As a speech-language pathologist, I am always on the lookout for fiction and non-fiction books that can be used to target multiple speech and language goals. Room on the Broom is one of those books that can be differentiated to target multiple receptive and expressive communication goals.
In this post, I want to share 14 ways to use Room on the Broom in your speech therapy sessions, as well as direct you to the author's website for more resources to incorporate in your therapy sessions.
Speech and Language Targets:
Vocabulary Development - Target rich Tier 2 vocabulary terms such as: cauldron, wailed, ginger, plait, bounded, keen, clambered, shrieked, fluttered, clutched, wand, cloak, moor, bog, thundering, strode, and muttered. Students can identify the parts of speech, root and affix. Students can also define, describe, illustrate and determine word meaning from context.
Phonemic Awareness - Written in poetic form, Room on the Broom includes opportunities for students to identify rhyming words, choral read repetitive text, expand on word families (ex: hat, cat, that, etc.) segment and blend multisyllabic words (ex: broomstick, eagerly, magnificent), and delete and/or add prefixes and suffixes (ex: shrieked, dripping, searched).
Sequencing - Room on the Broom has several characters and details. Students can use visuals to sequence events, illustrate the events themselves with a flow map or foldable, and connect events with temporal concepts. Students can identify and associate events using the terms "first, next, then," and "last." Other temporal concepts may also include: "before" and "after."
Cause and Effect - I love the detailed and repetitive cause and effect events throughout Room on the Broom. I've identified 5 cause/effect relationships that would be ideal for to discuss with your students.
- "The wind blew so wildly it blew off her hat."
- "The witch laughed aloud and held onto her hat, but away blew her bow from her long, ginger plait."
- "The witch tapped her broomstick and whoosh they were gone."
- "The witch clutched her bow but let go of her wand."
- "The frog jumped for joy and the broom snapped in two."
Problem and Solution - There are several problems that occur throughout the story. Minor problems, such as, "How will the witch get her bow back?" to the major conflict with the dragon wanting to eat the witch. The witch's friends pay back her kindness by helping her out. They cover themselves with mud and scare the dragon away by claiming, "Buzz off...That's our witch!" Students can identify both small and large problems. This would also be a great opportunity to bring in the concept of size of the problem to discuss with students.
Compare and Contrast - What two better characters to compare and contrast than the WITCH and the DRAGON? Students can identify similarities and differences between these two characters and complete a Venn Diagram to show how they are alike and how they are different.
Wh-Questions - Students can demonstrate basic comprehension by answering "Who?" "What?" "When?" "Where?" and "Why?" questions. Questions can relate to details ("Who dropped her bow?"), vocabulary ("What animal bounded?"), sequence ("What happened after __?"), or abstract thinking ("Why do you think___?").
Inference Skills - The beautiful illustrations provide many opportunities for students to infer. Ask students to look at the dragon's face and tell you what they think the dragon is either thinking or feeling. Students can also think beyond the text by making predictions, such as, "Where do you think the characters will go next?"
Character Traits - I want my students to think beyond the text and develop abstract reasoning skills from text. Characters are more than what they see on the outside and character traits are very difficult concepts for students to grasp. Rather than guessing or assuming the witch is nice instead of mean, students should go back to the text and locate text evidence to support their character analysis. Using a a bubble map or character web is often a great visual for helping students organize their thinking and connect their ideas with characters.
Onomatopoeia - Whoosh! Phew! Zoom! Who doesn't love a little onomatopoeia sprinkled in the story. Just reading these words aloud creates the FUN in story telling.
Irregular and Regular Past Tense Verbs - Room on the Broom is written in past tense. The text includes both regular and irregular past tense verbs. You can focus on both familiar and new verbs as you read and re-read this story. Target verbs may include: stirred, muttered, started, jumped, dropped, clambered, flapped, wagged, laughed, held, clutched, tapped, climbed, cried, filled, squelched, dripped, spluttered, flew, strode, found, and threw.
Descriptive Adjectives - The text is very descriptive and provides sensory details throughout the story. Terms such as: horrible, tall, dark and sticky, furred, terrible, and frightful are used to describe the dragon's appearance and presence. Students can locate descriptive adjectives and expand on the list by adding their own ideas and thoughts. Students can also sort adjectives by how they appeal to the 5 senses. "Which words describe texture? Which words describe sound?"
Summarize - Many of my students have narrative retell goals. Being able to retell a familiar story is a critical skills for story comprehension. Students can fill in a story map graphic organizer with character, setting, problem, and solution and then use the visual to help organize their expressive language for story retell.
Articulation - Word lists can be generated from the rich text of this story. I especially noticed the frequency of /r, l, s, k, g/ "ch," "th," and "sh" throughout the story. There are also a high number of consonant blends and vocalic-r words in the text as well. Students can identify words with their target sounds and practice them at the word, phrase, sentence and reading levels depending on their specific goals.
Room on the Broom is a FUN and EXCITING seasonal book for October. If you have used this book in your therapy, I'd love to hear some of your ideas for targeting multiple speech and language goals.
You can click HERE for Julia Donaldson's website and to view her songs, plays, poems and phonics reading books.
You can also go directly to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to find my Room on the Broom Book Companion.
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*Amazon affiliate links are provided in this post.
*To search for gently used copies of Room on the Broom, search Thriftbooks by clicking the following link: Used books for as low as $3 each
(Any purchase from Amazon or Thriftbooks links may result in a small monetory profit to My Speech Tools at no extra cost to you.)
*Amazon affiliate links are provided in this post.
*To search for gently used copies of Room on the Broom, search Thriftbooks by clicking the following link: Used books for as low as $3 each
(Any purchase from Amazon or Thriftbooks links may result in a small monetory profit to My Speech Tools at no extra cost to you.)
Lisa, SLP
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