Richard Simmons + Speech Therapy

What? Did you do a double-take? Yes, I said Richard Simmons + speech therapy. Let me explain. I often do therapy in the school setting in chairs at the table. Obviously. It's school. But I decided to try something a little different and you know what? It resulted in increased language usage, motivation, FUN...and just a little laughter.

*Disclaimer: While this may result in some laughter because these videos are clearly from the 90's, I could possibly be convinced to do this in the privacy of my own home (haha)* 

Step 1: Search "Richard Simmons" videos on YouTube. I think this one is good. It's long, but you can choose 1-2 minute increments to show. 

Step 2: Explain to your students that you will be doing speech therapy but a little differently today. They will be watching a video and then they'll be expected to retell what happened. These are some skills that you could easily target: sequencing, past tense verbs, and prepositions. 

Step 3: Watch the clips that you've selected. Fair warning: you may need to watch it twice, since I'm fairly certain the giggles will prevent them from paying attention the first time. 

Step 4: Retell what happened. Talk about what the people did, where they moved their arms and feet, what order they did things in. 

Clips To Try:
Minutes 2-3: moved arms to side, moved arms to the front, moved arms above head, looked to the side, lunged to the side

Minutes 12-13: moved arms above head, lifted both legs, walked to the front, moved hands up and to the front, lifted up knees, moved to the side, punched to the side, kicked to the side

The above are simply suggestions! It might be fun to hear how your students describe the very fabulous moves! Basically, this gets your kids up and moving (if they want to try the moves) and that's always a plus for me! 

What do you think? Will you try to use this in your therapy room?