Presenter: Cathy Alexander, MA, CCC-SLP
"This course was brilliant! The handouts are invaluable! Thanks!"
– S.G., prior course participant
"The topics were interesting, detailed and provided clear intervention strategies with a clear hierarchy."
– M.N., prior course participant
School-age children and adolescents with language disorders are likely to show deficits in syntax. SLPs can support young children’s complex syntax development. Since a strong knowledge base of syntax is needed for both assessment and intervention, key features of syntax will be reviewed. Identify strategies, contexts, and toys/books that can facilitate production of complex syntax in language samples.
Learn syntactic assessment techniques for the young child and the school-age child. Learn intervention strategies to facilitate the young child’s syntactic skills. Then, learn intervention strategies for teaching the school-age child complex syntax.
Complex sentences form a majority of the sentence types that school-age children and adolescents will encounter in their academic years. Learn a myriad of evidence-based “Go To” strategies and techniques for teaching syntactic skills. These strategies will facilitate complex syntax both orally and in the written language.
Offered for 0.15 ASHA CEUs – 1.5 Contact Hours.
Numerous downloadable therapy materials are provided. Age range: preschool – adolescents.
Course Overview – Run Time: 1:30:00
"Good activity ideas and handouts to give to teachers. Learning/selecting treatment targets for IEP's that are specific and meaningful to improve overall grammar/sentence length."
– A.M., prior course participant
The content of this online CE course does not focus exclusively on any specific proprietary product or service. Presenter financial and non-financial disclosures may be found in the Presenter & Disclosures area.
Video PowerPoint presentation with author narration & downloadable handout. Stop and re-start the course at any point. Learners retain access to course content after completion for ongoing reference and review.
"I liked the intervention examples." M.P. (Aug. 2024)
"The presenter was able to provide syntax terminology, as well as intervention strategies to utilize with young children and school-age children. The presenter was very knowledgeable about the topic." M.H. (Aug. 2024)
"Syntax hierarchy was helpful. I enjoyed the clear definitions." P.F. (Jul. 2024)
"Acronym bricc to remember how to proceed for intervention with school-aged children was beneficial. Concrete and easy to apply in my practice right away." S.C. (Jul. 2024)
"I liked the components of a therapy session. I loved all of the information." M.B. (Jul. 2024)
"Examples of activities to use in class were beneficial." D.V. (Jun. 2024)
"I liked the digital printables to use in therapy. Clear, structured organization." J.H. (May 2024)
"Good review. The course was organized." J.H. (May 2024)
"Intervention design and activity examples for use with school age children will be most beneficial for my daily practice. I liked all parts of this course, and the detailed explanation of teaching complex sentences was my favourite part." P.H. (May 2024)
"The therapy strategies recommended for the early intervention and preschool populations were helpful. I liked the specific examples of therapy strategies/ tools." M.K. (Apr. 2024)
"Beneficial review of grammar elements and ideas for intervention." K.Q. (Mar. 2024)
"The topic and examples for therapy materials were most helpful. I appreciated the presentation of clear, concise information and the review of terms." B.P. (Mar. 2024)
"The practice activities were really helpful. I liked that she explained everything in detail." A.A. (Feb. 2024)
"I liked the circling handouts to identify different clauses. And the course was self-paced." M.R. (Jan. 2024)
"Intervention discussion was beneficial. I enjoyed the handouts." L.B. (Jan. 2024)
"So many functional resources. BRICC - the plan to systematically teach and practice identification and use of complex sentences in treatment was beneficial." J.R. (Dec. 2023)
"Intervention strategies! I liked the differentiation between strategies for pre-school vs elementary school-aged children." J.D. (Dec. 2023)
"I liked the digital content. Discussed intervention and typically developing data." L.M. (Dec. 2023)
"School-age intervention techniques. I enjoyed the review of syntax terms." A.R. (Dec. 2023)
"Loved it all. Firm understanding of syntax vocabulary makes assessing students easier." J.W. (Nov. 2023)
"Very thorough explanation of the development of complex sentences and syntax." L.V. (Nov. 2023)
"The 5 strategies for addressing the use of clauses in school-age children were beneficial." J.B. (Nov. 2023)
"The specifics about targeting subordinate clauses with SLI students were helpful. I liked that it was a short course with lots of content, and as always, the handouts are super beneficial." S.C. (Nov. 2023)
