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speech and language teaching concepts for How To Catch A Clover Thief in speech therapy​
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/kl/ initial
/v/ medial
/er/ final
/ar/ medial
/th/ initial
/f/ final
/j/ initial (Jarvis)
/r/ initial

Themes:

St. Patrick’s Day
spring

Book Details:
Diverse Characters: N/A
Age Recommendation: Elementary

How To Catch A Clover Thief

By Elise Parsley

All Roy the wild boar wants is to enjoy his precious patch of delicious clover . . . but every time he turns around, his tasty treasure seems to be shrinking! Who’s stealing his favorite meal from right under his snout? To make the tedious job of standing guard by the clover patch day and night more bearable, Roy’s neighbor Jarvis the gopher helps by lending his never-ending stash of fascinating books that absorb Roy’s attention—as the patch disappears bit by bit. All of that reading makes for a very smart boar, though . . . and in a surprise table-turning twist at the end, Roy might just get the better of that sneaky clover thief!

This cleverly hilarious spring and St. Patrick’s Day book can be used in speech therapy to address problem solving, character analysis and predicting. It is also great for noticing character expressions and for sequencing as well as for targeting /kl/, /v/, /er/, /ar/, /th/, /f/, /j/, and /r/ sounds! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using How To Catch A Clover Thief in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary​
problem solving​
character analysis
sequencing​
inferencing​
figurative language​
predicting
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
verbs (linguistic)
text features

Sequencing:

order of attempts to guard and steal the clovers

Vocabulary:

clover, strategy, engineer, trap, boar, gopher, patient, foraging, stand guard, thief, proper, campsite, orbital inclination

Character Analysis:

Roy is enraged when he sees that his clover patch keeps getting smaller and his attempts to guard it don’t work. Jarvis is sneaky nice to Roy as he unknowingly distracts Roy so he can steal the food.

Figurative Language:

onomatopoeias (gasp, crash, snort, vroop)

Grammar:

verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
verbs (linguistic)

Text Features:

ellipses
dashes
capitals
italics
bold enlarged text for emphasis
small text for quiet

Inferencing:

How does Roy feel about Jarvis being there?
What do you think about Roy?
Notice their facial expressions. How are they different from one another?
Why do you think Jarvis gave Roy the cookbook?
How does Roy feel after reading the tasty recipes?
How does Roy feel when he sees his small patch?
How does Roy feel when talking to Jarvis?
Why do you think Jarvis gave him a book for a proper campsite?
Why is Roy raising his hand like that?
Why do you think Jarvis is being so nice and keeps trying to “help” Roy?
Why is Jarvis digging a hole?
Why did Jarvis gulp and cough?
Why did Roy read on his own?

Predicting:

What do you think will happen as Roy gets distracted with the cookbook?
What do you think Roy will do to protect his patch?
What do you think will happen to his patch while he sets up his campsite?
Who do you think the thief is?
What do you think Jarvis will give Roy next?
What do you think will happen as Jarvis reads Roy the book?
Do you think Jarvis will get away?
What do you think Roy will do to Jarvis?
What do you think Roy’s plan is now?

Problem Solving:

While Roy is waiting for his clover patch to bloom, a clover thief keeps making his patch smaller. Roy attempts to solve the problem with numerous plans until he comes up with the best one yet.

If you are interested in seeing other spring and St. Patrick’s Day books to use in therapy, then check out the Seasonal Teaching Points Book List for a printable copy.