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using We Are Water Protectors in speech therapy
Frequent Speech Sounds:

/w/ initial
/er/ final

Themes:

spring
Earth Day
pollution
water conservation
activism
making a change

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

We Are Water Protectors

By Carole Lindstrom

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruptiona bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.

This informative spring and Earth Day book can be used in speech therapy to address themes of pollution, water conservation and activism. It is also great for targeting figurative language and inferencing as well as for /w/ and /er/ sounds! Discover more of the speech and language teaching concepts for using We Are Water Protectors in speech therapy below: 

Key Teaching Concepts

Narrative Structure:

descriptive sequence

Narrative Concepts:

vocabulary
theme/message
illustration study
inferencing
figurative language

Vocabulary:

Ojibwe, Indigenous people, protectors, defend, medicine, connect, nourish, sacred, destroy, spoil, wreck, poison, foretold, unfit, courage, rally, related, ancestors, stewards, activists, oil, ley lines, pollution, conservation

Figurative Language:

personification (river’s rhythm runs through my veins, water has its own spirit)
similes (tears like waterfalls)
metaphors (Indigenous Peoples believe that the black snake is the embodiment of the oil pipelines which have spread like ley lines across the world)

Text Features:

facts page
glossary
illustrator’s note
earth steward and water protector pledge for students

Inferencing:

What does the Ojibwe girl think about water?
How does she feel about water and it’s connection to her people?
What do her people think about the black snake/oil pipelines?
How do they feel as they “stand for the water”?
How does water connect themselves to their ancestors and the people and things around them?
Why do you think the black snake is an issue now?

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