Fall

It's officially Fall in preschool! In our transdisciplinary model, we work as a seamless team and all specialists support goals and objectives across many areas. I embed therapy and do most of my data collection in the classroom, often during play. For this reason, I feel very strongly about presenting engaging materials and language-rich activities in my classrooms during each thematic unit.

For our Fall Unit, we've set up a little autumn backyard scene at Blocks Center. Students can dump out baskets of leaves, rake leaves and bag them up, assemble scarecrows, and go apple-picking! 



The "grass" is synthetic turf (sold by the yard at Home Depot). Most of the leaves are fake, purchased in packages at the dollar store, but we supplement them with real ones that the children bring in throughout the unit. Preschoolers are encouraged to collect leaves and drop them in a bin near the door at arrival. The real leaves are laminated to prevent crumbling. I use the leaves to work on sentence-formation, answering questions, following directions, and adjectives/describing.


We use crates to store materials and visually labeled each with Boardmaker pictures of the items that belong inside. This aids during clean-up and also helps me to target vocabulary objectives.

I painted the "apple tree" onto a big sheet of cardboard and set it with clear spray paint. We used a staple gun to fix the cardboard onto a stand and velcro to attach play apples. The apple tree works as a fun sequencing activity, and I incorporate multi-step directions with embedded prepositions.


For those little ones working on dramatic play skills and sequencing, I made visual play sequences to give them some basic three-step play ideas.

How do you implement speech and language therapy into thematic play? Stay tuned and drop by this week for more preschool fall fun!

7 comments:

  1. Just came across your blog and THIS IS AWESOME!!! I've been trying to set up dramatic play station for fall... I had also thought about making a pumpkin patch for children to pick pumpkins. Also, in the house area, we are baking pie-- "bake" the pumpkin and apples that you pick! Love your blog and thanks for the ideas and materials!

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, I'm flattered! We did a pumpkin patch last year and it was so much fun!

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  2. I love that you are a part of a transdisiplinary team! How many kids do you serve? Are you only committed to one room or do you have additional students that you serve in another setting as well. I wish more people saw the value in this type of team teaching! At The River School up in Washington DC, there is a teacher and SLP in EVERY ROOM! DREAM!! They cater to children with hearing loss using listening and spoken language. What type of population do you have. Thanks for the great ideas!!!

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    1. My program staffs one SLP for every two rooms; I serve two classrooms, each of which hosts a morning and afternoon session. We have a 15-student-per-class maximum, up to 7 of whom can be receiving services. My classrooms are designated as "Professional Development in Autism" rooms so we cater to that population, but I have a wide variety on my caseload. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Can you relink the pictures? For some reason they are not showing. Thanks!

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  4. Please show the pictures! !!!!

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  5. Yes, please. Show the pictures again!

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