As you are getting set up for the school year I thought I would give you an updated overview of all 32 book companions I have created over the years.  These are all FREE resources for you to print out and use with your students!  Hopefully this gives you a chance to get the books and prepare the visuals ahead of time so you can use them throughout the school year!   

There are 12 different “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed ….” Books by Lucille Colandro and I have created visuals and questions to support each book.  I like these books because the language is simple and the books help build up vocabulary and sequencing skills.  These books are a good go to lesson for me to use throughout the school year for both my younger students and some of my older students.  Having both the visual and written questions makes it flexible depending on your student skills level. 

Here is quick refresh on how to set up these type of book resources.  I put a piece of hard Velcro on each page which corresponds with one of the small book pictures.  I put soft Velcro on the back of the small book pictures so the students can attach the pictures into the book while we read the story.  I also put a piece of hard Velcro on the cover of the book and have the students attach the old lady picture to the cover to answer the questions “who is the story about?” 

After I read each page I have my student match the corresponding picture into the book.  For example, while reading “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books” I had my students find the different school supply items the old lady swallowed and attached the picture into the book.  I can always change the level of prompting and provide my students a choice of 2-3 pictures to select from if discriminating between all the pictures is too many.  Did the old lady swallow a pen or ruler?” 

I model those sequential terms as I read these books.  For “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat” I would hold up one finger and say “first bat” and then “second owl.”  I continue to model those sequential concepts throughout the entire book.  Hopefully by the end of the book the students can remember all 6 or 7 items the old lady swallowed and in the correct order.  I have my students take the larger book pictures and place the items in the correct sequential order.  For some of my students I provide them a choice of 2 items as they work on identify which item came next.  I have the students take turns re-telling the story to the group while using the pictures for the visual support they need. 

You can use the visual questions or written questions either while you are reading the story or after you finish the book depending on your students’ skill levels.  

I have also created several other book companions for books I like to use with my students.  Some of the books are holiday related while others you can use throughout the year.  For all of the books I created visuals to pair with each book.  Then for some of the books I created visual questions and written questions to pair with them.  It really depended on the books and students skill level.   

I recently created visuals to pair with the books “Tap Tap Bang Bang”, “Toot Toot Beep Beep”, and “Tip Tip Dig Dig” by Emma Garcia.  I love using these books with my younger students.  Lots of great vocabulary targeted in each of these books.  I also created some free activities to pair with these books and I’ll attach those links at the end of the post. 

Tap Tap Bang Bang focuses on different tools and the noises those tools make.  My students loved this book!  So fun to make silly noise while reading this book.

Another new set of visuals I created paired with those classic Eric Carle Books.  That set includes “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?”, “Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?”, and “Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See?”  If you are like me and work with younger students you have probably read these books several times!  Since I also mostly use these books with my younger students I just created the visuals to pair with the books and no follow-up questions.  

There are several holiday books by Jenna Lettice which I created both book visuals and visual questions to pair with these books.  The set includes “The 12 Days of Halloween”, “The Twelve Days of Thanksgiving”, and “The 12 Days of Valentine.”  Theses books count the days until the holiday while repeating the previous day’s item(s).  Lots of great holiday vocabulary targeted in all three of these books.     

Hope some of these resources will work for your students!  

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat!                There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bell!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books!    There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Clover!            There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly!

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!     There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Frog!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Rose!               There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Shell!

There was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!         There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Turkey!

The 12 Days of Valentine’s                                                    The 12 Days of Halloween

The 12 Days of Thanksgiving                                                10 Grouchy Groundhogs

Valentine Mice!                                                                       Apple Farmer Annie

10 Timid Ghosts Book                                                            Room on the Broom

There Was An Old Mummy Who Swallowed a Spider!          The Spooky Wheels on the Bus

10 Fat Turkeys                                                                       Snowbear’s Christmas Countdown

Eric Carle Book Visuals – Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Panda Bear           ROAR!

Tap Tap Bang Bang Book Pictures                                         Tip Tip Dig Dig Book Visuals                            

Toot Toot Beep Beep Book Visuals                                        The Very Lazy Ladybug

Free Activities to pair with “Tap Tap Bang Bang”, “Toot Toot Beep Beep”, and “Tip Tip Dig Dig”

Tool Identification Board

Tool Memory Game

Vehicle Identification Board