In this post, I’ll talk about one of my most-utilized SLP tools, Story Champs.  Narrative structures and the ability for students to comprehend and retell stories is very important to their education.  This tool can be very helpful for this skill.  Read on!

What is Story Champs?

Story Champs is a multi-tiered language curriculum that is easy to implement, fast-paced, and powerful. The curriculum targets story structure and complex language features necessary for understanding and producing oral and written language that children need for academic success. Story Champs aligns with the Common Core State Standards and provides schools with the tools necessary to strategically and systematically focus on language.  To find out all of the intervention tool’s specifics, check out their website or these videos that Language Dynamics put together to demonstrate the product in use… take a look:

While they offer a bilingual edition, I will be discussing my use of the English Story Champs 2.0 in this review.

What Story Champs offers – Quick & Dirty:

• RESEARCH-BASED!  Over 20 feasibility and experimental studies have been completed. Here is a Research Synopsis
• Use as young as Pre-K.
• Skills Developed Through Story Champs
  • Listening comprehension/Reading comprehension
  • Answering questions about stories and information
  • Vocabulary & Learning vocabulary from context
  • Complex syntax
  • Oral narrative retelling, personal generation, fictional generation
  • Written narrative retelling, personal generation, fictional generation
  • Information oral retelling & writing
  • Domain knowledge
  • Problem solving
  • Social and emotional aptitude
  • Memory
• Ability to use in large groups, small groups, and individual intervention
• Lesson length of 15-45 minutes
• Designed for use within RtI/MTSS frameworks
• Ideally, a classroom teacher uses the large group lessons while a special educator (e.g., SLP, SpEd teacher)/literacy specialist/paraeducator delivers small group or individual lessons
• In many studies, the dose of Story Champs intervention was small (e.g., only 2X/week for 10 weeks), suggesting that this is a powerful intervention capable of producing robust effects in a short amount time.

Included in the kit (Spoiler alert… it’s EVERYTHING in the picture:

• 12 Classic Stories
  • LEVEL A: basic story structure & LEVEL B: enhanced story structure
• 12 Blitz Stories
  • LEVEL A & B: vocabulary words; vocabulary words from context
  • LEVEL C: causal connections (because, so that)
  • LEVEL D: temporal connections (after, when)
  • LEVEL E: modifiers (adverbs, adjectives)
  • LEVEL F: causal and temporal connections
  • LEVEL G: causal connections and modifiers
  • LEVEL H: temporal connections and modifiers
  • LEVEL I: causal connections, temporal connections and modifiers
  • LEVEL J: advanced story structure
• Illustration Cards (Blackline with some color)
• Icons (color)
• Champ Checks (use with dry-erase markers)
• Story Starter Cards
• Story Games for Small Groups
• Flash Drive
  • Manual and Master Lesson Plans
  • Digital Presentation
  • Printable Files
    • Take Home Activities
    • Classroom Center Activities
    • Story Writing Organizers
    • Info Writing Organizers
    • Pattern Blocks
    • Information Notes
    • Word Journals
    • Spot the Sparkle Posters

How I use it:

I currently work with a population of students coming from lower SES homes, and many are ELL students.  I have found that my students lack narrative skills and struggle with reading/listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, etc.  These skills make it difficult for them to fully access the curriculum.  I have been utilizing Story Champs with my students, K-5, for the end of last school year and the beginning of this year within therapy sessions, typically 1X/week.  We cover 1-2 stories during our time, depending on the skills we are targeting and the student performance.  I utilize the curriculum to target vocabulary, comprehension, retell, and other skills.

What works for us:

This curriculum has been great for my students.  The illustrations are simple and not too busy for them to “digest”.  They are able to see the characters and elements of the story.  The symbols used for each story element is carried throughout the materials and make it easy for students to comprehend the elements and what each means.  We also love the varying activities and printables that can be used with the curriculum. I love how easy the curriculum is to follow.  It’s not complicated and I can pull the intervention box out and use it with zero prep!  My students have not become bored yet with the curriculum because we are able to spice up each lesson with a different game or activity that keeps it fresh.  We have also been able to use many of the manipulatives with other stories we read (books, textbooks, etc.) or videos we watch (e.g. brainpop, flocabulary, etc.).

Suggestions for Improvement:

I love the popsicle sticks manipulative and we use them so much that the icons (stickers) have begun to fade.  I would love extra sheets of stickers and/or more durable material for this part of the product.  Some clearer labeling on the various manipulatives/supplies would help me pick them out faster.  Sometimes I forget what the name of each manipulative is and struggle to find the right one(s) for a lesson.  Of course we would love the ability to buy more stories if we happen to really get through all levels of the current ones.

Is it worth it?

