Tag Archive: explicit instruction

Building Vocabulary Knowledge: 5 Activities to Try

November 16, 2020 by - Leave your thoughts

Building Vocabulary Knowledge: 5 Activities to Try

You’ve developed a list of target words for vocabulary instruction and are modeling them frequently throughout the day using aided language input. Focused language stimulation helped, and when you created materials that have the target word with a student-friendly definition, a relevant picture, synonyms, and a sample sentence, things looked promising. Your client seemed to notice, was sometimes attentive, and showed indications that their awareness of these words was growing. However, in terms of truly understanding these words or using them, progress was s-l-0-w. Where can you go from here? Explicit instruction on these words will help speed up the learning curve. Here are some activities you can embed in your teaching and therapy to provide more experience with this new vocabulary. Work together to create picture collages for the target word: Do these interactively so you can discuss what belongs in the collage and WHY, and what does not... [Read More...]

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“I’m using Aided Language Input. Now what?”

August 6, 2018 by - 1 Comment

“I’m using Aided Language Input. Now what?”

Children who grow up hearing Mandarin generally learn to speak Mandarin. Deaf children who grow up with parents and teachers who use sign language, generally learn to communicate in that sign language. It doesn’t take much imagination to see why children with AAC needs are likely to do best when they are able to see and hear competent communicators use AAC throughout the week. There is a growing body of evidence for the use of aided language input to support AAC learners at the beginning stages of language development and a great many more teachers, therapists, and families are employing these practices. That’s a very good thing. But is aided language input alone sufficient? Research studies have not yet addressed this question, but it is doubtful. Many AAC learners are not able to use observation and incidental opportunities to their advantage. For example, some are challenged with sensory issues that... [Read More...]

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