Academic and Behavioral Interventions

Are you looking for strategies to help students who talk dysfluently? If so, keep reading.

1. Throughout moments of dysfluency, use non-oral learning activities to relax the student.

2. Praise the student for speaking fluently: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

3. Get the student’s hearing reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

4. Conference with the student’s parents to ascertain the level of dysfluency at home, parental reactions to the dysfluency, and successful strategies the parents have employed when dealing with the dysfluent speech.

5. Assist the student in learning to find situations in which they are more fluent or less fluent. Ascertain the aspects of the articulate situations that seem to enable fluency and try to transfer those features to the less articulate situations.

6. Exhibit slow, natural speech for the student and urge them to speak at a similar rate. Practice with the student for a short time each day until they can match the pace.

7. Get the student to make a list of their strong points or the things they do well to improve their overall level of confidence.

8. Teach the student that they are capable of fluent speech and are in control of speech in many situations.

9. Minimize the emphasis on competition. Competitive learning activities may increase the student’s anxiety and cause them to speak more dysfluently.

10. Develop simple oral reading passages in written form in which phrases are separated by spaces (indicating “pause”). Get the student to practice reading the passages aloud.

11. Utilize a private signal (e.g., raise a finger, touch earlobe, etc.) to urge the student to answer questions at a slow rate of speech.

12. Give the student an appropriate model of slow, natural speech. Lengthen the pauses between words, phrases, and sentences.

13. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

14. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

Are you looking for strategies to help students who stutter? If so, keep reading.

1. Create a list of the attributes that are likely to help a person become an excellent speaker. Get the student to practice each attribute.

2. Acquaint yourself and the student with the terms fluency, dysfluency, stuttering, straightforward speech, etc. Keep these words as neutral as possible, without negative connotations.

3. Get the student to find an excellent speaker and give the reasons that make that person an excellent speaker.

4. If the student is more dysfluent when involved in another learning experience at the same time they are talking, urge the student to stop the other learning experience .

5. Get the student to find specific words or phrases on which they become dysfluent and practice those particular words or phrases.

6. On occasions where the student seems exceptionally frustrated by a stuttering episode, react calmly with a reassuring statement (e.g., “Sometimes, words do not come out easily, do they?” or “You worked hard on that word.”).

7. Get the student to speak in unison with you while you are modeling slow, natural speech.

8. Do not require the student to speak in front of other students if they are awkward doing so. Get the student to talk to the teacher or another student privately if the student would be more comfortable doing so.

9. Give the student many chances for social and academic success.

10. Assist the student in learning to find periods of dysfluency and periods of slow, natural speech.

11. Select a peer to model appropriate speech for the student. Pair the students to sit together, perform tasks together, etc.

12. If the student is overly excited, wait until they are calmer before requiring any oral explanations or interactions. A high level of excitement often precipitates an anxiety level that interferes with fluency.

13. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

14. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

Are you looking for strategies to help students who stutter? If so, keep reading.

1. After the student can speak fluently in more situations (e.g., delivering messages to the office, speaking with the counselor, etc.), slowly increase those experiences as long as the student continues to be successful.

2. Ascertain whether the student avoids specific situations because of their perception of increased dysfluency. Talk with the student about the aspects of those situations that cause increased anxiety. Examine possible alterations that could be employed in the classroom to enable frustration tolerance (e.g., if speaking in front of the whole class causes stress, lessen the number of listeners, and slowly increase the size of the group as the student’s frustration tolerance increases).

3. Get the student to keep a list of times and/or situations in which speech is complicated (e.g., times when they are nervous, embarrassed, etc.). Talk about the reasons for this and consider possible solutions to the difficulty experienced.

4. Talk about and role-play with the entire class various kinds of disabilities and the related frustrations they might feel if they were experiencing similar difficulties. Include speech problems in this discussion.

5. Do not interrupt or finish the student’s sentences even if you think you can anticipate what the student is going to say. This can be very annoying and may decrease the student’s willingness to take part in future communicative interactions.

6. Throughout conversations, calmly delay your oral responses by one or two seconds.

7. If the student is speaking too rapidly, remind them to slow down. Create a private signal (e.g., raising one finger, touching earlobe, etc.) to avoid calling too much attention to the student’s speech in front of the whole class.

