Topic “Speaking”  

- adjective symbol boards - click here to print

- a variety of objects or pictures - click below for a selection of pictures:

     - clothes

     - animals

     - food

     - transport

     - toys

- a bag

1. Print out the adjective symbol boards.
2. Explain to your child/student that you are going to take turns to put and object/picture in the bag and give clues to the other person to guess what it is. Explain you are ging to practice using lots of different words to describe the item.
3. You go first to model how to carry out the activity. Choose and object/picture to put in the bag.
4. Give a description of the item - model using the symbol boards to find words you could use to describe the item.
5. Encourage the child to guess and then swap roles.

- A selection of photographs or pictures of objects - you could cut them out from a newspaper, magazine or catalogue.

- Paper

- Glue

- Optional - adjective symbol charts - click here to print.

- Things that go together cards - click here to print.

1. Print and cut out the things that go together cards.
2. Split the cards into two piles, making sure one of each pair is in a different pile. 
3. Lay one pile of cards on the table in front of you.
4. Explain to your child that you will take turns at choosing a card and then searching for the item that goes togeher with it.
5. You may need to model a turn.
6. When you turn the card over, name the item.
7. When you find the item that goes with it, name that item too and explain why they go togeher, e.g. 'fork and knife - you use them both to eat your dinner.
8. Continue until all the pairs have matched up.

- Male female sorting symbols and pictures - click here to print

- You could also use photographs of family members, pictures from magazines/newspapers.

1. Collect together a variety of pictures showing different male and female people.
2. Cut out the sorting symbols - choose which ones you are going to start with. Some children find it easier to start with one concept at a time, e.g. boy/not boy rather than boy/girl, and adding the opposite concept once confident with the ones that have been worked on. Choose the words you are going to use with your child and stick with the same words for all the activites, e.g. boy/girl, male/female.
3. Place your pictures in a pile. Take turns at choosing a picture and sorting it into the correct pile. 
4. If your child sorts the picture into the wrong pile, talk it through with them and model placing the picture on the correct pile.
5. Play a turn taking game alongside sorting to make the activity fun.

- he/she plus action picture cards - click here to print

1. Print and cut out the he/she pictures. Choose one each of an action, e.g. don't have both the boy and girl running.

2. Spread the pictures out in front of you. You may like to play a turn taking game alongside using the pictures.

3. Ask the child a question, e.g. "who is cooking?"

4. The child points to the correct picture and says, for example, "he is" or "he is cooking".

5. You can sort the pictures into a pile of he/she.

A male doll

A female doll

A selection of different objects e.g. cup, ball.

- he/she plus action picture cards - click here to print

- he/she plus action picture cards - click here to print

- He/she lotto game boards - click here to print.

Describe and look for things and actions in story books and pictures.

pictures with paper clips attached, magnetic fishing rods, 'pond' e.g. a flat box

Put cards in the box, take turns to fish for a picture, say/sign what is fished out.

Eight picture cards, small piece of paper with a fish drawn on it

Pictures of everyday objects, background pictures (Black Sheep Sentence Builder and Narrative Packs have some good ones)

Pictures of everyday objects from class and outside. A blank jotter book

Pictures of everyday objects from class and outside

Items/activities the student may be interested in.

Items/short activities the student is not interested in.

1. The motivating thing could be bashing on a musical instrument, blowing bubbles, getting social interaction: the student needs to be motivated by whatever the thing/activity is for this to work - they won't communicate for something they don't want. The motivating thing should be something they can have/do for a short time, e.g. no more than about 20 seconds or so.
2. Check that the student is interested in the item/activity you choose by letting them have a go with it for a short time.
3. Find something that's boring/isn't motivating. Examples of boring things could be: a ruler, piece of cardboard, "doing nothing" (simply doing nothing/ignoring the student for a few seconds) - this will very much depend on the student.

Appropriate switches to use

Typically you might start off with a couple of large recordable buttons (for example "Big Macs". You may have already established this with single switch work and established that they can make something happen with a single switch).

Pair of switches

Motivating and un-motivating items/activities (see the activity "establishing motivators" above)

1. Look at the picture. Talk about what is happening. Ask some easy to answer questions.

2. Stick the picture in a book to take home and say 'Tell me what to write and you can show Mum'.

Pictures of a fridge, washing machine, cupboard, suitcase

Pictures of food, clothes.

Take it in turns to instruct each other to put e.g. 'socks in the washing machine', 'put the pasta in the cupboard'

A clothesline - either a picture or a real line and pegs

Pictures of clothes

A TV guide

Outline of a pizza base

Pictures of pizza toppings. Or - draw a base and draw the toppings onto it.

1. Take it in turns to instruct each other to put clothes on the line, e.g. 'Put the jumper on the clothesline.'

2. Go through the TV guide and find favourite shows. Say what you are watching on TV'. e.g. 'I'm watching cartoons on TV

3. Put toppings on the pizza base e.g. 'I'm putting chicken on my pizza'.

Action pictures

Place pictures

Pictures of furniture and objects

Pictures of people

Outline of a bus / train / classroom

Pictures of different vehicles

An interesting object to use as 'treasure'

everyday objects, shopping bag, table

One pupil sits at the 'shop'. Another is asked to go and buy an object.

pictures of everyday objects, post box

Take a picture of an object, say or sign what it is, and post it

pictures with paper clips attached, magnetic fishing rods, 'pond' e.g. a flat box

Eight picture cards, small piece of paper with a fish drawn on it

Picture cards or objects

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.

A timeline drawn on paper or a string

Bag

Objects to do with a familiar routine, e.g. getting up

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.

Barrier games designed to elicit 4 word phrases e.g. Black Sheet programme

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?'

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.

Photos taken in the activity above

Paper

Scissors

Glue

Paper

Pen

Shop!

Some money

Paper

Pen

Whiteboard

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.

Toys/pictures of table, cupboard, chair and bed.

Pictures of dog and cat actions (cut out).

Big and little toy animals

Doll and teddy

2 barns and fields

A ball.

Two goals, one red and one green.

Two baskets, one red and one green.

4 pieces of classroom equipment e.g. pencil, pen, ruler, rubber.

2 boxes of different colours