Frequent Speech Sounds:

/s/ initial
/m/ initial
/l/ recurring sound (little)
/bl/ initial
/r/ medial
/er/ final
/th/ medial
/air/ medial

Themes:

summer

Book Details:

Diverse Characters: N/A

Age Recommendation: Early Childhood, Elementary

Blueberries for Sal

By Robert McCloskey

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Sal and her mother a picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Meanwhile Sal’s mother is being followed by a small bear with a big appetite for berries! Will each mother go home with the right little one?

This sweet summer book can be used in speech therapy to focus on predicting and describing. It is also great for targeting various sounds: /s/, /l/, /bl/, /r/, /th/, /air/. Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Blueberries for Sal in speech therapy below:

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
character analysis
illustration study
predicting
adjectives
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (irregular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
complex sentence structure
perspective-taking
compare/contrast

Sequencing:

order of events during the blueberry picking and events that led to Sal finding her mom after wandering off

Vocabulary:

can, pail, pick, blueberries, struggled, bushes, handful, hunt

Character Analysis:

Little Sal learns that she loves blueberries and tries to keep up with her mother while they pick. She realizes that they are not the only ones that are storing up for the winter. She learns that she was following another mother that was picking blueberries too.

Social/Emotional:

Little Sal/Little Bear gets “lost in the moment” of enjoying the blueberries that she loses her mother.

family relationships – mother and child

Figurative Language:

onomatopoeias (kuplunk)

Grammar:

adjectives
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
verbs (irregular past tense)
complex sentence structure

Text Features:

italics
ellipses
parentheses

Predicting:

Why do you think her pail sounds kuplink! each time she drops blueberries in?
Will there be any blueberries left in Sal’s bucket?
Do you think Little Sal should sit down? What might happen?
Do you think her mom knows that she is sitting?
Do you think the bears will see Little Sal and her mother?
Where is Little Bear’s mother?
Do you think his mom knows that he is sitting?
What will happen when they find out who is following them?
What will they do with the blueberries?

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

Books

Monthly Plans

Crafts

Seasonal

Frequent Speech Sounds:

Themes:

Book Details:

Blueberries for Sal

Key Teaching Concepts

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