A SOAP note template tells you which four boxes to fill. What most SLPs actually search for is the next step: what a finished note looks like for this kind of session. A 20-minute articulation drill, a group working on conversation, and a student learning a new AAC page all produce very different Subjective and Objective sections. This page collects SOAP note examples for speech therapy by goal area, each written the way a school-based note needs to read: short, data-first, tied to an IEP goal, and free of anything that would embarrass you if a parent or a Medicaid auditor read it.
Write your own in a minute
Every example below follows the same pattern as the free SOAP note generator: enter correct, cued and incorrect trials for each target and it drafts the SOAP, BIRP or DAP note for you. No login, no student names, nothing stored. For the blank structure, see the SOAP note template for speech therapy.
How to Read These Examples
Each example names the student generically, because a template you paste into a shared document should never carry a real name. Trial counts are shown as counts first and accuracy second ("16/20, 80%"), which is the order a reviewer checks them in. The Assessment section interprets the numbers instead of repeating them, and the Plan always says what changes next session. If your district uses its own note form, keep the content and move it into their fields.
The goals referenced are adapted from the free SLP goal bank, so you can open the matching goal and see the activities that practise it.
Articulation SOAP Note Example (Word Level)
Goal: Student will produce /r/ in the initial position of words with 80% accuracy across 3 consecutive sessions.
S: Student arrived on time and said he had practised his "r words" with his older sister twice this week. Teacher reports he is volunteering to read aloud more often.
O: Initial /r/, word level, 20 trials using the /r/ initial flashcards. 13 correct independently, 4 correct after a minimal verbal cue ("tongue back"), 3 incorrect (/w/ for /r/). Independent accuracy 13/20 (65%); with cues 17/20 (85%).
A: Independent accuracy up from 10/20 last session. Errors clustered on /r/ before rounded vowels (rope, room). A minimal verbal cue was enough to correct most errors, so cue support can begin to fade.
P: Continue word level. Add a rounded-vowel word set and move cues to a visual reminder only. Send home a five-word practice list. Begin phrase level once independent accuracy reaches criterion across two sessions.
Phonological Process SOAP Note Example
Goal: Student will produce final consonants in CVC words with 80% accuracy, reducing final consonant deletion.
S: Student was quiet at the start of the session and needed a warm-up game before engaging. Parent note reports she now says "cat" rather than "ca" at home some of the time.
O: Minimal pairs (bee/beet, toe/toad) followed by the final consonant deletion board. Picture naming, 24 trials: 15 final consonants produced independently, 5 after a tactile cue, 4 omitted.
A: Final stops are now more consistent than final fricatives. When a minimal-pair picture showed that the deleted form named a different word, the student self-corrected on 3 trials, which suggests the contrast is meaningful to her.
P: Keep the minimal-pair contrast as the first activity. Shift the word set toward final fricatives (bus, house, leaf). Share the pair cards with the classroom teacher for one-minute practice during centers.
Receptive Language SOAP Note Example (WH Questions)
Goal: Given a short sentence read aloud, student will answer who, what and where questions with 80% accuracy.
S: Teacher reports the student struggles to answer questions after a read-aloud. Student said "I like the animal ones."
O: WH questions from short sentences, 15 trials (5 per question type). Who 5/5, what 4/5, where 2/5 independently. Where questions correct on 2 more trials when offered a picture choice of two places.
A: Who and what are near criterion. Where questions are the main gap; errors were answers naming a person or an object, suggesting the question word itself is not yet guiding the answer.
P: Pair each where question with a "where = place" visual. Reduce the picture choice to a single model on correct trials. Add when questions only after where reaches 4/5 for two sessions.
Narrative Language SOAP Note Example (Story Retell)
Goal: Student will retell a short story including character, setting, problem, two events and a resolution in 4 of 5 opportunities.
S: Student said the story "was kind of sad but then good." She asked to draw the story map herself.
O: Narrative retell, short story, two retells. Retell 1 (no visual): character, problem and resolution included; setting and events omitted. Retell 2 (story grammar icons): all six elements included, events in correct order, used "then" and "after that."
A: Story grammar icons support a complete retell. Without them she reports the beginning and end but skips the middle, which is consistent with earlier sessions.
P: Fade icons to a single strip with first letters only. Introduce "because" to link the problem and the first event. Probe an unsupported retell at the start of each session.
Fluency SOAP Note Example (Stuttering Modification)
Goal: Student will use a cancellation after a moment of stuttering in 4 of 5 structured speaking tasks.
S: Student said he avoided ordering lunch himself this week "because the line was too fast." He rated how he felt about talking at school as a 3 on a 5-point scale (last month: 2).
O: Cancellation practice cards, then a 3-minute conversation. 9 stuttering moments identified by the student out of 11 observed. Cancellation used after 6 of 9 identified moments; 3 needed a reminder.
