Gail Van Tatenhove

• Teaching Prac,ces 

– Func4onal ac4vi4es 

emphasized 

– Repe44on & rou4ne are 

used 

– Language learning and 

use is important 

• “Concrete” language 

• Teachers select symbols, 

displays, and pages 

• Create “complex” noun-‐ 

driven systems 

– Par4cipa4on is a 

common goal 

– Technology is in these 

classes (hi and low) 

gvantatenhove@cfl.rr.com 

www.vantatenhove.com 

The Core Vocabulary Classroom: Doing More with Less 

Gail M. Van Tatenhove, PA, MS, CCC-SLP 

albertaREHAB 2011 Conference, November 4-5, 2011 

• Concerns & Outcomes 

– Limited talking outside of 

the ac4vity 

– Learned passivity 

– Prompt dependent 

– A large number of 

constantly changing words 

to manage, learn, locate 

– Systems are oLen 

classroom based and not 

personal 

– Programming demands 

– Technology is oLen 

emphasized over language 

Pixon Project Kit Availability 

• Full Kit available 

– In USA from Prentke Romich Company (www.prentrom.com) 

• PXK-‐1 (part to order) $149.95 (US plus shipping and handling) 

– More Informa4on 

• Go to www.minspeak.com 

• Sign up for the Minspeak e-‐newsle_er 

– Interven4on Plans 

– Teaching Materials 

• Extra Cloth Carrying Cases (without any inside 

picture displays) 

– Available from Gail M. Van Tatenhove, PA 

– $25/per case or 5 for $100.00 (US plus shipping and handling) 

Classrooms 

• Target Special Educa4on classrooms 

– Organized with tradi4onal “subject areas” used 

with special educa4on students 

– U4lized ac4vity-‐based instruc4on 

• Learning organized around func4onal ac4vi4es 

– Geography (look at maps, cook food from that place in the 

world, make costumes, listen to music from the place, etc.) 

– Money (do role play shopping, go shopping, buy lunch, etc.) 

• Huge varia4on in student abili4es 

1 

“The Team” decided to work 

together to …. 

• Promote the idea of classrooms that have 

99.9% of their daily ac4vi4es focus, in some 

way, around the modeling, teaching, and use 

of 200+/-‐ true core and personal core words. 

– less words & do more with them 

• Advocate for the use of core vocabulary for 

ALL nonspeaking students, regardless of age 

or abili4es. 

• Share! 

Ques4ons to Address 

• What kind of students and/or classrooms 

were targeted? 

• What words were chosen as the target 

vocabulary? 

• What kind of AAC systems were used? 

• How were words represented and organized? 

• What kind of support materials were needed? 

• How was teaching prac4ce organized or 

changed? 

Beliefs About Students in the CVC 

• Everyone communicates! 

– uninten4onal 

– inten4onal but not symbolic 

– inten4onal and symbolic 

• May s4ll be learning basic 

communica4on skills 

– early gestural complex (look, 

point at, reach for, give to) 

– shared focus 

– mul4-‐modal communica4on 

(eyes, gestures, voice, body) 

• As teachers, we must… 

– counter learned 

helplessness & poor 

mo4va4on to 

communicate by 

providing … 

• access to real 

language 

• sufficient prac4ce 

and repe44on 

– to get RESULTS that 

are worth the effort






“Ideal” CVC Students 

• Inten4onal communicators 

• Symbolic communicators 

• Have preferences – discriminate between 

choices – reinforced by choice 

• Have or are developing a means of access/ 

signaling 

Reasons to Not Do Core 

• Normal to Talk with Nouns 

• Toddlers & Preschoolers 

• Low Cogni4on 

• Giving Answers in Class 

• Hard to Teach 

Core vs. Extended 

• Everyone needs a stable, consistent, robust 

set of Core Vocabulary 

• Extended Vocabulary is not ignored, nor 

considered “bad,” but is it not as cri4cal as 

core or “featured” as core 

– Guard against slipping into the habit of 

emphasizing a temporary, specialized noun 

vocabulary for temporary ac4vi4es controlled by 

others (extended or xx extended) 

2 

Vocabulary Categories 

“hard core” 

core 

“personal” 

core 

“soL core” 

core 

extended 

“xx” extended 

How important is CORE? 

