Effective Teaching Resources and Strategies
Strategies
1. Do not pretend the disfluencies don’t exist. This only serves to isolate the child and sends the message that stuttering is something to be ashamed of.
2. Show your support. Let the student know his stuttering is okay with you and you accept him or her just like any other student
3. Find out the child’s opinion about reasonable classroom expectations. Some children are more uncomfortable about their stuttering than others and may react in different ways in the classroom. Talk to the student in private about how they feel about being called on unexpectedly or other speaking situations.
4. Speak slowly and clearly. Do not over-exaggerate; simply provide a good speech model by speaking at an easy pace.
5. Use shorter and simpler sentences, as long and complex sentences also serve as fluency disruptors. Use vocabulary the student is familiar with.
6. Avoid interrupting when the student is speaking. Additionally, avoid filling in words or finishing sentences for the student who stutters. Be patient and maintain good eye contact.
7. Allow the student time to respond in class. Similarly, take longer pauses before beginning your turn in conversations. Wait two seconds before you answer a questions and use more pauses in your own speech to decrease time pressure and model wait time.
8. Avoid making suggestions to improve fluency unless the suggestions have been provided by the student’s speech and language pathologist. Refrain from comments such as “Slow down,” “Take a deep breath,” and so on.
9. Compliment and praise the student’s efforts unconditionally.
10. Reduce or eliminate activities within the classroom that reinforce debate and verbal competitiveness, as these sorts of competitions may increase frustration, anxiety, and stress. Avoid stressors in communication such as time limits and encourage teamwork.
11. When reading aloud, allow the student to read along with someone else. Many children that stutter are more fluent when speaking in unison. Have the whole class read in pairs so the student is not singled out.
12. Know what situations cause more stuttering. Stuttering often increases when students are nervous, excited, upset, or are asked to speak unexpectedly.
13. Listen attentively to the child’s message rather than their speech pattern.
14. Understand that people that stutter have good days and bad days. Some days a child’s stuttering may not be as bad or may be worse than usual. Encourage the child to speak more on good days to build his or her confidence and be more understanding on bad days.
Activities
Joke Telling
Practicing common words helps a stutterer feel more confident in common speech patterns. Since children usually love jokes, having a joke-telling contest in your classroom makes learning speech more enjoyable and even funny. Ask that all children come to class with a joke, either made-up or from a book. Spend extra time working with the stutterer to practice the words of his joke. When he receives positive feedback, such as laughing, he will begin to feel more confident.
Interview Questions
Place the children into pairs and ask that one become a famous person while the other is the interviewer. Give the interviewer time to make up questions while the other child gets into character. This teaches all children, not just the stutterer, the power of preparation and practice in forming the right ideas before talking and feeling comfortable talking to others. Have the children interview each other and write down the answers, which they can later present to the rest of the class.
Wordless Storybook
By choosing a few picture books without words, you help a child with a stutter learn to make up ideas on the spot and use his words to tell a story. Making up stories privately or with the rest of the class exercises a stutterer's ability to think, speak and pause effectively. To start, it is helpful to give him a storybook and have him write his own story, which he then reads. As he becomes more comfortable, it is possible that he will be able to look at pictures and create stories instantly with and without stuttering.
Memory Games
Memory games are games which require only one word at a time, which allows the child to focus on the word and prevents stuttering. The child turns over a card with a picture on it and then names the card. For example, if the card has a picture of a doll, the child would turn it over and say the word "doll" and then flip over another card to try finding the match. They name the second card as well. If the cards match, they are taken out. If they do not match, the cards are turned over again.
Concentration Games
Concentration games for speech therapy are designed to help children learn word usage at spontaneous times. The therapist turns over a picture card and names it. The child then turns over the next card and names it. The two alternate back and forth, using concentration to improve rapid speech at the single word level.
Role Playing
Role playing is a game where the child is given a situation by the clinician and must react to the situation. Role playing is useful for both young children and older children who are struggling with stuttering. The therapist gives a basic script, such as telling the child that to pretend they are going to meet their favorite actor and they are going to ask for an autograph. The child then acts out the scene, working on saying the words clearly. The point of the game is talking under pressure.
Guessing Games
Guessing games are good for phrase construction and speech and are enjoyed by children. The therapist holds up a picture card or a phrase written on a card. This is the clue. The child then tries to guess the person, place or thing based on the clue. If the child cannot guess, they get another clue.
Resources
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/525176-classroom-activities-for-children-with-stuttering/#ixzz2IqIoe57G
Language Difficulties in the Classroom. http://www.halton.gov.uk/schintranet/specialneeds/langdiff.htm:
Language Difficulties in School. www.ican.org.uk/pdf/profs3.PDF:
The Stuttering Foundation of America Page: www.stutteringhelp.org:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm:
1. Do not pretend the disfluencies don’t exist. This only serves to isolate the child and sends the message that stuttering is something to be ashamed of.