A: Identification is strong. Cancellations occur most often in structured tasks and less often once the conversation speeds up. The lunch-line report gives a concrete, student-chosen situation to practise.
P: Role-play the lunch line with a timer. Keep the self-rating scale monthly. Continue cancellations in conversation before introducing pull-outs.
Pragmatics Group SOAP Note Example
Group notes are where most time is lost. Write one shared Subjective and activity line, then give each student their own Objective, Assessment and Plan. A note that only describes the group cannot show progress on an individual IEP goal.
Group: 3 students, 30 minutes, conversation starter wheel.
S (group): All three were present. Two students arrived from recess and needed a minute to settle.
Student A, goal: maintain a topic for 3 turns. O: Maintained topic for 3+ turns in 4 of 6 conversations; 2 topic shifts redirected with a visual "same topic?" card. A: Up from 2 of 6. P: Fade the card to a gesture.
Student B, goal: ask a follow-up question. O: Asked 3 follow-up questions across 6 conversations, all after a model. A: Not yet independent; questions were relevant. P: Offer a question-starter strip and track independent questions separately.
AAC SOAP Note Example
Goal: Student will combine two symbols on a speech-generating device to request or comment in 8 of 10 opportunities.
S: Paraprofessional reports the device came to school charged every day this week. Student smiled and reached for the device when the snack activity began.
O: Snack routine plus 2-symbol combination practice. 10 opportunities: 4 independent 2-symbol combinations ("more cracker," "want juice"), 3 after aided language modeling, 3 single-symbol requests.
A: Two-symbol combinations are emerging and appear most when the clinician models on the device first. All independent combinations used "more" or "want" as the first symbol.
P: Continue modeling on the device. Add a comment frame ("look" + noun). Train the paraprofessional to model one combination per snack opportunity.
Phonological Awareness SOAP Note Example
Goal: Student will blend 3 spoken phonemes into a word with 80% accuracy.
S: Reading specialist reports the student is working on CVC decoding in her small group.
O: Phoneme blending flashcards, 15 trials with a 1-second gap between sounds. 9 correct independently, 3 correct when the gap was shortened, 3 incorrect (gave the first sound plus a guess).
A: Blending is more accurate with continuous sounds (/m/, /s/) than with stops at the start of the word. Shorter gaps help, which suggests holding the sounds in memory is part of the difficulty.
P: Start each set with continuous-sound words. Lengthen gaps gradually. Share the word list with the reading specialist so both settings practise the same items.
The Same Session as a BIRP and a DAP Note
If your district or agency uses another format, the same data rearranges cleanly. Here is the articulation example above in both.
BIRP
B: Arrived on time, engaged throughout, reported home practice twice this week.
I: Initial /r/ word drill, 20 trials, minimal verbal cue "tongue back" after errors.
R: 13/20 independent, 17/20 with cue; errors before rounded vowels.
P: Add rounded-vowel words, fade to a visual cue, send home a five-word list.
DAP
D: Reported home practice; teacher notes more reading aloud. Initial /r/ word drill: 13/20 independent, 17/20 with minimal verbal cue.
A: Improving from 10/20; errors before rounded vowels; ready to fade cues.
P: Rounded-vowel set, visual cue only, home list, phrase level at criterion.
For when to choose each format, see SOAP, BIRP, DAP and progress notes compared.
What Every Good Example Has in Common
- A goal at the top. The reader knows what the data is measuring before they read it.
- Counts, not adjectives. "13/20 independently" can be checked; "did well" cannot.
- Cue level separated from independent accuracy. Lumping them hides whether support is fading.
- An Assessment that explains a pattern. Which items, which contexts, which cue worked.
- A Plan that changes something. If next session is identical, say why.
- Nothing you would not say to the parent. Notes kept in a shared system are usually part of the student's record, which families can ask to see.
Common Mistakes in Speech Therapy SOAP Notes
- Copying last session's Plan forward without updating it.
- Reporting group accuracy instead of each student's data on their own goal.
- Putting interpretation in the Objective section ("seemed confused") instead of what was observed.
- Leaving out session length and setting, which billing and service-minute logs both depend on.
- Writing the note days later from memory. Record trial counts during the session, even on paper.
If you bill Medicaid for school-based services, your state may require specific elements in every note; the Medicaid billing guide for school SLPs covers what to check. To turn the data from these notes into quarterly reports, see IEP progress report examples for speech therapy.
Turn Your Next Session Into a Note
Pick the example closest to your session, swap in your own trial counts, and you have a first draft. Or enter the counts in the free SOAP note generator and let it write the Objective, Assessment and Plan lines for you. Inside SLPDesk the same note fills in from the trials you tap during the session and saves to the student's record.