Wildcat Speech News
January 2016
Welcome back!
Happy New Year! We hope you had a fun and relaxing vacation with your friends and family. We have some exciting things planned in the speech room this month, including our new literacy program and a brand new book unit.
Lively Letters starts this month!
Skill Spotlight: Wh- questions
January book: The Paper Bag Princess
Introducing Lively Letters
This month some groups will be starting Lively Letters, a research-based program for struggling readers. Lively Letters was developed by a speech therapist and a reading specialist and combines stories, gestures, visual cues, music, and more to teach students about letter sounds. Students use so many of their senses that the information tends to really "stick", and often even students who have really struggled in the past are able to dramatically improve their skills. We're excited to start Lively Letters with our students!
Lively Letters and Sight Words You Can See - Reading with TLC Informational Video
Skill Spotlight: Wh- Questions
Many of our students have goals for answering, and sometimes asking, wh- questions - who, what, when, where, and why. Being able to answer these kinds of questions is a comprehension skill that is important for understanding what is read, heard, and experienced. Kids who have difficulty answering wh- questions usually struggle to make sense of what is happening around them, and may not understand why people act the way they do or make connections between actions and consequences. Answering and asking those questions also helps us tell our own stories in ways that are meaningful to other people. Improving our ability to ask and answer wh- questions helps us organize our thoughts and understand our world.
January book: The Paper Bag Princess
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch is the story of Elizabeth, a beautiful princess who is going to marry handsome Prince Ronald. But that would be a boring story. Elizabeth's plans are interrupted by a dragon that burns down the castle and everything in it, and then kidnaps Prince Ronald! Elizabeth is a modern kind of princess, so she sets out to rescue her prince. Ask your child to tell you about the unexpected twist at the end.
We'll be working on vocabulary, story comprehension, story mapping, story retelling, regular and irregular past tense verbs, and social skills. Students working on articulation goals will be using this book, too!
Paper Bag Princess