8. Throughout the oral reading, underline or highlight words that are complicated for the student to say and give reinforcement when they say them fluently.

9. Empathize with feelings of anger that the student may be experiencing due to speaking dysfluently.

10. Urge the student to keep eye contact during all speaking situations. If the student is noticeably more fluent when eye contact is averted, attempt to enable eye contact on a gradual basis.

11. On occasions where the student is speaking fluently, try to extend the positive experience by allowing them to continue speaking.

12. Assess the appropriateness of making the student speak without dysfluency (e.g., developmentally, young children experience normal dysfluency in their speech, and all persons are occasionally dysfluent).

13. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

14. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

Are you looking for hacks to help students use the correct verb tenses while speaking? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to make corrections for incorrect verb tenses on written worksheets.

2. On occasions where speaking privately with the student, repeat their verb tense error with a rising inflection (e.g., “Yesterday he?”) to assess if the student recognizes errors and spontaneously makes appropriate corrections.

3. Select a peer to model correct verb tenses for the student.

4. Boost the student’s understanding of the problem by recording the student while they are speaking with another student who uses verb tenses correctly. Play the recording back for the student to see if they can find the correct/incorrect verb tense.

5. Create a list of those verb tenses the student most commonly uses incorrectly. This list will become the guide for discovering the verb tenses that the student should practice each day.

6. Get the student’s hearing reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

7. Make headings entitled “yesterday,” “today,” and “tomorrow” under which the class can list learning activities they “were doing,” “are doing,” or “will do.” The following day, change the “today” heading to “yesterday” and the “tomorrow” heading to “today.” Place emphasis on appropriate verb tenses throughout this learning experience.

8. Get the student to make up sentences with given verbs in the past, present, and future tenses.

9. Make sure the student knows the concept of verb tenses by demonstrating what “is happening,” what “already happened,” and what “will happen” through the use of objects, images, and/or written sentences (depending on the student’s abilities).

10. Praise the student for using verb tenses properly : (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

11. Provide the student a sequence of sentences, both written and oral, and have them find the ones that demonstrate appropriate verb tenses. Get them to make appropriate modifications for those sentences that demonstrate unacceptable verb tenses.

12. Get the student to finish worksheets in which they must supply the correct verb tenses to go with the sentences (e.g., “Yesterday I to school.”).

13. Record the student’s speech to point out errors in verb tenses. With each successive recording, reinforce the student as their use of verb tenses improves.

14. Ascertain whether the student knows the concept of time, which influences the comprehension of verb tensing (e.g., Can they answer questions using “yesterday,” “today,” “tomorrow,” “before,” “later,” etc.? Do they use such vocabulary when speaking even though the verb tense is incorrect?).

15. Video the student and their classmates performing several actions. Play back the video without the sound and have the student narrate what is occurring in the present tense, what happened in the past tense, and/or what will happen in the future tense. (This learning experience could be altered by using a prerecorded videotape.)

16. Jot down specific verb tense errors made by the student during the day. Provide the written sentences to the student and have them make appropriate corrections. (At first, mark the errors for them to correct. As the student becomes more proficient with this task, have them find and correct the errors independently.)

17. Make the conjugation of verbs a daily learning experience.

18. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

19. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

Are you looking for strategies to help students who use improper verb tenses wile speaking? If so, keep reading.

1. After recording the student’s speech, have them find the incorrect verb tenses and make appropriate corrections.

2. Ascertain the type of grammatical model to which the student is exposed at home. Without placing negative connotations on the parents’ grammatical style, explain the difference between standard and nonstandard grammar.

3. Get the student to choose a verb to master. As the student masters the correct use of the verb, they put it on a list with a star and select another verb to master.

4. Encourage the parents to urge the student’s correct use of verb tenses at home by praising them when appropriate verb tenses are used.

5. Copy a paragraph that is in the present tense. Spotlight the verbs and have the student change all the verbs to past and/or future tense. This learning experience could be finished orally or in written form.

6. Ascertain if the student’s errors are the result of dialectical differences (i.e., the pattern of verb tense usage may not be atypical within their social group).

