Narrative Intervention: Beyond "Cute" Stories and Lesson Plans (with Jane Gebers)

When you’re teaching storytelling with students, do your lessons feel kind of…random?I used to feel like this a lot when I was a school SLP, so if you’ve ever had a “throw spaghetti at the wall” therapy session that felt all over the place, I get it.The truth is, repetition and drill is not the enemy. If you ONLY focus on unstructured activities, you’re probably seeing students getting overwhelmed, not remembering to apply important language skills (like syntax, vocabulary words, etc). But if you ONLY stick with structured activities, kids never get the chance to apply and practice. That’s why leveraging books and story grammar as part of your “therapy toolkit” can be such a powerful tool to bridge this gap…even though many storytelling activities look like simple “cutesy” activities on the surface.(and if you understand the “why” it’s much easier to apply for older kids who are kind of over coming to therapy). In this second half of my interview with my colleague Jane Gebers, we talk about how to use tools like dynamic assessment and narrative intervention to make therapy structured, rigorous, and functional. Jane L. Gebers is the author of the popular resource, Books Are for Talking, Too!, first published in 1990, and now in its 4th edition as of March 2023. A practicing speech-language pathologist for over 40 years, she has worked in public school, hospital, private, and clinical settings. She has been an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s College of California and other universities where she taught Language Development, Assessment, and Intervention courses to students pursuing special education credentials. She currently holds a private practice in Northern California.You can connect with Jane on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-l-gebers-53856119/Email her at [email protected] more about her book, Books Are For Talking, Too! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2SG8J58?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_RR4P3SB19A92WD6FPD3RLearn more about her storytelling resources and speech therapy services on her website here: http://soundingyourbest.com/In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapyI also mentioned the Art and Science of Narrative Language, my program that gives speech pathologists and educational professionals a process for evaluating and supporting narrative language. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/art-science-narratives-blog-297/ Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL and Renaissance:Learn more about Renaissance:As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.