Oral Language & Literature Toolkit: ‘Liam’s First Cut’

Liam’s First Cut – Book Companion

Bring the classic children’s story Liam’s First Hair Cut to life with this engaging and comprehensive literature-based intervention pack.

Developed by Speech Pathologists, this resource supports oral language development, phonological awareness, and vocabulary enrichment through story-based, interactive learning.

Ideal for educators, therapists, and families, this resource enhances shared reading experiences and is especially useful for parent shared reading support and EAL vocabulary growth.

This beautifully structured book companion includes:

• • Graded Blank’s Questions (Levels 1–4) that develop inferencing, prediction, and problem-solving skills through verbal reasoning.
  • Tier 2 vocabulary teaching strategies and activities to deepen word understanding and support vocabulary building for kids.
  • Vocabulary Activities to deepen word knowledge and boost expressive language.
  • Phonological Awareness Tasks, including rhyme, manipulations, alliteration, syllables, blending, and segmentation – perfect for developing foundational literacy.
  • Assessment Tools to track student progress in language comprehension and phonemic awareness.
  • Extension Activities like retelling with sequencing, small world play suggestions, and sentence construction using conjunction bricks.
  • Instruction Manual and Instructional Video.

Whether you’re targeting specific speech therapy goals, implementing a literacy and language intervention, or enriching classroom instruction, this resource offers flexible support for diverse learning needs. It also includes teacher vocabulary resources and story discussion prompts to foster rich conversations and deeper comprehension.

Aligned with evidence-based practices and designed for flexibility, this is your go-to tool for enriching children’s language and literacy through play and story.

You can purchase Liam’s First Cut by Taye Jones and Dez Carter HERE

Written by an American Speech Pathologist, this story gives us insight into the anticipation and preparation leading up to a young boy’s first barber hair-cut. This story shows the touching relationship between father and son, and their community. As the boy is autistic, we also have a window into the experience as perceived by him. The language used is a low to moderate level.

Language level: low to moderate
Plot complexity: moderate

How We Have Rated These Books, to help you choose which ones are right for you:

Language Levels:
Lower: Tier 1 vocabulary (high frequency words); a lower language load (not a lot of text); and possibly a high use of repetition. These books would be particularly appealing to younger ages and those at lower developmental stages.
Moderate: Some use of Tier 2 words (less frequently used words, which may be more specific); and some pages may have many lines, increasing the language load.
Higher: many Tier 2 words and a consistently high number of lines per page. The illustrations and patterns in the language used will make these books appealing to all ages and stages, but these books offer a greater linguistic challenge.

Plot Complexity:
Lower: Either a simple theme or story line is used, with few characters. There may be a high use of repetition.
Moderate: A clear narrative structure is used, which is easy to follow. There may be more characters and there may be some dialogue.
Higher: A more complex plot is used, with problems and solutions, twists and turns. Regardless of the language load, these books offer more to remember, predict, and excite.