Free Speech Therapy Bundle (Gratitude Theme!)

Can we just pause for a second and talk about how wild it is that November is already here? 🍂 The pumpkins are still hanging on, the turkey decorations are out, and suddenly everyone’s talking about gratitude.

And honestly… I love it. Gratitude isn’t just good for our hearts (and our sanity during busy caseload season 😉), it’s also a theme kids really get. Talking about thankfulness is like giving them a little roadmap to noticing the good stuff in their day — and it ties in perfectly with the story work we’re already doing so much of in speech.

Gratitude themed speech therapy bundle graphic highlighting a 3-part therapy toolkit with evidence-based research breakdown, language resource, and articulation activity.

This month, I put together a cozy November Gratitude Speech Therapy Toolkit just for you:

✅ Evidence-based narrative interventions that show why storytelling is such a powerful tool for enhancing language skills in children. Click HERE to go right to the research!
✅ A gratitude-themed story elements printable (plus a peek at some of our all-time favorite gratitude-themed storybooks you can use with it). Click HERE to go right to the story elements printable!
✅ An articulation word search for TH and T sounds that sneaks in seasonal fun while hitting those sound trials (coming next week!)

So pour yourself that extra cup of coffee ☕ (because you deserve it), lean into the gratitude vibes this month, and let’s make November therapy both meaningful and easy.

🍂 Looking for More Fall + Gratitude Resources?

If you’re building out your gratitude-themed November lesson plans, here are a few more fall speech therapy resources from the Speech Therapy Store you won’t want to miss. Each one is packed with articulation, language, and story mapping activities that keep therapy seasonal, engaging, and evidence-based.

257 Free Fall Speech Therapy Activities – The ultimate master list of fall gratitude content ideas. With hundreds of articulation word searches, language activities, social skills materials, and seasonal classroom resources, this roundup makes planning easy for both families and classrooms. Perfect for practicing gratitude daily in November using fun fall themes while targeting speech and language goals.
141 + Thanksgiving-Themed Freebies Master List – A curated collection of Thanksgiving articulation word searches, language worksheets targeting specific goals and more that tie directly into gratitude lesson ideas and fall themes for November. Great for both classroom and at-home practice.
15+ Free Fall Speech Therapy Activities Kids Will Love – A roundup of quick-prep fall activities for kids that focus on articulation, language and social pragmatic goals. These activities are simple, engaging, and perfect for November gratitude activities in the classroom.

October Rollout: Fall Speech Therapy Language + Articulation Resources – If you missed last month’s rollout, catch up here! This post includes fall speech therapy language resources and articulation activities that connect beautifully with your November gratitude blog series.

A flat lay photo of a “Story Elements” worksheet for language practice placed on a wooden desk. The worksheet includes labeled boxes for Characters, Setting, Main Event, Problem, and Solution. A black pen rests on the page. Text above reads: “LANGUAGE Story Elements” and on the right, “Free Fall Themed Complete Sentences Activity!” with an arrow pointing to the worksheet.

📚 Gratitude-Themed Language Resource: Putting the Research into Action

Last week, we looked at narrative intervention as an evidence-based approach to language development. This week, we’re putting that research into action with a gratitude-themed story mapping resource you can use right away in therapy.

The freebie includes:

✅ A Story Elements Outline where students fill in the title, characters, setting, problem, main event, and solution
✅ A set of Story Markers — visual icons for each story element that help students organize their thinking and map out the story structure

By pairing this tool with a gratitude-themed story, you’re making abstract concepts concrete, while reinforcing the principles of narrative intervention in a way that’s seasonal, engaging, and research-aligned. Grab your freebie using the form below!

Two printable and digital worksheets are displayed side by side on a light background. The left page titled “Story Markers” defines Characters, Setting, Main Event, Problem, and Solution using colorful icons and text. The right page shows a matching “Story Elements” organizer on a tablet screen with the same labeled boxes. Text reads “Print or Digitally Interactive!” and “Story Markers” with arrows pointing to each page.

