How To Avoid Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Chaos- Ideas That Work

Mixed groups speech therapy sessions can feel like mayhem. However, if you’re a school SLP, running a mixed group is something you’re going to encounter. Caseload sizes and tricky schedules often mean that SLPs don’t have the luxury of always running individual sessions. In this article, we’ll discuss tried-and-tested tricks that make running a mixed group a little calmer and a lot more effective.

The Struggle of Running Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Sessions

First, let’s acknowledge that running a mixed group in speech therapy is no easy feat.

Our students are working on individualized goals- and that means, one student sitting at the table might be working on articulation, and the other might be working on language.

We’re talking targeting s-blends and prepositions, final consonant deletion and verbs, all at the same time.

SLPs are also managing behaviors and providing leveled support.

This is something I really struggled with when I went from being an outpatient pediatric SLP to a school SLP. I was used to working individually with patients, so this didn’t come easily.

But when I took the time to reflect on any of my failed mixed group speech therapy sessions, I realized the one thing they all lacked: structure.

And that’s when I realized: the goal wasn’t trying to run mini-lessons simultaneously.

It was learning how to incorporate an anchor activity- or a shared activity– that would allow me to target a variety of objectives easily.

So let’s review 4 easy steps to simplify mixed groups.

Step One: Choose An Anchor Activity for Your Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Session

What exactly is an anchor activity?

It is something that everyone participates in.

An anchor activity could be a shared visual, experience, or even routine.

It can provide the framework for your session: it’s your foundational building block.

Let’s break down a few different anchor activities that SLPs could try in a mixed group.

Oh, and by the way- each anchor activity will pair perfectly with my free language therapy prompt generator. This tool tells you what to ask and how to vary your responses. It supports planning without overthinking. Go ahead and give it a try.

Read a Book

I love to use books in speech therapy (check out my children’s book list recommendations here).

Don’t be afraid of searching for a read-aloud on YouTube if you don’t have access to the physical book!

Books are wonderful because they naturally target a variety of communication goals.

You can easily target objectives like articulation, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension.

Everyone in the group listens to the same story.

So go ahead and make your tissue box Old Lady. Your students will love feeding her (keeping littles engaged with interactive elements during a read-aloud is key), and it’s a great way to start your session.

Try a Picture Scene

This involves a simple Google image search.

Look up “playground scene”, “park scene”, “zoo scene”, or “ocean scene”.

You could print out the page and laminate it (a Play-Doh smash mat).

Or, you could simply display it on a screen.

You could even add the image to a Google Slides presentation.

Picture scenes are an easy way to target spatial concepts, describing, creating sentences, and more.

Find a Video

There are so many options available online!

You could go on YouTube and find a walking tour– maybe walking through a castle, or even to a different country. Please preview videos ahead of time to make sure they are appropriate for your students. I wanted to provide a link to give you ideas.

San Diego Zoo has live animal cameras– and there are multiple animals to choose from. You can pause the video and ask questions like, “What’s the polar bear doing?” and “What do you think the polar bear will do next?”

Monterey Bay Aquarium also has a live open sea cam.

National Park Service also offers live webcams to view animals and nature.

Explore.org also has you covered with lots of live camera options.

Movement Activities

Sometimes, movement is really the best option.

This could be doing a few simple yoga poses to start off the session, or it could even be an obstacle course.

Your student could walk along a taped path, step on colored floor spots, then return to the table.

Beginner-friendly yoga poses could involve balancing on one foot, a star pose (arms and legs out), and a tree pose (one foot is up and hands are together).

Try this speech and language activity that incorporates story retell with yoga.

Student-Friendly Articles for Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Sessions

You could also use an article as an anchor activity.

DOGO News is specifically geared towards kids, and has articles that cover animals, science, current events, and other fun topics.

Time for Kids is another great option, featuring short, high-interest articles that you can use to target lots of articulation or language goals.

Everyone reads the same article together, and then you can focus on a specific goal for each student.

Play a Game

Look, there is nothing wrong with grabbing Candy Land or Pop the Pig.

Sometimes, a game is the easiest way to motivate my students.

Plus, we can work on skills like turn-taking. I can hand them their own articulation cards or language targets to practice before taking a turn.

Often, the simpler the session, the better it ends up.

So this is me telling you not to feel guilty for grabbing a game board and rolling with it.

Step Two: Choose the Goals You Want To Target

Your student might have four or five goals- but when I’m running a mixed group, I like to choose 1 (or occasionally 2) goals to target per student.