Definitely!  Although it may be difficult to swallow the initial price point of $298, I believe that it is a great investment.  Why is it worth it?  First of all, most materials/tools that SLPs invest in are not proven to be research-based as this tool is.  I can also say that I have not purchased another tool that I have been able to use in individual and group therapy each week, while seeing great results, without my students getting bored.  As SLPs are becoming more involved in RtI, this curriculum is a great resource as it allows for group work as well as individual (my other tools do not allow for this).

Story Champs is a great Tool for SLPs, all school staff involved in RtI, and Speech/Language Therapy sessions targeting multiple goals. I hope this little knowledge party (aka review) was helpful to you.  If you have other questions/comments, add them below!

• The domain of English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical subjects is particularly reliant on a student’s communication competence – the main focus of SLPs’ work.
• The CCSS are intended to serve as academic content standards for all students, including those with IEPs.
• It is the primary responsibility of the teacher, not the SLP, to teach the standards.  But a critical role of the SLP with CCSS is supporting curriculum mastery and areas that CCSS implementation directly relates to their expertise in Language.
• Clinicians can help students develop, access, or use skills and strategies necessary to learn the curriculum.
• CCSS are designed to be implemented by general education teachers but the CCSS also recognize that attainment of the standards requires shared responsibility among educators.
• No single model is recommended universally for collaborative partnerships; the most effective partnerships are generally those that are “locally grown” by teachers and SLPs.

• Educators and School Administrators may not recognize that the CCSS, academic outcomes, statewide achievement test scores, and annual yearly progress scores relate directly to school speech-language service delivery which may result in the perception that SLPs focus only on “correcting” speech and language skills that are impaired.
• There is no better time than now to help educators, parents, and others understand the foundational underpinnings of language and literacy and the value SLPs can bring through intervention and collaboration with teachers (regular and special education).
• One step SLPs can take is to obtain a summary of the progression of expectations for the content areas from grade to grade, and then determine the communication skills that would be required for meeting that expectation.
• SLPs use either a standards-referenced approach (SLP and team develop the goals and then identify the standard that best matches that goal) or a standards-based approach (the standard serves as the starting point for generating the goals and objectives) to develop relevant goals and activities.
• For students with severe disabilities, it is suggested that teams establish differentiated responses to enable students to meet curricular goals during standards-based learning activities.
• Newly aligned assessments will be implemented in the next several years and are being developed to provide instructional, curricular, and assessment guidance and support.
• 6 Principals can guide SLPs’ efforts to integrate the CCSS in school-based programs:
• Focus on Student Outcomes
• Ensure Educational Relevance – the CCSS are interrelated and should not be taught in isolation.
• Establish Distinct but Complementary Roles – work collaboratively to provide multiple types and levels of supports to students.  Focus on supporting the success of students and preparing them to access the curriculum, communicate to learn, and achieve academic goals.
• Tools – use grade-level indicators to serve as checkpoints and help monitor progress.  You may use standards of a lower grade to ensure access to academic instruction at their level.
• Address the Continuum of Need – The amount and type of services, as well as the location and provider of those services, should be matched to each student’s ability and disability.
• Focus on Academic Standards Does Not Preclude Functional Skill Instruction – students with severe disabilities should have access to standards-based curriculum and continue to receive support with functional skill instruction.

• When writing goals, state within/below the goal which standard(s) it supports.
• Look to the standards for which areas of language a student will need as a foundational skill to access the standards-based curriculum.  A great SLP resource for this is Speech Peeps’ (Nicole Allison) Common Core Standards Supporting IEP Goals for English Language Arts resource.  I have utilized this document for all of my IEPs since purchasing it!  It is available in K-5 as well as 6-12.

•   Collaborating with staff can be a great way to support student success with the CCSS.  Each school is different but some ideas for collaboration are:
• Providing small group assistance within the classroom.
• Teaching a foundational skill lesson prior to the teaching of the main lesson.
• Work with teachers to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses using work samples.  Suggest interventions if appropriate.
• Collaborating with SLPs across your district can provide a great way to streamline CCSS paperwork, expectations, etc.  Consider meeting with your fellow SLPs to look at how you would like to see your district implement the CCSS in the area of speech and language.
• Collaborating with your administrators can help facilitate communication and a clearer understanding of the expertise you bring to the table.  Consider sitting down with your administrator(s) and discussing your role within your school and standards-based curriculum.  This is also a good time to discuss any current RtI structures in place that would be impacted by language.

• Assessments in the area of speech and language do not currently align with the CCSS.  To compensate for this, SLPs across the country have begun creating documents to better assess a student’s abilities on meeting standards and accessing curriculum: 
• Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has published and shared their Rating Scales for Oral Language Skills across grade levels.  This resource is a great starting point for creating a document for your school/district.
• CoreStand has a lot of great resources and information (much of it for free) that can be used in developing assessments and progress monitoring.
• Dr. Susan Floyd has been developing assessments and screeners aligned to the CCSS for communication.  According to the website, they are set to launch some of these this year.  A free handout is available which can also be used to tailor your own school documents.