• Frequently used vocabulary with preschool 

children has been studied (Beukelman, et.al., 

1989; Fried-‐Oken, et.al, 1992; Banajee, et.al., 

2003) 

– A paucity of nouns in the most frequently used words 

– Core dominates 

• 50 core words = 60% of what preschoolers say 



– Core is consistent across place, topic, cogni4ve ability 

Process in Picking Core 

• Reviewed vocabulary lists (Banajee, Marvin, Elder, etc.) 

to iden4fy “core” = +/-‐ 350 words 

– Reviewed manual communica4on boards of 

“successful” AAC communicators 

– Added common personal core-‐type words 

• Determined priori4es 

– Selected as least 1 word for cri4cal language 

func4ons 

– Listed words need to comment, direct others, 

describe, ques4on, etc. in classroom ac4vi4es




The Vocabulary of the CVC 

• Selected a CORE vocabulary of approximately 

200 +/-‐ words (see MCB handout) 

– True Core 

– Extended Core 

– Personal Core 

• Selected extended vocabulary 

– Predictable classroom ac4vi4es 

– Unique ac4vi4es, interests, needs 

Historical Non-‐Tech AAC Designs 

More than 1 page for core 

and you turn the whole 

page to get another group 

of words 

Mul4ple 

sequen4al 



Single sheet 

design 

Mul4ple 

simultaneous 

Iowa Findings 

• Mul4ple simultaneous for core 

– Awkward to manage 

– More challenging to create language 

All core on 1 display, page, 

or overlay 

More than 1 page for core, 

but only sections change, 

not the whole page 

– Best used when less frequently used core was in 

the “bo_om” level 

• A good approach for extended vocabulary 

3 

Design Ma_ers! 

• AAC systems that focus on use of core 

vocabulary must be “language friendly” and 

promote the easiest possible access to words 

– with your body (motor automa4city) 

– with your brain 

• What do we know about AAC System designs 

and how they influence language? 

Iowa Findings 

• Single Sheet design for core 

– Easiest to use physically, cogni4vely, and 

linguis4cally 

– Produced the “best” language structure and 

content 

– Conversa4on flowed the best 

– Used spelling and other strategies when needed 

more words 

Iowa Findings 

• Mul4ple sequen4al for core 

– A reduc4on in language output by 40–60% due to 

• Memory load for having to recall words on mul4ple 

pages and the steps for gevng to those pages 

• Conversa4onal dissonance (forgot what they were 

going to say while flipping pages) 

• Physical effort to turn the page 

• Children compensated by staying on a main core 

word display and using strategies to alter words (and 

language went back up by 40-‐60%)






Board Designs & Devices 

• All AAC devices organize vocabulary with 

some varia4on of these 3 types of designs 

used with low tech 

• Page-‐based devices 

– Core vocabulary is across mul4ple pages 

• Minspeak-‐based devices 

– Core vocabulary is on a single page and (1 hit and 

sequenced versions) 

– Addi4onal words are in ac4vity-‐rows and on pages 

The CVC Boards “Rules” 

• Emphasized Single Sheet Design for CORE and 

Mul4ple Designs for Extended Vocabulary 

• Based on a Master Design plan 

– Consistency in loca4on of pictures (easier for kids 

and teachers) 

• Considered tradi4onal variables to design 

custom systems (fit board to child, not child to 

board) 

Single Sheet Designs 

• Use this design as the “First Choice” for core 

words in the CVC 

• Not always possible due to the person’s ….. 

– Vision 

– Access 

– Mobility 

– Cogni4ve Skills 

– Amount of Vocabulary Needed 

• Use as many strategies as possible to stay on a 

single sheet design (e.g., encoding, PAS, masking, 

highligh4ng, etc.) 

