Why should I use carrier phrases?
Sentence starters help to increase mean length of utterance. Students feel success knowing they can read many of the words in the phrases, even if they are non-readers, the repetition of the phrases quickly makes them readers! They often want to self select a carrier phrase strip to use yielding engagement in the activity.
How can I use carrier phrases?
I use my handy ring of carrier phrase sentence starters with almost any activity I’m using in therapy. Here are some easy ideas:
- Pair with a story read aloud for targeting grammatical structures (He has... They are...), labeling (I see... I found...) and categorizing and describing (A...is (a type of)... A...is/has (attributes)... A...can (function)...).
- Pair with articulation cards to move to the phrase and sentence level during therapy. I don’t often wait to use my carrier phrases. Once a target can be used correctly at the word level, we are quickly trying a carrier phrase!
- Pair with vocabulary cards for labeling (I have... It is...) or describing (A...is/has (attributes)...).
- Pair with mini objects for labeling (I found... I see...) or describing (using the interactive pieces).
- Use during group conversations to aid communication attempts (I like... He is... I want... Can I...)
Where can I get a set of carrier phrases?
Getting your own set of carrier phrases to use in all your speech therapy sessions is free and easy. Don’t miss out on downloading this free resource to aid in expanding student utterances! Simply click here to sign up to download this must have resource.
