- Upon ARRIVAL, encourage kids to greet adults and peers.
2. At FREE PLAY, reinforce children playing, sharing, helping, and talking to each other. Dividing the room into centers/designated areas and breaking children into small groups can help facilitate this.
3. At CIRCLE, introduce topics vaguely to encourage student participation by:
a) Giving clues (ex: “Today we’re talking about a place. Teachers work there, and students sometimes ride a bus to get there.”)
b) Having students gain more information by asking question (ex: “Today, we’re talking about a place. . . [wait for/cue as necessary for student questions].
4. At ART, describe and/or have students describe three or four features of the art project. For example, before or after making a spider, say “It’s an animal. It’s black. It has 8 legs and spins a web.
5. At SNACK, have helpers (ex: cup passer or napkin passer) ask peers if they want the object they are distributing. For example, “Jimmy, do you want a napkin?” Also, encourage informal conversations about the topic of the day.
6. Play GROUP GAMES that encourage skills in using and listening to language. Examples include:
a) Simon Says – have children take turns giving and following directions
b) Musical Chairs – have children listen for music to stop; consider having them share chairs with peers when there are less chairs than children
c) When naming kids to take turns in a game, give descriptions of each child as its his/her opportunity to take a turn (“The next child to take a turn is . . . a boy wearing jeans and a blue striped shirt”)
d) Give conditional directions in games (“If you’re a girl with brown hair, stand up, etc.).
by Mary Jane Fledderjohn, MS, CCC-SLP/L
For more information, please see: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Pragmatics.htm
CAIU (Capital Area Intermediate Unit)