‘Play’ Plays Big Part in Speech Class Success

Stop by Savannah Hawley’s corner of Heritage Early Childhood School on any given day and your visit will double as a trip to the bakery, laundromat, an ice cream shop, the doctor’s office or the police station. Beneath the surface of the speech language pathologist’s regular rotation of themed play stations is a very intentional strategy to help each of her students achieve their own personal speech goals. 

“It’s not just play. There’s so much more to it,” said Hawley, who believes so strongly in a play-based model for speech therapy that she completely overhauls her classroom at least once a month to keep her kids engaged and actively practicing the skills they are learning. In fact, according to Hawley, simple play is the best way for young learners to develop their language acquisition skills. 

Everything from the station’s props to interactions among Hawley and her students are intentionally planned to help her students tackle the specific speech-related goals in their individualized education plan (IEP). While one student might be focusing on their “r” sound by reading items on the menu that include that sound, for example, another might be practicing receptive skills like understanding different contextual meanings of the same words or how to follow directions. Another student might be working on their expressive skills like using forming full sentences or taking turns. 

“I try to think of each station as a way for them to master life skills,” said Hawley, explaining that the approach is also referred to as “generalizing skills,” or learning to apply them to real world scenarios. “I want them to be functional and independent in their daily life, so it’s about making it as realistic as possible.” 

For Hawley, the approach works because her intricate stations literally mimic an interaction they will likely face back in their classroom, at home or out in the community. This makes it easier to apply a concept they learned and practiced in the traditional “drill-based” model she uses to deliver instruction to her students before play begins. 

According to Hawley, it also works because her students are very cognizant of their individual goals - and what it’s going to take to reach them. They are taught and practice the content in all different formats, then given the opportunity to use whichever one works best for them. Such ownership by students is a critical element for offering a truly personalized learning experience. 

When it comes to dreaming up the schedule of stations, Hawley’s imagination is not the only thing guiding the final product. Stations like the farmers market and dentist are intentionally selected to tie in with themes of the general curriculum. When students are studying plants in science and community helpers in social studies, for example, Hawley sees speech as just one more way to reinforce those concepts. The same is true when collaborating with her students’ intervention specialists; it’s no coincidence that they are using many of the same vocabulary terms and strategies even when working separately with a shared student. 

“It takes a lot of planning and coordination,” Hawley says, “but it really is worth it.” 

Hawley is quick to point to a playhouse that her dad built her as a child as the launching point for her professional philosophies and her aspirations to add even more complex stations in future years like a construction site and mechanic shop, for example. “I love seeing them get excited to do something that doesn’t involve a screen,” says Hawley, who always loved playing house, restaurant or anything that involved make-believe. 

But even more exciting than “appeasing her inner child” is seeing a student so naturally pick up on the skill they’ve struggled to master outside of speech class. “It just clicks for them and it’s such a great feeling knowing you’ve helped them get there,” Hawley said.