Izzy The Ice Cream Fairy

Welcome back to Wild About Books Wednesday! If you're new to my blog, each Wednesday I discuss a new book and share ways that it can be used to enhance speech/language. Literacy is perhaps one of my greatest passions in life. It led me into the field of elementary education and then ultimately speech-language pathology. I just adore books! If you're a fellow blogger, please consider linking up with your own book ideas. Just use the picture at the bottom to link back to this post.

Today, I want to talk about one of the cutest books I ever did see! :) Izzy the Ice Cream Fairy by Tim Bugbird.

Graphics: Krista Wallden

There is nothing that says summer quite like an ice cream cone.. except maybe cute little fairies that sell ice cream cones on the beach! This book is about a little fairy and her friends who sell their ice cream by the sea. They have a magical well that supplies their ice cream and one day it runs dry! It is a precious story! The illustrations are everything! Check them out:

There are so many ways to use this book to enhance speech and language!

1) Articulation - you can work on /s/ and /z/. There are an abundance of words that contain these phonemes, which makes this book perfect for auditory bombardment, practicing speech sounds at the reading level, or building sound awareness.

2) Problem/Solution - This book is perfect for targeting problem/solution. It's very clear cut and easy to follow! Problem: The well runs dry. Solution: Hop on the fairynet and google places that have ice cream. haha!

3) Problem Solving - discuss other ways that Izzy and her friends can solve their problem.

4) Quantitative Concepts: These little fairies are the cutest entrepreneurs, this can spark a great discussion! You can talk about how much ice cream costs or how many scoops are on each ice cream cone. You can discuss more/less, many/a few, etc.

5) Role-playing: How fun would it be to set up an ice cream stand and engage in pretend play? What an awesome way to build language!

How would you use this book? I think it's the perfect compliment to any ice cream or summer theme!

Looking for more ice cream themed ideas? Check out my recent post "Scoops of Speech" by clicking HERE.

Thank you for visiting my blog! Have wonderful Wild About Books Wednesday!

An InLinkz Link-up

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

It's Wild About Books Wednesday! If you're new to my blog, each week I share a new book and discuss ways it can be used to enhance speech and language. If you're a fellow blogger, please link up with your own ideas! Just use the picture at the bottom of this post! Today, I'm so lucky to be reviewing a book companion for How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Lindsey Karol of Word Nerd Speech Teach! Sometimes, a book companion looks so cute I have to have it without ever reading the book! Lindsey graciously sent me the companion and I ordered the book right away! You can find Lindsey's companion by clicking HERE.

How to Make an Applie Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman is a charming little story of a girl who wants to make an apple pie, but the local market is closed! She then embarks on a journey around the world to gather the necessary ingredients! She goes aboard on a steamship to Italy so that she can gather wheat, flies to France to acquire a French hen, goes to Jamaica for sugar, and a variety of other countries to obtain the most high quality ingredients! It's a wonderful book about adventure and the comfort of apple pie!

This book is a treasure trove! It's the perfect book to use to tie social studies into language therapy. If you're in a classroom, this book will be perfect during a "around the world" unit of study or to use during an interactive read aloud at any time! I love when a storybook can be used to tie in other areas of study on a whim!

There are so many ways to use this book to enhance language. Here are a few ideas:
1) Sequencing - You can sequence the little girl's travels. First, she went to Italy and so forth. You can  also sequence the steps to making an apple pie. There's a couple pages in the book that breaks down all the steps and there is also a recipe on the back page!
2) Writing - This book is perfect for a mini-lesson on how to write a list. There are so many purposes for writing and the planner nerd in me loves making lists! haha
3) Executive Functioning - Lindsey has a writing page included in her companion that asks, what would you do if you didn't have the ingredients for an apple pie? What would you do if the market is closed? This book is perfect for problem solving/planning and discussing whether or not the lady in the book made a good decision.

Lindsey's book companion also addresses a wide variety of skills! There are differentiated comprehension cards. There's a set of cards that are open-ended and a set that contains answer choices.

There are also card sets that are designed to improve vocabulary. This companion addresses synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary from the book, and multiple meaning words. I love that the cards are black/white, because after students work with them at school you can throw them in a baggie and send them home!

This companion also includes a writing prompt, venn diagrams, and an open-ended sheet that can tackle any skill.

Have you read this delightful book? I definitely plan on using it next year! My students are going to love it! I also noticed that there is a sequel - How to Make a Cherry Pie and see the USA. That's definitely going on my wish-list!