"Using subordinate conjunctions to increase the complexity of language was a beneficial topic. I liked the discussion of her therapy materials and why she used them." D.R. (Oct. 2023)
"Actual therapy activities. Lots of examples and handouts." L.J. (Oct. 2023)
"The discussion of different activities to target various structures was helpful. I liked the activity suggestions." B.O. (Oct. 2023)
"This course really made me revisit areas of language development I haven't used in a long time." L.S. (Sep. 2023)
"The review of treatment techniques was most helpful." J.C. (Aug. 2023)
"I enjoyed the practice ideas and evidence-based strategies to address complex sentence structure. The BRICC acronym is helpful as a guide to how we should be delivering instruction." A.K. (Aug. 2023)
"Great overview of syntax and importance of complexity and diversity of sentences on comprehension and academic performance." A.K. (Aug. 2023)
"The depth of review of syntactical terms was particularly helpful! The topics were interesting, detailed and provided clear intervention strategies with a clear hierarchy." M.N. (Jul. 2023)
"Specific intervention techniques to use after finding needs in the assessment. It makes the subtests data more meaningful. I liked the reminder of developmental stages for syntax because I feel like some skills are overlooked." M.E. (Jul. 2023)
"I liked the review of grammar. Course was easy to listen to." M.K. (Jul. 2023)
"I liked the strategies to use for complex sentences." T.D. (Jun. 2023)
"Developmental norms information and successful strategies/techniques were beneficial topics." A.Q. (Jun. 2023)
"Intervention treatment for improving syntax was beneficial. I liked the examples given for each intervention technique." J.G. (May 2023)
"The intervention techniques were beneficial." A.J. (May 2023)
"I liked the intervention discussion on how to teach students to create more complex sentences. I liked the handouts and digital materials that were made available to the course participant." H.O. (May 2023)
"The research-based intervention strategies for promoting syntax development were very beneficial to my daily practice. I appreciated the presenter's utilization of techniques such as cloze procedure to engage participants throughout the session." A.M. (Apr. 2023)
"This course provided specific resources to utilize in intervention. Intervention structure was beneficial." J.Z. (Apr. 2023)
"The step-by-step guide, as well as the layout of this course, were very helpful." R.R. (Apr. 2023)
"I like the idea of Priming with my students. Letting them hear the sentences two times, then repeat it two times before starting the session. I liked the handouts and presenter going over them." S.G. (Apr. 2023)
"I liked the intervention strategies. Course was presented in an organized, easy to follow manner." D.A. (Feb. 2023)
"This course was easy to take, listen to, and learn from. Lots of review of terms that I had forgotten!" R.S. (Jan. 2023)
"I liked it all. Great course!" K.T. (Jan. 2023)
"Good intervention strategies. Defining and explaining different types of early clauses in young children was beneficial." M.K. (Jan. 2023)
"Specific ideas for intervention in school age children. I liked the examples of therapy materials included." J.I. (Jan. 2023)
"Practical treatment guidance. I liked the categories for sentence generation." C.W. (Dec. 2022)
"I liked the handouts and the developmental data." S.S. (Dec. 2022)
"I loved the framework she presented for school-age intervention. I also loved the handouts and the information she had to present." R.P. (Dec. 2022)
"The review of milestones and grammar skills was very beneficial. Liked the clear and concise way in which the material was delivered. The fact that the presenter got straight to the point impressed me." E.K. (Nov. 2022)
"Good handouts made it easy to follow along. Liked the interventions for subordinating clauses." C.V. (Nov. 2022)
"Intervention for complex sentences with school-age children - I liked the concrete examples provided." A.V. (Nov. 2022)
"I liked the assessment portion of the course." H.T. (Nov. 2022)
"I will be adding this in my lesson as I am teaching nouns, verbs, and adjectives presently with grades 3-4th. Explicit instruction is confirmed as critical to academic success and the use of complex syntax. I also liked the intervention ideas discussed." M.E. (Nov. 2022)
"The handouts will be good to utilize in therapy. Liked the strategies to use when teaching complex sentence use." M.B. (Oct. 2022)
"I liked the specific intervention techniques and materials suggestions." J.E. (Oct. 2022)
