Topic “key skill”  

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

Sheet with boxes labelled "...will...", "...is..." and "...has...":

Simple sequencing pictures showing an action that is about to happen, the same action happening and the action when it is complete, for example Black Sheep Press's 3-step sequencing pack. Alternatively, you could make your own (e.g. take photos of the child, or draw them) or you could print them out from a picture resource such as "Flash-Pro" if you have it, or use other commercially produced sequencing pictures such as LDA or Colorcards.

Glue or Blu-tac

Pen or pencil

1. Put the sheet with the boxes labelled "....will....", "....is...." and "....has...." in front of the child and help the child to read the words.

2. Mix up the pictures from one of the sequences.

3. Help the child put them in the correct order, putting them in the correct boxes on the sheet.

4. Ask him/her to describe the sequence, using the words "will", "is" and "has" in his/her description (e.g. "the boy will eat the apple, the boy is eating the apple, the boy has eaten the apple"). You may need to give the child some support to use the right form of the verb at this stage.

5. Help him/her to stick them in the correct places on the sheet (use Blu-tac if you want to be able to re-use the pictures).

6. Help the child to write a description (using the words "will", "is" and "has") under the pictures.

Sequencing pictures as above.

Sequencing pictures as above.

Card with a large '?' on it (some sets of cards come with this card included).

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

Copies of pages of text the child can read easily

Red pen

Green pen

(1) Talk about how 'the' and 'a' are used differently - 'the' is used when we are talking about a thing and we know which one we are talking about. 'A' is used when we are talking about a thing and we could be talking about any example of that thing.

(2) Tell the child to read the text you give them. Explain that each time they come to the word "a", they should put a red circle round it. Each time they come to the word "the", they should put a green circle round it. Each time, ask them to explain why you use that word, and how changing it would change the meaning of the sentence (e.g. how "the children went inside the house" is different from "the children went inside a house").

Toy animals of various sizes, colours and kinds

Cards showing each letter of the alphabet

Pictures of single objects starting with a vowel

Pictures of single objects starting with a consonant

Pictures of single objects starting with a vowel that the child can stick into a book

Scissors

Glue

Book

Pen

An old catalogue such as the Argos catalogue.

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

Coloured pictures of a range of objects (in two or more colours e.g. red and green) with a big and a small version in each colour (e.g. big green fork, small green fork, big red fork, small red fork).

To make the pictures, you can: draw your own, use clip art, photocopy line drawings on to different coloured sheets of paper, or use a product such as "Flash-Pro" (see www.aba-materials.com)

1. Have a set of 4 pictures (e.g. big green fork, small green fork, big red fork, small red fork). Spread them out on the table in front of the child.

2. Ask the child to select the one you name.

3. When s/he can do this introduce another object so you have 8 pictures (e.g. big green fork, small green fork, big red fork, small red fork, big green cup, small green cup, big red cup, small red cup).

4. Swap roles so the child has a chance to give you instructions.

Different coloured sheets of paper, according to the colours you choose.

Pictures as above

Paper,

Coloured pens/pencils

(Individual work or small group work)

Small world figures or animals

IDEAS FOR SIMPLE STORIES.

(1) Use a Mum and a child figure:

'Come on 'Child's name' - its time to go to the park. Look I see the swings. I am swinging on the swings it is fun. Weeeee etc. Come on 'Child's name ' its time to go home now.

(2) Use a Mum and a child figure:

Come on 'child' name'. Lets go to the shops. We are going to buy new shoes. I like these shoes - I can run fast in these new shoes. Thanks Mum.

(3) Use two child figures:

Hello 'name of friend' lets go to the playground.

Weee I am jumping...Look I am running....I am going to catch you. Oh dear. It is dark . We must go home now.

(4) Use a Mum and a child figure:

Time for school. Hurry up 'child's name', hurry we will be late. Coat on, hat on, hold my hand . Lets walk to school. Look there is the school. Bye bye 'child's name ' Bye bye Mum.

(5) Use a Mum and a child figure:

Its dinner time 'child's name'. Come and sit down. Look here is a beef burger. Here are some chips. Yum yum this is good. I like burger and chips. Mmmm I like burger and chips too.

Use miniature figures.

Have one in each hand.

Make walking or running or jumping movements with the figures as appropriate to tell the story.