7. Praise those students in the classroom who use verb tenses correctly.

8. Utilize a private signal (e.g., hand over shoulder/past tense, pointing forward/future tense, etc.) to remind the student to use correct verb tense.

9. Throughout the day, write down specific verb tense errors pronounced by the student. Read the sentences to the student and have them make appropriate corrections orally.

10. Explain that changes must be made in a verb to indicate when an event happened (e.g., past, present, future).

11. Provide the student a sentence and have them change it from present to past, past to present, future to past, etc.

12. When the class is engaged in several learning activities , describe your observations using the present tense. Get students to do likewise. Expand this learning experience to include past and future tenses by asking appropriate questions (e.g., “What just happened?” “What were you doing?” “What will you do next?”).

13. Select a peer to practice verb tenses with the student. Each tense should be used in a sentence rather than only conjugating the verbs.

14. Get the student to assist in correcting other students’ written work, looking for errors in verb tenses.

15. Ascertain whether the student has appropriate sequencing skills. The concept of sequencing influences comprehension of verb tense (e.g., Can the student answer questions using first, next, then, etc.? Do they use such vocabulary when speaking even though verb tenses are incorrect?). Get the student to list learning activities they did when little, learning activities the student can do now, and things they will be able to do when grown up. Place emphasis on appropriate verb tenses during this learning experience.

16. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

17. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.

Are you looking for hacks for improving your students vocabulary? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to divide cards that tag objects, persons, places, etc., in their surroundings into different categories (e.g., function, color, size, use, composition, etc.). Spotlight the similarities and differences between things as they change categories (e.g., a ball and an apple may be red, round, and smooth; but you can only eat the apple, etc.).

2. Name a category and have the student find things within the category. Present new words that belong in the same group.

3. Spotlight words that have an assortment of meanings and use them properly in various contexts.

4. Get the student to keep a vocabulary notebook (image or word) with definitions of words whose meanings they do not know.

5. Develop a list of new words that the student will encounter while reading a given task. Have the student (or select a peer to help the student) look up each word and practice saying it and using it in a sentence before reading the given task.

6. Give the student fewer weekly vocabulary words. As the student shows success, slowly increase the number of vocabulary words from week to week.

7. Get the student to give as many adverbs as possible to go with a given verb (e.g., run – slow, fast, crooked, etc.).

8. Praise the student for using an increased speaking vocabulary: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

9. Get the student to take part in role-playing to foster the use of new vocabulary (e.g., set up an imaginary restaurant and have the student and peers play the roles of customers, servers, cook, etc., varying the time of day and the occasion).

10. Send home new vocabulary words and urge parents to use them in learning activities and general conversation.

11. Leverage unique situations to teach new vocabulary. Typically, a student will retain information learned in a novel situation better than information learned during a regular routine (schedule). The uniqueness of the situation will also enable the student’s memory skills when you give a reminder to help the student recall the vocabulary (e.g., “Remember yesterday during the fire drill when we talked about __ ?”).

12. Encourage the student to help them respond with sufficient vocabulary (e.g., Learner says “that thing.” The teacher responds, “What thing, what is it doing?” etc.).

13. Daily, examine previously learned vocabulary words and their meanings. Get the student to incorporate previously learned vocabulary words into daily conversation and learning activities.

14. To emphasize new vocabulary, write the new word on an envelope and put images inside that do and do not go with it (e.g., arctic – polar bears, snow, parrots, palm trees, etc.). Get the student to remove the unacceptable image and explain why it does not belong.

15. Utilize a large purse, box, bag, etc., with objects inside (e.g., various shaped blocks, pieces of fruit, school supplies, etc.). Have the student to reach into the container and to ascertain what each item is by describing how it feels before seeing it.

16. Get the student to keep a notebook of all new vocabulary words to call upon for daily conversation and learning activities.

17. Utilize hands-on learning activities to teach vocabulary by constructing objects and/or organizing manipulatives (e.g., under the heading “fruit,” give actual pieces of fruit; under the heading “school supplies,” give actual school learning materials, etc.).

18. On occasions where teaching new vocabulary and engaging in conversation, be sure to use vocabulary that is within the student’s level of comprehension.

