If you landed an ESY position to provide therapy services you may realize you don’t have summer materials. There’s a limited time to provide therapy to these students (due to the short summer session and classroom schedule) so group activities might be the best route to take. However, the range of skills and types of goals can make this difficult. I have some tips to make your summer material planning less complicated and effective in targeting goals in a mixed group. 

• If you are not the treating therapist during the school year, reach out to that therapist and see if they are willing to send what they use. 
• Have the first session be a sort of an Ice Breaker activity (whether the students can provide this, the staff, or even reach out to their parents) to find out their favorite songs, afterschool activities, summer vacations with families, etc. This is so you can incorporate it into therapy. ESY should be fun and light!
• I enjoy creating a Google Doc (or PowerPoint) of images with summer themed short stories, articles, and pictures that are generic enough for any student or group. This may be a great way to gauge skillsets and interests of students you don’t work with during the school year. 
• Find fun colorful images of objects and activities we typically see in the summer (e.g., items we need to pack for the beach, a family road trip, summer camp). Each image can discuss functions, actions, verb tenses, adjectives, opinions, syntax, pragmatics and initiate conversations for a mixed group.
• Check out FREE therapy materials at TPT https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse?search=free%20summer%20speech%20therapy
• Research blogs that have links to freebies and fun ideas such as https://telepracticetools.com/summer-themed-telepractice-activities/, https://ausomespeech.com/2023/05/31/speech-therapy-ideas-for-summer-and-extended-school-year/,   and https://seldomspeechless.com/category/treatmentideas/extended-school-year/
• Refer to ChatGPT by stating your exact needs. This tool can be useful at creating stories, target word lists, and ideas for activities. 

Overall, make it fun. These students likely need a summer vacation just as much as you do. While ESY is important to help prevent regression, it should still be fun. The more fun you have, the more engaged they’ll be. So be sure to make your sessions interactive, enjoyable, and stress-free.