The Literacy-Based Speech Podcast

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Working with elementary students, you get an opportunity to read picture books in your sessions that have fun themes and engage students. In another round of our favorites episodes, we’ve selected a fun category of pirate themed books to use during your literacy-based speech therapy sessions. This entertaining theme has a lot of great books that we share to help work on literacy skills with your students.

With so many pirate themed books, how do you choose which ones to use with your students? Well, we’ve done the work for you! We break down all of the literacy and speech language skills each book displays and how best to utilize them in your sessions. These 9 pirate themed picture books have unique components to them that help your students with their speech language goals in a fun way. 

Resources Mentioned:

• Top Pirate-Themed Notes Free Download
• How to Be a Pirate by Sue Fliess
• Pirate’s Perfect Pet by Beth Ferry
• The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle
• Klyde the Kraken Wants a Friend by Brooke Hartman
• Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map by James Dean
• Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow
• The Pirates are Coming! by John Condon
• How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long
• Narrative Notes Bundle
• Pirate Day Speech Therapy Book Companion for PK-2nd Grade
• Pirate Theme Book Search 
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/pirate-themed-books

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If you’re looking for a picture book that has all the important literacy and language skills that also has a few challenging aspects for students, this is your book! Officer Buckle and Gloria is an engaging picture book to use during your literacy-based speech therapy sessions. With so many books to choose from, we often get asked why we choose certain books. If you have the same question, we’re doing a deep dive into Officer Buckle and Gloria to explain why it’s helpful for your students. 

When we do deep dive episodes, we like to share basic information about the picture book and the high frequency words and sounds your students can practice with. We really enjoy this book for the theme and message it displays, the use of practicing character analysis skills, and how the illustrations are a critical component to the story. 

Resources Mentioned:

• Free Deep Dive Notes: Office Buckle and Gloria
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
• Themed Picture Books List: Narrative Key Teaching Points
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/officer-buckle-and-gloria

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When you finally choose a theme of books to use in your literacy-based speech therapy sessions, it can be difficult to narrow it down to the book that covers all learning concepts for your students. Since the process of picking a book can take some time, we’ve decided to do the work for you! With fall just around the corner, we’re doing another round of our this or that episode with the theme of leaves with the books Leaf Man and The Leaf Thief.  

In our this or that episodes, we like to talk through our process for selecting books to use in our speech therapy sessions. We dive into all the different aspects of the books and ultimately make our decision on which book we’d focus on with our students. Leaf Man and The Leaf Thief each highlight major learning concepts, but one ultimately is the complete package that includes a complete episode. Find out which book is best to use with students in our this or that leaf themed episode!

Resources Mentioned:

• This or That Notes Freebie
• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming 
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
• Book Search - Leaves
• Narrative Key Teaching Points - Seasons
• Narrative Key Teaching Points - Themes
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/this-or-that-leaf-theme

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With the season beginning to change to fall, it’s time to start adding some fall picture books to your speech therapy sessions. There are so many to choose from, so we’ve done the job for you! As you know, we love picture books that are complete episodes and can be used to practice and improve a variety of skills for students. We’re sharing our top 10 favorite fall picture books to use with your speech therapy students this fall!

Our goal is to always give you an overview of each book, key concepts to teach with, which age level it’s best used for, and high frequency words and sounds. Another thing we love about all these books is the wonderful lessons and themes each book displays. These kid-friendly fall picture books are fun, engaging, and are sure to be a fun addition to your literacy-based speech therapy sessions! 

Resources Mentioned:

• Fall Favorite Notes
• Fall Book Companions for Speech Therapy
• Seasonal Picture Book List Inventory
• The Golden Acorn by Katy Hudson
• Sneeze, Big Bear, Sneeze by Maureen Wright  
• Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin
• The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry
• Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt
• Pete the Cat: Falling for Autumn by James Dean
• Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming 
• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
• The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown

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With fall quickly approaching, adding some apple themed picture books into your therapy sessions helps everyone get excited for every fall-related activity. There are countless books with an apple theme, but which one fits the needs of the majority of your students? We’re diving into another edition of a this or that episode with apple themed picture books.

During the episode, we’re sharing our process for selecting books and giving insight into what each book offers so you can best serve your students. What’s fun about this  particular this or that episode is that each apple themed picture book is completely different! 

They each have a wide range of skills to focus on but with varying key differences. While each book serves a different purpose and need for your students, we do select our favorite of the three. Listen to the episode to see which apple themed picture book we chose! 