Make each figure do some very simple talking. Say the words as if the figure was really doing the talking.

Don't use 'Mum said...' Just move Mum a bit and say the words as if the toy was able to talk! Don't say, 'The dog goes woof woof' just jump the dog up and down and say woof woof.

Use the present tense.

You 'do' the story once, then ask the most able child to do the story then the next most able child etc.

Accept any attempt to retell the story. If the child needs help, tell the story a little bit for them then wait for the child to finish the story..

Give lots of praise for telling a story - in what ever way.

.

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 level A 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 where the child looks for the answer in the picture and just uses a little background knowledge. E.g. 'Find one that is....', 'When did...', 'What does this do?' 'What else is an X? etc.

Use not more than 6 items of things that have regular plural forms, for example, key(s), cup(s), ball(s), sock(s)

1. Put groups of each of the objects on one table, and single items of each on another table.

2. Point to each item or group of items, and name each, saying, for example, 'Here are the keys,'

3. Get the child to respond by indicating (eye/finger/head pointing or gesture) when you ask 'Where are the cups?'

4. Praise him when he does this correctly.

5. Then move on to the next item, e.g. 'Where is the Key? '

Sheet showing a mixture of single items and groups of the same items (if laminated, this can be reused)

Pen or pencil (use a whiteboard pen if your sheet is laminated)

Follow on from the previous activity where the child is indicating his understanding of which objects are plural / singular.

Not more than 6 different objects, as above

The things should be laid out as for the comprehension exercise above.

Paper, pens or pencil (for adult only)

1. Go round each person in the group including the adults asking them for two things they have already done that day;

2. For each person write their name on the sheet and a key word for each activity they have done along with a very rough picture to help the children remember what each person did;

3. Each person then takes it in turns to recall what one other person has done today - using the pictures to help them to remember.

See target sheet "sequences three or more pictures" Note - the activities shown there are at a slightly higher level than this one - so only use them if appropriate for the children you are working with.

Set of cards with simple present tense verb pictures on (e.g. "jumping", "writing").

Paper, pens or pencil (for adult only), photos of events that have happened during the day (optional)

See this list of common irregular past tense verbs for some examples. (http:en.commtap.org/content/common-irregular-past-tense-verbs)

1. Make a visual timetable by writing or drawing each past day's activities on a board/sheet so that the child can see what happened. It can bring the past tense more alive if you use photos of activities that did actually happen on the previous day or earlier in the current day.

2. Ask 'What did you do here?' as you point to a picture/photo. The child may say 'Rided my bike.' You can confirm with 'Yes, you rode your bike.' Add emphasis to the correct form of the verb. You can invite the child to say rode.

Lotto boards with pictures of activities the children have done recently - say four or six pictures per board. One board per child.

Matching set of picture cards.

If the boards are in black and white and the picture cards are in colour, this makes the game more rewarding.

You can vary how you play this game - this is one way you can do it.

For the first game, you can be the caller, for subsequent games a child can have a go.

1. The caller takes a card. Ask the child to complete this sentence at each turn (using the verb in their picture): 'Yesterday, I ...' (For example: 'Yesterday I rode my bike.'). You could use a question, such as "What did you do yesterday?", "What did Max do yesterday?"

2. The child who's got it says they have got it, and they get the card;

3. Continue until all the boards are covered up.

Two matching sets of pictures of activities the children have done recently - say 20 cards in all.

See this list of common irregular past tense verbs for some examples. (http:en.commtap.org/content/common-irregular-past-tense-verbs)

Paper, pens or pencil (for adult only)

See this list of common irregular past tense verbs for some examples. (http:en.commtap.org/content/common-irregular-past-tense-verbs)

Props to support a sequence of actions you will perform (optional)

See this list of common irregular past tense verbs for some examples. (http:en.commtap.org/content/common-irregular-past-tense-verbs)

A selection of pictures of different items, stuck on card

A large dice

Play in a small group of children.

Each child takes a turn to pick a card. S/he rolls the dice, and then tells the group as many points about his/her picture as the number on the dice. (e.g. if s/he has a picture of a train and rolls a 3, s/he tells the group 3 things about a train)

Strips of paper/card to make headbands

Sticky tape

Blutac

Pictures of clothes, animals and toys / furniture stuck on card