Speech Language Newsletter
October/November 2013
Building Language at Home
I love this time of year. With the
holidays and changing season there
is so much to do and talk about!
Although, the leaves don’t change here
in Mesa we can still have fun learning
about Fall through these great books:
Here are some simple activities that you can try at home
this month:
Associations: Think of as many words as you can that
have do with fall. Use complete sentences “…. is in fall”.
(other words you can use to make associations: candy,
Halloween, things that are orange, etc.)
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
Why Do Leaves Change Colors by Betsy Maestro
Let it Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Story Comprehension: Read one of the suggested
stories or another of your choosing and then retell it and
answer: Who was the story about?, Where did the story
take place?, What happened?, Why did it happen?, and
How did the story end?
Some of my favorite October/Halloween themed books
include:
Grammar: Look at some pictures and talk about what
people are doing using –ing verbs. For example “He is
walking down the street.
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There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by
Lucille Colandro. This a great book to use for
sequencing and describing. Ask your child if they
met my “Old Lady”! Many of the students had an
opportunity to “feed” her some of the items in the
story.
In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting: This is a fun
story with amazing illustrations that allow the
students to make predictions, observations, and
overall generates a lot of language. We also used
this story with the speech groups to listen for words
with our sounds in it and then selected those words
for extra practice. This is a great activity to do at
home.
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman: This is another
great book for sequencing, predicting, and building
vocabulary.
In November we will be reading and doing activities
with these stories:
Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by James Dean
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
Run Turkey Run by Diane Mayr
Describing: Describe a pumpkin. What category does it
belong to, what is it used for, what does it look like
(shape, color, size), what parts does it have and where
would you find it?
Think about and explain: Explain how to make a jack-olantern. Start with what materials are needed and then
talk through each step of the process. Use complete
sentences.
Social Thinking
Our social language groups have been working hard
learning about “Glassman” the Unthinkable responsible
for making us have huge reactions to small problems!
Some of the strategies that allow us to defeat
“Glassman” include determining the size of the problem
by thinking about bigger problems and how your
problem compares (i.e. if getting bullied is a big problem
then losing a homework project is a medium problem
and not winning a board game is a tiny problem).
Another strategy is calming your body when you notice
you are becoming frustrated. A way to get your body to
a calm place is to tighten up your muscles and then
relax them. And lastly, using positive self talk (i.e. “I can
do this, I know this is a tiny problem and I can stay
calm”).
For more information about the Unthinkables and the
Superflex Curriculum visit socialthinking.com.
Sarah Bevier, MS, CCC-SLP