2. Show your support. Let the student know his stuttering is okay with you and you accept him or her just like any other student
3. Find out the child’s opinion about reasonable classroom expectations. Some children are more uncomfortable about their stuttering than others and may react in different ways in the classroom. Talk to the student in private about how they feel about being called on unexpectedly or other speaking situations.
4. Speak slowly and clearly. Do not over-exaggerate; simply provide a good speech model by speaking at an easy pace.
5. Use shorter and simpler sentences, as long and complex sentences also serve as fluency disruptors. Use vocabulary the student is familiar with.
6. Avoid interrupting when the student is speaking. Additionally, avoid filling in words or finishing sentences for the student who stutters. Be patient and maintain good eye contact.
7. Allow the student time to respond in class. Similarly, take longer pauses before beginning your turn in conversations. Wait two seconds before you answer a questions and use more pauses in your own speech to decrease time pressure and model wait time.
8. Avoid making suggestions to improve fluency unless the suggestions have been provided by the student’s speech and language pathologist. Refrain from comments such as “Slow down,” “Take a deep breath,” and so on.
9. Compliment and praise the student’s efforts unconditionally.
10. Reduce or eliminate activities within the classroom that reinforce debate and verbal competitiveness, as these sorts of competitions may increase frustration, anxiety, and stress. Avoid stressors in communication such as time limits and encourage teamwork.
11. When reading aloud, allow the student to read along with someone else. Many children that stutter are more fluent when speaking in unison. Have the whole class read in pairs so the student is not singled out.
12. Know what situations cause more stuttering. Stuttering often increases when students are nervous, excited, upset, or are asked to speak unexpectedly.
13. Listen attentively to the child’s message rather than their speech pattern.
14. Understand that people that stutter have good days and bad days. Some days a child’s stuttering may not be as bad or may be worse than usual. Encourage the child to speak more on good days to build his or her confidence and be more understanding on bad days.
Activities
Joke Telling
Practicing common words helps a stutterer feel more confident in common speech patterns. Since children usually love jokes, having a joke-telling contest in your classroom makes learning speech more enjoyable and even funny. Ask that all children come to class with a joke, either made-up or from a book. Spend extra time working with the stutterer to practice the words of his joke. When he receives positive feedback, such as laughing, he will begin to feel more confident.
Interview Questions
Place the children into pairs and ask that one become a famous person while the other is the interviewer. Give the interviewer time to make up questions while the other child gets into character. This teaches all children, not just the stutterer, the power of preparation and practice in forming the right ideas before talking and feeling comfortable talking to others. Have the children interview each other and write down the answers, which they can later present to the rest of the class.
Wordless Storybook
By choosing a few picture books without words, you help a child with a stutter learn to make up ideas on the spot and use his words to tell a story. Making up stories privately or with the rest of the class exercises a stutterer's ability to think, speak and pause effectively. To start, it is helpful to give him a storybook and have him write his own story, which he then reads. As he becomes more comfortable, it is possible that he will be able to look at pictures and create stories instantly with and without stuttering.
Memory Games
Memory games are games which require only one word at a time, which allows the child to focus on the word and prevents stuttering. The child turns over a card with a picture on it and then names the card. For example, if the card has a picture of a doll, the child would turn it over and say the word "doll" and then flip over another card to try finding the match. They name the second card as well. If the cards match, they are taken out. If they do not match, the cards are turned over again.
Concentration Games
Concentration games for speech therapy are designed to help children learn word usage at spontaneous times. The therapist turns over a picture card and names it. The child then turns over the next card and names it. The two alternate back and forth, using concentration to improve rapid speech at the single word level.
Role Playing
Role playing is a game where the child is given a situation by the clinician and must react to the situation. Role playing is useful for both young children and older children who are struggling with stuttering. The therapist gives a basic script, such as telling the child that to pretend they are going to meet their favorite actor and they are going to ask for an autograph. The child then acts out the scene, working on saying the words clearly. The point of the game is talking under pressure.
Guessing Games
Guessing games are good for phrase construction and speech and are enjoyed by children. The therapist holds up a picture card or a phrase written on a card. This is the clue. The child then tries to guess the person, place or thing based on the clue. If the child cannot guess, they get another clue.
Resources
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/525176-classroom-activities-for-children-with-stuttering/#ixzz2IqIoe57G
Language Difficulties in the Classroom. http://www.halton.gov.uk/schintranet/specialneeds/langdiff.htm:
Language Difficulties in School. www.ican.org.uk/pdf/profs3.PDF:
The Stuttering Foundation of America Page: www.stutteringhelp.org:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm: