I love incorporating literacy skills into articulation therapy as much as possible! That’s why one of my favorite resources is articulation stories! Articulation short stories are not only a great way to target speech sounds, but also a way to build reading fluency and expose students to new vocabulary words. Today, let’s take a closer look at my S Articulation Stories Printables and check out strategies to use them successfully!
Why are S Articulation Stories Printables helpful?
Sound-loaded stories are incredibly beneficial and they’re a natural way to begin tackling the hierarchy of speech (sound level, word level, sentence level, etc). They’re super versatile, because they can be used during speech therapy sessions, in regular education classrooms, or in homeschool! They’re truly great for all students, not just children with articulation disorders. These articulation worksheets also feature WH Questions (who, what, when, where, and why), which are a great way to work on reading comprehension (and listening comprehension if you’re the one reading the passage aloud). This makes sound-loaded stories an ideal activity, because they can even be used for mixed groups or students with mixed goals! They can help you tackle language skills and articulation skills alike!
You can find these S articulation stories in my membership, The Speech is Sweet Club! This membership is designed for pediatric SLPs and provides ALL ACCESS to the speech therapy resources I’ve created throughout the years. There are currently 700+ printable PDF files and I’m always adding more!
These articulation worksheets can also be found individually, in a later sounds bundle, or in a super mega bundle with all 23 sound packets!
Quick Tips for S Articulation Stories
If your student is not yet producing /s/ at the reading level, that is totally okay! Just meet your student where they’re at. If they’re at the word level, start by highlighting or underlining the target words in the passage and then practicing the words! Here is a helpful outline for how to implement these sound-loaded stories in your practice.
- Start by reading the story aloud to familiarize students with the story and to provide auditory bombardment. This also models correct production of the target sound!
- Go on a word hunt! Have students go through the story and highlight/underline words that feature the s sound.
- Have students practice at the word level.
- Then implement an oral reading strategy called “echo reading.” You read a sentence and then have the student repeat the sentence after you. Spend some time working on the sentence level. You may spend the rest of your therapy session and proceeding sessions working at this level and that is totally okay. Echo reading is a research-based strategy and is wonderful for helping students improve their reading fluency. Recalling sentences is also a great way to work on attention and memory!
- Once students are successful with echo reading, then move onto “choral reading.” This is when everyone (including the SLP or teacher) reads at the exact same time like a chorus!
- Have students read the passage independently.
- Answer the WH Questions that are accompanying the passage (of course, this step can be woven throughout the session and not just at the end).
If you want more information about the strategies listed above, I think it will be super helpful to read my blog post that provides an overview on the benefits of using articulation stories in speech therapy. Check it out here: Articulation Stories for Speech Therapy.
S Words Initial Position Stories
This printable resource pack include ten short stories that focus on the s sound in the initial position! Each passage contains 5-10 target words! This will ensure that your students get a large amount of repetitions! Repetitions are the name of the game in articulation therapy, because we’re literally retraining the brain! That never ceases to amaze me! I love using stories, because they’re also similar to activities that our students encounter in the classroom. They’re a fun way to help build academic skills!
S Words Medial Position Stories
This packet also features ten medial s printable pages! Printables are one of my favorite resource types, because they’re no prep! Sound-loaded stories are a great way to save time while lesson planning! When tackling the medial s passages, start with having your students identify all the words that contain the medial s sound. This exercise is also a great way to simultaneously work on phonemic awareness – which is a critical literacy skill. I love hitting two birds with one stone!
S Words Final Position Stories
There are also ten short stories that feature s in the final position of words! Altogether, you will receive 30 different stories in this resource! This variety will ensure your students get exposed to loads of s words! These articulation activities are also great to send home for speech therapy homework! We know that home practice is critical to our students’ success and I think these worksheets are ideal for carryover at home!
Sound-Loaded Stories and Language Skills
As speech-language pathologists, we juggle very busy schedules and it’s not always possible to piece together groups of students who all have the same goals. It’s so helpful to have activities that can address articulation and language. It just saves so much time and energy! These short stories can easily be used as language worksheets! Here are just a few of the language skills you can use these worksheets to address:
- WH questions
- listening comprehension
- grammar (identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, past tense, etc)
- comparing/contrasting (find two items in the story to compare)
- describing (describe the character or items in the story)
Use S Articulation Stories Printables for Literacy Skills
There are so many benefits for incorporating sound-loaded stories in your speech therapy practice! The major benefit is that when you’re using these articulation activities, you are also indirectly working on your student’s literacy skills. Here are some of the literacy skills you’re hitting when using these activities:
- reading fluency
- phonemic awareness (identifying the sound in the initial, medial, and final positions)
- vocabulary
- phonics
- comprehension
Sound-Loaded S Stories Conclusion
These sound-loaded stories are not only great to use with students with articulation disorders, but also children with language impairments! They can truly be used across school environments – the speech therapy room, special education classroom, or the regular education classroom! These printable pages contain stories that address initial, medial, and final sounds!
Where to find these articulation stories?
The Speech is Sweet Club
S Articulation Stories Packet
Articulation Stories Later Sounds Bundle – saves 20%
Articulation Stories Super Mega Bundle – saves 30%
Looking for more S articulation resources?! Check out these blog posts:
S Articulation Crafts
S-Blends Articulation Crafts
S-Blends Articulation Stories
Thank you for visiting my blog! Have a wonderful day!
