses to describe when they saw, heard, felt, tasted, or smelled something that was delicate.

Then invite pairs to share their responses with the rest of the class.

Word associations: Ask students, “What does the word delicate make you think of? What other words go with delicate?” Students can turn and talk with a partner to come up with a response.

Quick word association game motivate