Simplify things.

Focus intensely on one or two goals for that session, for each student.

Fewer goals equals better learning.

Trying to target too many goals can lead to overwhelm and shallow practice.

Remember: you don’t have to target everything in today’s session.

Once you’ve chosen your anchor, you can see which goals can pair best with it.

If you have one student working on s-blends and you’ve chosen an Old Lady story, really highlight the word “swallowed” while you read.

Your other student might be working on comprehension goals- you can target those naturally while you read as well.

How To Take Data While Running a Mixed Group

I typically do one of two things.

I use my data collection sheets, and have them printed out and in front of me during the activity. These are available in my SLP Planner.

Another great option is the group data collection tool. This is a simple tracker that runs in your browser. No data is stored or saved, so you will need to transfer that data to your printed data collection sheet after the session. But this tool is absolutely perfect to help you manage the chaos.

Step Three: Choose a Companion Activity

This is where I get more specific with individual goals.

I often use following directions worksheets, dauber sheets, simple crafts, cut-and-paste activities, sentence strips, articulation cards, or anything that allows me to hone in on the goals I’m trying to target.

The companion activity can be a support for the anchor.

It can be helpful for some groups to mix things up motion-wise. Some kids may need movement after sitting for a story. So this might mean we listen to the story while seated at the table. Then, we move to the floor and roll a ball back-and-forth while we practice our target sounds or individual goals.

Step Four: Provide Structure During Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Sessions

Structure is what has helped keep my mixed groups from falling apart.

Many of my students benefit from visual reminders, clear turns, and a predictable order of events.

I like to use a visual schedule when running mixed groups.

You can use my free mini digital visual schedule tool.

Here’s how:

Create a schedule by clicking on the choices you would like to add (this isn’t a drag and drop).

Once you’ve clicked on the choices, select “focus mode”.

Click on each item after completing it.

Exit focus mode when you’ve finished the session.

What I Don’t Do In Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Sessions

Based on my own trial-and-error (and multiple failures), here’s a recap of things I don’t do when running mixed groups.

First, I don’t try to target ALL the goals. It’s impossible. I pick one, and occasionally two, goals per student.

Second, I don’t try to run mini-lessons. We all do the same anchor activity, and I’ll individualize from there.

And finally, I try my best to go with the flow. Sometimes things won’t go exactly as planned. That’s why the digital visual schedule is so nice, because you can adjust it as needed on the fly.

These Mixed Groups Worksheets Can Also Be Great

Need a back-up plan for those messy days?

Be sure to check out my Mixed Group Bundle, which features no-prep worksheets that offer a simple solution to mixed groups.

If you have a student working on a specific articulation target, the worksheet will use those articulation words to target language goals.

The articulation words provided are nouns and verbs. They are placed in the center of the page.

SLPs can then choose which language target to address on the printable.

Do Mixed Groups Still Feel Confusing? Start Here

If you’re still a little bit unsure about how to run a mixed group, just remember these ideas:

1. Choose an anchor activity
2. Aim to target one goal per student
3. Think of one simple way to structure your session (it could literally be “book” then “worksheet”)

You don’t need to plan anything elaborate. Of course, you can if you want to.

But if that stresses you out, don’t panic. Your session can still be just as effective with a game of Crocodile Dentist paired with cards.

Watch this example on TikTok of a session I planned for a mixed group in October.

My anchor activity was a book, “It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!” by Laura Numeroff.

To keep my students engaged during the read-aloud, we drew faces on the pumpkins.

My “companion activity” that specifically targeted objectives were play doh smash mats.

Want to do these activities with your students? Grab the speech therapy book companion here.

@thepedispeechie_slp Fall is here! We read It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse in speech therapy. Here are the activities we paired with the book #slpsoftiktok #speechtherapy #speechlanguagepathologist ♬ original sound – Speech Therapy Ideas

4 Simple Ideas for Running Mixed Groups Speech Therapy Sessions

In conclusion, we discussed 4 simple steps to consider when running mixed groups in speech therapy.

1. Choose an anchor activity- such as a book, picture scene, video, movement activity, news article, or game. Everyone does this together- it is a shared activity.
2. Identify one goal (or possibly two goals) per student that you want to target this session.
3. Choose a companion activity- such as a dauber page, worksheets, or cards- that can let you individualize and target specific objectives with each student. If desired, use the group data collection tool to take data.
4. Structure your session easily using the free digital visual schedule tool.