19. Utilize visual aids whenever possible when introducing new vocabulary.

20. Get the student to tag all the objects, persons, places, etc., in their surroundings that they can. Then have the student point to the item in their surroundings as you tag the items they were incapable of naming. The things the student was unable to label will comprise a foundation for new vocabulary to be learned. Learning activities to foster the growth of expressive vocabulary should focus on the things the student pointed to but could not label.

21. Provide the student a sequence of words or images and have them name the category in which they belong (e.g., objects, persons, places, etc.).

22. Praise those students in the classroom who use an expanded speaking vocabulary.

23. Consider viewing our list of vocabulary building apps.

Are you looking for strategies to help improve your child’s vocabulary? If so, keep reading.

1. Include new vocabulary in daily conversation as often as possible.

2. Get the student to role-play several situations in which excellent vocabulary skills are essential (e.g., during a job interview, talking to a group of people, etc.).

3. Select a peer to model comprehension and use of an expanded vocabulary for the student.

4. Utilize new words in a sentence after the learning experience . Get the student to explain how the use of various words changes the meaning of the sentence (e.g., I like Jenny because she is __ [ sincere, humorous, competitive], etc.).

5. In addition to identifying objects, persons, actions, etc., have the student list places where each could be seen (e.g., “actor” – TV, theater, stage, etc.).

6. Affix labels to things in the student’s environment (e.g., smartboard, window, desk, doorway, etc.) for the student to make visual associations with the vocabulary words.

7. Make sure the student understands all the vocabulary words at each level before introducing new words.

8. Do not require the student to learn more vocabulary words and meanings than they are capable of comprehending.

9. In addition to labeling objects, persons, places, etc.; have the student give verbs that could be used with each (e.g., book – read, browse through, skim, etc.).

10. Get the student’s hearing reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

11. Utilize images to help the student understand the meanings of new vocabulary words.

12. Show the student how to use context clues to ascertain the meanings of words they hear or see (e.g., listening to or looking at the surrounding words and determining what type of word would be appropriate).

13. Utilize games to teach understanding and expression of new vocabulary. (Research has shown that novel situations help students to learn new information.)

14. On occasions where the student is asked to recall new vocabulary, give them clues about the word (e.g., “Remember when we talked about the animal that walks on all fours, barks, and people keep as pets?” etc.).

15. Teach new vocabulary within the context of known information (e.g., category, associations, etc.).

16. Consider viewing our list of vocabulary building apps.

Are you looking for tips for improving student vocabulary? If so, keep reading.

1. Refer to formerly presented information that is related to the topic when presenting new vocabulary.

2. Show the student how to classify new words as to category, function, antonym, etc.

3. Provide the student or let the student select a “word of the day” that is to be incorporated into conversations. Praise the student every time they use the word.

4. Urge the student to apply new vocabulary to personal encounters in written and oral work (e.g., “Can you think of another word to use for sleep?”).

5. Get the student to act out verbs and tag actions performed by classmates.

6. Get the student to demonstrate and find various verbs of the same category (e.g., walk, creep, slither, saunter, march, etc.).

7. Record the student’s spontaneous speech, noting specific words. Get the student to list other words that could be exchanged for the identified words (synonyms).

8. Put exciting images or objects on a table and have the student describe them in detail. Assist in formulating an appropriate vocabulary to use when describing the object.

9. Get the student to make up sentences or stories using new words they have learned.

10. Daily, examine new vocabulary words and their meanings. Get the student to use the words daily.

11. Get the student to give as many adjectives as possible to go with a given noun (e.g., “lady ” – pretty, tall, nice, etc.).

12. Provide the student an image of a specific place (e.g., grocery store) and have the student name as many objects, actions, persons, etc., as they can think of that can be found there.

13. Get the student to give associations for given words (e.g., circus – clown, elephant, trapeze, tent, lion tamer, etc.).

14. Utilize a multisensory approach to enable retention when teaching new vocabulary (e.g., use the scent of fragrant flowers or freshly baked spice cake to enable retention of the vocabulary word aroma).

15. Urge oral output. Boost the student’s chances to connect orally and give them with appropriate practice in using vocabulary.

16. Consider viewing our list of vocabulary building apps.

Are you looking ideas for teaching vocabulary in the classroom? If so, keep reading.

1. Get the student to sequence the learning activities that occurred on a field trip or special event with an emphasis on vocabulary.

