PrAACtically December: AAC Resources for A Year of Core Vocabulary Words

With Thanksgiving just around the corner here in the US, it’s time to look ahead to the month of December. A few years ago, we suggested that one way to help strengthen learners’ abilities with core words is to take a different set of 12-20 core words each month and focus on them for a few weeks. How? By modeling those words, making resource materials (like word cards with the symbols), creating activities in which those words figure prominently, posting them in the classroom/therapy room, reading books that have heavy use of these words, sharing them with families, write stories using them, etc.

Core words are a great addition to the highly motivating, learner-specific words that many AAC users start with. If you are looking to expand to more robust language, this approach may be of interest. Here are the specific words we are focusing on in December.

Set 1 (2013): ask, favorite, goodbye, hear, of, please, silly, surprise, these, use, way, work

Set 2 (2014): already, clear, doctor, fix, great, grow, her, high, jump, outside, ride, room, side, straight, wake, wash

Here are some resources that may be helpful as we move on to highlight the December words.

• Templates for you to plug in your own symbols: Set 1 words, Set 2words
• Minspeak/Unity version: Set 1 words
• PCS versions: Set 1words
• Lesson Pix: Set 1 words
• SymbolStix: Set 1 words
• Speak For Yourself: Set 1 words, Set 2 words
• Smarty Symbols: Set 1 words, Set 2 words
• CoughDrop: Set 1 words; Set 2 words
• WordPower: Set 1 words (Note: This is a large file that contains the resources for several versions of WordPower)

The resources listed here available due to the collegiality of Jesse Kleinman, Jessica Resnick, Anne Page, Jenna Williams, Brian Whitmer, Barbara Fernandes, Nancy Inman, Deborah Lesher, Beth Erwin, Bill and Lori Binko, Heidi LoStracco, Alison Wade, Russell Cross, Gail Van Tatenhove, Eric Sailers, Rachael Langley, and others. We are grateful for their contributions.

We can model these powerful core words in sentences, too. (Thanks, Beth Erwin!)

If you are working with Set 2 words, you can download a grid of sample sentences here. Thanks to Jesse Kleinman, Jessica Resnick, Anne Page, and Jenna Williams for these suggestions!

Storybook reading is such a great way to get in some extra modeling and elicitation of core words. Many thanks to Deborah Lesher for this list of books that provide ample opportunities to target our December core words for Set 1.

• Clear Moon, Snow Soon
• Fix-it
• Fly High, Fly Guy!
• Goodnight Already!
• Penguin Says Please
• Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear?
• Snowmen at Night
• Stranger in the Woods and DVD
• Snowmen At Work
• Straight and Curvy, Meek and Nervy
• Tacky the Penguin
• The Girl Who Wouldn’t Brush Her Hair
• The Other Side of the Story

Looking for some book suggestions for Set 2 words? Jesse Kleinman and Jessica Resnick have some ideas for you.

• Over in the Garden by Jennifer Ward: grow, jump, her
• Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand: outside, wake, room
• Over in the Garden by Jennifer Ward: grow, jump, her
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: outside, high, wash, wake, turn, jump, ride
• Grow Flower Grow (Original Title – Fran’s Flower) by Lisa Bruce: grow, her, outside, turn
• Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats: high, room, wake, she, outside, turn
• King and Kayla and the Case of the Secret Code by Dori Hillestad Butler: outside, side, her
• Carlos & Carmen The One-Tire House by Kristen McDonald: her, room

Finally, check out all the wonderful activity suggestions in Rachael Langley’s calendar for December. Once again, Rachael found a way for us to boost our AAC practice opportunities with engaging and easy-to-implement activity suggestions.  Note: This is a perpetual calendar with the dates purposefully left blank so that you can write in the numbers and use this year after year.

Click on the image to download the file.

You can download printable versions of previous years’ calendars and the Set 1 sentence grid here.