January 26, 2026
by Carole Zangari -
It takes time and effort to plan for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction. The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, our series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, have resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of... [Read More...]
November 24, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
It’s prAACtically time to turn the calendar to a new page, so today we’re re-sharing resources for December year of core word followers. In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, PrAACtical AAC published a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. In... [Read More...]
October 30, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
With November right around the corner, we’re reprising some past posts in two popular series, Year of Core Vocabulary Words and School Year of Core Vocabulary Words. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle, was first published in 2020. Michaela built on this work by collaborating with Lindsay Dougherty to create a version with many terrific resources specifically for older students. If you’re following along... [Read More...]
September 25, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Our series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, Year of Core Vocabulary Words and School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, continues to be used by therapists, educators, and families. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa Lego, and Beth Lytle, was first published in 2020. Michaela built on this work by collaborating with Lindsay Dougherty to create a version specifically for older students. We’re reprising those posts for... [Read More...]
September 23, 2025
by praacticalaac -
The School Year of Core-Bilingüe (SYOC-B) is the Spanish adaptation of the English School-Year of Core (SYOC), a series of resources for teaching core vocabulary words to children who use AAC. SYOC was conceptualized and created by AAC Specialist and SLP Michaela Sullivan, along with two SFSU pre-professional SLP students, Beth Lytle and Alisa Lego, and other volunteers. Like its English counterpart, SYOC-B offers ideas, resources, and materials for teaching high-frequency Spanish words to children who use AAC (Soto & Cooper, 2021). Since most bilingual children who use AAC are being educated by monolingual or English-dominant professionals, the instructions to use SYOC-B are presented in English, while models and materials are in Spanish. The words presented by month and accompanying materials to teach the target words are below. Activity sheets for each core word, in Spanish only, to share with Spanish-dominant caregivers and professionals are available in this Padlet. The following activities... [Read More...]
September 22, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
At the start of the school year, it’s not uncommon to rely on generic manual communication boards with core vocabulary in situations where students with complex communication tools do not yet have access to robust AAC tools. In a perfect world, we’d immediately provide them with more comprehensive tools that align with their needs and priorities. When it takes more time to put that into place, it’s important to take steps to optimize the communication tools these students will use while they are waiting for a more appropriate AAC solution. Here are some thoughts on managing that situation. Generic core boards are usually considered a band-aid and not an acceptable substitute for communication tools that support functional communication or language development. Is it better than nothing? Yes, but let’s be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that, at best, it’s a very temporary fix. Some customization will need to be done... [Read More...]
August 25, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
In 2013, when schools and other clinical programs were expanding their emphasis on teaching core vocabulary words, Robin Parker and I developed a set of resources for families and professionals that included symbol cards, sample sentences to model, activity suggestions, and more. All of these were based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Over the years, the resources were expanded and grew to include a wonderful series of calendars with daily activity suggestions developed by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these efforts. In 2020, a new series was launched, School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, authored by guest contributors Michaela Sullivan, Alisa... [Read More...]
August 18, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
We’re back and ready for a new school year and all that comes with it. Are you planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, two series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, both have resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. Many other contributors over the... [Read More...]
June 30, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words has resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re reprising a past post for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by quite a few people in the AAC community. The initial Year of Core Vocabulary series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. Many other contributors over the years added to these efforts. You can access the resources for July words by clicking on the image below. Set 1 & Set 2 Words
May 29, 2025
by Carole Zangari -
Planning for comprehensive core vocabulary instruction? The Year of Core Vocabulary Words and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words, and The School Year of Core Vocabulary Words – Older Student Lessons, three series of monthly resources for core vocabulary teaching, each have resources that can be helpful to therapists, educators, and families. We’re revisiting those posts for anyone interested in following along and utilizing the resources developed by many people in the AAC community. The initial series was based on a small set of core words for each month (see that post here). We followed that with a second set of Year of Core Vocabulary Word resources for a new list of words (click here for that post). Among the many resources are the activity calendars created by AAC SLP and co-founder of Talking AAC, Rachael Langley. There were many other contributors over the years who added to these... [Read More...]