2. Throughout the conversation, repeat phrases used by the student, revising the vocabulary to include additional words (e.g., The student says, “The TV show was excellent.” Repeat by saying, “I’m glad the TV show was so entertaining.”).

3. Get the student to write sentences or stories using new words they have learned.

4. Let the student speak without being interrupted or hurried.

5. Ascertain the type of language model the student has at home. Without placing negative connotations on the language model in their home, explain the difference between language that is rich in meaning and language that includes a limited repertoire of vocabulary.

6. Urge the student to use gestures when appropriate to clarify their message. Gestures may also enable the recall of vocabulary the student is having difficulty retrieving.

7. Ask questions that encourage language. Refrain from those that can be answered by ”yes/no” or a nod of the head (e.g., “What did you do at recess?” rather than “Did you play on the slide?” or “Tell me about your vacation.” rather than “Did you remain home over the holidays?” etc.).

8. Explain objects, persons, places, etc., to the student and have them name the things described.

9. Choose relevant and appropriate reading content and have the student underline each unfamiliar word. Create a list of these words and review their meanings with the student until they can use them when speaking.

10. Provide the student a list of words and ask them to tell the opposite of each word.

11. Get the student to paste an image from a publication on one side of a piece of paper and list all of the vocabulary that could be associated with it on the other side (including verbs). Get the student to dictate or write a story about the image using the vocabulary.

12. Discuss the importance of expanding one’s vocabulary (i.e., comprehension and communication are based on the knowledge and use of appropriate/accurate vocabulary).

13. Talk with the student’s parents about the ways in which they can help their child create an expanded speaking vocabulary (e.g., encouraging the student to read the newspaper, novels, magazines, or other learning materials for enjoyment). Emphasize to parents that they can set an excellent example by reading with the student.

14. Show the student where they can go to find decoding words in the classroom library (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, etc.).

15. Get the student to list all the vocabulary they can think of that goes with a specific word (e.g., “space” – astronaut, lunar rover, rocket, shuttle, launch, etc.).

16. Consider viewing our list of vocabulary building apps.

Are you looking for hacks to help kids learn to use subject-verb agreement? If so, keep reading.

1. Boost the student’s understanding of the problem by recording the student when speaking with another student who exhibits appropriate subject-verb agreement. Play the recording for the student to analyze and see if they can find correct/incorrect subject-verb forms.

2. Create a list of those verbs the student most commonly uses incorrectly. This list will become the guide for learning activities in subject-verb agreement.

3. Get the student’s hearing reviewed if it has not been recently reviewed.

4. Make sure the student knows that sentences express thoughts about a subject and what that subject is or does.

5. Make sure the student knows the concept of “subject” and “verb” by demonstrating through the use of objects, images, and/or written sentences (depending on the student’s abilities).

6. Make sure the student knows the concept of plurality (e.g., have the student “point to an image of a cat” and “point to an image of cats”).

7. Give the student correct examples of subject-verb agreement for those combinations they most commonly use incorrectly.

8. Praise the student for appropriate use of subject-verb agreement: (a) give the student a concrete reward (e.g., privileges such as leading the line, handing out learning materials, 10 minutes of free time, etc.) or (b) give the student an informal reward (e.g., praise, handshake, smile, etc.).

9. Record the student’s speech and point out errors in subject-verb agreement. With each successive recording, reinforce the student as their use of grammar improves.

10. Converse with the student to explain that they are using unacceptable subject-verb agreement and emphasize the importance of speaking in grammatically correct sentences.

11. Utilize a private signal (e.g., touching earlobe, raising index finger, etc.) to remind the student to use correct subject-verb agreement.

12. On occasions where speaking privately with the student, repeat their subject-verb error with a rising inflection (e.g., “He done it?”) to assess if the student recognizes errors and spontaneously makes appropriate corrections.

13. Jot down specific subject-verb errors made by the student during the day. Provide the written sentences to the student and have them make appropriate corrections. (At first, mark the errors for the student to correct. As the student becomes more proficient with this task, have them find and correct the errors independently.)

14. Consider using a language arts app. Click here to view a list of recommended apps.

15. Consider using a language development app. Click here to view a list of apps that we recommend.