Best Bug Books for Speech Therapy

Creepy Crawly bugs! I don't like them in my house, but I love them in my speech therapy sessions. What is it about bugs that fascinates children? These bright colorful creatures intrigue children of all ages. Whether you share your favorite rhyming book or non-fiction reference book about bugs, your students will ask for them again and again.  Engage in conversation, ask critical thinking questions, connect text to life experiences, learn a new word, and play with sounds, rhymes, and syllables. In this post, I want to share what I think are the BEST Bug Books for Speech Therapy. (Amazon affiliate links are included)

5 Fabulous Farm Books for Speech Therapy

There is something so enticing about playing with a farm set. Cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs and tractors are enjoyable for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary students. Farm sets are open-ended toys which sparks imagination and can keep children actively engaged. Farm related books are also a great way to introduce students to new vocabulary, narrative structure, build background knowledge and facilitate creativity. Farm books create opportunities for language expansion and experiential learning.

10 Speech and Language Goals for "In the Tall, Tall Grass"

 

In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming is a colorful fun read aloud written from a caterpillar's point of view. With rhyme, rich language and simple text this is a wonderful book to share with students this Spring.

So let's spring forward with 10 different goals you can target using "In the Tall, Tall Grass" for your speech and language therapy groups this Spring.

Speech and Language Targets:

Vocabulary Development "In the Tall, Tall Grass" is written in primarily Tier 1 vocabulary but does include several Tier 2 concepts that provides opportunities to expand on language as well as  allow for explicit instruction. You can target concepts such as: dart, sip, strum, hum, flap, glide, scurry, flop, lug, glow, swoop, and loop. 

Speech Therapy Activities to Teach Basic Concepts Using "Rosie's Walk"

Basic Concepts are essential for success in school. Early concept development begins as young as six to nine months with “more juice” and “all gone.” For school age children, basic concept knowledge is needed for following directions and participation in every aspect of the classroom.

Here is a list of basic concept categories that students need to comprehend and use in the classroom. Most concepts should be well developed by first grade (age 7-8 years).

4 Simple Speech Therapy Games Using Plastic Eggs

Do you need a motivating articulation activity that results in a high number of repetitions? Plastic eggs are enticing to children and only come out of our speech closet for one to two weeks out of the year. There are so many different ways to use plastic eggs in language therapy and play-based therapy.  I want to give a few fun examples of how plastic eggs can be used in articulation therapy that results in up to 100 repetitions in a session.

First, put small picture cards with the target sounds inside the eggs. Students choose an egg and say the target word, phrase or sentence. I often have students roll a die and produce the number of repetitions shown on the die. For older students have them multiply the number times two or three. If the student rolls a four, multiply it times two and the student produces eight repetitions of the target.

"Frog" Theme Speech Therapy Activities

Happy Spring everyone! It is raining and chilly in Texas. But just wait, it will be warming up tomorrow. That's how often the weather changes in the Texas Panhandle. As I sit and work on my lessons for the month of April, I realize I keep changing my mind about themes, books and activities as much as the weather is changing. There are so many exciting and wonderful Spring themes, and it can be a little overwhelming to plan thematic units and literacy units for mixed IEP groups, mixed grade levels, and mixed ability level groups.The one theme all my students absolutely LOVE is FROGS. Fiction or Non-fiction, kids (and adults) love frogs.

I want to share with you some of my ideas on using frogs in therapy. There are some amazing books, activities, and media that you can use in your therapy this month, and it's all about FROGS.