Thank you for visiting my blog! Have a wild Wednesday! P.S. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more frequent updates! My username is Scarlettrs or you can also search Speech Is Sweet!

If you're a blogger, I'd love if you would share your ideas! Just link back to this post and use the picture below:

An InLinkz Link-up

The Very Busy Spider (Plus Freebie!)

Welcome back to Wild About Books Wednesday! If you're new to my blog, each Wednesday I highlight a new book and discuss ways to use that book to enhance speech/langauge! I also invite other teacher/slp bloggers to link up with their own ideas. If you would like to join, just link back to me using the picture at the bottom of this post!

This week I'm talking about one of my favorite Eric Carle books - The Very Busy Spider!

I love using Eric Carle books in my speech room! Although, they're fiction.. they give a non-fiction vibe which I love! If you're not familiar with this selection, it's the story of a sweet little spider and her dedication to spinning her web! The wind blows her onto a farm, where she makes her home. Animal after animal walks by and asks her to hang out... but she never gives into temptation. She's oh so busy! Her work ethic is inspiring! :)

There are a million ways to use this little gem to enhance language. Here are some ideas:
1) Build vocabulary - I work in an urban district and many of my students are not familiar with farm animals. This book has so many farm animals and their corresponding sounds. Perfect for building world knowledge when you can't leave your speech room.. or closet! haha
2) Comparing/Contrast - Discuss the farm animals and talk about how they are alike/different.
3) Verbs - There are so many actions! Each animal asks the spider if she wants to partake in their favorite activity, such as taking a nap or rolling in the mud! Talk about the actions of each farm animal. (ex. The horse likes to eat hay.)
4) Sequencing/Story Retelling - If you have stopped by this little blog on Wild About Books Wednesday in the past, then you know how crucial I think this skill is! I love having print n' go story maps for my favorite books, so I had to make one for this book. It's just one page, so I'd like to share it with you!

There are so many ways to use this puppy! You can place this in a literacy center (listening center, work on writing (visual cues!), etc). It can be sent home for homework to encourage students to retell stories to their family members. If you're in therapy, students can color this sheet as a reinforcement between turns! I usually have a group of three in language therapy. As one of the students is working with me and retelling the story, I instruct the other two students to listen to their classmate for a verbal model while they color their map. I think peer models are wonderful tools! Sometimes, I even have the other two practice retelling the story to each other while they wait to work one-on-one with me.

If you're interested in this little story map, you can download it HERE.

What are your favorite Eric Carle books? My absolute favorite is A House of Hermit Crab... if interested, I have blogged about how to use this book to teach synonyms HERE.

Have a wonderful Wednesday! I plan on wrapping up loose ends in my classroom today and then I'll be FREE! Whoo hooo!

An InLinkz Link-up

Dragons Love Tacos (Plus Freebie!)

I'm super excited to announce the return of Wild About Books Wednesday! If you're new to my blog, each Wednesday I'll be discussing a new book and sharing ideas about how to use that book to enhance language skills! Books are the perfect therapy tools and can be used to target a wide array of skills. If you're a teacher or SLP blogger, I'd love if you would link up to share your book ideas! You can share a book companion, a list of ideas, a craft to go with a book, a freebie, or whatever you're inspired to blog about! Just link back to me using the graphic at the end of this post!

Without further ado.. Let's jump right into this wild romp! Today I want to talk about one of my new favorites - Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin. My bloggy bud, The School SLP, introduced me to this book during a Wild About Books Wednesday post in the past and I immediately fell in love! It's witty. It's cute. It's loads of fun.

Oh... I also whipped up a freebie that you can use with your students! First, let's taco 'bout the many ways you can use this book in therapy or in a classroom:

1) Cause and Effect - When these hungry dragons eat spicy foods, their ears smoke and they breathe fire! What a fun way to dissect cause and effect!
2) Execute Function - Work on your students' executive functioning skills and have them plan a taco party! This would be great to do during a therapy session for students who exhibit EF deficits or as a group assignment in the classroom.
3) Describing - Students can describe tacos and dragons. Whip out your EET (expanding expression tool)!

You can also simply talk about your favorite part of the story or sequence the events using these little printables:

If you want to snag this freebie just click HERE. I hope these printables will be useful for you! This book is perfect for an interactive read aloud and these pages could be used in a literacy center afterwards!

Thank you for visiting! Please consider subscribing to my blog so that you don't miss a Wild About Books Wednesday post! Have a wonderful day!

An InLinkz Link-up