Lesson Planning: Thematic Units

As promised, I'm back with a peak into my lesson planning process. I've already decided that I am going to do monthly thematic units with corresponding books, crafts, and games. I snatched some great books at a local thrift shop, so I thought I'd highlight a few of my favorites along with potential crafts and games. 

Weather Thematic Unit

Sun Snow Stars Sky, by Catherine and Laurence Anholt

This book is my favorite find from this trip! It goes through each of the seasons and highlights things people and animals do, clothes we wear, things we see/hear/smell, etc. At the end of each season, it asks the reader what he/she does during that season. 

           

           

Along with the built in wh- questions, there are many opportunities for targeting verb tenses (regular and irregular). As for articulation, /s/ and s-blends are a-plenty! Also f-blends, /l/ and l-blends, /k,g/ and k- and g-blends. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to use it in therapy! I was thinking for older, more advanced, groups it would be neat for them to select their favorite season and create a picture explaining why. Encourage them to find ways to incorporate their target sounds (e.g., sun for "Summer") or create full sentences for language kiddos. For younger groups, it would be neat to create something similar to this craft (found on Pinterest). 

Seasonal/Fall Thematic Unit

Although we don't experience much change in leaves here in Southern Arizona, I'm excited to use a fall theme around October! One of the books I'll be using is Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett. It's an adorable story about Pip, a young squirrel experiencing seasonal changes for the first time. 

This book is great for kiddos working on /s/ and s-blends and velars/velar-blends. There are also multiple uses of regular past tense. The first few pages are dedicated to Pip trying to figure out what has changed about his favorite tree, so it provides great opportunities for making inferences and predictions. I found SO many cute crafts to pair with this book - the options are endless! I really like this one:

Hand print trees with dot leaves found here. Each time the kiddos say their target sounds they can add a dot (or dots) to their tree. 

One of my favorite games to play with the kids is Sneaky Snacky Squirrel. They absolutely love it - plus look at all of the s-blends in the title! I'll use this game on a day off from reading and crafting. Perfect! 

I'll be back with some more of my favorites soon! Hope you enjoyed this post and find the ideas useful! If you have any other great ideas, please comment!