Our first ever segment on Practically Sharing comes from Figuratively Speeching an awesome blog written by Jessica Schulman! She's a dynamo SLP and will be sharing with us her expertise on life skills therapy!
Hi! My name is Jessica, from Figuratively Speeching SLP, and I am so excited to be guest-blogging on Practically Speeching. I have been providing speech therapy for 18 years, and have worked with children from birth through age 21, as well as with adults. This year, I primarily treat High School students enrolled in Life Skills classes. They have life skills classes in the morning, focusing on math, reading and writing for life, and go out to work placements or BOCES classes in the afternoon.
While most of my sessions are pull outs, I do have the opportunity to collaborate with the teacher and provide push-in services once weekly. One of the life skills we are currently addressing is shopping. My students know what they prefer to eat and have seen their parents prepare meals, but it blew me away when they could not choose pictures of their favorite foods from a store circular. They had no idea how to classify things, if they were found in the meat department, dairy, bread aisle, and so on.
We decided we would end our unit with a trip to the local supermarket, but in order for it to be successful, there were many goals we needed to address:
- First, we had staff members and students bring in empty boxes, cans and bottles. We sorted them into categories (grains, poultry, meat, dairy, health, produce, etc.), and then had the students identify and label the items using pictures of the items, and finally, clip art representations of them.
- Next, students sorted the items that were donated by category. One at a time, items were sorted into regions where the students thought the items should go. After the initial sorting, students were grouped and assigned a region. They were able to regroup items and bring it to another region if they thought it did not belong. The students loved this activity. It kept them up and moving, and helped them learn the different areas of the store.
- After everyone agreed where items should go, we used a supermarket map I created. The kids
- We decided to prepare a shopping list for a party. The students determined the items that needed to be purchased, and then they each made a list, grouping items by aisle.
- We also focused on social skills, such as requesting information about the location of an item, the cost, if they had a particular brand, etc.
- In math, the students were learning about budgeting and coupons, which tied in nicely to our unit.
- Finally, the day for our trip arrived. The student brought their lists, and using a map of the store, found the items needed for their party. We incorporated all of the above skills. The students were well-prepared, and definitely enjoyed the party afterwards!
For some of the supermarket activities I used during this unit, please visit my store. You can download the freebie here. I also have a bundle which includes the Supermarket Sort, Supermarket Bingo, and The Supermarket Name Game.