"I really enjoyed learning about the various intervention strategies that will help promote the use of complex sentences for my clients. I loved that the presenter highlighted areas of syntax that should be placed on index cards for reference when speaking with parents and colleagues." J.R. (Oct. 2022)
"The course breakdown was nice. I liked the intervention portion being specific to early childhood and school-aged and the examples of treatment strategies to address both populations." M.H. (Oct. 2022)
"I liked the information on informal assessment activities for school-age children as well as the practical ideas and examples for school-age intervention." M.W. (Oct. 2022)
"Intervention for school age children, especially the examples of how to facilitate activities in a therapy session were beneficial." M.W. (Oct. 2022)
"Liked the presentation of evidence based therapy techniques. This course had good pacing, examples, repetition, and clear speaker." A.K. (Aug. 2022)
"I really like the fact that I can do it at my own pace and pause or go back as needed. I also like learning the different types of conjunctions that are the base for developing proper sentence structure." N.C. (Aug. 2022)
"The course is very informative. Direct suggestions for intervention and studies to support their use." V.J. (Aug. 2022)
"Nice review of complex syntax and methods to address weaknesses in this area." S.L. (Aug. 2022)
"Presenter does an excellent job of bringing current research to the forefront of what we are doing as clinicians." S.L. (Aug. 2022)
"I thought the presenter was extremely organized." S.M. (July 2022)
"Good activity ideas and handouts to give to teachers. Learning/selecting treatment targets for IEP's that are specific and meaningful to improve overall grammar/sentence length." A.M. (July 2022)
"I liked her explanation regarding how to target complex syntax through play with preschool children, as well as the use of sentence repetition and sentence generation with older students." S.M. (July 2022)
"The handouts and intervention ideas will be very helpful. Liked the research information, assessment suggestions, and intervention techniques." A.Y. (July 2022)
"I now have ideas for supporting this skill in my kids that I can start in September." S.R. (July 2022)
"This course was to the point, easy to understand and great examples. I appreciated the handouts." C.C. (June 2022)
"I loved the intervention strategies and ideas presented to help children expand their use of age appropriate syntax. I liked the review of syntax terminology and age norms." K.H. (June 2022)
"I liked the section on subordinating conjunctions, syntax and ages when children begin to use grammar." C.C. (June 2022)
"Course helped clarify the different clauses." L.S. (June 2022)
"I liked video explanation....and the handouts!" M.M. (May 2022)
"I liked the overall content of assessment and treatment of complex sentences in the school-age child." L.K. (Apr. 2022)
"The discussion of intervention was quite helpful. Many useful tips were included. The reminder to use BRICC for intervention." M.S. (Apr. 2022)
"I liked the breakdown of different types of sentences as well as methods for assessment and intervention." B.R. (Apr. 2022)
"The course will be beneficial for teaching complex sentences to my students who have a hearing impairment and are working on their English language development. The worksheets are helpful – clear explanations with good ideas for application in therapy sessions." M.G. (Mar. 2022)
"I liked the wonderful teaching tips and explanations of techniques. I loved the acronyms she used to help listeners remember intervention techniques." J.A. (Feb. 2022)
"I liked the different types of clauses and how important it is to focus on verb diversity it EI." G.H. (Jan. 2022)
"The HANDOUTS were great!!!" S.G. (Jan. 2022)
"All of the intervention activities and information on all of the different clauses. The content was excellent and is applicable to my practice." L.N. (Dec. 2021)
"The examples of how to expand the utterances to include clauses were most beneficial. The wealth of examples and resources provided will be very helpful." L.S. (Dec. 2021)
"There is a child I see who has difficulty with syntax; I will talk to the parent about some of the strategies used in this presentation." M.S. (Nov. 2021)
Cathy Alexander, MA, CCC-SLP, has worked in public school settings and a private pediatric clinic for over 20 years. Cathy is the founder of KidsVocabulary.com. Cathy is the author of WH Question Blast Off and Core Curriculum Articulation both published by Super Duper Publications, Inc. Cathy has presented to school districts and pediatric clinics across the nation on vocabulary intervention. In addition, Cathy has conducted a number of webinars. Cathy is an ASHA and TSHA presenter.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial — Cathy Alexander is a presenter of online CEU courses offered by Northern Speech Services; receives royalty payments.
