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speech and language teaching concepts for Hey Little Ant in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/k/ initial
/nt/ final
/y/ initial
/sh/ initial and final
/skw/ initial

Themes:

Spring
Earth Day
bugs
making good choices
putting yourself in other’s shoes

Book Details:
Diverse Characters: Yes
Age Recommendation: Elementary, Late Elementary

Hey, Little Ant

By Phillip and Hannah Hoose

What would you do if the ant you were about to step on looked up and started talking? Would you stop and listen? That’s what happens in this funny, thought-provoking book. Originally a song by a father-daughter team, this surprising conversation between a tiny ant and a little girl is bound to inspire important discussions about caring, kindness and respect for both animals and humans.

This thought-provoking Earth Day book can be used in speech therapy to address social/emotional issues like kindness and respect for others, no matter their size. It is also great for predicting and sequencing. Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Hey, Little Ant in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

theme/message
problem solving
character analysis
sequencing
illustration study
social/emotional
predicting
verbs (present tense)
verbs (action)
text features
perspective-taking
phonological awareness

Sequencing:

order of events that led to the boy wanting to step on the ant

Vocabulary:

squish, giant, feel, wrong, rude, crook, strong, should

Character Analysis:

The ant teaches the boy that they are more similar than he thinks.
The boy learns a valuable lesson about how to appreciate the differences in others, no matter their size.

Social/Emotional:

bullying
kindness
accepting differences in others
respect
seeing the value for all creatures

Grammar:

adjectives
verbs (present tense)
verbs (action)
contractions

Text Features:

dialogue format for character emphasis

Phonological Awareness:

rhyming

Predicting:

Will the boy listen to his friends?
What will the boy decide to do? Will he step on the ant?
What will the ant do next?

Problem Solving:

How will the ant avoid being stepped on?
What would you do if you were the ant? or the boy?

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