This or That: Using Our Class is a Family and School’s First Day of School in Speech Therapy – Episode 65

It’s hard to believe, but back-to-school is just around the corner. And the start of a new school year can stir up a lot of emotions in kids, especially those who are starting school for the first time. Therefore, it’s nice to have some books to incorporate into your speech therapy sessions that help relieve their stress and show how school can be a fun and safe place for kids. Two books we think do a great job of showcasing those ideas are Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen and School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex. So, in today’s episode, we’re doing a back-to-school this or that edition and sharing how we’re using these books in our speech therapy sessions.

During our “this or that” episodes, we like to share how we decide which book is right for your speech therapy sessions. We want them to be engaging but also target a variety of key concepts to address students’ speech and language goals. Our two books have back-to-school themes and share a lot of similar key concepts such as vocabulary, illustration study, inferencing, and speech sounds. However, we highlight a few differences that contribute to when and how we would use each book. If you’re looking for books to help discuss students’ feelings about returning to school, our back-to-school this or that episode will show you which one helps build community and understanding that other kids might have the same feelings as you.

Topics Discussed:

• What a “this or that” episode does, and how we decide which book is right for certain scenarios 
• The key concepts Our Class is a Family and School’s First Day of School have in common
• A list of inferencing and illustration study questions to ask your students to help build their understanding of each book
• Why we love these books and how we’d use them in our speech therapy session