Voice Rest and Hydration Plan
Build a concrete weekly plan rather than a general instruction to 'rest your voice.'
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Find the two rest slots on a real timetable. Rest your voice is an instruction nobody can follow; a ten-minute rest during a study period and another on the bus home is a plan. The own-signal card matters most in the long run — a student who knows their own early warning can act before the damage rather than after. Fifteen minutes produces a written plan.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentRead the card and wait 5 seconds for the student's answer.Log as correct
- HintAsk 'How would your voice feel after that?'Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ExplainGive the answer and the reason; the student says it back in their own words.Log as cued
Voice work belongs after an ENT examination. If hoarseness lasts or gets worse, stop and refer back to the physician.
Adjust it
Use fewer cards and sort into just two groups.
Plan what the student will do in their own hardest voice situation this week.
Matching IEP goal
Given everyday scenarios, Student will identify the voice-healthy choice and a reason in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Eight planning tasks that turn rest your voice into an actual plan: estimate how many hours you talked yesterday; where can two ten-minute vocal rests fit into your school day; which daily habit dries you out — caffeine, mouth breathing, or a medication; plan your voice for game day, before, during and after; what is your own signal that your voice is getting tired; write your one non-negotiable voice rule for this week.
What to listen for
Listen for a realistic estimate of talking hours, which is usually much higher than the student expects once they count. Watch the drying-habit card, since medication is a common and easily missed cause — antihistamines and some acne treatments both dry the folds, and neither is obvious to a teenager. Hydration and rest are supportive rather than diagnostic. A voice that has been rough for more than about four weeks should be examined by an ENT, and sooner if there is a neck lump, noisy breathing or a recent intubation.
Carrying it home
The rest slots have to fit the real week, which families know better than anyone. A quiet ten minutes after school, before anything else happens, is the easiest one to protect.
What's in this activity
- Estimate how many hours you talked yesterday.
- Where can two ten-minute vocal rests fit into your school day?
- How much water did you actually drink today?
- Which daily habit dries you out -- caffeine, mouth breathing, or a medication?
- Plan your voice for game day: before, during, after.
- What is your own signal that your voice is getting tired?
- Who needs to know you're on vocal rest, and what will you tell them?
- Write your one non-negotiable voice rule for this week.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Sixth through twelfth grade, where the student controls most of their own schedule.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all eight tasks are free to use here.
- How much vocal rest is enough?
- It depends entirely on the load, which is why the board starts by estimating it. Two ten-minute rests in a heavy day is a realistic target that students will actually take.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.