ReadWriteThink.org

ReadWriteThink.org has excellent interactive student materials. Here are some of my favorites and a couple of ideas on how to use them in therapy:

1. Essay Map- Essay Map is an interactive sequencing tool to plan a topic by introduction, ideas, supporting details, and conclusion. The steps are very linear and can be printed out. Awesome visual support tool. I am going to use it with my students to organize their thoughts and written work.

2. Literacy Elements Map-Graphic organizer tool to make character, setting, conflict, and resolution maps. Question prompts are provided to give students a guide for what kind of information to enter. Graphic organizers can be printed for future use. Good visual tool and excellent prompts for story element development.

4. Picture Match-I think this game is fantastic! Students can practice matching pictures to their beginning sound, short vowel, or long vowel sounds. Great for phonemic awareness! Teachers can select the letters/sounds that the students need to develop. The directions are easy to understand, the voice is clear, and students are given good feedback. The activity is mistake tolerant, and students can print out their work when completed.

5. Printing Press- This interactive activity has templates for creating newspapers, booklets, flyers, and brochures. Students can use Printing Press to create a class or speech therapy newsletter, make a flyer to invite other classes or parents to a school play or activity, or develop a brochure with detailed instructions on how to play a game. All activities have instructions for printing and folding the final product. I plan to use this tool with one of my students who is working on pragmatic goals. He is going to practice interacting with others to improve his ability to interpret nonverbal cues, decrease interruptions, and stay on topic by conducting interviews for the school paper. The student will plan the interview questions using ReadWriteThink's Essay Map. After the interview, he will use Printing Press to write his interview in an article format.

Student Materials Index:
http://readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp