I have several early elementary aged boys on my caseload and am always looking for interesting materials to keep them actively involved in the therapy session. Silver Dolphin’s The Field Guide to Dinosaurs fascinated them! One little boy left the room and yelled to his mother, “Mom, you can’t believe how many pieces are in one small book!” He was referring to the 8 dinosaur models made up of 70 pieces that slide together with A-B-C instructions, just waiting to be assembled by kids. Then he looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to show this to my dad.”
Known for their “active” books, the publisher designs books with smaller bits of information and some hands on activity to keep children engaged who might be less inclined to attend to a book. They lend themselves to reinforcing acitivities during a speech therapy session. If a child is practiciing an /r/ sound, read the information about the dinosaur and practice his words while putting together a model. If he is working on languge goals, summarize, predict, write a story about finding the fossils, or develop a paragraph with three supporting details. There are lots of visuals to reinforce learning and get the discussion going.
Written in the form of a journal, as paleontologist Jackson Foster searches from Arizona to Alberta, Canada to uncover fossils from little known dinosaurs, this guide could also serve as inspiration for students who journal their real-life experiences or take on a character and develop events to complete a make believe story.
An added treat is the diorama located at the back of the book which pops out easily to make a backdrop for the dinosaur models.
“The Field Guide to Dinosaurs” was provided by Silver Dolphin. The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author.
