Speech Therapy Goals and Activities for "Boo Hoo Bird"

I wanted to sit down and write this post today to share an amazing children's book I found that can be used to target a variety of speech and language IEP goals. While searching for books to teach social skills, I came across this sweet book by Jeremy Tankard, Boo Hoo Bird, that I honestly had never heard of and now absolutely adore. In Boo Hoo Bird by Jeremy Tankard, Bird gets bonked on the head with a ball while playing catch with his friend Raccoon. "Boo Hoo Hoo," Bird cries. Raccoon, Rabbit, Sheep, and Fox try to cheer him up. What will make Bird feel better? This story is ideal for students in PreK through second grade.

15 Speech and Language Goals Using Boo Hoo Bird

• Cause/Effect-Bird was bonked on the head and cried.

• Recognizing Empathy- "I'm sorry," "Poor Bird."

• Problem-Solving-"You can fix any problem with a cookie."

• Size of the problem-"Bird cried some more. "It's not helping."

• Tier 2 Vocabulary-"wounded, clever, wailed, suggested, bonk, moaned"

• Making Predictions-"The Band-Aid isn't working!" (What do you think will happen next?)

• Inferring-The expressions on the characters faces say it all!

• Present/Past Tense Verbs-bonk/bonked, look/looked, cry/cried, laugh/laughed

• Figurative Language-"She's full of ideas."

• Text-based articulation word list for developmentally appropriate speech sounds

• Story retell: First, Next, Then, Last

• Identifying story elements- Character, Setting, Problem, Solution, Theme

• Character Traits- Bird, His Friends

• Text-to-Self Connections-Tell about a time you got hurt and what made you feel better. 

• Beyond the book-What else could Bird's friends have done to help him feel better?

Literacy Extension Activities

One extension activity for Boo Hoo Bird  that my kindergarten students enjoyed was creating their own "Boo Hoo Bird." They planned the activity, determined what craft supplies they needed and sequenced the activity. Do you see Bird's tears streaming down his face? Craftivities are always paired with rich language opportunities.

A second extension activity for our kindergarten literacy unit targeted comprehension skills. Students identified the main character and supporting characters. They each chose the character they wanted to illustrate and collectively we completed this group character map. They were so proud of their illustrations and the success they felt in identifying story characters. This chart hung outside my speech room in the hall for quite a while. 

Boo Hoo Bird was one of those precious finds for my therapy library. Creating literacy units that target multiple speech and language goals is my drive. Click HERE to view my book companions developed to target multiple speech and language goals. They are each packed full of activities that are perfect for mixed IEP groups. 

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*Amazon affiliate links for "Boo Hoo Bird" were provided through the title  in this post.

To search for a gently used copy of Boo Hoo Bird, search Thriftbooks by clicking on this link: Used books for as low as $3 each

Any purchase from Amazon or Thriftbooks affiliate links may result in a small monitory profit for My Speech Tools at no extra cost to you.

Lisa, SLP

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