When the Leaf Blew In (Freebie!)

Wild About Books Wednesday is FINALLY back and just in time for one of my favorite seasons - fall! The beginning of the school year has been so hectic and I'm finally getting a spare moment to resurrect my little blog series. If you're new around here, each Wednesday I'll be sharing a book and discussing ways that you can use it to enhance speech and language! Literacy is one of my greatest passions in life and I love taking a literature-based approach to therapy. I have lots planned, so make sure you stop by each Wednesday!

Today, I'm discussing one of my favorite little fall books - When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger. I also whipped up a little freebie for you!

This is such a fun story! A leaf blows into barn and it sets off a huge series of events! It causes the cow to sneeze, which causes a spider to fall on an owl, which causes the owl to swoop out of the barn, and so on. There are a million ways to utilize this little book. Here are a few ideas:

1) Cause & Effect - Every action in this book causes another action to occur! It is the PERFECT book for teaching cause & effect.
2) Verbs - This book is overflowing with action words! Examples from the book include sneezed, hopped, leaped, swooped, etc.
3) Past Tense - All of the verbs are in past tense, which makes this book the perfect learning tool! You can target irregular (blew, spun, etc) or regular past tense (sneezed, hopped, etc)
4) Farm Vocabulary - I love a good farm theme! This book contains a cow, pig, goat, duck, dragonfly, and so much more! A great way to expose children to animal vocabulary.
5) Story Retelling - The chain of events in this story makes it an ideal book for teaching sequencing! I created a little freebie for story retelling. It's a little book that students can assemble. On each page they will complete the sentence by drawing the event. For instance, "When the leaf blew in the cow..." then the student is to draw a picture of a cow sneezing. Here's a peek:

If you're interested in this little freebie you can scoop it up by clicking HERE.

Have your read this book? I'd love to share your ideas in the comments! Also, if you're a fellow blogger please feel free to link up with your own ideas! Just link back to me using the picture below: