If you caught my September post about books in speech therapy, here is the October edition! If you have been around here before, you might have a hunch that I love using books in therapy. Honestly, it's my favorite way to plan lessons. Using a book really takes the chore out of planning, makes the perfect material for mixed groups and can be used for multiple sessions!

I've gathered some of my favorite books for October. The list is already long and keeps growing. I really have a hard time not using ALL of these books, as I really love this collection. Below you will find links to the books as well as a long list of general targets and a short "top targets" list to help your therapy planning needs for each book. There are MANY surrounding . Halloween, so if you don't use holiday books, check out some of the non-holiday titles in my Interactive Notebook Book Companions Bundle.

Here’s the list of books I have set aside for October.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.

I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

Crankenstein by Samantha Berger

Big Pumpkin by Erika Silverman

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

Monsters Love Underpants by Claire Freedman

The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey

Turkey Trick or Treat by Wendi Silvano

Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long

Here’s what I target with just about EVERY book:

→Sequencing, retelling, summarizing, story grammar/elements (character, setting, problem, events, consequences, ending/solution)

→Tier 1 describing, Tier 2 vocabulary, synonyms & antonyms

→Comparing & contrasting/similarities & differences

→Basic concepts, direction words, temporal concepts

→WH questions-basic and inferential

→Inferencing-social/pragmatic

→Verbs & pronouns

→Sentence generation-higher level structures, conversational, expansion

→Articulation

Here are my "top targets" for each book.

I Need My Monster

Describing characters, similarities & differences

Synonyms & antonyms

Asking questions

I just LOVE this book and so do my students. It's the perfect combination of sweet mixed with scary. Here is a link to my book companion. Are you using Boom Cards(TM)? Check out this digital story check.

Crankenstein

Inferencing-social/pragmatic

Problem solving

When questions-complex sentence structure (ex: When there's no more syrup, Crankenstein feels...)

This, too, is a MUST read. It's a quick read and will be one you may read over and over again. You can find my book companion activities here.

Big Pumpkin 
Sequencing
Tier 1 describing
Predicting
Problem solving
I've been using this book for so many years. Earlier in my SLP career, we used to do a whole interactive skit with our students, complete with costumes and all. Check out my book companion here. It has been updated to include a Google Slides(TM) version!

Room on the Broom
Sequencing
Predicting
Tier 1 and Tier 2 vocabulary
This book is full of colorful language. My quick prep book companion can be found here. It has also been updated to include a Google Slides(TM) version.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

Sequencing

Problem solving

Onomatopeia

Tier 1 describing

I have been using this book since I was in grad school. I also have been known to bring in all the props and make a scarecrow with my students to leave up for the month. You can find my (first ever) book companion for this book here.

Creepy Carrots
Problem solving
Sequencing
Conjunctions
This book is a great reminder for anyone that might be getting too greedy! You can find my interactive notebook activities in this set.

Monsters Love Underpants
Story grammar
Rhyme
Some giant chuckles AND added language.
Combining monsters and underpants is definitely a win! Check out the interactive notebook activities in this set.

The Hallo-Wiener

Story grammar/elements

Inferencing-social/pragmatic

Similarities & differences

A great book for teaching students to rise above challenges. You can find interactive notebook activities within this set.

Turkey Trick or Treat

Predicting

Tier 1 describing-costumes/disguises

Regular past tense

Inferencing-social/pragmatic

The entire series by Wendi Silvano is just perfection. Your students will be rooting for turkey and all his disguises. You can find interactive notebook activities here.

Otis and the Scarecrow

Perspective taking

Tier 1 and Tier 2 vocabulary

Otis is seriously the sweetest character around. While this book tends to be on the long side when trying to fit it into a short session, the story line is absolutely worth it. You can find my quick prep companion here.

Now, which ones to choose this year? Do you have any other favorites? I'd love for you to check out my October Book Companion BUNDLE to start your therapy planning now.

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Sparklle SLP

You are in for a real treat as I join this week's Wild About Books Wednesday Linky! hosted by Speech is Sweet.  

