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Topic “Individual”
Contains activities for individuals (one on one).
predict infer and analyse from a picture and story
| 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 C 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 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). | Use some simpler questions to start with (LfT Level A and B if you are using this publication). If a child gives a short answer, prompt them to expand it. If the child finds these questions easy, move on to having them read the story rather than you telling it. Go back to using simpler questions and move up through question levels again. |
use past and future tense when telling stories
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Spot the story Sequencing cards (3 part sequences work best) 2 envelopes Prompt cards for past and future tense Blu tac (optional) | 1. Put all the first cards of every sequence into one envelope, and put the past tense prompt card on the front. 2. Put all the last cards of every sequence in the other envelope and put the future tense prompt card on the front. 3. Lay out all the middle cards from every sequence in different places - on the table, on the walls, on the floor - whatever is appropriate in your setting. 4. Explain to the children that one child will describe a card from one of the envelopes. The other children must work out which of the cards round the room is the next / previous card - they must 'spot the story'. 5. Have one child choose a card from one envelope. If it is a card that is first in a sequence, they must describe it using a past tense. The prompt card can be used to help them. If it is a final card in a sequence, the future tense must be used. (This is because the card the other children are finding is the middle card.) 6. See who can 'spot the story' first! | Praise children for using a past or future tense as appropriate. Use simple sequencing cards at first. Later you could use more complex ones, e.g. social sequences. |
| Chain story surprise (past and future) Paper Pen or pencil Cards with possible story characters on them (optional) | Some children will prefer to have a character given to them to write about. You will need a prompt card with 'did', 'has', 'had', 'was' and also a prompt card with 'will / going to' written out to remind the children to use the past and future tense. | |
| See also Further activities on www.commtap.org: |
use future tense when making plans and telling stories
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| News time 'frame' Sheet with boxes labelled "...will...", "...am..." and "...have / did...":
Pen or pencil | 1. Use this at news time, or explain to the child that you are all going to take turns to talk about what you are going to do, or have done. 2. Put the sheet with the boxes labelled "....will...., "....am...." and "....have/did...." in front of the child and help the child to read the words. 3. The child can choose to talk about e.g. last weekend, or next weekend, or something in school. Talk about if it has happened already or is going to happen and which box it would fit under. 4. The child can report their news; help them to use the accurate tense. | In some cases it will feel more natural to use "going to" than "will" (for example, "The boy is going to eat the apple" rather than "The boy will eat the apple"), you should always use (and encourage) the form which feels the most natural. The child could write what they have written under each heading, or draw a picture. |
| Diary Diary - either published or a blank workbook. Pen or pencil Sheet with boxes labelled "...will...", "...am..." and "...have / did...":
| This is an ongoing activity to be used with an individual child or a group of children (each child would have their own diary). In some cases it will feel more natural to use "going to" than "will" (for example, "The boy is going to eat the apple" rather than "The boy will eat the apple"), you should always use (and encourage) the form which feels the most natural. | |
| Complete the manuscript A short story, with the ending missing (either cut off, or photocopy the story but blank out the ending) Paper Pen or pencil | This activity is best if it is not a story the child is familiar with. You may need to use a prompt sheet to remind the children to use the future tense: Sheet with boxes labelled "...will...", "...am..." and "...have / did...":
In some cases it will feel more natural to use "going to" than "will" (for example, "The boy is going to eat the apple" rather than "The boy will eat the apple"), you should always use (and encourage) the form which feels the most natural. You can have the group make up two or three different endings for the same story and make a 'choose your ending' book. | |
| Sequencing Cards A set of sequencing cards (either a published set, or you can make your own by photocopying a sequence of pictures of any event). | Use sequences appropriate to the age of the child. Any sequence with a twist at the end will be enjoyed by the children! You may need to use a prompt sheet to remind the children to use the future tense: Sheet with boxes labelled "...will...", "...am..." and "...have / did...":
In some cases it will feel more natural to use "going to" than "will" (for example, "The boy is going to eat the apple" rather than "The boy will eat the apple"), you should always use (and encourage) the form which feels the most natural | |
| Chain story surprise Paper Pen or pencil Cards with possible story characters on them (optional) | Some children will prefer to have a character given to them to write about. You may need a prompt card with 'will / going to' written out to remind the children to use the future tense. |
to use because in sentences
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Story cards Flashcards with the target word written on each one (because). Short sequences of 2 or 3 cards which make up a short story. | Tell the children that this activity is to practise using longer sentences. Introduce 'because' on the flashcards and explain that it helps us to make longer sentences. Sequence the cards into the right order as a group. Place the flashcard near the pictures. Have the children think of a sentence (two if necessary) about the pictures, which uses 'because'. Write down each sentence. | This activity can easily be adapted to use class topic work and stories. You may need to use a sentence frame to support the children to make sentences at first. A sentence frame for this activity can be in three parts, for example:
The children can change the parts in the first and last boxes to make new sentences. |
| Book Summaries As the activity above, but use a short book the children are familiar with. Flashcards with the target word written on each one (because). | It is better if the book has a lot of pictures to help the children follow the story. You could use just one page of a book, or one short section, if the book is longer than a few pages. You may need to use a sentence frame to support the children to make sentences at first. | |
| Photo Captions Photos from magazines or photos of the children engaged in activities Flashcards with the target word written on each one (because). | You may need to use a sentence frame to support the children to make sentences at first. | |
| Talk for a minute Flashcards with the target word written on each one (because). Pictures of actions or events Timer (if you don't have one, use a watch with a second hand) | You may need to use a sentence frame to support the children to make sentences at first. You can vary the time, to make it either longer or shorter. |
To indicate own needs.
