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speech and language teaching concepts for Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs in speech therapy​ ​
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/d/ initial
/n/ medial
/s/ medial
/or/ medial
/g/ initial
/ks/ final
/ch/ initial

Themes:

dinosaur
non-seasonal

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

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

By Mo Willems

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is a new take on the fairy-tale classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so funny and so original—it could only come from the brilliant mind of Mo Willems, the author/illustrator of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and the Elephant and Piggie series. Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day—for no particular reason—they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then—for no particular reason—they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not! This hilarious story is perfect for fans of the Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.

This clever dinosaur book can be used in speech therapy to address inferencing, character analysis, predicting and sequencing. It is also great for comparing and contrasting to the original story and for creating parallel stories as extension activities! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs in speech therapy below:

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
character analysis
sequencing
illustration study
inferencing
predicting
adjectives
verbs  (regular past tense)
verbs (mental/linguistic)
compare/contrast this story to original
text features

Sequencing:

order of events to try and catch Goldilocks

Vocabulary:

particular, position, varying, innocent, succulent, unsuspecting, patient, warning, barged, notice, groan, gloating, talons

Character Analysis:

Discuss how the dinosaurs are being sneaky and the girl’s perspective of the dinosaurs.
Discuss the personalities of the characters and the change from beginning to end. (Refer to text i.e. “she was no fool”).

Figurative Language:

sarcasm

Grammar:

adjectives
verbs  (regular past tense)
verbs (mental/linguistic)

Text Features:

capitals
ellipses
italics- Why is “not” italicized?

Inferencing:

Why did the Mama Dinosaur say “heh, heh, heh…”?
Why did they need to be patient?
Why do you think Goldilocks never listened to warnings?
Why did they leave the ladder out?
How does she feel about the different things in the house?
How did she figure out who lived there?
How did they feel at the end?

Predicting:

What do you think will happen to the girl?
Do you think she will notice the clues in the house?
Do you think the dinosaurs will get her?
What do you think will happen at the end?

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