How to Use Articulation Station for Language Therapy

As school-based SLPs, we really have to be able to make the most of our resources. We don’t often have the time (or the money) to prepare materials for every possible goal. That’s when the creativity sets in. How can we use what we have to target all of our students’ goals? Articulation Station is the perfect app for this. Not only is it my favorite app for articulation (read more here!), but–with a few quick hacks–it also became a “go-to” resource for language.

Why even try? Good question. There are plenty of language apps out there. I was motivated to use Articulation Station because…

It’s my “go-to” app for articulation.

The graphics are beautiful. The real images are absolutely perfect for language activities.

It’s easier to stay in one app when working with mixed groups. The app’s group feature is amazing!

The app also makes it very easy to take data.

Many of my students have articulation and language goals. I love being able to target multiple goals within one activity.

Two Hacks

1. A Custom List

You can create your own word lists in the app! If you’re targeting action words, make a list of actions. This can take some time, but it can be a therapy activity in and of itself! “Is this an action word?”

Some other ideas?

Categories: Animals, Food, Colors

Parts of Speech: Nouns, Verbs *

Click here to find out how to make your own lists.

* NOTE: The app only includes nouns. However, there are many pictures of nouns in action (e.g., The lion is walking.). This wouldn’t be the quickest list to create, but it’s an option!

2. Custom Images

Just read an awesome book in therapy? Snap some pictures and add them to Articulation Station.

Click here to find out how to add your own images.

The Good News

You don’t have to “hack” Articulation Station to make this work. You can pick any list of works and still use them to target a variety of goals.

Activity Ideas

Goal 1: Categories

This one is easy! Have students identify which category an item is in. Articulation Station includes images of food, people, animals, places, etc. Exactly the types of categories we target in therapy! I just pick a sound, and we’ll go through the images and identify which group each item is in.

Another option! You can create a custom list of food, animals, places, etc. if you’re working on having students identify the items in that category.

Goal 2: Describing

You can take categories one step further! Use the Expanding Expression Tool to describe the pictures.

Goal 3: Compare/Contrast

The matching game is perfect for this skill! I have students tell me how the pictures they chose are the same and/or different. I use my Compare/Contrast Skill Pack with students who need extra visual support.

Goal 4: Following Directions/Basic Concepts

Have students tell each other which cards to turn over in the matching game. This is a perfect way to target those basic concepts (e.g., top, bottom, next to, under) and directions!

Goal 5: Grammar

You can have students generate sentences about the pictures. Use some sentence strips to increase student independence and to practice a variety of structures.

You could also use the unique sentences with older students who are working on identifying the subject/predicate or parts of speech.

Goal 6: Comprehension

Articulation Station includes two levels of stories. Level 1 includes a sentence with pictures of the key vocabulary words. (Perfect when you’re working on visualization as a comprehension strategy!) Level 2  includes a short paragraph (~6 sentences). You can have students read these passages. The best part? Each passage is followed be a few comprehension questions with a field of three choices. Pretty cool!

Goal 7: Fluency/Stuttering

The different levels are also perfect for fluency practice! You can give students the opportunity to use their fluency strategies while saying words, phrases, and sentences, eventually moving on to the passages.

Can you think of any other ways to use Articulation Station for language? Share your ideas in the comments!

All in all, this is a perfect solution for those mixed articulation/language groups. It gives me an opportunity to focus on drill with my articulation students, while still providing rich language practice for the other students. The app itself is very motivating for students, which increases engagement, as well!