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speech and language teaching concepts for Otis and the Scarecrow in speech therapy​ ​
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/t/ medial
/s/ final
/sk/ initial
/r/ medial
/kr/ medial

Themes:

fall
friendship
loneliness
acceptance
kindness

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

Otis and the Scarecrow

By Loren Long

On the farm where Otis the tractor lives, the farmer has introduced someone new—a scarecrow to shoo away the pesky crows. But when Otis and the animals greet the scarecrow with friendly smiles, the scarecrow’s frown never leaves his face. So everyone leaves him alone. Then one day, when a cold autumn rain sets in, Otis and the animals snuggle close and play Otis’s favorite game: the quiet game. Otis knows the puppy and ducks can’t sit still for long, and soon the farm friends begin to giggle and squirm, feeling warmed by one another’s friendship . . . but on this day, Otis can’t seem to take his eyes off the lonely figure in the cornfield. A deeply resonant book about subtle acts of compassion and standing up for others, featuring everyone’s favorite tractor, Otis.

This adorable fall book can be used in speech therapy to address social/emotional issues like acceptance. It is also great for noticing character expressions and for targeting describing and complex sentence structures as well as for /t/, /s/, /sk/, /r/ and /kr/ sounds! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Otis and the Scarecrow in speech therapy below:

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
theme/message
illustration study
inferencing
social/emotional
predicting
adjectives
verbs (action)
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
complex sentence structure
text features

Vocabulary:

sour, creature, rambunctious, reckless, rowdy, rendition, tuckered out, frisky, contest, surge, sternly, grin, chuffed, intently, battered, scamper

Social/Emotional:

Otis feels bad for the scarecrow since he is all alone and goes to be with him. Once he does, all the animals follow and realize he isn’t so bad to be around after all.

Figurative Language:

onomatopoeia (chuff, puff, putt, shh) 

Grammar:

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

Text Features:

italics

Inferencing:

What did the animals think about the scarecrow?
Why do you think the scarecrow stood there alone?
Why do you think the animals were more rambunctious than ever?
Why do you think Otis wanted to play the quiet game?
How did Otis think the scarecrow felt?
What do you think the animals are thinking about Otis going to the scarecrow?
Why do you think the scarecrow didn’t smile back?
Why do you think Otis took a seat?
Why did Otis think the scarecrow might have smiled?

Predicting:

What game do you think he will challenge them to?
Who do you think will be first to lose the quiet game?
What do you think Otis is going to do?
What do you think the animals are going to do?
What do you think when they all are sitting down?

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