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Topic “40-60+m”
40 to 60 months developmental range.
Talk about a recent event
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News Report Prompt sheet with a series of boxes in order, e.g. | 1. Ask the child to tell you about something they have done, e.g. making a snowman. 2. Encourage them to tell you what they did first, next, next, at the end, using the prompt sheet. | You can use the prompt sheet by pointing to the boxes in order as you go through the event. You or the child could add drawings or pictures into the boxes. | |||||
| Timeline A timeline drawn on paper or a string | Start with what the child has done in the morning or the day. You can move on to longer periods of time. You can do this by using pictures off a visual timetable. | ||||||
| What's in the Bag? Bag Objects to do with a familiar routine, e.g. getting up |
Four word phrases
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Act out a simple story with miniature people Use an event retell sheet with columns for 'who', 'what', 'when', 'where'. Simple everyday stories, for example: 'Going to the shops to buy new red shoes, nearly not finding red shoes, happiness at finding them at last' 'going out to play in the rain and jumping in puddles. Mum is cross' 'playing football with Dad and Dad kicks the ball into a tree' 'going on the bus on the bus and loosing teddy. Finding him next day at the bus station'. | Tell a story to the child using miniature people, some eg's in next column. Get the child to retell the story to you. This works well in a small group or in a one to one situation. Use a retell sheet to help the child answer 'wh' questions about the story. The child can write the answers and/or draw a picture. The child can read the story back to an adult. | Remember to give children enough time to produce the language you want. Use the figures or pictures as a prompt to get the language you want. |
| Barrier games Barrier games designed to elicit 4 word phrases e.g. Black Sheet programme | ||
| Books | If a child is struggling say it for the child 'as he would if he could', then ask the child to produce the phrase again without your language model. | |
| Digital camera record of school trips or games in the play ground |
Relate pictures and spoken information to the wider context
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday situation with a picture and a story A picture of an everyday event, or social setting e.g. crossing the road, or going to the cinema. A story to go with the picture (no more than 5 or 6 sentences). Or See the resource sheets in 'Language for Thinking' (LfT) by Parsons and Branagan (Published by Speechmark). If using this publication, use Module 1 and the level B questions. This programme has questions for a range of ability levels. | 1. Choose a scenario picture. 2. Show the children the picture and read the story to them. 3. Focus on the questions where the child must use what they can see in the picture and also some wider context to answer the questions ("LfT level B questions"). E.g. 'What will happen next?' 'How did he...?' 'What is a ....?' 'How are these the same?' | If a child gives a short answer, prompt them to expand it. If the child finds these questions easy, use some questions that require more working out and understanding of the context, e.g. 'What will happen if he...?' 'Why is it made of that?' 'If you were X, what would you say / do?' 'Why can't he?' ("LfT level C questions"). |
Plan steps in a familiar activity eg make a sandwich
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking Basic kitchen equipment - dependent on what you make. Whiteboard or paper Pen Camera (optional) | 1. Choose something very simple which the children are familiar with, e.g. making toast. 2. Explain to the children that you are going to make toast, and that they are the 'teacher'. They need to tell you exactly what to do, in steps. 3. Ask them what the steps are, and write or draw them on the paper or whiteboard. Do not correct their answers. 4. Carry out the steps exactly as they have told you. Allow them to identify any errors and to correct them. 5. Record the accurate stages at the end of the activity. 6. Photos of the stages of the activity can be used as a sequencing task as well. | Make it fun! It is not a test and exaggerating the errors when you are doing them will allow the children to spot them more easily. |
| Photo sequencing Photos taken in the activity above Paper Scissors Glue | If you are making e.g. tea, there will be some acceptable variations - do you put the milk in before or after the tea? | |
| Going to the shops Paper Pen Shop! Some money | ||
| Planning steps in familiar routines Paper Pen Whiteboard | To make this easier, give them a number of steps they have to fill in, or pictures to sequence. These tasks are very useful for children who find it difficult to organise themselves. |
Give 4 word instructions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Giving 4 word instructions Big and little food pictures (cut out), 2 baskets and 2 trolleys, each with a picture of a girl or boy. | 1. Place the baskets and trolleys with some matching food pictures where the child can see them. 2. Ask the child to put the big or little items of food in the girl or boy's basket or trolley e.g. put big apple in girl's basket / put little banana in boy's trolley / put big biscuit in girl's trolley. Encourage the child to put the food into the appropriate basket or trolley. | Give the child plenty of time to respond. Give the child plenty of praise and encouragement. Allow the child to explore materials and give time to respond to questions |