4 

MCB vs. SGD in the CVC 

• Used both manual communica4on boards and 

speech genera4ng devices with students in 

CVCs 

• If a student did not have a personal AAC 

system, created a customized manual board 

• If a student had a SGD = 

– Created a manual board to language and 

transi4on to the SGD 

– Modified vocabulary and architecture, as able, to 

make it language friendly 

Design Variables Considered in Personal 

AAC System Development 

Personal “Style” & 

Fashion 

Language & Cognition 

Pros 

• Focus on target words 

• Reduce random selec4ons 

• Reveal new words quickly 

• Reduce development & 

construc4on 4me 

• Support long-‐range 

language planning 

Vision - Target Size, 

Target Background & 

Color 

Visual Masking 

Cons 

Mobility - Portability 

Access – Space, Target 

Size & Number 

• Requires pre-‐planning to 

make them 

• Limits aided language 

s4mula4on 

• Limits person-‐directed 

ini4a4on of new words 

• Has imprac4cali4es outside 

of controlled sevngs




Op4on 2: Mul4ple Simultaneous 

Design 

• Use as the “Second Choice” for core words 

when a single sheet design for the majority of 

your core words is not possible 



– Put less frequently used core words on the “lower 

levels” 

• Selected for most ambulatory students for 

ease in transport 

Talking Core Boards in the CVC 

• For more independent interac4on with peers 

and unfamiliar people 

• For language s4mula4on while doing lessons 

• For distance communica4on 

Core Vocabulary and Pictures 

• What is going to be our challenge in 

represen4ng a robust core vocabulary with 

pictures? 

– Few, if any, will be picture producers 

• What can we do to reduce the learning curve 

when introducing +/-‐ 200 pictures for non-‐ 

picture producing words? 

– Consider a picture SYSTEM instead of a picture 

SET 

5 

Op4on 3: Mul4ple Sequen4al 

Designs 

• OLen the compromise of “Last Choice” for 

providing core vocabulary 

• Use strategies to maximize language and 

minimize challenges of this design for 

organizing core 

– Make the best single sheet main core word page 

as possible 

– Repeat cri4cal core words across pages 

– Reduce naviga4on as much as possible 

Ideas Implemented 

• Limited message devices 

– Adequate for pre-‐developed sentences and 

scripted talked 

– Inadequate for genera4ve language development 

• Interac4ve whiteboards 

• Dedicated devices 

– Low cost device (Talk To Me 100) 

– Personal device 

• Picture Sets 

– Pictures are drawn without over-‐riding principles 

– They aren’t rule-‐based or follow any pa_erns that 

teach you skills to interpret new pictures or move to a 

device 

– Very li_le from 1 picture helps you learn another 

• Picture Systems 

– Pictures are drawn with over-‐riding principles 

– They follow rules and begin to introduce pa_erns that 

teach you skills to interpret new pictures (and prepare 

to use a device) 

– What you learn from 1 picture helps you learn the 

next picture (like seeing similari4es in family members 

or learning a web of ideas)






The CVC used Pixon Pictures 

• The vocabulary on stuff in the CVC were 

primarily represented with Pixons 

– English-‐language Pixons are based on Unity® icons 

(from the Unity84 program) 

– Introduced to the field of AAC in 2008 

• Pixons in the CVC … 

– Keeps the door open to many AAC op4ons with 

the person 

– Supports transi4on to voice output technology 

that uses similar pictures 

– Builds seman4c networks to reduce new learning 

Pixons and the CVC Approach 

Implemen4ng the CVC approach is 

NOT dependent on the use of Pixons, 

but students using Pixons vs. other 

picture sets were reported to acquire 

more core vocabulary more quickly. 

Switching to Pixons 

2. How different are Pixons from PCS? 

– Core: many are NOT that different because they 

use similar metaphors 

– Extended vocabulary: oLen picture producers & 

we don’t worry about replacing them with Pixons 

3. When might Pixons be easier to teach 

than PCS? 

– Visual Images vs. Conceptual Metaphors 

6 

Core Vocabulary & Pixons 

• Pixon Picture System has pictures for 400 

“core” vocabulary words 

• Give a “HINT” of the picture that is used on 

the Unity® overlay 

– They DO NOT show the full icon sequence 

• Introduce “characters” to help in learning 

parts of speech 

– e.g. “Mr. Ac4on Man” in many “verb” Pixons 

Switching to Pixons 

1. How much of the materials you are using is 

focused on CORE vocabulary vs. extended 

vocabulary? 

