Probe students access speech and language strategies in unique way

It’s not everyday when students learn speech and language strategies during a visit to their local pool.
On Tuesday afternoon, however, Lethbridge School Division Speech Language Pathologist, Amanda Ward-Sutherland, jumped into the water at Nicholas Sheran Leisure Centre Pool to work with students from Dr. Probe Elementary School.
“This is the first time that I am doing this in a pool,” said Ward-Sutherland. “However, we did used to have Family Oriented Programming Sessions with our Kindergarten students every year near the end of the school year and would do similar activities. This is the first time that I have been invited on a school-age field trip, and it is just a wonderful time to model the strategies that I use with students.”
For Ward-Sutherland, Tuesday’s water-based activities gave her an opportunity to work with students in a new way.
“I am always recommending ways to incorporate the strategies into everyday routine when I provide them to families and teachers,” she said. “This is just one way that I can model using the Expanding Expression Tool (EET), which is a teaching tool designed to help students organize their thoughts and give informative descriptions and definitions about objects and experiences.”
The EET uses visual and tactile cues to guide students with their thinking process when completing oral and written language activities. Dr. Probe ordered its own EET kit to use with students.
I am hoping to introduce this tool to all students, including the ones on my caseload who are familiar with this tool, and to model the use of this tool in a fun activity,” said Ward-Sutherland. “The point of using this tool is to expand the words that students know and use, and to show them how we can use this tool in a fun and exciting activity.”

Pool party!