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Help card Laminated 'I need you to help me' card | Use the card during classroom tasks. Introduce it as something that reminds us to ask for help when we need it. Make it a 'reward' to have the card for an activity. Tell the child who has the card for that activity, that they can ask anyone for help by showing them the card. Give them a target to use it at least once. Praise the child for using the card. | |
| Sabotaged class activities | Some children are shy of 'correcting' adults, so make sure they know it is ok to tell you can't do the activity. You may find it useful to 'prime' the children and tell them that you might give them an impossible instruction to check if they are listening. You may need to provide the children with a model sentence to use when they let you know that they cannot carry out your instruction. | |
| Shopping Game
| There are commercial games which are similar to this, many of them lotto games. Have the children work in pairs,, so that they must ask each other to collect the pieces they need. |
Predict what might happen next in a social story
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Think of the ending Sequencing cards (focus on social situations) Card with large question-mark on it. | 1. Explain to the children that you are going to see the beginning of a story or something that happened, and that they need to think about what the ending could be. 2. Show them the first 2 or 3 cards in the sequence (this depends on how many cards are in the sequence). 3. Show the question mark at the end and discuss what might happen next. 4. Help the children to think about different scenarios: you could write these down or draw them. 5. Finally look at the final cards in the sequence to see what the author decided on. | |
| Talking about situations Large picture showing a situation: for example a developing argument; a child standing alone whilst other children are playing in a playground. Sets of prompt pictures showing possible outcomes from the situation - for example: child seeks to join in play and is accepted/is rejected, child goes off on his own etc. | ||
| Flip Book A4 ring-binder folder (if you have one with 4 rings this is better, but 2 rings will do.) A5 paper / A4 cut in half Pictures of an event, A5 size |
To find out information about someone by asking questions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Interview - Prompt questions - Record sheet | 1. Have the children think about questions we can ask each other to find about each other. 2. Have the children interview each other, using the prompt questions. 3. Have them report back to the group on the child they interviewed. | |
| News This is appropriate on a Monday, or after a holiday. Paper Pen | You could have each person choose someone who is not in the group (either an adult or another child) to ask. | |
| Who thinks that? Blank flashcards Pens Paper Questions prompt sheet | Suggested questions for flashcard answers: -What do you like to watch on TV -What is your favourite food? -What is your favourite toy? -What do you like to do when you play with your friends? -What do you like to eat for breakfast? -Where would you like to go at the weekend? -Who lives at your house? -How do you get to school? etc! | |
| How are you feeling today? Feelings / emotions chart (chart containing a range of emotions). Question prompts |
Using word webs to learn new vocabulary/words
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What word am I? - A selection of word webs you have already completed with the word in the middle covered. - Post it notes
| 1. Choose a word web and cover the attributes of the word with post it notes as well as the word in the centre. 2. Explain to your child/student that you will take the post it notes off one by one and they have to try and guess the word that is hiding. 3. See how quickly they are able to guess the word.
| This activity will help your child/student to recall words that they have learnt. |
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Activities to develop the use of irregular plurals
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 1. Explain to your child that you are going to talk about plurals - this is where there it more than one item. 2. Explain that for lots of items, we add an 's' on the end of the word to indicate more than one, e.g. 'one cat, two cats'. 3. Explain that some words use a different ending. Look through the picture cards together and talk about hte different words.
| To work on regular plurals first - click here for activities (add link) |
| Matching Pairs | ||
| Lotto | To make this game harder, you could say a sentence with your target word in. |
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. |
tell a simple story using a starter phrase or framework
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| On the way to school game "On my way home from school" resource: activity available to download free from www.speechteach.co.uk (see: www.speechteach.co.uk Download selected pictures and assemble the board in your chosen way. A start square and a finish square are recommended - try not to make the game board bigger than an A3 size sheet. Laminate for future use. | 1. Players each have a token and roll dice or use a spinner to move places on the board; 2. When a player lands on a picture of an animal they must say the starter phrase "On the way to school I saw..." and then add the name of that animal; 3. The activity can be extended by asking players to add to their story. Additional information could include adjectives (describing words - e.g. "big"), conjunctions (joining words - e.g. "and", "because") and verbs (action words, e.g. "run", "drop"). For example, "On my way to school today I saw a tiny mouse." | This game is ideal to work on in a small group with players of varying skill levels. Model the starter phrase and provide an example of what is expected. Players can be working at different levels whilst playing the same game e.g. one can be working at a naming level, whilst another can be working on adding an adjective to the sentence. To keep the game fun and interesting, children may be encouraged to make up a silly version of events. E.g. "On the way to school I saw a rabbit riding a bicycle". |
make predictions in simple stories and situations
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sequencing pictures Sets of sequencing pictures; Question mark card (optional). | 1. Put the pictures in order so that you can easily show them to the child one at a time; 2. Show the child the first picture in the sequence; 3. Ask them to tell you what's happening in the picture; 4. Then ask them to imagine what might happen next. To show this visually, put a card with a large question mark on it to the right of the picture; 5. When the child has suggested a sensible thing that might happen next, show them the next card in the sequence; 6. If there are differences between what the card shows and the child's suggestion, discuss why this might be; 7. Repeat for all the cards in the sequence. | When working with sequencing pictures, always work from left to right, and top to bottom, as this mirrors the direction we use when writing English. Choose your set of pictures carefully - you need sets that show a specific event happening (such as a car driving over a broken bottle and getting a flat tyre) rather than a sequence that develops over an extended time span (e.g. a child growing up, or the changes that happen to a tree during the different seasons). |
| Story books Story books |
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). |
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