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Fall is a beautiful time of transformation when the temperatures drop (at least where I live), the leaves become crisp and colorful, darker nights, and the abundance of holiday and seasonal traditions. Today, I will be discussing two fall-themed books that will gear you and your students up for the upcoming holidays and the overall beauty of fall.

With its gorgeous illustrations and charming text, your students will be able to join a young girl as she walks through her forest and town as she says goodbye to summer, and welcomes all the signs of the changing season. The girl sees the season change through the animals, the trees and plants, the wind, changing temperatures, and even the sun as it sets earlier in the day. 

In order to tie into the fall theme, I like to pull out my Alphabet Acorn Set by Learning Resources and use the objects it comes with, my own mini objects, or erasers to target naming, basic concepts, following directions, and turn-taking. My students enjoy opening the acorns to see the “prize” inside. This toy is limitless but be warned that the game is made up of many small pieces!

A fall-themed sensory bin is an extremely easy and inexpensive therapy activity that will take you through both Halloween and Thanksgiving. My fall sensory bin starts with black crinkle paper (but I’ve also used dried black beans in the past!). The black base allows me to switch to Halloween before Thanksgiving. If you don’t mind the switch, wooden beads, popcorn kernels, or kinetic sand works too. My fillers usually include acorns, small pumpkins or apples, and fake leaves. I love Dollar Tree or the Target Dollar Spot for my fillers as they are cheap and often not a big deal if they get lost or damaged. Sensory bins for me automatically mean scavenger hunt. Alongside vocabulary cards, picture cards, or mini objects, sensory bins allow me to target a variety of goals and targets that my students find fun and engaging. I can adapt as needed and they provide a multitude of language opportunities for my students. 

Lance Cottonwood was the ‘best and brightest student’ who excelled in all of his classes. Towards the end of the semester, he began to worry about his final exam – jumping from the top of the tree to the grass below. Lance Cottonwood was afraid to fall. He was afraid of where he would land. His teacher encourages him and his classmates cheer him on as he jumps from the tree and floats gently to the leaf pile below. The Very Last Leaf is a simple story with delightful illustrations that encourages our students to face their fears. 

A nostalgic activity that brings such warm childhood memories. Gather your crayons, paper, and tree leaves in different sizes and shapes. Have your student pick a leaf and place it upside down on the table. Place a piece of paper over the leaf and use the side of a crayon (preferably dark!) to rub across the leaf. Be sure to instruct your student to color over the ENTIRE leaf to ensure that all the characteristics of the leaf come through. This activity is a perfect pair to our story that your students will adore while you target comparing/contrasting, -wh questions, describing, and vocabulary. 

Stampers are a huge hit in my therapy room! I personally love purchasing mine from Oriental Trading as they come in large amounts and have a great selection of themes (holidays, seasons, transportation, zoo, camping, etc) for the entire year. During this season, I pull out my fall stampers because they are easy for my students to use, no prep, and effortlessly add a touch of fall to any activity. I use stamps to collect my students’ trials as well as a reinforcer. Students will pick out a stamp and stamp on a piece of paper (or a printout of a tree, acorn, leaf, etc) every time they produce a sound or answer a question. Depending on the group, I will pull out one piece of paper for the entire group so at the end of the session the students can see all their colors mixed together! You can also use stamps to work on attributes, categories, prepositions, basic concepts, and formulating phrases and sentences.

I hope these books and activities inspire your practice this fall season. If you want to use these stories in your speech sessions, be sure to check out my Story Sidekicks for Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and The Very Last Leaf. Story sidekicks are more than just book companions– they are powerful support resources that combine language and literacy and give you the tools you need to provide effective and engaging therapy sessions with your students!

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Meet Maureen

Hey there! I’m Maureen Wilson, a school-base SLP who is data driven and caffeine powered. My passion is supporting other pediatric SLPs by teaching them how to harness the power of literacy and data to help their students achieve their goals…without sacrificing time they don’t have.

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