The Speech Owl: August 2015

Have you started back to school yet? I’ve been back for over a week! How did summer go by so quickly?!?! Oh, well! I am super excited to get to know some fantastic new kiddos and see what kind of progress we can make! If you know me well, or at all, then you know I love using books for therapy! I think literacy is super important for all students, but especially for our speech and language students!!! Since I love books in therapy so much I am joining Scarlett over at Speech Is Sweet for her weekly “Wild About Books Wednesday” linky party.

In honor of the start of another school year, I want to talk about a book you probably already know! Do you love the Laura Numeroff books too? Lets talk about “If You Take A Mouse To School.” I’m going to tell you a little about this book, show you how I use it in therapy, and give you a link to grab my book companion. (Scroll to the bottom for the link.)

In “If You Take A Mouse To School” by Laura Numeroff, this sweet little mouse is headed to school with his human friend. Of course they have to get ready, catch the bus, put their belongings away, go to class, learn new things, have lunch, get into some type of trouble, play and go back home to rest before the next day. This precious mouse is busy as a bee.

How do I use this book in therapy?

Vocabulary: You know I love teaching vocabulary! There are so many school related items to teach in this book! These school locations, supplies, and everyday objects are a perfect introduction for the new school year.
Sequencing: My students need help with sequencing and retell skills! We work on putting the scenes in order and then retell the story. Want to relate this skill to daily tasks? Talk about your daily schedule, what happens first in their day, what happens last in their day? Have the students tell you about what they have been learning in their classes.
Comprehension: We answer tons of questions as we read the book to work on comprehension questions. Need extra visuals...just open up the book. Want to related "wh" questions to their daily life? Ask them general questions about their day...When they do things, why they do things, where they do things, etc.
Object Functions: We talk about how (or why) we use various school supplies. This is great for introducing or reminding students of expectations with school supplies and appropriate uses for the supplies.
Cause and Effect: We start talking about cause and effect relationships. When someone does something what will happen? It's also a great way to talk about both positive and negative consequences to a variety of behaviors. In the book because the mouse wrote a book, you get to listen to the book.