Group Therapy - Fifth Graders

 

Date of Observation: 12/2/2024

Setting: Classroom

On the Master Clinician Network, I observed a group therapy session with five 5th graders: Amari, Gabriel, Carston, Kalene, and Juan. The clinician, Carlee Lewis, led the session in a round table setting. The clients collaborated and were actively engaged in the session. The speech-language pathologist's role was to focus on scholarly language and insightful thinking.

Materials used: Individual paper copies of the story that was discussed.

Goals:

The primary aim of this session was to provide a space to practice conversational strategies that keep discussions going, such as paraphrasing others' points or connecting ideas. This included making meaningful contributions to discussions, actively listening, and using academic language to build on others' ideas.

Impression:

This session highlighted effective collaborative strategies for promoting communication and critical thinking. Ms. Lewis skillfully created a lively learning environment that encouraged the clients to engage thoughtfully, make inferences, and contribute productively. She did a great job teaching and guiding the clients to enhance their conversational and academic language skills. Moreover, the session was well-structured, flexible, and highly effective.

What I learned:

This video offered valuable insights into effective strategies for facilitating academic conversations, particularly with young clients developing expressive language. I learned the importance of making cognitive processes explicit to help clients understand and articulate their ideas. Carlee Lewis demonstrated how guiding clients to think inferentially and use academic language can enhance their conversational and critical thinking skills.

I appreciate the complexity of the story that was analyzed during this session. The story incorporates forgiveness, betrayal, trust, depression, and growth. I was particularly impressed by how Ms. Lewis used structured routines to encourage her clients to build on each other's ideas and self-evaluate their participation using a rubric. These practices foster accountability and collaborative learning while promoting a deeper understanding of the material. The emphasis on scholarly language and attentive listening was essential for helping clients develop higher-level conversational skills. I noticed the effectiveness of asking open-ended questions and building on the responses that are provided. 

Ms. Lewis used phrases like “I’m hearing Kalene say… I think what Juan is saying is…

Amari, talk more about this…What does this story teach us?” to guide her clients in sustaining meaningful dialogue.

Overall, this video reinforced the value of intentional strategies, such as using open-ended questions, text-based references, and inclusive directives, to create an engaging and productive learning environment. These approaches align well with the goals of speech-language pathology, particularly in empowering clients to communicate effectively and think critically.

Question:

I'm interested in how clinicians determine the right time to introduce new conversational skills or strategies to their young clients. What signs or indicators do clinicians use to know when it's appropriate to progress to more advanced techniques?

By observing how well clients have mastered foundational skills, clinicians can determine if their clients are ready to handle more complex discussions. Good indicators include the client's ability to stay on topic, engage in basic conversation strategies, and show an emerging understanding of academic language and inferential thinking. Once they demonstrate readiness, I can build on these abilities by introducing strategies that require deeper analysis and more advanced interactions.

Reference: https://www.greatspeech.com/the-benefits-of-group-speech-therapy-for-children/

Final presentation link: bit.ly/slpenthusiast