– Do an analysis of the vocabulary you are currently 

represen4ng by lis4ng the words represented on your 

current boards/materials/environmental engineering 

– Determine how big of a change it will be to replace 

current picture set with Pixons for core words 

– Determine if a change is necessary, based on 

similari4es in pictures, % of core vs. extended, 4me & 

resources available to change them 

Materials to Make This Work 

• Wall chart of core & 

cri4cal core 

• Descrip4ve labels 

• Script cards on rings 

• Masks and/or 

highlighters 

• Props and costumes 

• Communica4on vests 

• Audio and movie files 

• Story boards 

• Core Reading boards






Goals for the CVC Teacher 

• We will change our behaviors to change the 

student's communica4on and will …. 

– Put the fun back into func4onal communica4on 

– Be child focused 

– Provide meaningful opportuni4es to communicate 

– *Model language through Aided Language 

S4mula4on (ALgS) 

– *Use a range of prompts with a verbal prompt 

hierarchy 

– *Respond aLer the student talks with specific 

strategies 

Promp4ng 

• Expectant Delay (a comprehensive strategy) 

– Set up Opportunity then Watch & Wait for 10 – 15 seconds 

(with appropriate prompts) 

• Gestural/Visual/Auditory (light/point/tap) 

• Verbal Prompt Hierarchy 

– State (I brought a big bag of stuff today will cool stuff 

inside.) 

– Suggest (You can find out “what” I brought.) 

– Say (Say the word “what” to find out “what” I have.” 

– Assist (Let me help you ask “what.”) 

Teaching Core Vocabulary 

Consistency 

• Repe44on with 

Variety 

• Talk-‐Read-‐Write 

Motor Learning 

• Guided Repe44on 

• Immediate Results 

Exposure 

• ALgS 

• Descrip4ve 

Teaching 

• Environmental 

Engineering 

Language-‐ 

Cogni4ve 

Instruc4on 

• Concept 

• Picture Metaphor 

• Use 

7 

Principles of ALgS 

• Model maximum language possible and 

necessary without overwhelming the student 

– 1 or 2 words beyond current language output 

level 

– Based on target vocabulary, language level, or 

target concepts in the lesson 

• Model at a rate SLOW enough for student to 

observe vocabulary selec4ons & word 

combina4ons 

• Pair with speech as needed 

Responding 

• If used a different word that doesn’t seem to 

apply at all to the situa4on: 

– Correct 

• If used the targeted word: 

– Confirm 

– Connect/Expand 

– Comment 

Consistency 

• A target vocabulary set is defined and used 

across the en4re day for all (or nearly all) 

ac4vi4es 

– Wall chart = the target vocabulary 

• Words are repeated (and used in a variety of 

ways) across each ac4vity in the ac4vity-‐based 

curriculum 

• The literacy program coordinates with the 

talking program 

– same/similar words, boards, pictures






Exposure to Core Vocabulary 

• Con4nual modeling of core vocabulary (not 

currently on personal boards) through the use 

of Aided Language S4mula4on 

• Establish and then “assume” the referents 

with core vocabulary (descrip4ve talking) 

• Visual exposure with environmental 

engineering 

Motor Learning comes with… 

• Consistency and rela4ve “permanence” 

– Get the same thing with the same movement plan 

– Stable, single sheet systems for core vocabulary 

• Meaningful repe44on 

– Student-‐driven learning 

– Fun and func4onal ac4vi4es 

Live It to Learn It 

• Life experience is the founda4on for 

developing episodic (4ed to an event) and 

seman4c memory (4ed to a group) for 

icons and their meanings 

• Experien4al learning with… 

– Props (hard, paper) 

– Meaningful, hands-‐on experiences 

– Learning in context of picture metaphor 

– Doing de-‐contextualiza4on ac4vi4es 

8 

Direct Teaching of Core 

• Through Motor Pa_erns 

– Motor learning is an important key in the learning 

and use of any AAC system 

– The more cogni4vely impaired the person, the 

more he/she depends on motor learning 

• Through Cogni4ve Learning 

– Direct instruc4on by the SLP, Teacher, OT, Family, 

etc. 