💡 Why This Matters in Therapy

💡 Bridges research to practice: Students aren’t just hearing about story elements; they’re actively mapping them, which supports comprehension and expressive retell.
🧩 Boosts organization and sequencing: Story mapping lays out events step by step, helping children grasp how narratives flow from problem to solution.
🍁 Taps into motivation: Gratitude is a theme students connect with — it ties directly into the November season and invites meaningful discussion.
🎯 Supports generalization: Visuals and repeated practice with story maps make it easier for students to apply narrative skills across multiple contexts.

🎥 Gratitude Read-Alouds: Why They Work

The best way to teach story elements is through actual stories. Gratitude-themed read-alouds are perfect because they:

👧🏽 Highlight clear characters, settings, and solutions: Stories feature elements that are easy for students to identify and discuss.
💛 Reinforce themes of thankfulness and kindness: Perfect for November, these stories encourage empathy and gratitude that truly resonate with students.
🗺️ Provide natural opportunities to pause, reflect, and map story structure: Built-in moments invite students to think, sequence, and connect story parts in meaningful ways.

👉 Try this one right now: Thank You, Omu! Read-Aloud — it’s a Caldecott Honor book with a clear problem/solution structure and a strong gratitude theme. It is one of our absolute favorites, for so many reasons. Download the free Story Markers + Story Elements free resource below and practice on this award winning book!

📚 Top Gratitude Storybooks for Elementary Grades

Here are some of the best gratitude storybooks for grades 2–5, chosen because they’re award-winning, highly searched, and perfect for story mapping in speech therapy:

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
Explores gratitude through Cherokee traditions across the seasons. Rich settings and repeated main events make it easy to map. (🏆 American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book)
Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
A joyful story of community and sharing. The problem/solution sequence is crystal clear, and students love the colorful illustrations. (🏆 Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award, Ezra Jack Keats Award)
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon & Marla Frazee
A lyrical celebration of everyday thankfulness. Works well for identifying main events and sequencing.
(🏆 Caldecott Honor)
The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming
With vibrant art and captivating characters, the magic of autumn is captured beautifully on each page as readers tag along Squirrel’s forest adventure filled with moments to practice thankfulness
Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
A modern classic about kindness and needs versus wants. Students can clearly track character motivation, problem, and solution.
Grow Grateful by Sage Foster-Lasser & Jon Lasser
Specifically designed around the theme of gratitude, with easy-to-identify feelings, main events, and solutions for story mapping.

A cozy flat lay featuring a cup of latte art, an iPhone displaying the Speech Therapy Store website, a printed “Story Elements” worksheet, and an iPad showing the “Story Markers” reference page. Both worksheets use color-coded boxes for Characters, Setting, Main Event, Problem, and Solution. The scene highlights that the resource is available digitally or in print.

🗂 How to Use This in Your Therapy Session

Pick a gratitude read-aloud (book or video).
Pause at key points to identify the story elements: Who is the character? What is the setting? What’s the problem and solution?
Use the Story Markers — have students place the icons as they map each part of the story.
Fill out the Story Elements Outline together, or let students complete it as you go.
Discuss gratitude — prompt with: “What was this character thankful for? What are you thankful for in this story?”
Wrap with a retell — use the completed map as a guide for sequencing and expressive language.

SLP Favorites You’ll Actually Use (and Love!) 💛

If your students are loving this month’s Story Elements and Story Markers freebies, you’ll definitely want to check out some of our other favorite language resources below — all designed to save you time and keep your students engaged all year long. 💛

✨ 10 Months of Weekly Language Homework

Keep progress consistent with our editable, real-life photo–based language homework bundle — perfect for targeting a wide range of goals like vocabulary, describing, grammar, and sentence formulation.
✅ Ready to print or use digitally
✅ Editable text boxes for easy customization
✅ Real-life photos for meaningful connections
👉 Check out the 10 Months of Weekly Language Homework

💬 WH Questions Flashcards Mega Bundle

Our brand-new WH Questions Flashcards Mega Bundle has quickly become a shop favorite — and for good reason! Each themed set is packed with engaging visuals, kid-friendly prompts, and fun seasonal topics your students will absolutely love. Perfect for group sessions, warm-ups, or quick carryover practice.
👉 Explore the WH Questions Flashcards Mega Bundle

🦃 Fall Speech & Language Bundles

We love a good theme around here — and nothing says cozy therapy sessions like fall! 🍂
Grab our Fall Speech Therapy Bundle or Thanksgiving Language Bundle to pair perfectly with your seasonal sessions. From vocabulary to articulation to sentence-level work, everything is ready to go and completely editable.

