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speech and language teaching concepts for The Firefighters' Thanksgiving in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/k/ initial
/ts/ final
Themes:

Thanksgiving
helping others
community helpers
firefighters
teamwork
Book Details:
Diverse Characters: Yes
Age Recommendation: Early Childhood, Elementary
Buy the Book on Amazon
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The Firefighters’ Thanksgiving

By Maribeth Boelts

It’s Thanksgiving Day at Station 1, and Firefighter Lou has planned a fabulous meal for everyone. But each time the alarm sounds, the firefighters run to an emergency, leaving behind half-peeled potatoes, unbaked bread, and melting ice cream. Then, at the biggest fire of the day, one of the firefighters gets hurt. Will they still be able to find a way to celebrate Thanksgiving?

This unique perspective of Thanksgiving can be used in speech therapy to address inferencing. It is also great for sequencing and rhyming! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using The Firefighters’ Thanksgiving in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

complete episode
Narrative Concepts:

inferencing
vocabulary
social/emotional
illustration study
verbs (action)
predicting
sequencing
phonological awareness
repetitive text
Sequencing:

order of what the firefighters were able to complete in between calls
order of the different calls that the firefighters address
Vocabulary:

shift, list, cart, through, split, tab, peel, hose (noun and verb), gear, tank, prank, frozen, check, record, details, forgotten, pace, pray, news, raw, feast, spread
Social/Emotional:

How do the firefighters work as a team?
How do the firefighters help others?
Why are the firefighters worried?
How does the community share how thankful they are for the firefighters?
Who are you thankful for in your community?
How can can you show the people in your community that you are thankful for them?

Notice the firefighters’ body language and facial expressions.
Grammar:

verbs (action)
Text Features:

repetitive text
Phonological Awareness:

rhyming
Inferencing:

What do you think is on the list?
Where do you think they are going?
What does “a call comes in” mean?
What happens to the groceries?
Why was their ice cream on the floor at the store?
Why do they wash the trucks and hang the hose to dry?
Why do they pack up gear and fill the tank?
Why would it be too late to cook the turkey?
Why is it important to check the equipment?
Why is it important to fix a tire/record details/refuel/change the oil?
Why do they throw out the pie crust?
Why do they forget about the meal?
Why do you think the families will be calling? Whose families?
Who brought the firefighters food?
How do you think the firefighters will feel when they return to the station?
Why do you think the firefighters spend their Thanksgiving at the fire station rather than at home with their families?
How do you think they spend Christmas, Halloween, New Years, etc.?
Who else do you think spends their holidays at work? Why?
Predicting:

How do you think the firefighters will spend Thanksgiving?
Will they be able to finish making the Thanksgiving meal? Why or why not?
Is it too late to finish their Thanksgiving meal?
Do you think Lou will be ok?
Do you think they will eat a Thanksgiving meal now?
Who do you think will make the Thanksgiving feast?

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

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