PrAACtically Reading with Karen Natoci: I Like Myself

Karen Natoci is back with some wonderful ideas for building AAC skills using the book, I Like Myself.  Check out her lesson plan and suggestions for some prAACtical reading

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Book:  I Like Myself!, by Karen Beaumont; Illustrated by David Catrow  (Scholastic Inc.)

Core Vocabulary focus: I, WANT, LIKE, ME/MY, SAME, DIFFERENT, GO, IN, DO,

Fringe Vocabulary focus- Body Parts: eyes, ears, nose, fingers, toes,  head,

Opposites Vocabulary use: wild/tame, fast/slow,

Core Vocabulary focus: I, LIKE, ME/MY,

Fringe Vocabulary focus- Abstract VERBS: Think, say,

COMMUNICATION Matrix (Rowland, 2009) Level:  I-VII

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School is just around the corner and the planning begins!  Our school year started in mid July. During the first two weeks, we decided to focus on the shared reading of:   I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont.  This book is thoughtful, has great rhyme and rhythm, and is illustrated beautifully.  It is a great way to think about the concept of ME as students and teachers take the time to get to know each other in a new classroom.

You can download the lesson plan here or in the AACeToolbox (under Downloads, PrAACtically Reading).

With the giant core board behind me, I was able to read this book and whenever I happened read a CORE word from the book, I would point to it on the core board.  It would be too cumbersome to pull of the core words so I used a strong flashlight to do the pointing. This way, the students also saw the consistency of the placement of the core vocabulary- as so long as I do not move the symbols around—it remains in a constant location. It’s amazing how much easier it is to point to core words when they stay in the same place from week to week!

If reading this one on one with an AAC user, you can point to the vocabulary during the shared reading like this video demonstrates:

After we finished the class wide sharing of this story, each student was given a chance to use their own communication system to finish the sentence:  I like my____.

Everyone used their own individual communication method (eye gaze, touch/tap, choice board, Go Talk, PODD, other AAC device) to choose what color construction paper they wanted. They used their alternative pencils to dictate/write their answer. The communication partner circled whether the student was a boy or a girl (it was not a test, so we just offered the correct response.)  In this photo you may see a small note written on the bottom indicating what communication system and/or alternative pencil was used.

The following week, we re-read the story and added more information as shown in this example:

Overall, this lesson provided a great way to start off the school year and can yield a variety of extension activities—all leading to an “All About Me” book!