Earl and Pearl were first developed in 2015 when working with a gifted third grader who needed help with his articulation skills, specifically the /r/. My student and I began to write the story of Earl and Pearl. Over the next eight years with various students, the story of Earl and Pearl continued to develop until finally it was time to write the book illustrating how to help children develop their articulation skills.
Each page and word were carefully selected in order to improve the articulation skills of children. This story and book focus on words that contain /r/, /l/, and /w/, emphasizing words that contain /r/ in all positions. In order to make the book even more fun, hidden pictures were placed on the pages. Often in the public school setting, the speech therapist works with groups of children that may include language disordered students. Therefore, more advanced vocabulary was chosen so that those skills could be practiced as well. This book has many layers, so each page can be discussed and explored in a variety of ways. This is the first book Ms. Godsey has written for speech language pathologists to use with children with articulation and language disorders. Even though the book was written for speech pathologists, English as a Second Language teachers could use the book to help second language learners with pronunciation of the English language.
Martha Chalmers Godsey has been a speech language pathologist for over 30 years and has practiced in public and private schools, hospitals, outpatient rehab facilities, nursing homes, skilled nursing units, and teletherapy. While Mrs. Godsey enjoys working with all populations, she particularly enjoys working with elementary and middle school children. In addition to working with speech language students, Mrs. Godsey loves animals and being in the outdoors. She is active in worship, prayer, and the study of the Word of God.
She resides in West Texas with her husband, three dogs, two horses, and several sheep.
For more information about the kit that is available,
please visit speechgodsey.com.