Cogni4ve Learning of Core 

• Life Experiences 

• Mul4-‐Sensory Learning 

– Visual Supports (charts, Pixons) 

– Auditory Supports (jingles, songs, claps, beats) 

– Motor Supports (move, feel, do) 

• Personally Useful and Applicable 

Humaniza4on of Word Groups 

• People (yellow) = Phil Photo (takes your picture) 

• Verbs (green) = Herb Verb or Mr. Ac4on Man 

• Nouns (orange) = Mother Hubbard 

• Adjec4ves (dark blue) = Art Tist 

• Time Adverbs (light blue) = Ed Verb -‐ tells when 

• Place Adverbs & Preposi4ons (purple) = Bob the 

Builder 

• Ques4ons (red) = The Riddler




Guidelines for Building Mul4ple Word 

U_erances 

• Aided Language S4mula4on (ALgS) by 

communica4on partner 

– Use strategies used with speaking students 

– Work on goals in the Modules 

• Visual Strategies 

– Color-‐coded building blocks / sentence strings with 

beads 

– Parts-‐of-‐Speech Partner-‐Pairs 

– Language Building Boards 



The CVC Curriculum 

12 Learning Modules 

& 

“Subject” Strategies 

Subject Strategies 

• Specific guidelines provided to show how to 

use the target vocabulary in current or 

modified classroom subjects 

• Introduced 2 models to be incorporated into 

the classrooms, as possible 

– Stories & Strategies Model 

– Bridge to Reading Model 

9 

Language Construc4on Strategies 

• Write out what they are saying with color 

coded markers/line drawings 

• Use “pull-‐off” symbols to create a semi-‐ 

permanent record of the message 

The Learning Modules 

• Target vocabulary broken into 12 modules 

• Designed to introduce 150/200 core words 

– Based on language func4on and word groups 

• Each module provides instruc4ons for … 

– Teaching the words in ac4vi4es (geared to SLP ) 

– Providing Aided Language S4mula4on 

• To prompt the child (prompt hierarchy) 

• To expand the child's u_erance 

– General IEP Goal 

• Became part of the Pixon Project Kit 

Example: Module 1 

• Title: Ini4al Media4ng/ 

Regula4ng of Ac4vi4es 

• Purpose: To encourage 

the person to direct the 

behavior of others and/ 

or the course of any 

ac4vity with words 

instead of behavior 

• Target Vocabulary: 10 

words 

1. again 

2. all done/finished 

3. all gone/gone 

4. different 

5. do 

6. help 

7. look 

8. more 

9. stop 

10. what

Order of words 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 

– All gone/gone 

– More 

– Do 

– Again 

– All done/finished 

– Different 

• Stop 






Module 1 “Script” 

Implemen,ng the Script 

• Generally start with “what” 

and end with “stop” 

• OK to rearrange the order 

of the words to fit the 

ac4vity 

• OK to emphasize 1 or 2 

words. 

• OK to omit a word. 

Module 1: Teaching Rou4ne 

• Create a barrier or 

difficulty so the person 

needs to request 

assistance. 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 


• During ac4vi4es 

involving objects (snack, 

art supplies, cooking), 

forget or lose one of the 

key materials for the 

ac4vity. Or don’t give 

the person enough of 

something needed so 

he/she runs out and has 

to say “all gone.” 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 

10 


• Provide the “materials” 

of the ac4vity to the 

person in such as way 

that he/she doesn't 

know what the ac4vity 

is all about (e.g., put 

them in a container, 

bag, or other barrier). 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 


• Op4ons to Implement: 

– Look at the materials in the 

container, but don’t take 

them out. 

– Do something very out of the 

ordinary with some of the 

objects and draw a_en4on 

with “look.” 

– Spend 4me looking at the 

materials you brought (book, 

cards, iPad game, etc.) 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 



involving objects (snack, 

art supplies, cooking), 

use “modera4on” with 

the materials, 

encouraging the person 

to ask for “more” of 

something. 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop







• Con4nue par4cipa4ng 

in the ac4vity, 

emphasizing a variety of 

ac4ons. 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 


• If you are using a 

variety of materials/ 

ac4ons, decide when 

you are “all done” with 

one of the objects/ 

ac4ons (but not finished 

with the ac4vity). 

• Model and prompt the 

word “all done.” 

• Expand 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 


• Eventually, the ac4vity 

comes to an end. (Also, 

at any point in the 

ac4vity, the student has 

the op4on of asking to 

“stop” if s/he is bored, 

irritated, or ready to be 

leL alone.) 


word “stop.” 

• Expand 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 

11 



involving ac4on (music, 

reading, cooking), use 

modera4on with the 

ac4on. 


word “again.” 

