My Core Word Programme consists of 36 sessions of speech and language content that I have designed specifically for the Gestalt Language Processors and autistic children in your care, and is based on the 40 first core words that a neurotypical child would learn. Accessible, interactive and adaptable, the programme includes three different symbol languages, so whether you use Board Maker, Symbolstix or Widget, it is suitable for all.
This week is week 15 of the programme in my classrooms, and we have been learning all about the core word 'get', a dynamic and practical word that allows children to express their actions, needs and wants. This is a frequently used word, helpful for communication and independence, whether it's "can you 'get' my coat", "shall we 'get' a drink" or "let's 'get' ready".
Read on to see how I am teaching and modelling 'get' in my sensory classrooms.
Each week of the programme contains multiple accessible, sensory and adaptable activities, including games, handwriting tasks, table top suggestions, sensory story suggestions and links to clips which utilise the featured core word. The interactive and fun sessions suit the way that autistic children and gestalt language processors learn, and can be adapted for any learning styles or needs, communication methods and classroom restrictions. The multiple activities are designed to fit really nicely throughout a school week, meaning that the core word is really embedded on multiple days to maximise understanding.
The sensory story that I have been using in my classrooms this week is "Dear Zoo" by Rod Campbell.
A charming and colourful lift-the-flap book, Dear Zoo describes how a child writes to the zoo asking for a pet. The zoo sends many interesting animals to the child, until they 'get' the perfect one! The book doesn't technically feature the word 'get', but with some artistic licence, you can change the repeated sentence "they sent me a" to "they get me a".
In my interactive game for this core word, children are asked to 'get' certain items, such as jam, and they have to give the child the requested item.
Interactive games are not only fun, but they allow the children in your care to play whilst they are learning. The games give you an opportunity to assess their understanding of the words and concepts, and as the game is error-free, it lessens the demand on and anxiety of the children.
As well as games and sensory stories, each weekly session includes links to clips of film, TV and music where the core word is used or relevant. In this programme we are teaching to how autistic and GLP children learn, these fun clips suit how a Gestalt Language Processing person will process and learn language.
Writing tasks are also included, if these are appropriate for your learners. These can be completed on whiteboards, or printed out for children to trace or draw over.
You can use these online tasks however works best for your classroom and your learners. 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're not already utilising the programme for your learners, it is always a great time to join in! As well as the weekly sessions, you can access videos about previous weeks of the programme on my TikTok, Facebook or Instagram, read my blog posts here and join a thriving private Facebook group for support and community.