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speech and language teaching concepts for a wish to be a christmas tree in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/r/ blends

Themes:

Christmas
having a dream
being thankful
friendship
generosity

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

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree

By Colleen Monroe

This charming tale of an overgrown pine always being passed by for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him, is sure to become a Christmas classic. With delightful illustrations by wildlife artist Michael Monroe and enchanting text from Colleen Monroe, the birds, deer and squirrel of this story help make their special friend’s wish come true.

This delightful Christmas book can be used in speech therapy to address discuss the strong themes of friendship, generosity, and having a dream. It is also great for targeting social/emotional concepts, like interpreting facial expressions and body language, as well as discussing actions that make a friend extra special. Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree in speech therapy below:

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
theme/message
problem solving
character analysis
inferencing
social/emotional concepts
adjectives
phonological awareness

Vocabulary:

dear, traditions, wandering, delay, shelter, decorate, dismay

Character Analysis:

The big tree has a wish to become someone’s Christmas tree, but is sad because he is now too big and tall for that wish to come true. He is described by his animal friends as generous and never complaining. The big tree comes to realize that it is more important to be the best friend you can be rather than a Christmas tree.

Social/Emotional:

dismay
thankfulness
love
friendship
facial expressions
body language, specifically posture

Grammar:

adjectives

Phonological Awareness:

rhyming

Inferencing:

Why is the “big tree” so much bigger than the trees around him?
What makes the “big tree” extra special to the animals when there are so many other trees around?

Predicting:

What will the animals use to decorate the big tree?
How do you think the big tree will feel when he wakes up?

Problem Solving:

The animal friends, the big tree, is sad because he longs to be someone’s Christmas tree, but knows that his dream will never come true. The animal friends decide to decorate him as a Christmas tree as a way of showing him how much he means to them.

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