Nonfinancial — Cathy Alexander has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
This program is offered for 0.15 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate Level; Professional Area).
ASHA CEUs: NSS online courses are registered with ASHA and are offered for ASHA CEUs. The number of ASHA CEUs is noted above. Note that 0.1 ASHA CEU = 1 contact hour = equals 1 CEE.
ASHA CE Registry: During the enrollment process, if you select to receive ASHA credit for this course and if you provide your ASHA number, NSS will automatically submit your CEU information to the ASHA CE Registry after successful course completion (80% on post test). This submission happens once per month, during the first week of the month. For example, if you complete your course on November 7th, NSS will submit all November online course CEUs to ASHA during the first week of December. When ASHA inputs the information into their database, they will mark the course as completed on the last day of the month in which it was completed, so November 30th using this example. The certificate of completion available for you to print immediately, however, will reflect the actual completion date, November 7th in this example. Due to ASHA processing procedures please allow 2-3 weeks, from the submission date, for the course to appear on your ASHA transcript.
ASHA CEUs: Attendees must meet at least one of the following conditions in order to be eligible to earn ASHA CEUs:
If an attendee is not an ASHA member or CCC holder but meets any of the above criteria, they may inform the ASHA CE Registry of their eligibility by visiting this site.
Licensing Boards: Most state licensing boards DO accept CEUs earned online (usually classified as home-study credits). Some state boards do, however, place a limit to the number of credits that can be earned via home study/online courses. For the most current information, we suggest that you contact your licensing board or agency to verify acceptance policies and/or any credit limits related to home-study courses prior to registering for this course.
Additional accrediting agencies by which Northern Speech is an approved CE provider:
Course Completion Timeframe:
You have unlimited time to complete our online courses. You may log off and log on as often as you’d like to in order to complete all sections of a course.
However, completion dates are based on Eastern Standard Time. Therefore, if you need your CEUs by a certain date, be sure to complete the course test before 11:59pm EST on that date. For example, if you need CEUs before January 1st, you will need to complete the course test before 11:59pm EST on December 31st.
Content Access:
Access to course materials and content does not expire, even after completing the post test. You may continue to review course material by logging into your NSS account, clicking the My Online Courses tab, and then viewing your desired course.
Certificate of Completion:
On successful completion of the post test (80%), a certificate will be immediately available for download and/or printing. This certificate will include your name, date of completion (based on Eastern Time Zone, USA/Canada), and number of contact hours (CEUs / CEEs). Please note that CEUs are awarded on the date of successful test completion, not the date of course enrollment. Please ensure that you successfully complete the post test prior to any licensure renewal dates.