| Giving and understanding 4 word instructions Toys/pictures of table, cupboard, chair and bed. Pictures of dog and cat actions (cut out). | This task allows for opportunities to give and understand 4 word instructions. | |
| Giving 4 word instructions: farm game Big and little toy animals Doll and teddy 2 barns and fields | ||
| Outside activity game A ball. Two goals, one red and one green. Two baskets, one red and one green. | ||
| Classroom tidying up game 4 pieces of classroom equipment e.g. pencil, pen, ruler, rubber. 2 boxes of different colours |
Building story telling/narrative skills using visual aids
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Story Lines - Washing line - Pegs - Selection of pictures | 1. Peg a picture on the line and ask your child to look at it - you could ask you child to choose a picture from a selection. 2. The adult says "It's story time and we are going to make up a story with the pictures" The adult starts the story by using the word on the picture. 3. Encourage your child to take the next turn by choosing a new picture and thinking how they can add to the story that has already been started. 4. Keep going until all the pictures have been used, or the story comes to a natural end. | This activity can be carried out with a small group of children You may need to recap the story at each turn, or give options if your child is finding it challenging to know what they can add. You could use a familiar story and use pictures from the book pegged to the line - you could encourage your child to retell the story with the pictures.
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| Story Dice | This activity can be carried out with a small group of children You may need to recap the story at each turn, or give options if your child is finding it challenging to know what they can add. |
Understand that written words convey meaning
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Cutting up a sentence A sheet of paper or the child's writing book A pen A long piece of card (to write sentences on) A large marker pen Scissors | 1. Explain that you are going to play some sentence games and need to begin by writing a sentence. 2. Start from the child's experience so that the writing will have meaning for them. For example: "Tell me what you did last night.", "Tell me about your friend." 3. If necessary, and appropriate, discuss how to add to (or enrich) the sentence with an "extra clause", or an "adverb", or "adjectives" (see the comments for an explanation). 4. Write the agreed sentence in the child's book or on paper (in preparation for writing it on the card), encouraging the pupil to remember the sentence as you write it slowly. Constantly read what you have written so far, asking s/he to repeat what it was you said. 5. Ask the child to read the sentence to you as you write it slowly on the long piece of card. 6. Ask the child to cut up the card into separate words. 7. Re-read the sentence together then muddle up the separate pieces of card. 8. Ask the child to re-make the sentence, encouraging re-reading. 9. Ask the child to close his/her eyes, take a word away, ask the child to deduce the missing word by re-reading. | This activity demonstrates for pupils the link between speaking/reading/writing. It gives them a purpose in reading and re-reading. It develops the skill of holding words of a sentence in their heads as they write them. Some examples of enriching a sentence might take you from 'I went to the park' to 'I went to the park until my mum called me' (extra clause - underlined) or 'I went excitedly to the park' (adverb - which describes an action word - such as "went") or 'I went to the dark, scary park' (adjectives - which describe things such as a park). If the child struggles to identify one of the words cut up from the card encourage his/her use of decoding strategies, for example: (1) what might the word be, given the topic we are talking about (and remembering the sentence); (2) sounding out any familiar letters or combinations of letters in the word; (3) what words might fit into the sentence to make it sound right. Many extensions may be made to this activity. For example, the child might be more involved in the physical writing process. Initial letters might be cut. Can the child match them to the correct words? |
Sequences three pictures with first next last
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Picture sequences with first/next/last template Commercially produced sequencing cards e.g. Black Sheep press (see general resources), Colorcards - available from many educational suppliers. | 1. Use the first/last template to model the sequence of first and last. 2. Start with 2 picture sequences of a simple event e.g. 'rain falling' 'girl puts up umbrella'. 3. Talk about the pictures. Ask the child 'What is happening in the first picture?' Discuss the consequences of the first picture (getting wet) and what the girl does (puts up the umbrella) 4. Put the two pictures into the template: one in the FIRST column and the other in the LAST column. 5. Do this with a range of 2 sequence picture stories. 6. Turn the cards face down and take turns to turn them over and put them in the right part of the FIRST/LAST template. Can the child tell the story? 