Here's an Evidence-Based Way to Help Meet Your Students' Vocabulary Goals in Speech-Language Therapy

Repeated Spaced Retrieval is an effective way to target kids' vocabulary goals in speech and language therapy

*free downloads below*

Don't you love it when you come across practical and easy-to-implement tweaks that have a profound effect on your therapy? This happened to me this past week.

I was watching a webinar about developmental language disorder (DLD) and it referenced the well-known fact that kids with DLD generally have lower vocabulary skills than kids with typically developing language; this is because kids with DLD need an average of 36 exposures to a new word before learning it, (https://doi.org/10.1044/lle22.4.131), while kids with typically developing language need 12 or less. Given this need for many more exposures to new words, word learning happens much more slowly for kids with DLD. This logically leads to lower vocabulary skills overall.

(Roughly two students in every classroom have DLD. For six important facts every SLP needs to know about DLD, see this post.)

So it makes sense that many of the students on our caseloads will have vocabulary goals in speech and language therapy. (For some examples of vocabulary goals in speech and language therapy, see this post.)

The practical, easy-to-implement tweak I learned about in the webinar this week is called "Repeated Spaced Retrieval" (RSR); it's an evidence-based way to work on vocabulary goals.

Here's how Repeated Spaced Retrieval works

Word learning happens in three phases:

1. Encoding - when a child learns how to say a new word and what it means

2. Consolidation - when the child integrates the word with other information they already have in their memory (or "brain dictionary" as one of my students calls it!) like words they already know that sound like the new word and things that are semantically related to the new word

3. Retrieval - when the child retains the new word and can access it from their memory

RSR encourages the child to retrieve the word early in the word-learning process. The key to the "spaced" element is to allow enough time to pass between the time you expose the child to the new word and the time you ask them to retrieve, or remember, it; you want to make it challenging but not impossible for the child to retrieve the new word. The 0-2-2 schedule below, where three new words are taught, provides an example of the ideal amount of time for spacing. A 0-3-3 schedule is also commonly used.

Here's an example of the sequence of RSR using a 0-2-2 schedule:

1. give the child the label for the first new word and either show them a picture that conveys its meaning or give a simple definition

2. prompt the child to retrieve the new word, then provide them with immediate feedback about the correct name/pronunciation and picture/definition again (this feedback about pronunciation is especially important because kids with DLD are more prone to mispronounce newly learned words and these mispronunciations will stick)

3. learn 2 more new words (follow steps 1-2 for both)

4. prompt the child to retrieve the first new word again, and provide immediate feedback on the correct name/pronunciation and picture/definition

5. do the same for the other two new words

6. repeat the process one more time

For a visual that shows a 0-3-3 schedule (meaning four new words being taught at the same time), click here.

RSR is especially good at helping kids to remember the phonological form of words, which, as I mentioned, is an area of weakness for kids with DLD. And, reportedly, pairing new words with pictures improves their consistency in retrieving new words and reduces variability in how they will say the new word.

Which brings me to some StoryWhys resources that are perfect for this! StoryWhys has resources that feature tier 2 vocabulary words with images to make RSR a snap. They pair with high-quality storybooks (some are pictured below) that you can probably find in your school library right now! Here's a link to these resources. And note the free download for the tier 2 vocabulary words in the story Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type.

If you'd like to try out a whole book companion that includes a tier 2 vocabulary section (all StoryWhys comprehensive book companions contain tier 2 vocabulary images), try the free, 71-page book companion for the storybook The Big Orange Splot here.

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Have you heard? StoryWhys now offers the Speech and Spell series of resources. I am always trying to tie articulation work and spelling together in my therapy and I've never found any good resources out there to help me do this. So I made my own! Many more speech sounds and spelling rules to come. They'll be 50% off for 48 hrs when new resources are added to the StoryWhys store. Find them here.

Did you know book companions can be among the best speech therapy materials for elementary students? Explore all of the StoryWhys book companions for speech therapy in the store. You'll find comprehensive book companions that target many different language skills or Spotlight Series book companions that focus on one type of skill, all using high-quality, beloved storybooks.

And get your FREE, 71-page book companion for speech therapy on the Free Download page.

Enjoy!