fbpx
speech and language teaching concepts for are you ready to play outside in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/j/ initial (Gerald)
/p/ initial (Piggie)
/r/ initial and medial (Gerald and rain)
/g/ medial (Piggie)

Themes:

spring
weather
friendship
problem solving

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

Are You Ready to Play Outside?

By Mo Willems
Gerald and Piggie are best friends. Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. In Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Piggie can’t wait to go play in the sunshine. But will a rainy day ruin all the fun?
This great spring and weather book can be used in speech therapy to address social/emotional issues like friendship, disappointments, adjusting to changes. It is also great for noticing character expressions and for targeting comparing and contrasting as well as for predicting! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Are You Ready to Play Outside? in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complex episode

Narrative Concepts:

theme/message
problem solving
character analysis
illustration study
figurative language
onomatopoeias
social/emotional
text features
inferencing
predicting
compare and contrast (ways to have fun in different weather and ways the weather might add challenges)

Character Analysis:

Gerald is a caring friend. He does whatever he can to make Piggie happy.
Piggie is excited to play outside with Gerald, but throws a fit when it rains. When he notices the worms having fun in the rain, he then decides the rain can be fun. When the rain stops, Piggie is disappointed, but has a great friend in Gerald who helps him have a good day.

Social/Emotional:

friendship
playing together
finding fun in different circumstances
helping others
being creative
facial expressions and body language
disappointment

Figurative Language:

onomatopoeias

Text Features:

change in text size
ALL CAPS
exclamation points
question marks
speech bubbles

Inferencing:

Why do you think Piggie and Gerald are so excited to plat outside?
Do you think they expected it to rain?
Why do you think Piggie dislikes the rain?
Why do you think Gerald is blocking the rain for Piggie?
How do you think Piggie feels? Why do you think that?
How does Piggie feel now that the rain has stopped? Why do you think that?
Why do elephants make great friends?
What are some fun things they can do in the rain?

Predicting:

What is about to happen? (point out the rain drop)
Do you think they will keep playing in the rain?
Did it stop raining?
Do you think Piggie will play now?
Will Piggie and Gerald have fun in the rain?
Do you think it will rain all day?
What do you think Gerald’s plan is?
Is it raining again?

Problem Solving:

Piggie and Gerald are excited to play outside together, but can they find ways to have fun in the changing weather?

If you are interested in using Are You Ready to Play Outside? and other weather- themed books in speech therapy, then check out these print-&-go cheat sheets. Perfect for when you don’t need a full book companion. 

If you are interested in seeing other weather-themed books to use in therapy, then check out the Themed Key Teaching Points Book List for a printable copy.