fbpx
speech and language teaching concepts for Smiley Shark in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/sm/ initial
/l/ medial
/r/ medial
/k/ final
/sh/ initial and fish
/f/ initial and medial

Themes:

ocean
friendship
helping others

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

Smiley Shark

By Ruth Galloway

Far away in the deep rolling ocean lived Smiley Shark. Smiley Shark longed to dip and dive, jiggle and jive, dart and dash with a splish and a splash with all the other fish; but whenever he smiled at them they swam away. But when all of the other fish are trapped in a fisherman’s net, it’s up to Smiley Shark to find away to free them—and he saves the day with his big, toothy smile!

This cute ocean book can be used in speech therapy to address social/emotional issues like self love and making friends. It is also great for noticing character expressions as well as for targeting /sm/, /l/, /r/, /k/, /sh/ and /f/ sounds! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using Smiley Shark in speech therapy below:

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary​
theme/message​
sequencing​
illustration study​
social/emotional​
predicting​
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (present progressive)
text features​

Sequencing:

order of creatures that Smiley Shark tried to befriend

Vocabulary:

dip, dive, jiggle, jive, dart, dash, longed, shiver, prance, wailed, churning

Social/Emotional:

Smiley Shark tries to become friends with the fish, but when his teeth are too scary he starts to feel bad about himself. In the end, he comes to their rescue and they appreciate his kindness.

Figurative Language:

onomatopeias (swoosh, swirl, splish, splash)

Grammar:

adjectives
verbs (regular past tense)
verbs (linguistic)
verbs (present progressive)
superlative (est)

Text Features:

capitals
ellipses
change in text size
exclamation marks

Inferencing:

How does Starfish feel about shark?
Why do you think the other fish swim away?
What does Angelfish think about shark?
How does Smiley Shark feel when he gets pricked?
Why did Starfish cartwheel as far away as she could go?
What did the others think about Smiley Shark?
How does Smiley Shark feel about his teeth?
How do the fish feel when they are trapped?
How did the fisherman feel?
How did they all feel at the end?

Predicting:

What do you think Smiley Shark could do to make some friends?
What do you think Angelfish will do?
Who do you think Smiley Shark will ask next?
What do you think the fish are swimming towards?
How do you think Smiley Shark will help them?