💛 Join the Speech Therapy Store Membership

If you’re ready for hundreds of ready-made, interactive speech and language materials every month — all organized and leveled for you — come join us inside the Speech Therapy Store Membership!
You’ll get instant access to hundreds of pages of themed resources each month, plus data tracking sheets, differentiated levels, and more.

👉 Learn more about the Speech Therapy Store Membership

🎁 Free Download

Ready to try these Story Markers and Story Elements Pages out in your next session?

This resource is the perfect bridge between evidence-based narrative intervention and your November gratitude theme — giving students a hands-on way to map stories, practice sequencing, and reflect on thankfulness.

**If you are looking for the Evidence Based Research that inspired this resource, make sure to check out the Key Findings on Narrative Intervention below!

Speech therapy evidence-based research visual guide on narrative intervention, highlighting key findings, principles of implementation, and strategies for using story structure and visuals in language intervention.

📖 Evidence-Based Research: Narrative Intervention

Narrative Intervention: Principles to Practice (Spencer, Petersen, et al., 2020) highlights why focusing on narratives is such an effective therapy approach. Storytelling is how children make sense of the world—and how they share gratitude, experiences, and ideas with others.

🔑 Key Findings from the Research

Narrative intervention supports multiple skills at once: story grammar, vocabulary, inferencing, complex sentence structures, and pragmatics.
Storytelling itself is therapeutic: producing and retelling stories strengthens both comprehension and expression.
Ten guiding principles make narrative intervention effective: build story structure first, use multiple exemplars, promote active participation, scaffold with visuals, give immediate feedback, and make it engaging and fun.
Highly adaptable: You can shape stories around seasonal or gratitude themes, making evidence-based language instruction both meaningful and motivating.

Flat lay of narrative intervention key findings visual guide for speech therapy alongside coffee, pencil, and smartphone mockup showing Speech Therapy Store resources.”

💡 Why This Matters for Therapy

– Narratives offer a research-backed way to combine evidence-based articulation and language lessons in one activity.
– Gratitude-focused stories (“a time I felt thankful,” “something kind someone did for me”) connect naturally to November themes while promoting story elements like setting, characters, problems, and solutions.
– Using story maps and visuals makes abstract ideas like thankfulness easier to grasp—and easier for students to retell.

👉 By grounding your November lessons in narrative intervention, you’re aligning therapy with research while creating memorable opportunities for students to practice both language and articulation in context.

✨ Gratitude lesson ideas for November — mix-and-match plans for both articulation and language therapy

– These resources are designed to give you speech therapy gratitude activities that are fun, flexible, and rooted in evidence-based practice—all while keeping your November sessions stress-free.

🌟 Bringing It All Together

Narrative intervention is one of those evidence-based practices that checks so many boxes at once: it builds vocabulary, strengthens comprehension, supports story grammar, and—best of all—fits seamlessly into a gratitude theme this November. When students learn to share stories of thankfulness, they’re not just practicing language; they’re practicing connection. 💛

To make it even easier, I’ve pulled the 10 guiding principles from Spencer et al. (2020) into a simple, one-page Key Findings Poster you can print or keep on hand. It’s a quick-reference reminder of what makes narrative interventions so powerful for enhancing language skills in children.

Use it as a cheat sheet while planning, or even share it with colleagues who want to understand why narratives are such an effective therapy tool.

Colorful graphic with text ‘Grab Your Free Narrative Intervention Key Findings Right Here!’ promoting free speech therapy visual guide from Speech Therapy Store

✨ Want More Ready-to-Go Support?

If this freebie made your planning easier, just imagine having an entire library of resources like this — done-for-you, research-based, and ready to use. That’s exactly what you’ll find inside the Speech Therapy Store Membership: monthly bundles of 500+ pages of therapy materials that save you time while keeping sessions engaging and effective.

Speech Therapy Store Membership advertisement showing 500+ pages of monthly no-prep speech therapy materials including language, articulation, and social skills resources with themed units for each month.

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