Recently, I had the opportunity to review Elizabeth Weathersby's Pumpkin Soup Book Companion.  I had not heard of this book, but now I totally cannot wait to grab my very own copy after taking a look at her activities.  Pumpkin Soup is a story by Helen Cooper, depicting the adventures of Cat and Squirrel, who squabble over preparing pumpkin soup, while almost losing Duck's friendship.

Elizabeth's (The Speech Owl) companion addresses Tier 1 (common everyday words, those likely in the top 2000-3000 words used when speaking) and Tier 2 (essential vocabulary for school success) vocabulary, story retell/sequencing, comprehension questions, past tense verbs, singular vs. plural nouns, as well as synonyms and antonyms.  Every page is in black and white for print and go therapy.  Elizabeth includes session materials as well as home practice materials.  There are even reinforcement pages for group therapy cohesiveness!

Adding to Elizabeth's companion, I plan to discuss expected and unexpected behaviors, centering around friendship, along with the feelings associated with those behaviors.  Since many of my groups are mixed speech and language groups, I will target many different speech sounds with words from this book, especially /k/ in pumpkin, cat, and duck...all positions speech friends!

So, if you would like to check out Pumpkin Soup:  A Book Companion for Language, visit The Speech Owl's TPT store.

Check out more books to use in therapy over at Speech is Sweet today and every Wednesday!

EDIT:  In my haste, I completely forgot to include the best part of the post!  The Speech Owl is willing to give away her companion to one lucky responder!  Please comment below if you would like a chance to win.  I will pick one lucky winner!

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Sparklle SLP

I'm back for another Wild About Books Wednesday Linky! hosted by Speech is Sweet.  

I'm again going back to a classic.  When pulling out my fall materials I came across Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington.  In this sweet story, Jamie plants a pumpkin seed and after watching it grow all summer, picks it and ultimately creates a jack-o-lantern.  The best part, he saves some seeds for the next spring.  

This is an excellent book for sequencing.  I've created a pumpkin sequencing freebie that can be used to retell Pumpkin Pumpkin.  Included within this download is a collection of sequencing template from 3 through 7 steps to use for any book which you may find in your collection.  

I love sequencing activities for developing speech and language skills.  After quick drawings to sequence the events of the story, having the student verbally retell the story with their sketches aids expressive language recall!  Asking a few questions with before and after {Did the seed sprout before or after he picked the pumpkin?} allows students to practice with these temporal targets while also having a visual of challenging concepts.  I have quite a few students working on /k/, especially during carryover in the medial position of words, so a retelling would give plenty of opportunities to produce this target in the words pumpkin and jack-o-lantern.  Finally, just a bit of open ended conversation about picking pumpkins and carving pumpkins to work on sentence structure, vocabulary, and social language.

Check out more books to use in therapy over at Speech is Sweet today and every Wednesday!

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Sparklle SLP

While it is the time for raking leaves, which may not be a fall favorite unless you are jumping in them, why not also rake up some fall themed activities for your speech room?  I didn't have to search long for a collection of thematic materials to accompany There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro since my current student teacher chose this as her weekly theme in my speech room.  While I observed her therapy skills, I also quickly downloaded the materials she was using!  Woot woot!

Here are some great freebies from creative minds.

Target regular verbs with All About Fall from the TLC Shop.

A story sequencing black and white cut and paste activity from Erin from Creating and Teaching.

Little Miss Kindergarten has a Sammy the Scarecrow roll and color activity.

You know I love some open ended articulation worksheets and LyndaSLP123 has just the freebie.

First Grade Fanatics bring you a collection of activities to go with the story.

While these activities targeted quite a few objectives, we needed more to round out our K-2 language needs.  Here is a Mini Language Book Companion that you can find in my TPT store targeting following 1 and 2-step directions with basic concepts, pronouns and possessive nouns, describing vocabulary, and answering 'wh' questions from the story.

Happy Fall Y'all!

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Sparklle SLP