• Shop
    • Speech Therapy
    • Clipart
    • Reviews
    • My Account
  • Free
  • Blog
  • Topics
    • Early Intervention & Preschool
    • Language
    • Social Language
    • Articulation & Phonology
    • Sensory Differences
    • Cleft Lip and Palate
  • Contact
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • 0 items

Allison Fors, Inc.

Speech Therapy Tools for SLPs and Educators

HOW AND WHY TO TEACH CATEGORIES IN SPEECH THERAPY

Categories Speech TherapyWHAT ARE CATEGORIES? WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

Categories are a group or class of items with shared characteristics. We use categories in our daily lives without even realizing it! It’s how we organize our pantry, find a specific item in the store, and recall names of less used words in conversation. Categories are a foundation for how we learn, relate, store, and recall words. 

Categorization is important in language because it gives us a way to group our thoughts, process information, store and retrieve ideas, and describe items! “Arranging thoughts, concepts, and words into categories facilitate meaning, memory, and retrieval” (Roth & Troia, 2005) Categories give a connection between words based upon similarities and differences.

Working on categories is a great way to build and expand vocabulary. Learning new vocabulary by categories allows for better comprehension and retention, and helps “file it away” better for easier recall. Those with language disorders have a difficult time organizing and remembering words, and categorization is a great way to address these difficulties.

EXAMPLES OF TYPES OF CATEGORIES IN DEVELOPMENTAL ORDER:

Preschool – animals, body parts, clothes, shoes, jewelry, colors, letters, shapes, numbers, family members, days of the week, desserts, food, names, rooms of the house, furniture, sounds, toys

Early Elementary – snacks, drinks, dairy foods, vegetables, pets, book parts, buildings, characters, coins, condiments, containers, dinosaurs, directions, emotions, flowers, fruits, holidays, ingredients, instruments, jobs, jungle animals, liquids, months, movies, patterns, planets, punctuation, reptiles, insects, rhyming words, seasons, senses, kitchen utensils, sizes, solids, sounds, sports, transportation, tools, vowels, writing utensils, school supplies

Late Elementary – mythical creatures, adjectives, verbs, parts of speech, school subjects, businesses, cities, states, consonants, countries, continents, currency, exercises, habitats, mammals, measure units, metals, nouns, oceans, odd/even numbers, presidents, punctuation, seasonings, symbols, textures, trees, weather

Middle/High School – adverbs, ancient civilizations, constellations, cuisine, elements, famous landmarks, government types, gasses, gems, internal organs, languages, minerals, mountain ranges, music types, religions, traditions

categoriesspeechtherapy

Download this image for the free!

WAYS TO TARGET CATEGORIES IN SPEECH THERAPY:

When beginning to work on categories, target more concrete concepts then work towards more abstract concepts. Also, keep in mind it’s easier to receptively identify a category compared to expressively naming items in a category.

Convergent naming: Name the category (An apple, orange, and banana are…)

Divergent naming: Listing items in a category (Name 3 types of transportation.)

What goes together: Find 2 or more items that go together and discuss why. Matching is a great way to work on this skill!

What doesn’t belong: Find the item listed that doesn’t belong and discuss why 

Sorting tasks: There are lots of ways to sort. I like using tangible objects when beginning; you can also use pictures. Sort by feature, function, or sort items into 2-3 groups. 

Similarities and differences/comparing and contrasting: Comparing and contrasting allows us to classify words, helping with comprehension, storage, and retrieval. Talk about similarities and differences and use tables or Venn diagrams when appropriate. 

SPECIFIC SPEECH THERAPY RESOURCES:

  • Categories Concepts – Perfect for introducing categories and classes in repetitive, consistent activities that keep kids engaged. No prep, print and go pages (or just open on your device)! Includes naming/expressive, what doesn’t belong, and comparing/contrasting activities.
  • Digital Boom Cards Categories – Digital, self-grading task cards! Includes convergent naming, divergent naming, what doesn’t belong, what goes together, and sorting activities. 
  • No Print Categories – A no print matching activity with 5 categories: sports, holidays, animal habitats, community helpers, and food. 
  • Home Themed Categories – Target home themed categories, associations, vocabulary, and negation with this NO PREP, print and go activity! Includes matching, what doesn’t belong, convergent, and divergent naming activities.
  • Comparing and Contrasting Mazes – Work on more complex similarities and differences with these mazes! Great for higher elementary and middle school. 
  • FREE Category Match Up – A way to work on matching for what belongs together and discussing why.
  • FREE What Doesn’t Belong – A way to work on finding what doesn’t belong and what goes together.
  • Categories with Splingo
  • Category Therapy by Tactus Therapy

How do you work on categories in speech therapy? Tell me in the comments!


