Buy in. I wish it could be labeled as the very first recommendation on every evaluation report. We all need to believe we are capable of accomplishing difficult tasks and overcoming obstacles. It is so vital for students to believe in themselves and to know it is normal to experience disappointments and setbacks along the way. Below are a few books I have discovered to help with targeting growth mindset with clients in speech therapy.
Jabari Jumps By Gala Cornwall
Jabari Jumps is a story about a young boy who seemingly has newly gained confidence in diving off the high dive. The closer he comes to the edge, the more he hesitates. Jabari performs stretches while contemplating his next move and his dad reassures him “it’s okay to feel a little scared.” When Jabari finally decides he is ready, he jumps and inherits a brave perspective on completing difficult things. Two details I enjoy the most about this book are Jabari’s self-awareness to pause and think about his next move and his dad’s way to empathize with Jabari’s feelings.
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes By Matt Pett and Gary Rubinstein
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes is an endearing story of a girl named Beatrice who is notorious for never making mistakes. After a close encounter with an “almost mistake,” she begins to worry she will mess up at the talent show. When things don’t quite go as planned and she makes her first mistake, Beatrice realizes not being so consumed with perfection can be freeing and fun! This book is such a great reminder for us ALL. Children need to know accidents happen, mistakes are made, and each is a learning opportunity. In regards to therapy, I feel it makes them a lot more willing to attempt a task rather than refuse it all together!
The Magical Yet By Angela DeTerlizzi
Patience, practice, persistence… three “Ps” that, at times, seem impossible to conjure up when we are wanting to achieve greatness! The story of The Magical Yet introduces a character called the “Yet” which possesses magic to help us realize how “good we can get.” The Yet reminds us there have been many different tasks we’ve learned to do before this “Yet” was within us. I appreciate the intertwined value of learning itself being life-long and we can always believe in the magic of “Yet”. The book has beautiful illustrations and rhyming words–which is icing on the cake!
The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do By Ashley Spires
The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do tells the story of Lou who loves adventures. Her friends have decided to climb a tree and Lou is certain to find every excuse to not “climb aboard the pirate ship.” She eventually decides to climb the tree, but (*spoiler alert*) she is still unable. It is such an important reminder for kids to know that not every attempt is going to be successful. There is lots of witty, fun humor thrown into this book which is fun for older kids and adults, too!
The Most Magnificent Thing By Ashley Spires
Author Ashley Spires does it again with combining multiple life lessons into one book with The Most Magnificent Thing. It’s a story about a girl and her best friend/assistant–her dog. This is a tale of “try, try again” when the girl’s invention isn’t panning out to be the most magnificent thing she had hoped it to be. After a mountain of frustration sets in, she takes a step back to walk away and ponder her progress thus far. She quickly realizes bits and pieces of the creations were leading her to discover the true magnificent thing she was envisioning to create. Along the way, others benefit from gathering her “trash” to make their treasure. There are so many great descriptive action words to support multiple language lessons while incorporating a motivational story!
I hope reading these growth mindset books will inspire your students to keep pressing forward in speech therapy.
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The Best Speech Goals to Target with Books: Books are a great way to cultivate a love of learning for children! I hope these suggestions and resources have provided helpful ways to target speech goals through books and literacy!