• Expand 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 


• If you’re not done and 

have other things to do 

or use, encourage the 

person to indicate he/ 

she wants to select an 

alterna4ve ac4vity or 

object. 


word “different.” 

• Expand 

• What 

– Help 

– Look 


– More 

– Do 

– Again 


– Different 

• Stop 

Using Module 1 Core in Any Ac4vity 

• Step 1: Select your Ac4vity 

• Step 2: Form your Plan 

– What words will you target from module(s)? 

– What addi4onal words do you want to use to 

expand/comment? 

– What other learning goals are part of the ac4vity? 

– What objects are part of the ac4vity? 

– How will the objects be descrip4vely “labeled?” 

• Step 3: Provide Repe44on with Variety




Moving Through Module 2 -‐ 12 

• Modules 2 – 12 introduce another 140 words 

& each module has words that serve 1 primary 

communica,on func,on 

• NO single rou4ne is provided to try and teach 

all words in modules 2 -‐ 12 

• Con4nue to do Repe44on with Variety 

– Stories & Strategies Approach was suggested 



Acknowledgements 

• Based on AAC work of Dr. Tracy Kovach – 

“Stories and Strategies for Communica4on: A 

Minspeak Applica4on Program” 

Creativity & 

Recreation 

– Used the philosophical underpinnings of “The 

Storybook Journey: Pathways to Literacy Through 

Story and Play” (Sue McCord, 1995 – An early 

educa4on, whole-‐language and literacy 

development program) 

– Revised as Read, Play, & Learn 

• Linder, 2008; Brookes Publishing 

Family/ 

Home Staff 

Community Inclusion 

Literacy 

Technology 

Literacy 

Math/Money/Time 

Project/Art 

8 Story 

Expansions vs. 

Subject Areas in 

Special 

Educa4on 

Programs 

Math/ 

Science 

Creativity & Recreation 

Play/ 

Pretend 

Cooking 

World Knowledge 

Social 

Skills 

Music/ 

Movement 

Music 

Physical 

Fitness 

Life Skills 

12 

Stories & Strategies Approach 

• Pick a story to do for 1 – 2 weeks. 

• Always start out reading the story 

• Then do some ac4vity related to the story 

– For learning across modali4es 

– For teaching subject areas 

• Take the core language of the story and use in 

new contexts 

– Provides repe44on with variety 

– Supports process of language de-‐contextualiza4on 

Stories & Strategies Model 

• Story Selec4on 

• Story Reading 

– Language Learning in CONTEXT 

• Ac4ve Story Re-‐Reading and/or Re-‐Telling 

– Language Learning in CONTEXT 

• Story Re-‐Enactment 

– Start of Language De-‐Contextualiza4on 

• Story Expansions 

– Language De-‐Contextualiza4on 

Example: Goldilocks & 3 Bears 

• Read through the storybook 

• Target module 1 words for media4ng reading 

– “What” book is in the bag. 

– Ask for “help” to get out the book/turn pages. 

– Ask to “look” at the pictures. 

– Read a page or the book “again.” 

– Read a “different” book. 

– “Stop” reading.

• Target Vocabulary for 

expressing self, others, 

possession 

– father 

– he-‐him-‐his 

– I-‐_____ 

– me-‐myself 

– mother 

– my-‐mine 

– she-‐her-‐hers 

– they-‐people 

– we-‐friend 

– you-‐your 

• Target Vocabulary to 

regulate 4me 

1. fast 

2. later 

3. now 

4. slow 

5. wait 

6. ready 


describe and comment 

1. big-‐li_le 

2. clean-‐dirty 

3. easy-‐hard 

4. empty-‐full 

5. good-‐bad 

6. hard-‐soL 

7. hot-‐cold 

8. loud-‐quiet 

9. old-‐new 

10. wet-‐dry 






Module 2 

Module 4 

Module 6 

• Social Skills: Play-‐ 

Pretend-‐Reenact Story 

• Discuss/Assign 

character 

– I = mom 

– you = father 

– he = baby 

– her = Goldilocks 

– mine 

– his 

– hers 

• Math/Money/Time 

– Order events you do 

(eat, rest, sit/read) and 

decide what to do “now” 

or “later” 

