Vocabulary Learning Materials & AAC Strategies

We are super big fans of Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT).   We need the PrAACtical resources that TPT offers.  In addition to paying ridiculously low prices for some great teaching materials and cool classroom resources, there are also many free options.  Check out these free vocabulary resources and have lots of fun.  As always, the materials are only as good as the teaching strategies that go with them. As we check out these awesome vocabulary resources,  we will use the following guiding principles and we will create appropriate communication opportunities for ALL learners to participate in direct vocabulary instruction.

• Active Participation for Everyone– Make sure all learners can make choices within the activity, respond to questions, add information, request clarification, and even ask for a break if they need it.  To do this we will need one hit message devices, visual supports, individual and group communication displays, choice boards, switches, etc.
• Language Facilitation Strategies– Aided Language Input, Scaffolding, Recasts, & more.
• Meaningful  Vocabulary Instruction– Make it meaningful to the learners. Some learners will need to have hands on experience (maybe most), while others can spend a lot of time using language to talk about language without as much hands on experience.  But all learners will need a wide variety of experience with new vocabulary to make it meaningful enough to integrate into their lexicon.
• Specific Reinforcement– Be  specific to the vocabulary goal and to the strategies the learner uses for acquiring new vocabulary (‘wow, great looking on the word wall’).
• Active Participation– Too important not to say again,  make sure all learners have access to supports that allow them to participate to express themselves, answer closed and open ended questions, ask questions, and set them up for success with supports for errorless learning (at the beginning).  This means that all learners should have access to an array of individual and/or group communication displays/devices/apps, choice boards, schedules, one hit message devices, and whatever else they need to be active participants. Since comprehensive vocabulary instruction occurs throughout the day and night, be sure to have the adequate supports in a variety of settings and include families and ‘community’ members as much as possible.

 Teachers Pay Teachers Free Vocabulary Materials

• Vocabulary Template (build your own lesson) by Kristi Mascher
• Vocabulary Flip Book/Mini Word Wall by Nicole Rios
• Free Christmas Vocabulary Charts and 8 Writing Tasks by Clever Classroom
• Free Earth Day Word Wall Word Pack by Clever Classroom
• Free Sample Valentines Word Work Activity Pack by MsJordanReads
• Free Dr. Martin Luther KingJr. Video Resources by Laura Candler
• Vocabulary Categories Free Activity for Any Subject, Even Math by Tracee Orman
• Free Farm Vocabulary Cards by Clever Classroom
• Famous Americans Vocabulary Builders by Tammy Horton
• Hot Dog Stand Synonyms: Free Vocabulary Game by Literacy and Math Ideas