Roth, F. P., & Troia, G. A. (2005). Vocabulary instruction for children and adolescents with oral language and literacy deficits. Paper presented at the 2005 Council for Exceptional Children Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD.

 




If you enjoyed this post, please share it!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Share on PinterestShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Email

Categories in Speech Therapy

Related Posts

  • 12 Ways to Use Potato Head in Speech Therapy
  • Nonverbal Communication Skills: Making The Implicit More ExplicitNonverbal Communication Skills: Making The Implicit More Explicit
  • prompt versus cueWhat’s the Difference Between a Prompt and a Cue?

August 24, 2019 allisonfors 3 Comments Filed Under: Speech Resources, Therapy Ideas

8 of the Most Comprehensive Social Skills Apps
Pirate Speech Therapy Activity Ideas

Comments

  1. Carl Green says

    August 26, 2020 at 5:06 pm

    I liked how you mentioned that you should find 2 or more things that go together to help become a better speech therapist. My girlfriend is wanting to become a speech pathologist and she was wondering how she can engage with kids better. I’ll be sure to tell her that she should try grouping things when helping kids with speech pathology.

    Reply
  2. Sara L says

    April 9, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    Hi! I was wondering how you determined what was preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • allisonfors says

      April 15, 2021 at 5:42 pm

      They are based on vocabulary!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi, I'm Allison! A speech & language resource author who loves the creative process of making therapy materials and clipart, as well as connecting with educators world wide. Learn more about me here! Read More…

Echolalia is actually a positive prognostic indica Echolalia is actually a positive prognostic indicator for autistic children! We don’t treat it this way most of the time even though it’s a communicative function for the individual. Instead of ignoring or trying to get a child to stop, we should try to shape the content into meaningful communication by teaching the meaning of the words or modeling appropriate language.
•
Echolalia is a repetition of another person’s spoken words. This often presents in a child quoting favorite movies or repeating a question directed towards them.
•
(Prizant 1987)
Resurfacing this for Better Hearing and Speech Mon Resurfacing this for Better Hearing and Speech Month 👄🗣🧠👂🏼 

What are you!? Tag a friend!👇
Common Diacritics for Cleft Affected Speech 👇👇👇

Nasal emission: The audible release of bursts of air through the nose during speech while producing a consonant that requires a buildup of air pressure.

Nasal turbulence: The escape of air through the nasal cavity, but it is perceived as turbulent, a snort or nasal rustle.

Dentalized: When the tip of the tongue is pushed against the back of the upper teeth.

Hypernasailty: A condition when air flows through the nasal passage during voiced consonants and vowels causing too much nasal resonance. It may or may not be audible.

Hyponasality: A condition when there is not enough nasal resonance on nasal sounds due to a blockage in the nasopharynx or nasal cavity.

Fronted: When a sound produced in the back of the mouth is replaced with a sound made in the front of the mouth.

Backed: When a sound produced in the front of the mouth is replaced with a sound made in the back of the mouth.

Save this post to reference later!
SPEECH VS LANGUAGE. BHSM seems like a good time to SPEECH VS LANGUAGE. BHSM seems like a good time to share this again. 

Oh how many times I’ve explained these two terms! Do you find yourself breaking down the difference between speech and language?

This graphic is in the Free SLP Handouts download. 🔗 allisonfors.com/speech-therapy-handouts/
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month! Now if onl May is Better Hearing and Speech Month! Now if only there was an easy way to explain alllll the aspects of speech-language pathology! 👄🦻🏻
Want to know what the most horrific/best thing I e Want to know what the most horrific/best thing I ever did in therapy was?
Video myself.
😳😳😳
I realized I wasn’t giving enough wait time for my students. Turns out what feels like eternity after you ask a question, is really half a second. 😂 It took a lot of retraining to be ok with the quiet and not try to fill every moment with a teaching opportunity. Try counting to 10 before you jump in!

Have you ever filmed yourself in therapy? What was your biggest takeaway? 
If you’ve never done it or it’s been awhile...do it!

Copyright © 2022 · Allison Fors, Inc. · Hello You Designs

My Account
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy