Semantic mapping, or describing different features of items (like their category, function, location, color, etc…), is a great way to increase vocabulary skills of your students! This FREE resource will make this skill easy to teach in your therapy! It can also be used as a no print resource making it perfect for teletherapy!
The file includes 10 “describe it” pages.
Each page has 1 real picture of an item (ex: boat, basketball, pizza, dog) from a variety of categories.
It also includes a visual to describe 5 different features about each item:
- group/category, action, place, parts, and appearance.
Each feature has a clear visual/symbol to go along with it.
There is also a text box on each page so you can easily type directly on the PDF.
This freebie is a sample of my One Sheet Real Picture Describing resource! The full resource includes 70 pages of worksheets, two blank graphic organizers (so you can add your own pictures easily!), and the visuals from the worksheets.
Feel free to email the Speechy Musings team at hello@speechymusings.com with any questions!
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Jennifer R. –
I liked having prompts on the pages to help students when describing the pictures. Glad that actual photographs were used also.
Lori P. –
I used this product during a school closure. It worked very well. I love using real photos. Thank-you!
Katrina S. –
So cute! I loved this extension exercise. So helpful!
Speech Girly –
So helpful during this remote learning time! I dropped these into Google classroom and it was so easy to see how my students did!
LIGHT Speech and Language –
Love it! Use it all the time.
MaryJo S. –
Such a great resource! Thank you!
Kristen C. –
Great activity for remote sessions. Thank you!
SLP in Birth to Three –
I love how I can print these out for in person learning but also type right into them for distance learning. My kids can too!
Karen Gildemeyer –
I LOVE THIS RESOURCE! I have found it difficult at times to find things for my older kiddos to but this keeps them engaged. I laminated each one and allow the child to write on it with a dry erase marker to visualize their thoughts and they really enjoy it!
Courtney W. –
Such great visuals! My students love it!
Linda B. –
A great resource for my older students. It is very easy to use a cues are on each page. Nice real pictures that my students can relate to.
Paula Townsend –
Love this! One page that I can use to work on so many goals! The real pictures make it appropriate for all ages!
Claire L. –
I am always looking for real life pictures for the kiddos so this was great.
More Than Words –
What a super helpful resource! Thank you!!
Edith V. –
This is one of my favorite free downloads. I use them with a variety of students. I love the pictures and the prompts on the bottom of each. so easy to use and kids enjoy it.
Speech Chick Nik –
I love how this breaks down each category to review and helps organize the students thought process.
Meredith B. –
Perfect! Just what I was looking for
Tracy G. –
Very useful resource. I use it for purpose described but I have also been able to use for language stim, fluency, social language discussions.
Joan G. –
I love all your resources and this is no exception. It really helps my students to have actual photos to describe!
Tammy F. –
Very practical. Love the visuals!
Michelle S M. –
This is a fantastic way to target multiple language goals at once! Great resource!
Mary F. –
Love the organization and colorful graphics! Thank you!
speechlife14 –
Love the pictures used for each page! The visuals are great and engaging to my students!
Megan R. –
I love the simplicity of this visual for describing – it’s simple for me and for my students to work off of 🙂
Karyn C. –
This was great to use virtually with my students! The visuals were great cues for them to use to get past only describing what objects look like.
Thalia G. –
Very easy to use and practical! Thank you
Elizabeth E. –
This is one of my favorite resources to use! Real pictures mean it’s not “kiddie” for my middle school students, but each picture and the describing questions are simple enough that early elementary students can also complete the activity. I’ve used this resource to work on describing, identifying salient details vs irrelevant details, expanding sentences/grammar, expected/unexpected, and as a stimulus picture for fluency sessions! I appreciate how each item is relatively familiar to students but has rich details in the picture. The editable PDF allows me to type directly on the document which is so helpful while distance learning.
L C. –
Amazing / Wonderful!!
Kelly R. –
This is a great describing activity!
Nanci S. –
I used this as an asynchronous assignment and it worked very well! I provided an example and then assigned additional pages!
Casey G. –
No prep, easy to use, and students love them! Such a great find!
Cindy M. –
I used this both in person and with my distance learning students. Pictures make it very flexible to apply in a variety of ways in addition to the tasks/cues on each.
Leanne M. –
Perfect resource!
Alisha T. –
Such a great resource for my intellectually disabled students!
Nicole G –
Great resource!
Tracey G. –
An excellent resource to use with EET.
michelle W. –
good resources to train my kids at home
Lorraine T. –
This is such an easy resource to use for describing. I have even used the blank sheet along with real, everyday objects. Simple and versatile!
Margaret Donghia –
AWESOME TOOL….
Jill O. –
My students loved this.
Margaret M. –
One of my absolute go to resources. This is simply amazing. My students ask to work on “LTIP” and I am able to see vast improvements with inferencing that generalize to real life situations. This is a wonderful way to involve parents too – it’s super easy to remember the acronym and then use it for catalogs, still shots of movies and tv shows, etc. so you get tons of carryover from home.
Victoria S. –
I love using this in my sessions because I can use it for multiple goals. Quick and easy to prep too. Definitely going to buy the full version.
Mary Anne R. –
Very easy to use via teletherapy and my students enjoyed describing real pictures and then constructing stories for the pictures.
Rose S. –
Great resource
Dianna C. –
The photos are awesome!!! The students really enjoy photos over drawings and I find they are more engaged and interested.
Karen K. –
I printed and laminated this for use with my in-person students. They enjoyed the activity and visuals.
Lee L. –
Fabulous resource for describing. My students love the real pictures as well.
melanie mendell –
The pictures are so colorful and clear. The students really connected with the images!
Karen M. –
I love your materials that have real pictures! I can use them with so many ages.
Deirdre R. –
My 5th grade student enjoyed the pictures and was engaged with answering the various questions.
dotsots T. –
visuals provided were good prompts for students.
Kayse A. –
Simple but effective when first targeting descriptive skills.
Juliana Figueiredo –
Great for some of my older students, thank you!
Brooke S. –
Great resource!
Crystal Leigh S. –
Thank you 🙂
Abigail D. –
I love that this resource uses real pictures, and my students love the variety of pictures and how colorful they are. The visuals for describing that are included help us structure our sessions, and they’re clear enough that I can send them home with kids to practice with parents.
Spill the Key Speech –
Thank you for making this resource! I pull it out all the time and can target many language goals.
Sarah J. –
Excellent product
Natalia M. –
My students enjoyed this resource.
Stephanie C. –
I LOVE this resource for use with virtual or in-person students! It is systematic and uses great visuals to facilitate discussion.
Sally W. –
This is a great product. Exactly as described and my students loved it!
Christy H. –
Another tool in my box to help me fill the minutes of the day with valuable content, thank you!
Ashley Cami –
Great resource!
Christina S. –
very helpful resource
Creative Chatter –
Love your describing activities and the clarity of the pictures used!
Coral S. –
I loved this resource. The real images were great. I used it for distance learning.
Grace L. –
I love how structured the activity is and that it is editable on PDF
Mattspeech –
Great resource!
Brooke Boldt –
I love this simple, fun and effective resource!
Kim B. –
I love the layout and photos are great! Good visual to target describing!
Elizabeth Greenwood –
I downloaded this primarily for the visuals but my students have really taken to the format and have been doing much better with describing items. I like having a visual structure for them all ready to go!
Mary C. –
Great Pictures!
Sylvia H. –
Thank you so much! very great and helpful resource
Amy M. –
I love the use of real pictures for describing and there are ways to scaffold support right within the activity.
J G. –
Loved using these with my students working on attributes!
Nicole C. –
Love this resource!
Empowering Speech Services –
Love this resource!
Laura V. –
Excellent resource to work on describing and defining!
Lori S. –
The organization/format of the sheets, along with the real images helped my students be successful at their level. They were engaged during the entire session. The amount of information to complete seems like the perfect amount to fit in a single session for my mid to higher language students and break into two sessions for my lower language students.
Marti F. –
This free resource is good for a consistent visual anchor and ample photo stimuli to practice describing. It could be used for older students as well since it is not illustrated with childish drawings. Certainly worth a download to see if purchasing the full product is right for you!
Katie Jackson –
My students liked using the pictures as prompts for discussion.
Mary L. –
This resource was extremely helpful with planning out attributes. The pictures were colorful and the students enjoyed it.
Tess C. –
Amazing resource. Thank you!
Samantha A. –
Great resource!
Kaitlin Stepanek –
This resource was extremely beneficial for one of my students who has autism. I was able to laminate and reuse for goal work!
Karen Peel –
Excellent resource!
Morgann H. –
Amazing resource for speech and language students! I used this resource for one of my clients that was taking a break from therapy for the summer. Lots of practice that can be completed at home with parents!
Alisa T. –
I like the large, simple real photos and the describing visual aid. 2 resources in 1. Awesome!
Abby B. –
easy resource to use and send home to further language skills
Norah Breindel –
As always Speechy Musings products provide such visually strong, engaging and school age-appropriate presentation. My students are engaged with this format. Not only can we work on describing, but we can advance the skill to comparing/contrasting and inferencing. The real pictures allow for rich discussion, which research shows is effective in building language skills.
Emily W. –
This a wonderful resource to help students organize well-formulated and robust word definitions
Sara T. –
Perfect activity to use when targeting describing. I love the real photos
Meghan M. –
My students enjoy using this activity. The pictures are current and keep their attention more than typical therapy cards.
Alex W. –
This is a great resource for in person learning as well as virtual learning.
YVETTE R. –
My students always enjoy your resources. Thank you
Jetzabel A. –
I loved this resource! My kids were super engaged while using it!
Mikaela V. –
My students are so engaged when I pull these worksheets out. I love how concrete and visually appealing they are. Love!
Molly R. –
A quick easy no prep activity that has lots of options!
A Lot to Say with Marianne Kay –
I’m always looking for products with real photos, as these are often more meaningful for my students. These photos are great.
Jillaine W. –
Great resource for describing! I like the real photos.
Alyssa Wetmore –
I use for basic “wh” questions and sentence expansion for students with intellectual disabilities
Brooke G. –
Great resource! My students enjoyed it and I look forward to continuing using it throughout the years!
Crystal W. –
Great resource for teaching describing to students so they use key details.
Joeleen A. –
This was a free version and I can’t wait to purchase more! Sign me up any time there is a real picture along with cues how to elicit more language!
Elizabeth L. –
This is a great source that can be differentiated to many levels!
Margaretha J. –
I loved the pictures, and my students enjoyed using this activity as well.
Sheetal Nair –
Great resource for learners who trying to increase the verbal language.
Margaret Griesmer –
Using real pictures helps my students relate what we are working on to their real life. The unit helps create consistency and routine with describing skills. Thanks!
Bernadette M. –
This was a great activity for a wide range of students with disabilities. I loved the pictures.
JP Speech Pathology –
My student was able to produce a higher level of language with these visual supports. They make great take home activities also. Jumped on a purchased the full product. Thanks for creating and sharing.
Amy L. –
These have been one of my most used resources this year!! Great work!
Kelly F. –
The real picture helped with discussing and teaching the skills
Jessica Rose –
Awesome free resource! Love the real pictures for functional language
Lisa R. –
I love that these are realistic pictures that I can use with my clients. They enjoy color coding each page with dry-erase markers.
Michelle M. –
My students enjoyed the pictures. It was nice to project it and complete the activity together.
Shannon P. –
The real-life pictures are great and really helps students connect the objects to their real life.
Cassandra W. –
Very useful resource for students working on attributes!
Christine L. –
My students find this resource to be very engaging. I highly recommend this resource!
Katie D. –
Such a wonderful resource for my distance speech therapy students.
Stephenie L. –
Great resource and very engaging. I use this often
Claire C. –
I like how this breaks down different ways to describe with real photos.
Kayleen D. –
Used this in speech sessions with different age groups. Students were engaged and the resource was helpful!
Cecilie Ovnerud –
Like all the Speechy Musings resources this is again excellent value for money.
Kay B. –
This resource was very helpful to work on early vocabulary and describing skills for my students with DLD.
Erin B. –
This is a great resource for my students. They loved it!
Marisol Nieto –
This resource helped me to complement my lesson and activities related to this subject. In addition, I recommend it.
Morgan A. –
I love the real photographs! This was great to work on describing with some of my speech therapy caseload.
Teresa Stiles –
I have used these so much! The visuals and great and so helpful. This really lays it out for the kids and are great for homework!
Thank you!
Jodi L. –
I like the colourful pictures for this resource, the cues for different semantic descriptors and we talk about the ‘top 3’ descriptors that would help identify the object. Can use the objects/pictures later to play headbanz type of game
Sarah T. –
Love the real photographs and question prompts to work on describing skills.
Nicole A. –
I love this systematic, structured approach to describing vocabulary!
Lori J. –
This resource was perfect! I love how the pictures are real and it walks you through each step of talking about the picture.
Viviana F. –
I like the visuals that this resource has and the questions that go with each picture for the students to describe.
Natalie S. –
I used this resource for some of my students who are working on describing. I love the real pictures and that the cues for expanding how to describe are right on this page. I gave it 4 stars over 5 due to my specific caseload and the students’ ages being young enough that even with everything there, a lot of prompting was needed. For me personally, this would be a 5 star product when/if I move to working with older students (4th grade and above).
Amye Martin –
Fantastic resource! I will be using this frequently in my Speech therapy sessions
Resources Right MEOW –
One of my favorite resources to use when getting students to think in terms of describing and making sentences.
Maddie F. –
My students love this resource! I love that this resource has real pictures that can help them to describe real objects in their environment. I love how many pictures there are as well! This is great for a variety of different types of students!
Misty D H. –
My students loved using this material to describe items and actions!
Emily F. –
Loved the photographs and integrated visual supports
Whitney B. –
Love this product! Easy to use and very helpful for my classroom.
Chatterbox Treasures –
I thought this resource was very useful for the students that I work with.
Michele A. –
My students loved the photos associated with the ideas and concepts. I am very grateful to the creator for taking the time to develop this product.
Emma P. –
I enjoy using this resource to provide visual scaffolding for students to support their descriptive skills (I like to pair it with an item/character from a book to provide context to the activity).
Melissa Joy C. –
I use this resource with my students to practice expanding their expression. I work in a middle school, so having photos versus drawings is much more engaging for my older students. I also love how it gives the describing guides right there along with the photo stimulus.
Joanne P. –
This has been a useful resource for targeted work with a variety of students. The pictures are clear and the prompts very helpful for supporting a structured way to describe items. Handy to have a digital copy as well.
Katharine P. –
This is a wonderful resource for working on descibing!
Jill S. –
Love how this breaks out the different ways to help students acquire and expand their vocabulary knowledge. The vocabulary used is well thought out and applicable to school-aged students.
Kandice A. –
This was a challenging activity for my students but I really think its a great way to get students talking and describing items in detail.
Speech and Language Cousins –
I absolutely love this product (like all speechy musing products).
Lissa Miller –
I have really been working on describing items as well as drawing pictures (a skill they can use for leisure and for school work.
Anna B. –
Great resource to work on describing skills! Graphic organizer was very helpful for my students.
Sonia C. –
Perfect for Oral language practice and drawing out what students know and can do while offering scaffolded practice to expand.
Jennifer S. –
Great Resource, it kept my students engaged. I would recommend.
Sunny Day Speech Academy –
So lovely and colourful! Great for my kiddos with low language skills
Kati K. –
Great resource! My students were engaged for multiple sessions!
Elizabeth R. –
Great resource! I used it for describing and expanding utterances with my bilingual language patients. I liked the prompts at the bottom.
Elizabeth S. –
Great resource for use with my students – I like that I can utilize the pictures to work on a variety of language goals.
Stoked About Speech –
Love these photos with the prompts at the bottom. Quick print and easy to use with a variety of students on my caseload.
