Welcome to Week 11 of my Core Word Programme!
If you're new to the Core Word Programme, it is 36 sessions of speech and language curriculum that I designed based on the 40 first core words a neurotypical child would use. The sessions are specifically designed for neurodivergent, pre- or non-verbal children, as well as the Gestalt Language Processors in your classrooms, homes, or everyday life.
Each weekly session includes links to Attention Autism planning, sensory story suggestions, phrase examples, interactive games and more. The sessions are completely flexible and adaptable to any communication method or classroom needs, so that your learner(s) can get the most from the content.
In my classrooms this week, we've been learning week 11 Core Words "Up" and "Down". These positional words are key to helping our learners understand and describe movements and instructions, and pair well with gestures, actions and visuals, making them particularly accessible for AAC users and learners.
Read on to see what is included in this weeks session, and how I am utilising the activities to teach "Up" and "Down" in a fun, engaging and interactive way.
To begin with, me and my learners look at the symbols for "Up" and "Down". The programme includes three different symbol languages, so whether you use Board Maker, Symbolstix or Widget, it is suitable for all. We then learn the Makaton sign language for our key words, and then the children try to find the symbols on their AAC devices. This can also be low-tech AAC, rather than on an iPad, lots have been included in the programme so you should find one to suit.
Sensory story suggestions are always included. In my classrooms, I've been reading "Up and Down" by Oliver Jeffers - a simple and charming book about friendship and dreams, and wanting to fly! The words "Up" and "Down" don’t directly appear in this story. However, as I read, I sign "Up" for related words like "fly," "high," or "blast" are mentioned, and "Down" for words like "landing" or "crashing." This gives my learners a broad understanding of the meaning of the words.
Each core word has it's own interactive game that I have designed. For "Up" and "Down", children are asked to move an item up or down, depending on the instruction. Combining play and learning is great for multiple reasons, it allows you to assess their understanding of the core word and the activity, and it puts less demand on the children, reducing their anxiety and allowing their best work to come through.
These games can be played on iPads or whiteboards, depending on your setup.
Also included in the weekly sessions are links to clips from film, TV and music where the core word is used, or demonstrated. When listening to, or watching these clips, the adults in the room model the core words "Up" and "Down", either through signing, finding them on an AAC device, or verbally saying the words.
These clips are crucial to engaging Gestalt Language Processors, and putting the core words into context for your learners.
Again, depending on what is better for you and your learners, this can be accessed through iPads or whiteboards.
There are writing tasks which can be printed or completed online on iPads or whiteboards depending on the needs and wants of your learners and on the restrictions of your environment. This task is great for practicing letter formation.
In one of my classrooms we complete this task 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.
It is always a great time to join in with my programme, 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.
You can buy the full programme, or individual sessions. If you'd like to try before you buy, you can access a free demo here.
I'd love to know how you are teaching and modelling these core words! Let me know below, or on my TikTok, Facebook or Instagram.
Attention Autism for Core Word Week 11 - "Up" and "Down"
This week in my Attention Autism sessions I've been using the activities Bucket Time, Up and Down and Spinning Gears. Read on to see how I've been modelling "Up" and "Down" in fun ways with my learners.
Stage 1
In Bucket Time this week, my first item is a squeezy, googly-eyed frog. When I squeeze the frog, and the eyes protrude upwards, I say "Up" and move my body up to demonstrate the movement, and then when I release the frog, and the eyes revert back, I move my body back down, say "Down" and point to the floor.
buy similar pop eye animals here
Next up is a colourful mini spinner. As I twist this one way and the other, and the cogs twist down, I say "Down" whilst mimicking the movement with my hand.
Lastly in Bucket Time is a hopping alien that you press into the ground and allow it to spring up. As I press it into the floor, I say "Down", and when it springs up, I say "Up", again moving my body up to emphasise the movement.
Stage 2
In this activity, I have three balls - all different sizes, colours, and textures. With each ball I sing "Up and Down, Up and Down, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down" as I move the balls up and down. (Tune of open shut them song)
I use the exploration bag balls for this
Stage 3
Lastly is the Spinning Gears activity. During this game, I sing a song whilst building up gears, and then making them fall down. Here, my learners also take it in turns to build up the gears, and make them fall down.
This Attention Autism session uses various colours and types of toys and speech, gestures and songs, to allow for lots of modelling of our key terms "Up" and "Down", whilst keeping my learners engaged.
other “up & down” Attention Autism ideas include;
parachute & up and down song