7. When the child is confident using the FIRST LAST template to order 2 picture sequences move onto using 3 picture sequences and use the FIRST/NEXT/LAST template. 8. Follow the procedure for working with 2 picture sequences. | Prepare materials in advance. Give a child time to familiarise him/herself with teaching materials and comment on them if needed before starting the learning activity. Give lots of praise. Correct mistakes gently! You can also look confused if the child tells the story in the wrong order. For children who are having difficulties grasping the connection between the picture sequence and an actual event, start with simple sequences you can actually act out - such as pouring a drink - and match a picture with each step of the sequence - e.g. (1) empty glass, full bottle, (2) pouring from bottle into the glass, (3) full glass, half empty bottle. |
| Story on a line. Clothes pegs String for a washing line. Sequence cards | Using a washing line can be motivating for some children. The child can put a card onto the washing line as he/she works thorugh them. Or alternatively he/she can take them off the line in order and tell the story. | |
| Sequencing cards Published cards of 3 step sequences (LDA or Colour Cards do some good ones). | If the child is struggling with the concept of 'first, next, last', you could write 1 2 3 on a sheet of paper. Do the same activity, but have the child find 2 and 3. Make sure you still talk about 'first, next, last'. When the child is confident in doing this, have him put all 3 cards in order - don't tell him which one is first. To make the activity more interesting, you could peg the pictures onto a string washing line, or stick them onto a special background (e.g. a rocket....) NB. When the child has the pictures in the wrong order, 'tell the story' out loud, and ask him if it makes sense. If he can spot a problem himself he will develop his skills more effectively. | |
| Sequencing Pictures Sequences of 3 pictures on paper (Black Sheep Press have a wide range) | To make the activity more interesting, use Blu Tac, and stick the pictures to the table first. If you are working with a group of children, 3 of them could stand in a line and hold one picture each. To put them in order they can change places in the line. You could also have the child write a sentence under each picture. NB. When the child has the pictures in the wrong order, 'tell the story' out loud, and ask her if it makes sense as in the activity above. | |
| Every day activities Digital camera photos of the child or people he knows doing every day activities |
Sequences three or more pictures
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Picture sequencing Ready made picture sequence cards, for example 'And then' (published by Schubi), pictures taken from a storybook. Sources of picture sequences: | Step 1 1. Start with three cards: the three cards can make up a whole story, or be part of a longer one; 2. Tell the story with the cards introducing each card one by one; 3. Get the child to have a go at retelling the story. Step 2 Using the same cards, this time give the child the cards all mixed up - the child needs to put the cards back in the right order and tell the story. Step 3 1. Using three cards which the child hasn't seen before, mix them up and give them to the child to try and work out the story; 2. When the child has put them in an order that he or she is happy with (not necessarily the right order) get him/her to tell you the story (see 'comments' column for ideas of what to do if the cards are in the wrong order) Step 4 Continue with more cards from the same story if the whole sequence is more than three steps long. Step 5 Try working with longer sequences. | To work on this activity, the child must understand the concept that a sequence of pictures can relate to a story, if not, do the activities in the sheet called "sequences three pictures showing a practical activity" which introduces this concept. If the pictures are in the wrong order, the child may notice this when they try to tell back the story. If not, ask questions to prompt the child to rethink how they've ordered the pictures. For example, if picture 1 shows a girl next to her snowman, picture 2 shows the sun melting it, and picture 3 shows the girl crying, but the child has got pictures 2 and 3 swapped around, you could ask about the second picture 'why is she crying?' and look confused. If you can physically act out the sequence this may also help. The idea is to try and get to the point where the child gets the pictures in the right order with the minimum amount of assistance from you. Try to avoid the situation where you need to physically re-arrange the pictures (if you keep needing to do this despite using prompting, then the sequence is probably too difficult). |
Recognise half the letters of the alphabet