ASHA CE Registry Submission:
During the enrollment process, if you select to receive ASHA credit for this course and if you provide your ASHA number, NSS will automatically submit your CEU information to the ASHA CE Registry after successful course completion (80% on post test). This submission happens once per month, during the first week of the month. For example, if you complete your course on November 7th, NSS will submit all November online course CEUs to ASHA during the first week of December. When ASHA inputs the information into their database, they will mark the course as completed on the last day of the month in which it was completed, so November 30th using this example. The certificate of completion available for you to print immediately, however, will reflect the actual completion date, November 7th in this example. Due to ASHA processing procedures please allow 2-3 weeks, from the submission date, for the course to appear on your ASHA transcript.
Purchase Orders:
Purchase orders are currently not accepted for online orders, if you wish to submit a purchase order please do so at info@northernspeech.com or fax to 888-696-9655.
What is an Online Course?
Our Online Courses consist of video, audio, and/or text content and are offered for ASHA CEUs. Unlike a webinar, which requires participants to be logged on and at a computer at specific times, our Online Courses are available to you at any time, from any device, via your NorthernSpeech.com online account. You may work at your own pace and start and stop your course as you wish. Your course will conclude with a short post test. On successful completion of the post test (>80%), a printable certificate of completion is presented to you.
Receiving CEUs:
Northern Speech is an ASHA CE Provider and our online courses are registered with ASHA and offered for ASHA CEUs. Please note that successful completion of the online post test is required prior to the awarding of CEUs. Please contact your state licensing board for acceptance policies related to CEUs earned online. Please note that courses offered for university students are not applicable for CEUs.
Registering for an online course:
You may browse all online courses by clicking the Continuing Education tab above, then Online Courses. Once you find a course, click Enroll Now, and you will be asked to either log into your existing Northern Speech account or create a new online account. Once you’ve entered your account information and provided your credit card payment, your course will be immediately available to you.
Accessing your purchased course or returning to a purchased course:
You will be able to access your online course by logging into your Northern Speech account and then clicking the My Online Courses tab on your profile screen. Click the course you would like to start or to resume. From there, proceed through the course sections until you are ready to complete the post test. You do not have to complete your course all at once. You may log on and off as you wish.
Testing requirements:
Each online course concludes with a post test consisting of multiple choice or true & false questions. Scores of 80% or greater are required for successful course completion and awarding of CEUs. You may revisit course materials and retest as needed to achieve a passing score.
Number of CEUs offered:
We offer courses from 1 to 21 contact hours. Each course will note the number of CEUs offered. Please note that 0.1 CEU = 1 contact hour = 1 CEE.
State licensing boards and online CEUs:
NSS is an ASHA CE Provider and most state licensing boards DO accept ASHA CEUs earned online (usually classified as home-study credits). Some boards do, however, place a limit to the number of CEUs that can be earned via home study/online courses. For the most current information, we suggest that you contact your licensing board or agency to verify acceptance policies and/or any CEU limits related to home-study courses prior to enrolling in an online course.
Course formats:
Our course formats include: text, audio, video, and PowerPoint with author narration. Each course will note the format on the course description page. Most courses include closed captioning.
Course handouts:
Most of our online courses provide a link to download the accompanying handout as a PDF file.
Group discounts:
Groups of 3 or more are eligible for a 20% discount on each registration on most of our online courses. To receive this discount, registrations need to be processed together via the "Group Rates" tab on the Online Course of your choice.
Computer requirements:
For our online courses to function best, we recommend that you update your computer to include the newest version of your Internet browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, etc.) and newest version of your computer's operating system. Also a high-speed Internet connection is recommended (cable or DSL). Speakers or headphones will be required for many of our courses as many contain audio components.
Course Cancellation Policy:
A purchased online course can be exchanged, refunded, or transferred to another individual if contact is made with NSS (via phone or email) within 30 days of purchase and the course materials have not been viewed or downloaded.
Special Needs:
Please click here for any special needs requests, and we will do our best to accommodate them.
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