Whitney L. –
I gave this resource to students in a small group setting to help them practice writing skills. It was very helpful! For further scaffolding, I provided a word bank to some students.
Shaune H. –
The perfect resource that I was looking for. Thanks for creating this describing pictures resource.
Jennifer H. –
Loved this resource!! My students were highly engaged with this activity and I was able to address many IEP goals and objectives. Highly recommend.
Lora G. –
What a great resource. I have some students having difficulty with describing and this activity structures it in a simple way. I love the clear and simple format and pictures.
Rebekah Landers –
This is a great, no prep resource. Students loved using it!
Annabelle Laws –
Another amazing resources that is incredible easy to use and breaks the task down for the kids.
Lynne M. –
My students liked the pictures and helped them describe.
Donna M. –
easy to use to work on describing with details in a very structured way.
Laura M. –
Good resource. I was able to use it with general education students to assist with describing.
Shannon K. –
This was a great option for student to use. I highly recommend.
Julie P. –
This is a great activity to use to help students with their describing benchmarks. It’s easy to use and very effective.
Julie B. –
These pictures are wonderful and I love the scaffolding built right into each page. My students have been very engaged and motivated to work.
Sharon S. –
This product has been a life-saver! Great pictures and wonderful layout.
Azra S. –
This is an engaging resource that my students really enjoyed using!
Elizabeth Stimac –
My students loved it and were so engaged with this product
Lisa Feinberg –
Loved this resource. My students progressed in their ability to describe pictures using appropriate vocabulary.
Haley B. –
I love this series of materials you create! I have a hard time finding materials that engage the population I serve (high school/transition-aged students). This was really great. Thank you!
karli C. –
Nice resource to go along with EET visual, I’ve been using this as homework
Kathryn A. –
Great for kids working on describing! Paired with EET
Nic P. –
The layout and use of photos is fantastic for my kids. Makes it so much easier to give a good description
Patti Vogt –
My students were very engaged with this activity and asked to do it over and over again! Thanks so much for the resource and for your hard work!
Carolyn R. –
This is a great and engaging resource. My students enjoy it!
Anais P. –
Love this!
I love this since every page has the questions next to the picture.
Shannon W. –
Great visual resource
Using real photos and breaking the skill down like this is very helpful
Christine S. –
Great For Older Students
I love using this resource with older students. Great for describing goals, as well as conversational goals. I like that real photos are used for each visual.
bonnie N. –
A great resouce
This is a great resource that I have used with many students of varying abilities. There are so many ways to use this resource!
Niki D. –
great describing resource
I love the set up of this resource to describe objects with guided questions
Amanda K. –
Use this all the time
Such a simple, but effective resource for my students!
Christian H. –
Beautiful Resource
I use this as a precursor to answering questions related to stories.
Beth A. –
Love the visuals!
Good format to use in large groups. Author has some great resources.
Gillian H. –
so helpful and easy
can use this for multiple things! so great to have on hand
Susan M. –
Lovely photos, extremely versatile
This resource may seem simple but I have found that the photos lend themselves to very interesting discussions and myriad opportunities for vocabulary building and enriching general knowledge. I often let the learner choose a favorite photo for our first session and build from there.
Carli C. –
Helpful resource
Very good resource to have as an SLP! I pull this out when I need a good language activity.
Ellery J. –
A great product!
This is great for my students — the real life images and the simple design is perfect for my needs.
Katelyn K. –
A complete activity on one sheet
This is a great activity for speech. You can use it to supplement a book or a lesson. The pictures and visuals are great.
Jacquelyn D. –
Simple and Straightforward
Love everything from SM and this is no different. Simple, clean, easy to use and adapt to different groups.
Danielle S. –
Such a great freebie!
Such an easy way to get lots of language from my students!
Jessica Johnson –
LOVE these!
Love the real pictures to support describing. Easy visual supports and icons to help students
Atindi P. –
Great resource
The pictures are vibrant and eye-catching. The visual nature of the product is perfect for my 3rd and 4th grade students.