Welcome to week 17 of my Core Word of the Week Programme!
Consisting of 36 sessions of speech and language content, the programme covers the first 40 words that a neurotypical child would learn, delivered in a way that suits the Gestalt Language Processors and autistic children in your care. Adaptable to the needs of your learners, as well as your classroom setup, the programme includes three different symbol languages (Board Maker, Symbolstix and Widget) and is suitable for any communication methods.
The core word in my classroom this week has been 'what'. A useful question word, 'what' can empower children to interact and be curious, seek information and engage in meaningful communication.
As always, this weeks core word session includes Attention Autism planning suggestions, sensory story suggestions, interactive games, links to media and much more.
I like to start off with my learners by saying the core word, so we say, sign and find the Makaton for 'what'. Then we find it and hear it on our AAC devices.
Next, my learners choose from the included links to TV, film, and song clips so that we can hear and watch the week's word. This suits how a Gestalt Language Processing person processes and learns language.
In this programme, we are very much teaching to how autistic and GLP children learn.
Next, we play it! The games included are ones that I've created. They are errorless and give children a chance to play whilst learning. Learning through games often lessens the demand on our children, reducing their anxiety and allowing their best work to come out. This also provides a great opportunity for you to assess their understanding of the word.
The game asks 'what is it'? and shows children an item which they have to match to one of the options.
I've been reading "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle as my sensory story this week.
This book is rhythmic and repetitive, and includes lots of fun animals and sounds. Through stories we can support learners to build understanding and context to put with the language they are hearing.
Sensory stories are great for our learners for a few reasons. They are fun, accessible and interactive, and also engage multiple senses. This makes them often more interesting for learners who process information best through sensory experiences.
GLP and autistic children often find traditional stories overwhelming as they focus on abstract language. With sensory stories, they provide concrete sensory experiences which may be better suited to our children.
There are writing tasks which can be printed or completed online depending on the needs and wants of your learners and on the restrictions of your environment.
In one of my classrooms we complete the game on my whiteboard as a group, practising turn taking and offering modelling opportunities to each other.
In my other classroom we complete these games 1:1 on iPads. We don’t have a whiteboard available and my learners are on individual timetables so 1:1 on iPads works better.
If you think these pre-planned core word sessions would be useful for learners, it's a great time to sign up. You can start at any time and work through the sessions, and there is a thriving private Facebook group where you can find support, tips, ideas and community.
To see what I've done during previous Core Word weeks, check out my blog posts here or my TikTok, Facebook or Instagram for lots more Core Word content.
You can buy the full programme here and join over 400 schools worldwide that are using this resource. If you'd like to try before you buy, you can access a free demo here.
Attention Autism for Core Word Week 17 - "What"
For Attention Autism this week I've been using bucket time, mixing colours, 'what's' in the box and teaching table. These activities have allowed me to model 'what' and give my learners examples of 'what' in context. Throughout each of the tasks and stages below, I make sure to repeat the core word, and sign it to help reinforce that knowledge.
They also demonstrate my core word in an exciting and interactive way. To see this week's session, and previous Attention Autism sessions, head to my Instagram, Facebook or TikTok.
Stage 1
After singing about 'what's' in my bucket, I open it up and take out a snake prank tube, that looks like a tube of crisps! Next is a magic bag. I pull out a beautiful necklace, show it to my learners, and put it back in the bag. Then a moment later, I exclaim "what?! It's gone!', and pull the bag inside out to show that it is empty. Lastly is a sound buzzer, and every time that I press it and it makes a noise I ask "what was that?!'.
Buy the snake prank tube here
Buy the magic bag here
Buy the sound buzzer here
Stage 2
Here, I grab two colours of paint, and ask my learners 'what' colour they will make when mixed together! I then mix them together in front of them so we can see. You can continue this with various colourways and numbers of colours.
Stage 3
For stage 3, the activity I've been using is 'what's' in the box. Here, there is an animal toy hidden in a box, and the children can't see it. I describe the animal to them, for example, it has a long neck, brown spots and eats leaves, and ask them 'what' it can be. I then reveal the toy. Then my learners each get a chance to describe what is in the box, and we can guess!
The wooden animals can be bought here
Stage 4
Last up is the teaching table. Here my learners each have a tub with silhouettes and matching toys inside. They complete this task independently, with modelling from the supporting adults in the room. Once they've finished, they show me and we praise them. This could also be done with the top halves and bottom halves of toys.
There is a whole academic year's worth of core word based Attention Autism ideas included in my Core Word Programme here. Separate from the core words, you can also get four years' worth of fun Attention Autism ideas for Stages 1-4 here.
Check out Attention Autism here, they've just updated their training and I highly recommend it.