By: Elizabeth Gretz, MS CCC-SLP
Reprinted with the permission of the author as it appeared on her blog Speech Lady Liz

This book is great because of its repetitive phrases!

Articulation:
When reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear we work on syllableness. Syllableness focuses on producing the appropriate amount of syllables in each word or phrase. First I model the words for the children.

Word List:
brown bear,  red bird,  yellow duck,  blue horse,  green frog, purple cat,  white dog,  black sheep,  goldfish,  teacher

If a child is having difficulty we might clap out each phrase or hit wooden sticks together so the child can hear and physically produce the syllables. I’ve been on the hunt for bongo drums because I think that would a fun way to break up the syllables.
This is often the first lesson I use when I admit kids for articulation or phonological delays/disorders. It’s nice because the first time I see the children there isn’t so much pressure to get the sounds as there is to get the correct number of syllables. Plus what kid doesn’t like the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear? Especially with my three year olds it’s important to start out with something fun that can build their confidence, so I don’t see any crying the next time they have to leave mom and dad for speech.

Language:
For my kids working on language this is a great book for sequencing. It’s also a great vocabulary builder. We make a chart and think of all the things that are the colors associated with the animal. They always want to yell out things like “shirts”, “table” and then we have to go over that not all shirts are red and not all tables are yellow. I like to give them clues like “I’m thinking of a fruit that is yellow and has a peel”. They have to use those deductive reasoning skills to figure out what I’m talking about.

Another activity is going on a sort of “bear hunt”. I usually just place random animal pictures around my room and the kids have to go looking for them. When they find one they glue the picture on a pre-made sheet and at the end they have to tell me in what order they found the pictures.

Pragmatics:
A lot of kids have difficulty asking questions appropriately. An activity that I use during this “Bear” theme is Jesse Bear. There is a book called “Jesse Bear What Will You Wear?” I found this template and each child gets random bits of Jesse Bear’s clothing. Each child is given a time of year (winter, spring, summer, fall) and they have to dress Jesse Bear appropriately. If they don’t have an item of clothing they want, then they have to ask one of their friends for that item of clothing. This works on lots of basic concepts as well i.e. red shirt, blue coat, brown boots etc.

Jesse Bear is ready for fall. He’s got his boots on and a sweater handy. Now if only there was a fall season in Austin…

Featured Guest Blogger:Elizabeth Gretz, SLP

Elizabeth Gretz is a speech language pathologist in Austin, TX.  She is currently working in the schools at the elementary level.  She enjoys creating a fun and functional environment for her speech therapy students.  During her first year in the schools she desperately searched for a blog or website that created ready-made therapy lesson plans that could be used with an array of children and their special needs.  Unable to find this dream website, she decided to build one of her own.

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