Resources Mentioned:

• Apple-themed book search on our website
• Themed Narrative Key Teaching Points
• Free Note Taking Page
• Apples by Gail Gibbons
• Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace 
• Applesauce Day! by Lisa J. Amstutz
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/apple-themed-picture-books

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Part of the work as a speech language pathologist is collecting data and forming groups for your therapy sessions. But based on where you’re located and your own preferences, those two things can vary depending on the SLP and school. So what’s the best way to group students and collect data? We’re sharing our own tips and strategies for forming groups and ways to collect data that benefits your students and their goals.

Even though we’re cognizant that each SLP’s situation is different, we believe forming groups by goals is the best way, if possible. If grouped by goals, we discuss ways that decision can make your preparation and therapy sessions easier for you as well as your students. Additionally, we share strategies for collecting data and why it’s effective to show your students their progress and data rather than keeping it from them. Forming groups and collecting data is a hot topic that we’re excited to dive into! 

Resources Mentioned:

• Articulation Bookmarks Freebie
• Book Search for Speech Therapy
• 100 Trials Articulation & Apraxia - By Phonemic Sound
• Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
• Episode 3, How to Implement a Literacy-Based Speech Therapy Approach
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/forming-groups

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In preparation for back to school, creating lessons, and finding resources that align with your literacy-based speech approach, we thought we’d help provide you with a list of books to use in your sessions. Working with students who have childhood apraxia of speech, it’s essential to expose them to repetitive phrases in texts. So, in today’s episode, we’re sharing 25 books that have repetitive phrases and why we like to use them for childhood apraxia.

Along with our list of books to use, we break down why these repetitive texts help with childhood apraxia by developing phonemic awareness and pre-reading skills. Additionally, we discuss 4 strategies to implement with your students during your sessions. 

Resources Mentioned:

• Favorites List of 25 books - free download!
• Amazon List: Repetitive Text (Apraxia)
• Books with Repetitive Text for Apraxia of Speech Blog Post
• Episode 2, The Why Behind Literacy-Based Speech Therapy
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/childhood-apraxia

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With back to school season coming up, we want to make sure you’re starting your speech therapy sessions off with books that have positive and inclusive themes. One book that we think has good character growth and message is The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. We’re doing a deep dive into this book to share our process when selecting books and how you can use this with your students during your own speech therapy sessions.

To give you a better idea on how to effectively use this book, we outline all the different concepts and skills to work on with your students, which range from theme, high frequency sounds, and character analysis. A unique aspect of The Invisible Boy is the way the illustrations provide meaning alongside the text. Additionally, it provides excellent real life conversations that can be had with your students regarding inclusion and making friends. For more engaging strategies, join us on our deep dive through The Invisible Boy.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Invisible Boy Narrative Notes
• The Invisible Boy  free notes download
• The Invisible Boy Blog Post
• The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/the-invisible-boy

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We’re back with another "this or that" episode! This time we’re comparing the books David Goes to School and Clark the Shark. 

With back to school season just around the corner, these books are popular to start with your speech therapy sessions for the year with. However, we believe that one book is more complete and a better message to use with your students. Tune in to hear our thoughts!

Resources Mentioned:

• This or That Notes Download
• Clark the Shark Blog Post
• Narrative Key Teaching Points
• Back to School Books for Speech Therapy
• Shop back to school books on Amazon 
• Search more back to school books!
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/this-or-that-2

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Although it’s still summer, some of you might be at the beginning stages of planning for the beginning of your school year. If that’s the case, we’ve got an episode for you! Heading back to school or transitioning to a new school can be intimidating or scary for some students, which is why we’ve compiled our favorite back to school books to use in speech therapy.

Each of the 10 books we chose have common themes of acceptance, kindness, inclusion, and self-confidence that will help ease the minds of nervous elementary students. Additionally, we share a brief summary, skills to focus on, and high frequency sounds for your students. We also love how each book is a complete episode with a plan and actions to solve it. Bring some fun, laughter, and lessons in your speech therapy sessions with these back to school books! 

Resources Mentioned:

• Free notes download - includes a list of the books we mention!
• Back to School Books for Speech Therapy
• Back to School Speech Therapy Book Companions
• Back to School Book Companions for Speech Therapy Blog
• Shop back to school books on Amazon 
• Search more back to school books!
• Follow us on Instagram @literacybasedspeechtherapy.
• Write your review on Apple Podcasts!

Show Notes: https://sweetsouthernspeech.com/podcast/back-to-school-books