Wordless Videos
If you could only have one therapy tool in your toolbox, what would it be? For me, it would undoubtedly be wordless videos. Animated shorts are invaluable and can be used with kids of all ages and language levels. I’ve sung the Literacy Shed’s praises before and I will gladly do it again. The Literacy Shed is my go-to website for wordless videos. The videos are broken down by category so you can easily find the type of video (e.g., adventure, holiday, etc.) you are looking for. What’s even better is that each video is accompanied by teaching ideas. Check it out - you won’t regret it!
Here are just some of the ways in which I incorporate wordless videos within my therapy sessions:
Engagement: Wordless videos are a wonderful way to engage kids who may not be attending to other activities presented. While I’m not a proponent of using a wordless video to engage a child for an entire therapy session, they are a great tool to have in your back pocket when you need to switch it up and get the child you’re working with excited.
Use of core vocabulary with an emerging communicator: Videos are a great way to target use of core vocabulary with both early verbal communicators and emerging Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users. When watching a video, you can periodically stop the video and pause to see if your child will request to continue watching using words like “go” or “more.” Additionally, these videos provide a great way to target requesting assistance. After discreetly turning the volume up or down, you can model other core vocabulary words to ask for help, such as “help,” “turn,” “up,” and/or “down.”
Narrative language: I most frequently use wordless videos for kids who have narrative language goals. First of all, kids are often more motivated to summarize events within a video than a book. They may not even realize they are doing “work” if goals are being addressed within the context of a video. Additionally, animated shorts provide an awesome way to transition to a less structured format to target narrative formulation. While sequencing cards or simple picture books have more structure embedded within them, wordless videos are a more challenging form of narrative formulation given the absence of words and static pictures. As a result, I usually incorporate graphic organizers as a visual support as children learn to produce organized narratives that incorporate key story grammar elements (e.g., character, setting, problem, solution, etc.).
Answering wh- questions (i.e., who, what, where, when, why, how): These films include so many different people, places, and things. This lends itself to opportunities to target answering basic “wh-” questions, such as “What is he doing?” or “Where did they go?”.
Commenting and asking questions: For kids that have conversation goals, you can utilize these videos to foster making comments (e.g., “I like it”), exclamations (e.g., “Bummer!”), and asking questions (e.g., “What will happen next?”). I’ve used wordless videos quite frequently in group therapy to address these types of goals!
Making inferences and predictions: Fewer words equate to more inferences! You’d be surprised at how many inferences you can draw from a 4-minute video. I especially love animated shorts for making inferences as it pertains to emotions. You can pause the video when a particular character’s face is front and center, discuss their facial expression (e.g., smiling, eyebrows up, etc.) and body language (e.g., slumped shoulders, hands on cheeks, etc.), and talk about events leading up to that particular moment to infer how the character is feeling and why they are feeling that way. In a similar manner, we can also make predictions about what is going to happen next. This not only encourages kids to get creative, but ties those narrative language formulation goals back in!
Descriptive language and vocabulary: I frequently pause when watching these videos and model use of descriptive language. For example, I often talk about how the music sounds or use specific adjectives to describe what the character looks like. If the child has a goal pertaining to synonyms or antonyms, you can naturally incorporate that throughout the activity. I might say, “This monster looks scary. Can you think of another word for scary?”
Breaks: Kids will work for these videos! If you need a quick 2- to 3-minute reinforcer, look no further than a wordless video!
Home practice: Last but certainly not least, parents are always looking for activities to complete at home that will improve a child’s speech and language skills. I’ve recently started using EdPuzzle, which allows you to import a video from YouTube or another website and embed comments and either open-ended or multiple choice questions throughout. For emerging AAC communicators, you can embed comments throughout the video with suggestions on which words a communication partner can model on the child’s AAC system. For a child working on answering “wh-” questions, you can customize the video to embed questions that are relevant to the child’s goals.
