Halloween, Books, Language, and Articulation - An Activity Round-Up

Most of the kids on my caseload LOVE  Halloween. Next to Christmas this may be the best time of year to elicit language and speech from the children. They have so much to talk about. The vocabulary is rich and not very common so is a great way teach vocabulary and context.

Here is a great little articulation resource from SubLime Speech



 It is a great little freebie that you can get here.  Like I've said before- teachers love a good freebie!

So what books do I enjoy using in my therapy classes? I'm so glad you asked. : )

This year I have been digging Click, Clack, Boo : A Tricky Treat a new book by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. I was fortunate to be able to hear them present this book and the original Click, Clack, Moo while they were on a book tour.

This book has been a hit for several reasons. First of all, the children love it. They love the sound effects and the art work. I love it because, again, the vocabulary of Halloween is uncommon and provides a rich opportunity to add new interesting vocabulary. Another bonus: there are many opportunities for practicing articulation skills. (I included articulation listening sheets in my TPT packet based on this book.) But, it works just as well to read the book and ask questions based on whatever articulation sound the child is working on. I love to do this for my articulation kids as often times therapy can get boring with straight drills. This is especially great for articulation and language kids. One feature about this book that makes it different is the being able to practice  "reading between the lines." For example, in the first barn party scene it is important to note the prizes being awarded at the party. And, of course, I love anything with humor.

For my lower level kids we have acted out the sound vocabulary in the book: tapping, creaking from opening the door, crunching by running through the leaves, etc. I also put the sound vocabulary on some single switch buttons and have had them activate the switch at the appropriate time in the story.  (My non verbal kids LOVE switches.)

Some of the other books I utilize in October are: Sheep Trick or Treat, The Costume Contest (a Clifford book) and Just Say Boo. (My lower level kids love Just Say Boo!)

What are some of your favorites for Halloween?

Here's a link to my Click, Clack, Boo unit on TPT.