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Topic “L1a”
To develop vocabulary around a specific topic
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Topic books - Ring binder and paper or some blank exercise books - Topic pictures | 1. Choose a topic - this can either be curriculum related (at school) or around an activity you will be doing e.g. a trip to the seaside (at home). 2. Explain that you are going to think about all the words you need to talk about that topic. Aim for 5-6 words. 3. Think about what sort of things you will see and do. You could write these down - let your child think of as many as they can. 4. Together look for pictures to stick in the book for each word. 5. Write down the word for each picture and fill in a word web template. 6. Put the word webs together to make a book that you can use to discuss your topic. | |
| Bingo - Bingo cards - each with a list of your topic related words on it - you may wish to put a picture/symbol alongside each picture. - A set of definitions of the words (descriptions of what the words mean). | ||
| Alphabet Game | The category cards in this game are general - you may like to add more speicifc ones related to the topic you have been working on. | |
| Topic Trees / Mind Maps - Blank sheet of paper - Pens - Cards with different topics on them (optional) | You can use a different colour for each set of branches. | |
| What is that Word? Game |
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 |
use pictures and text together to get information
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday situation with words and a picture 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 2 and (1) the level A questions then (2) 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 let them read the story. 3. Ask the child questions verbally focusing on questions where the child must use what they can see in the picture and also some wider context to answer the questions; for example: 'What will happen next?' 'How did he...?' 'What is a ....?' 'How are these the same?' ("LfT level B" questions). | Use simpler questions to start with (e.g. the "Language for Thinking" level A questions if this publication is being used). If a child gives a short answer, prompt them to expand it. If the child finds the questions in step 3 easy ("LfT level B"), 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). |
identifies sentences in reading and uses full stops
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Recognising sentences in reading Write or type lines of text - perhaps from books the child has read. Some of these should be complete sentences. Some of them should be unfinished sentences so they don't make sense. Start all with a capital letter, but leave out the full stop from all of them. Cut out each line of text so each one is on a separate card or piece of paper. (You could keep an extra copy with the correct punctuation added as a model.) Examples: The boy is in bed At the weekend It is time to go My house is in a Easylearn produce prepared texts in a book called 'First Stop' | 1. Child / adult read aloud through a selection of lines of text. 2. Child identifies which are complete and make sense (i.e. which lines are full sentences) and which are not. 3. Child sorts the lines of text into two groups - ones that are complete sentences and ones that are not. 4. Adult models re-reading the lines and adding the punctuation - full stops only at the ends of the complete sentences. 5. If the child is ready - let them work on adding full stops at the ends of complete sentences. | The purpose of this activity is for the child to recognise that a sentence has to make sense (and that it isn't just the punctuation that shows it's a sentence). This could be done one to one, in a pair or in a small group e.g. four children. Child could check work from a model prepared earlier. This links to 'cut up' sentences in reading / writing - child reads the words and sequences them to form a sentence. |
| Identifying sentences and sentence boundaries in longer texts and adding full stops / capital letters Four slightly longer texts than in the "recognising sentences in reading" activity, e.g. of about 3-4 lines, which you have written out or typed without punctuation. Example: it was a hot day the children were making a sandcastle it was really big Easylearn produce prepared texts in a book called 'First Stop' | The purpose of this activity is for the child to recognise that a sentence has to make sense (and that it isn't just the punctuation that shows it's a sentence). This could be done one to one or in a pair -or small group e.g. four children. Punctuation Kung Fu (described in the book Could Do Better by Phil Beadle, www.philbeadle.com), where each punctuation mark is accompanied by a kung fu movement and a noise, could be introduced as part of this activity. This links to 'cut up' sentences in reading / writing activities - child reads the words and sequences them to form a sentence. |
two part instructions with before after
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Simon Says Prompt card with 'before' and 'after' on it (optional) Whiteboard Whiteboard marker | 1. Explain to the children that you are going to play Simon Says and practise doing things 'before' or 'after' something else. 2. Play the game, giving instructions such as 'pat your head before you jump', 'After you clap your hands, turn around'. Write the instruction on your whiteboard as you give it (use simple drawings if a child has reading difficulties). 3. Show the children the whiteboard so that they can check if they got the action right. | Use simpler instructions before trying harder ones. So, give the actions in the order the child will do them, before giving them in a different order. E.g. 'clap your hands before you nod your head' 'after you clap your hands, nod your head' If the child can do this try 'Before you clap your hands, nod your head. 'Nod your head after you clap your hands.' |
| Barrier Worksheet Copy of a worksheet picture to colour in for each person Coloured pens or pencils (if possible, the same set of colours for each person. It could just be 3 or 4 colours) Prompt card with 'before' and 'after' | Again, use simpler instructions, where the steps are in the order the child must do them, before more difficult ones where the child must do them in a different order (see above). | |
| Listen and draw Paper pencils Prompt card with 'before' and 'after' | Again, use simpler instructions, where the steps are in the order the child must do them, before more difficult ones where the child must do them in a different order (see above). |
activities to develop prediction skills
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Guess what's going to happen. Use simple sequence cards. | Present the first picture in the sequence to the child. Describe the situation to the child and ask him/her what they think is going to happen. Encourage the child to discuss any prediction and discuss any other options that might happen. Once you have discussed this outcome then show the second picture. | Remember to reinforce during the discussion that there could be lots of different outcomes. This activity can also be done in small groups, encourage all the children to make attempts to predict possible outcomes. |
| What would happen if...? Use situation cards. | This activity can be done in small groups. Give all the children an equal opportunity to contribute to the discussion. Remember to reinforce during the discussion that there could be lots of different possibilities. | |
| Predicting from sentences | If the child is having difficulties identifying the outcome then use the key word to give a clue e.g. Mark has a spade. What do we do with a spade? |
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