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Match, select and name letters: step 1 - match 2 sets of moveable letters, or letters printed clearly on cards | 1. Make sure the child knows the concept of 'same' and 'different' (if not, this can be taught using objects, or pictures of objects). 2. Choose 2 letters that do not look or sound similar (e.g. s and m). 3. Put one of each letter in front of the child. 4. Hold a second copy of one of the letters, and say 'Look, this is the same as this'. Put the letter down next to its pair. 5. Give the child the extra letter, and ask 'Which is the same?' they should put the letter down next to its pair. 6. If the child does not know, or does it wrong, model again. 7. Repeat with the second extra letter. 8. Ask the child to match the letters 3 or 4 times in this way, or until they are clear which pairs of letters are the same. | Teach same and different, where necessary. This activity is for children who are finding basic letter knowledge very hard to acquire. You will need to move at their speed. s, a, m, and t are good letters to use at the beginning. |
| Match, select and name letters: step 2 - select 2 sets of moveable letters, or letters printed clearly on cards | You will need to follow the practice in your school about whether to use letter names or sounds. For this activity, stick to one or the other. | |
| Match, select and name letters: step 3 - name 2 sets of moveable letters, or letters printed clearly on cards | At this point you may choose to show the child how to write the 2 letters. When you are sure the letters you are working on have been mastered, add an extra letter - and begin with step 1 - match again. When 4 or 5 letters have been introduced, remove the easiest ones so that there are never too many on the table at one time - but check earlier ones from time to time. If you find you no longer need to do the 'match' step, it may be a sign that the child is ready for a standard phonics programme, such as Direct Phonics, instead of this. Alternatively, this procedure could be used alongside a phonics programme whenever a new letter is introduced. |
Joins in discussion about a story
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing big book at carpet time | 1. Define child's sitting space with carpet tile or tape. Always use the same space for big book time. (This might not be necessary for all children). 2. Start with short periods of shared sitting and listening to a story and build up to longer times. Using an egg timer may help to establish the idea of good sitting initially. When good sitting is established the timer can be removed. 3. If asking a question about the shared book to a group always use the child's name to alert him/her to a question - even a question addressed to the whole class. 4. Start by asking questions you know the child can answer. 5. If necessary focus the child's attention by taking his/her hand and pointing to/touching the relevant part of the book 6. Allow the child a chance to pre-read the big book so that events are already familiar. | Be clear about expectations but keep them reasonable You could use a visual timetable to indicate that it is big book time or that the big book time is finished. |
understands printed word can describe own experience
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Event recall A sheet with columns labelled with 'when', 'who', 'what', 'where' | Use a recent event and the 'wh' recall sheet and fill this out with the child e.g. a trip to the swimming bath - fill in a word or two to describe when the event took place, who went, what the event was and where it took place. The event can then be recalled by reading across the columns. This technique can be used to recall a recent book or game in the playground, or cooking lesson. | Keep language simple - the object is to show that print is relevant to real life experience and pictures of real life. Use 2/3 word phrases only. Give lots of reward even for small bits of a task well done - you don't have to wait till the end of a task to reward. This way you can always reward good behaviour before the child gets restless. |
| Recent event picture sequence Scrap book Photos from home or a school trip | ||
| Simple stick man drawings of an event | ||
| Diary | ||
| Home-school book |
Match pictures to labels
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Pictures and Text Pictures of familiar objects and their printed labels e.g. Picture of a dog and the label 'dog' Maybe borrow a book from home which the child likes and photocopy and then use as a picture resource . | 1. Cut out or photocopy 5 pictures of items the child is familiar with. E.g. animals/food items/objects or people from Peter and Jane books. 2. Print labels for the items 3. Give the child one picture and one label. 4. Put the two together - point to the print and read it. | Give a reward for this activity because it is not intrinsically rewarding. Increase to two pictures and two printed labels. Model the correct match. Reward each correct match. |
Two part instructions with prepositions and plurals
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Hunt the treasure Something to use as 'treasure' - an interesting object or toy. | Explain that one person will be the person to hunt the treasure (the 'pirate' if appropriate!). The other children will hide the object and think of an instruction of where to look. The person hunting closes their eyes / goes out of the room. Hide the object, and think of an instruction to give a clue of where to look. Make sure the hiding place is not too easy, so that the instruction is long enough to be challenging. (For example: "walk two steps and look behind the cupboard below the window"). Bring the person hunting the object back, and explain they need to listen carefully to the instruction. Give them the instruction. They have to follow it to find the 'treasure'. | You may need to support the person hunting the treasure to remember the instruction, by using memory strategies. If they forget where they need to look, encourage them to ask questions of the group. It is recommended that the group only answers yes / no - i.e. the child must formulate a precise question such as 'is it near the window?' rather than asking 'where is it?' Alternatively, the person hunting can say 'give me a clue'. The other children must then give them a further instruction to help them, but not tell them exactly where the object is, for example 'go forward 2 steps and look up' You may need to support the children to do this. |
