Lesson 202


Lesson 202
Book
Developing Comprehension of Simple Sentences
in Unstructured Activities


     

     

Objectives

To teach your child to

a) understand sentences that use descriptive words, action words, and location words
b) listen and understand sentences using key words throughout the day.

Points To Remember

1. All through the day, use longer sentences with acoustic highlighting to emphasize key words in the beginning.
2. Make sure you use a variety of unstructured activities such as outdoor trips to the store, or washing dishes, cooking etc inside the house.
3. You will need to repeat the experiences several times before your child will begin to understand the language.
4. Draw pictures for your experience or take photographs.

Method

This is an unstructured activity. You will be using any activity you typically do in the house or outside. This could also be a planned trip outdoors to buy things. The key is to use sentences that have key words that your child already knows. Your sentences should have at least 2-3 key words when you are talking. your child will understand the meaning based on either one or two key words. Reviewing the experience is a crucial part of the activity, so you will need to either draw pictures of the activity, take pictures, or if possible, have a key item to remind the child of the activity. For example, if you use going to the store as your activity, bring back leaflets with pictures of the food items, or draw the items you bought.

Now watch the slide show for an example of an experience book at this level. The written sentences are merely to let you know what language was used.

1. When doing this activity, position yourself so that your child is listening. Write down some of the phrases and sentences you want your child to listen and understand as a part of this activity. Make sure at least one key word is familiar to the child. Use these phrases and sentences while following the directions below.

2. Before you do the activity, tell the child exactly what you are going to do. For example, if you are washing dishes then you might say

“ Look. The dishes are dirty! (pause, then show the dirty dishes and repeat the sentence)
We need to wash them in the sink. First, we need to wash them in soap, then rinse them with water. “

If you are going to the store you might say
“ Let’s go to the store to buy some apples and bananas.
First you need to get our shopping bag, then we’ll go in the car”

3. Use acoustic highlighting to emphasize the key words you want your child to listen and understand.

4. Review your experience book daily

5. After reviewing your book for about 3-4 days, ask your child to tell someone else about his experience, using the book to help him remember. At this stage, your child may only use single words and will need to be prompted to use more words. He may even just imitate. However, he will be able to use more words and understand the idea of narrating his story to someone else over a period of time.

Video Clips

CLIP 1




Modifications

For children under three years of age, use activities that involve a lot of hands on sensory experience such as wiping the table, washing clothes, helping with cooking and peeling. Children who are older can attend to language used outdoors much better and can recall outdoor events more readily.

Remember that this lesson is one where you use activities you typically do throughout the day and have your child help you so he listens to you talk about he activity. You can also use planned experiences such as cooking special treats, a trip to the zoo or playground etc. which can be very rewarding.

What Next

1. Expand your child’s knowledge of descriptive words and action words for the categories of people, animals, fruits and vegetables, furniture, household items. Add at least 2-3 new words every day.

2. When your child is able to understand 4-5 word simple sentences based on at least one key word in natural, everyday conversation, move on to lesson 203. Continue to add 3-4 new sentences each day, while doing Lesson203