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speech and language teaching concepts for Night Animals in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/p/ initial (opossum)
/s/ medial (opossum)
/m/ final (opossum)
/sk/ initial (skunk)
/k/ final (skunk)
/b/ initial (bear)
/air/ final (bear)
/w/ initial (wolf)
/f/ final (wolf)
Themes:

Halloween Alternative
Book Details:
Diverse Characters: N/A
Age Recommendation: Early Childhood, Elementary
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Night Animals

By Gianna Marino

Something’s out there in the dark! First Possum hears it. Then Skunk. Then Wolf comes running.

“What could it possibly be?” asks Bat.
“Night Animals!” the animals declare.
“But you are night animals,” Bat informs this not-so-smart crew.

Children will love the oh-so-funny animals in this twist on a cozy bedtime book.

This funny alternative to Halloween picture book can be used in speech therapy to target predicting. This book is also great for noticing illustrations and text features. Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Night Animals in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode​​
Narrative Concepts:

sequencing​​
illustration study​​
inferencing​​
social/emotional​​
predicting​​
text features​​
Sequencing:

order of night animals that group together because they are scared
order of animals and people encountered
Character Analysis:

The animals are each scared of different night animals until they learn that they are actually night animals.
Possum is scared of night animals, so Possum hides, but is soon skunk. Possum “plays dead” with each new encounter.
Social/Emotional:

The animals are scared of the dark and all spooky sounds and sights that come with it.
Notice the facial expressions and body language throughout the story.
What is each animal doing?
How do you think each animal feels?
How are they coping with the sounds at night?
Have you ever been scared of something?
Are you scared of the dark or certain animals?
What do you do to help you get ready for bed?
Who do you go to when you feel scared?
Text Features:

speech bubbles
thought bubbles
moving text
change in text size for emphasis and/or quiet
exclamation marks
capitals
ellipses
change in text color to show distance
animal shadows
Inferencing:

What do Possum’s do when they feel threatened or afraid?
How does Possum feel about night animals?
Why does Possum sigh?
How do they feel when they see the Wolf?
How does the wolf feel when it finds Possum and Skunk?
Why does Possum look like that?
How does Wolf feel?
Why is Possum thinking “I’m not here”?
Why is the “sky getting bigger”?
Why is Possum laying like that and why did the other three stop like that?
Why do you think Bat sounds so calm?
How did the animals feel when they realized they are night animals?
How do the animals and campers feel about one another?
Why is Possum standing still?
Why does Possum look like that at the end?
Predicting:

What do you think Possum is hiding from?
What kind of night animals do you think Possum is afraid of?
Who do you think said “aarooo”?
What do you think will happen when Skunk sees something scary?
Who do you think Wolf is running away from?
What do you think will be wrong with the bear?
Who do you think is in the sky?
Who do you think is in the tent?
What do you think the campers will do to investigate who is out there?
What do you think Possum hears?

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