| Simon Says Imagination! | The instructions you give do not just need to be actions - they can involve the children finding objects, touching particular colours, etc. | |
| Selection challenge A range of objects laid out on the table. | The objects can be everyday classroom objects. To make the activity topic specific, use objects linked to a current topic in class or in the language group. Using objects the children find interesting makes the activity more enjoyable. For younger children you could use a box, bag, or basket for them to put the objects they collect in. To help the children develop self-monitoring skills, write down or draw the list of things you asked them to find (use paper or a white board). When they have made their selection, show them the list and have them check if they remembered what they needed to find. | |
| Practical Activities Any practical activity where the child must listen to instructions and carry them out to make something - e.g. origami fortuneteller, craft activities. | This is easily transferable to classroom activities. | |
| Barrier Worksheets A picture to colour - enough copies for everyone doing the activity, and for the adult too. Colouring pens / pencils A big book or folder to make a barrier | The activity is designed so that the child has to listen to, understand, and remember an instruction of 4-5 key words. If you break the instruction up into the different steps, the child will be working with several short instructions instead of one long one. For example, 'colour the robot's head blue'. (Pause, child has chance to start doing this part) 'And then colour two shoes red.' is two instructions not one. Make sure the child listens to your whole instruction before s/he starts to carry it out. There is automatic feedback in this activity, as the child will be able to see from your picture if s/he got it right. If s/he got it wrong, s/he will be able to see what the instruction actually was. |
To follow sequenced 4 to 5 key word instructions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier Worksheets A picture to colour - enough copies for everyone doing the activity, and for the adult too. Colouring pens / pencils A big book or folder to make a barrier | Explain that this activity is to practise listening, so the child must listen carefully. You will only say the instruction once. Give the child / children a sheet (one for everyone) and take one yourself. Put the barrier up, so that the child cannot see your picture. Give an instruction telling them to colour part of the picture, and colour it yourself. Make sure the instruction has at least 4 key words, and involves doing one thing before something else. E.g. if you have a picture of a robot you could say: 'Colour the robot's head blue and then colour two shoes red.' The words underlined are the key words, and there are 2 steps to the instruction. When you have all finished that instruction, hold up your picture, so the children can check if they got it right. | The activity is designed so that the child has to listen to, understand and remember an instruction of 4-5 key words. If you break the instruction up into the different steps, the child will be working with several short instructions instead of one long one. E.g. 'colour the robot's head blue. And then colour two shoes red.' is two instructions not one. Make sure the child listens to your whole instruction before s/he starts to carry it out. There is automatic feedback in this activity, as the child will be able to see from your picture if s/he got it right. If s/he got it wrong, s/he will be able to see what the instruction actually was. Topic vocabulary from e.g. a science topic or a history topic could be used, and simple worksheets created using software such as Clicker or Communicate in Print (see www.commtap.org for links to suppliers of this software). |
| Barrier Patterns 2D shapes in several different colours Something to use as a barrier | Make sure you say the pattern as one instruction and don't break the instruction up into the different steps. Otherwise the child will be working with several short instructions instead of one long one. E.g. 'A blue circle. A red square. And a triangle' is 3 short instructions. Make sure the child listens to your whole instruction before s/he starts to carry it out. You can use almost anything to make patterns - compare bears, mini beasts, small world toys etc. Pictures of topic vocabulary could be printed out and cut to make cards. The barrier pattern could then be made using a pattern of pictures. E.g. 'fire, fire, bucket of water, diary, diary' (linking to the Fire of London topic). | |
| Simon Says Imagination! | Make sure the child listens to the whole instruction before doing it. Make sure that you give the instruction as one long one not several short ones. |
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