I got the first glimpse of autumn this week, and I couldn’t be happier! The crisp autumn air has started to roll in near me, and I can’t wait to see the leaves on the ground. It’s the perfect time of year to refresh your speech therapy toolbox with seasonal fun! Imagine the excitement on your students’ faces as they step into your room, ready to dive into fun, fall-themed activities that don’t just entertain but also enhance their language skills. Continue reading to learn about fun September speech therapy lesson plans you can add to your bag of tricks.
September offers many opportunities to add lessons that make speech therapy sessions enjoyable, from apple-picking adventures to pirate-themed stories. I’ve compiled some fun resources, including some for 9/11 Patriot Day, to make your speech therapy activities easier this month. Let’s explore some engaging and practical plans that will have your students chatting away like never before!
Grab the free download to print the September therapy plans at the bottom of this post.
Table of Contents
Week 1: Football
During the first week of the month, we focus on the fun of football and sports. We use exciting read-alouds about the game of football and use the sport to practice our language and articulation skills.
BOOKS
The Dog That Stole Football Plays: This story is about a boy whose telepathic dog helps him play football. Mike wonders if using his dog is cheating! Find out how he learns to use his canine companion for good.
Hooray for Fly Guy!: Flies can’t play football, or can they? Fly Guy is determined to play football. Join him as he tries to tackle his teammates and make a touchdown pass!
ARTICULATION
Articulation 50 Trials (footballs): Each time a child says the correct target word during your session, let them mark a space on these fall-themed trial cards. They are a fun way to track progress in speech!
LANGUAGE
Dice & Dot- Football Craft: This craft helps students with their target words and they end up with an adorable craft to display afterward.
Week 2: Patriot Day/ 911 remembrance
During the week of 9/11, invite your students to learn about this patriotic day. Read books and complete activities that show them how heroic the people involved were.
BOOKS
Fireboat: The Harvey Fireboat was the city’s fastest and largest fireboat. Eventually, it had to be retired. One September day, its services are needed again!
Saved by the Boat: September 11th was tragic, and many seaboats were needed to help put out the vast fires. Read this story to explain how boats helped reduce those flames.
ARTICULATION
Articulation 50 Trials (flags): Use these flag-themed trial cards to track progress! Kids will love the new theme each week as they improve their articulation.
LANGUAGE
Patriot Day Lap Book: This lap book is a great activity for September. It can help students learn about Patriot Day and work on new vocabulary words.
How to Write (I Can Be a Good Citizen): Use these writing prompts to build a sense of community. Students will write about how they can be excellent citizens in and out of the classroom.
Week 3: Talk Like a Pirate Week
Every child likes to talk like a pirate! Let them have some fun this week with pirate-themed activities and articulation practice. It’s the perfect week for your September speech therapy lesson plans.
BOOKS
How to be a Pirate: Learn all about what it takes to be a pirate on a boat. Discover the lingo and how to act to be a real-life pirate!
The Pirates Next Door: Everyone is in awe when some pirates move in next door! They’ve buried treasures in the yards, and everyone wants to find them.
Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map: Pete has found a treasure map, but can he find the treasure? Join him and his friends as they sail the seas, searching for the lost chest!
ARTICULATION
Pirate Match & Say: Students can act like pirates as they search for the word and say it correctly!
Pirate Quick Play Articulation: This is a quick game to play during sessions to practice articulation skills. Students make their way around the board, saying the words as they go.
Pirate Build-A-Face: Invite kids to roll a die and create a silly pirate face while practicing language skills. The completed face makes a great bulletin board display or trophy to take home.
Pirates Narrative Notes: The cheat sheets show you all the articulation and language to work on in the read-alouds above!
LANGUAGE
Read & Review: Pirate Book Companion: Use these book companion printables to guide your lessons as you read the stories above.
Pirate Green Screen: Make the world of pirates come to life with this fun green screen. Kids will find it hilarious to be on a boat finding treasure.
Week 4: Apples
You can’t let September slip by without celebrating the world of apples! This is one of my favorite weeks in the September speech therapy lesson plans!
BOOKS
Applesauce Day: Have an applesauce day and read this book to show kids how to make applesauce and truly enjoy it on a crisp, fall day.
Apples: Learn about apples and how they grow using real-life pictures the kids will love.
ARTICULATION
Articulation 50 Trials (apple): Kids will track their articulation goals using these cute little fall apples!
Apple Dice & Dot: Kids will roll their die and mark the words as they pronounce them. They will work on initial, medial, and final sounds while dotting the apples.
Fall Narrative Notes: Follow along with the book companions and easily see which skills are being tackled in each text!
LANGUAGE
Apple Green Screen: Send kids into the apple orchard with this fun green screen!
Week 5: Community Helpers
Community helpers are everywhere! Introduce several to students while working on language and articulation skills this week.
BOOKS
Firebears the Rescue Team: Join the Firebears as they put out fires and rescue helpless kittens. No job is too big!
Trashy Town: Someone has to clean up the town, and the man for the job is Mr. Gilly. He loves keeping the streets clean!
Whose Hat is This: Have kids look at the hats on the pages to figure out which community helper they are learning about.
Doctor De Soto: Dr. De Soto is a skilled mouse who cleans teeth. When a fox turns up, he and his team have to make sure he doesn’t play any tricks!
Officer Buckle and Gloria: This tale of friendship is about a police officer and his police dog. Students always love the funny things the dog does!
ARTICULATION
Community Helpers Match & Say: Have students match and say the words on the worksheets to improve their language and articulation skills.
Pair these book companions with their books to make your lesson planning days easier. They walk you through the skills used in each book, so you don’t have to search.
- Read & Review: Firebears Book Companion
- Read & Review: Trashy Town Book Companion
- Read & Review: Dentist Book Companion
Back-to School Narrative Notes: Use the notes in this printable to guide your lesson plans. They walk you through the skills touched upon in the books for this week as well other activities.
LANGUAGE
The same activities can be used for the language portion of this week.
- Community Helpers Match & Say
- Read & Review: Firebears Book Companion
- Read & Review: Trashy Town Book Companion
- Read & Review: Dentist Book Companion
- Back-to School Narrative Notes
I hope these September speech therapy lesson plans make your job easier!! You’re doing a fantastic job in the lives of those little ones you help! Keep it up.
Check out these podcast episodes to help decide which books are best for your speech therapy sessions in September:
PODCAST: Our Favorite Pirate Books for Using in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: This or That: Using Three Apple-themed Books in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: Deep Dive: Using Officer Buckle and Gloria in Speech Therapy
Enter your name and email below, and I’ll send you these free September speech therapy lesson plans! The calendar has several spots to add your therapy plans, a to-do list, and a room at the top to write down any screenings or meetings you need to remember for the month.
You can check out the October calendar HERE. Editable templates are also available in my TpT store.
