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using Spring Is Here: A Bear and a Mole Story in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/sn/ initial
/spr/ initial
/l/ final
/b/ initial
/m/ initial
/air/ final

Themes:

spring
hibernation
friendship

Book Details:
Diverse Characters: N/A
Age Recommendation: Early Childhood, Elementary

Spring Is Here: A Bear and a Mole Story

By Will Hillenbrand

Mole can smell that spring is in the air, but Bear is still asleep after his long winter nap! Excitedly he taps on the window and knocks on the door– he even tries playing a trumpet to wake his friend so they can celebrate together.  But Bear keeps snoozing. But Mole is determined, so he milks and gathers and bakes a special springtime surprise for his friend– the perfect way to wake up! A perfect read-aloud, full of simple sound-words and lots of repetition, Spring is Here is ideal to share with young readers to celebrate the changing of the seasons.  Cozy mixed-media illustrations of big, fuzzy, dozing bear and his eager mole friend add detail and humor to the tale.

This exciting spring book can be used in speech therapy to address sequencing, problem solving, and character analysis. It is also great for noticing onomatopoeias and for targeting a variety of verbs as well as for sounds including: /s/ blends, /l/ final, /b/ initial, /m/ initial, and /air/! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Spring Is Here: A Bear and a Mole Story in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
theme/message
problem solving
character analysis
sequencing​
illustration study​
figurative language
predicting​
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (linguistic)
verbs (mental state)
text features

Sequencing:

order of ways Mole tries to wake Bear up

Vocabulary:

mole, spring, bear, rapped, replied, dashed, sigh, scampered, churn, shuffled, mumbled, snore, bee, butterfly, trumpet, feather, stick, mud

Character Analysis:

Mole doesn’t give up when trying to wake Bear up as he doesn’t want him to sleep through spring!

Figurative Language:

onomatopoeias

Grammar:

verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (linguistic)
verbs (mental state)

Text Features:

change in font color

Predicting:

What do you think Mole will do today?
Where do you think Mole is going?
How do you think Mole is going to wake Bear up?
What do you think Mole will try next?
Where do you think he is going?
What do you think he is going to do with all the things he gathers?
What do you think Bear will do when Mole falls asleep?

Problem Solving:

Mole tries a variety of ways to wake Bear up from his winter nap. In the end, Mole wears himself out and falls asleep.

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