PrAACtically November: Resources for A Year of Core Words

And just like that, we’re ready to say goodbye to October. It’s been a great month of AAC Awareness events and activities (whew!), and now we are prepping for November.

Looking for some ways to help your AAC learners become more competent in using core words? Need to get staff on board with modeling core vocabulary? Trying to get familiar with where core words are stored in a particular SGD or AAC app? Here’s an approach you may want to try: Choose a dozen or so core words to focus on each month. In previous years, we shared lists of some core words to help you do just that. 

2013: A Year of Core (12 words/month)

2014: A(nother) Year of Core  (16 words/month; Note: These are different than the core words covered in 2013)

Those posts have links to downloadable grids with the core words for each month that can be used as a focal point for lesson planning.  

Our words for November are listed below.

• Set 1 (2013): body, dress, full, guess, hi, live, maybe, one, ride, tired very, walk
• Set 2 (2014): at, count, drive, first, few, his, least, light, none, push, real, sharp, stand, street, sun, table

The resources below are available thanks to the generosity of Brian Whitmer, Barbara Fernandes, Nancy Inman, Bill and Lori Binko, Heidi LoStracco, Alison Wade, Russell Cross, Gail Van Tatenhove, Eric Sailers, Rachael Langley, Alysha Kaufman, and others.

1. Templates for you to plug in your own symbols: 2013 words, 2014 words
2. Minspeak/Unity version: 2013 words
3. PCS versions: 2013 words, 2014 words 
4. Lesson Pix: 2013 words
5. Symbol Stix: 2013 words
6. Smarty Symbols: Set 1 words, Set 2 words
7. CoughDrop: Set 1 words; Set 2 words
8. WordPower: Set 1 words (Note: This is a large file that contains the resources for several versions of WordPower)

Rachael Langley’s calendars are a big hit among professionals and families alike. She shared a wonderful calendar of prAACtice opportunities last year and we are reprinting that here for those who would like to use it. Look at all the fun things she came up with!

You can get the current calendar, featuring the second set of core words, here. Download, print, and display for lots of fun ways to practice those high frequency words!

Reading with children is a great way to expose them to core words, and it’s something we do with them anyway. Why not take the time to model and elicit a few core words as you read. The beauty of core vocabulary is that you can use it with ANY book. Here are some suggestions for those that give us an opportunity to use and practice the Set 1 words.

• Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body by Tish Rabe
• The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole
• Parts by Tedd Arnold
• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
• Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
• Hi! by Ethan Long
• Hi, Cat by Ezra Jack Keats
• A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World by DK
• Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky by Elphinstone Dayrell
• Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe by Susan Patron
• Curious George Rides A Bike by H. A. Rey
• Bear Is Not Tired by Ciara Gavin
• One Very Tired Wombat by Renee Treml
• The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
• The Wolf Who Didn’t Want to Walk Anymore by Orianne Lallemand
• The Listening Walk by Paul Showers

Core words are wonderful for their flexibility. We can highlight these words as we talk, teach specific lessons to strengthen use of the words, and model them throughout the day. Here are some suggestions for sentences using the first set (2013) of words in short sentences. Many thanks to Alysha Kaufman for putting this together.

Hope you have great month of talking and connecting with AAC!