I live in Florida, but lately it has felt like it should be snowing here! My native blood is not used to temps in the 40's! (I know, I am a total baby to all you Northerners!) But most of the time we are still wearing shorts and enjoying the beach in January, so snow is often a foreign concept to my students. I try to incorporate as many books and activities I can that will help them understand what winter is like in other parts of the world.
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For years I have been using The Mitten by Jan Brett. I love this story because it gives great opportunities for story sequencing and vocabulary. In the past I have always used print out characters from my story companion unit, but a few months ago I came across an adorable felt set! I found it on Facebook from a mom and daughter team called Pharmgal Crafts.
It's easy to use one story or a theme and stretch it out over a few weeks! This doesn't mean you have to read the book every time, although the kids do love hearing familiar stories. I have been able to use this mitten and character set to story sequence, practice following spatial directions (in, under, etc), and throw them into my "snowy" sensory bin! They kids love these and make story re-telling so much more fun. I also have a free Mitten smash mat that I like to use for sentence expansion, descriptive words, and vocabulary review.
I often use story books with my articulation students as well and my language kids. Books give you so many opportunities to practice good articulation. Sometimes we go on a 'word hunt' as we look and listen for words in the story with our target sounds. Other times I will read the story aloud and purposely mispronounce target sounds for my students to catch. Having your older students read aloud to you is a great way to practice carrying over their productions into reading. And since I am a sucker for a fun theme, I created Mitten ART-ticulation worksheets to go with this story!
This is such a fun story to use in therapy. If you don't own the book, you can snag it on Amazon for under $4, here! What are some of your favorite winter themed books?
