"My Beak, Your Beak"-- Free Companion Materials for Comparing/Contrasting

Now that my little granddaughter is four, she totally loves books.  I found one at our awesome library that would be great for teaching comparing/contrasting in a speech/language therapy session. It's "My Beak, Your Beak" by Melanie Walsh.

From Amazon: "Melanie Walsh, creator of Do Pigs Have Stripes? and Do Monkeys Tweet? shows her skill in reaching the youngest readers. Walsh shows differences between pairs of animals and then shows how they are similar.
Lions are big and have hairy manes. Kittens are small and fluffy. But . . . they both have scratchy claws!
There are birds and bats, sharks and goldfish, penguins and birds—who at first may seem very different, but share similarities, too. Children will love guessing on their own."  

The author compares 5 pairs of animals, with clear illustrations, and simple language--perfect for our kids.  I've created a set of visuals to go with this book, all free, just for you.  You will have to find the book--it's for sale online, or you can check out your local library, which is what I did.

The visuals have clipart from Smarty Symbols for each animal, along with a sample Venn diagram and a blank Venn diagram.

The book is loads of fun, and the kids will all love this.

For the free set of visuals to go with this book, click here.

A while back, I made a comprehensive set of visuals to go with 'Nothing Like a Puffin' along with some supplemental teaching materials, and a compare/contrast game.  You can view 'Nothing Like a Puffin' companion pack here on TPT.

Enjoy!!!!!

Open the Door! Make a Simple House Craft--printable directions, sequencing, communication board

Last week, I posted a free simple book to elicit the word 'Open'.  This week, I'm sharing a craft also designed ultimately to elicit the same word.  Links to download are at the bottom of this post.

This craft comes with free downloadable step by step directions, a sequencing activity, a simple communication board, and some sample yes/no and wh-questions.

Sample instruction page

Simple core/fringe communication board.
Use the child's own core board and system if you want.







                                Sequencing page activity

 

This activity was originally meant for a Teachers Pay Teachers product.  When I looked at how many 'core vocabulary' products were for sale on TPT, I felt the market was a bit glutted there (as in 1,470 products listed when I typed in 'core vocabulary' under speech therapy) so I switched this to free on this blog.  Core vocabulary words are beautiful because children can use them in any school or daily living activity all day long.  This is a simple craft to elicit a few, including the target word 'open'.  

Have fun!  This can go with my previous blog post where I listed a free book "What Can Open?"

Click here to download this craft booklet.
Click here to also download a free book, "What Can Open?"

This picture was too good not to share--my granddaughters.  As an SLP, I can't help but marvel at the eye contact and happy smile on the 6 week old baby's part, and the ablility of the fun-loving 4 year old to elicit a response.  

"What Can Open?"--Free Printable Book with Icons

A very functional word to teach your students is 'Open'.  Everything seems to open, so here's a free book to let the children practice using this word with a variety of nouns. (13 pages including icons)

The symbols are Smarty Symbols---Please do not use these in another product as they are copyrighted. I have a commercial license.

The images are from Pixabay---public domain.

The last two pages are icons (Smarty Symbols) for matching, and a small sentence frame.

Here is the download link:

Click here to download "What Can Open" 


For an extension craft, go here. The kids will be provided step-by-step directions for making an 'open the door' house craft.

Icons for the "What Can Open" book

If you are interested in another Core Vocabulary Product, go here for a packet highlighting
"Look and Go".

In the ongoing saga of my life, I have retired again, however, with our new little addition to our family, I have important grandmother responsibilities.  The picture below illustrates a typical morning.