• Ea4ng 

– Taste foods of different 

temperatures 

• Wait to eat (hot/cold) 

• Ready to eat (good) 

• World Knowledge: 

Science 

– tes4ng hot/cold things 

– tes4ng big/li_le things 

– tes4ng soL/hard 

13 


expressing nega4on 

1. break/broken 

2. don’t 

3. not 

4. problem 

5. trouble 

6. wrong 

• Apply as needed in any 

ac4vity 


request and direct ac4ons 

1. come 

2. get 

3. give 

4. go 

5. have 

6. make 

7. put 

8. say-‐tell 

9. see 

10. take 

11. turn 

12. want 

13. watch 


reference objects 

1. all 

2. it 

3. one 

4. place 

5. some 

6. stuff 

7. that 

8. thing 

9. this 

10. way 

Module 3 

Module 7 

• Life Skills: Cooking 

– make bear cookies and 

have lots of wrong 

ingredients and 

problems 

• Community 

– discuss repor4ng 

someone who does 

something wrong 

– do’s and don’ts of 

community behavior 

Module 5 & 11 

• More ac4ons 

1. color 

2. count 

3. dress 

4. drink 

5. eat 

6. hear-‐ 

listen 

7. play 

8. read 

9. ride 

10. share 

11. sing 

12. sit 

13. sleep 

14. stand 

15. walk 

16. was 

17. win-‐lose 

work 

18. write 

• Apply with any ac4vity 

that uses objects


sta4ng/direc4ng loca4ons 

1. on-‐off 

2. in-‐out 

3. up-‐down 

4. over-‐under 

5. away 

6. here 

7. there 


personal a_ributes/feelings 

1. afraid 

2. am-‐is-‐are-‐be 

3. busy 

4. confused 

5. dumb 

6. feel 

7. happy 

8. hungry 

9. hurt 

10. mad 

11. mean 

12. nice 

13. pre_y 

14. sad 

15. sick 

16. silly 

17. smart 

18. thirsty 

19. 4red 






Module 8 

• Physical Fitness: Motor 

Ac4vi4es 

– Sit on or in different 

chairs 

– Get on or off different 

beds 

– Go here or there in the 

house 

– Run away 

Module 10 

• Apply, as needed, in any 

ac4vity. 

• Art project – drawing 

faces of how you feel 

when…. 

Reading & the CVC 

• Coordinated reading instruc4on with the use 

of the student's core boards 

• Reading instruc4on was conducted with ALL 

students, including speaking peers 

• All students used modified AAC systems as 

“reading boards” based on “Bridge to 

Literacy” by Maureen Casey, Durban, South 

Africa 

14 


request informa4on 

1. ques4on 

2. who 

3. when 

4. where 

5. why 

6. how 

– * “what” was 

introduced in Module 1 

• Target Vocabulary for more 

4me concepts 

1. morning 

2. aLernoon 

3. night 

4. before 

5. aLer 

6. yesterday 

7. today 

8. tomorrow 

Module 9 

Module 12 

• Social Skills & Literacy 

– Be a reporter and write 

up a News Report of 

what happened at the 

Bears’ House. Use 

computer to help in 

wri4ng (technology) 

• Math/Money/Time 

– Make schedules of what 

you will do during the 

week 

• go for walk 

• visit someone 

• eat out 

– Figure out the costs for 

ea4ng porridge, fixing a 

broken chair, staying at a 

hotel 

Key Principles for Instruc4on 

• Fun ac4vi4es set the context 

• Children develop the target sentences 

• Mul4-‐sensory learning is emphasized 

• The “bridge” to reading is the picture from the Core 

Board 

• 5 day schedule 

– Monday Fun-‐Day 

– The Sentence & Sentence Wall 

– Reading Record Books 

– Student Reading Boards 

– 1:1 Specific Reading Ac4vi4es






Day 1 -‐ “Monday fun day” 

• En4re class takes part in 

a fun, language-‐rich 

ac4vity (establishes 

CONTEXT for learning) 

• Target ACTIONS 

represented on your 

core board as you plan 

ac4vity 

Day 1 

• Storybook related 

– (took) a walk (like 

Goldilocks) 

– (made) and (ate) 

porridge 

• Other Ac4vi4es 

– (had) party at school 

– (wrote) holiday cards 

• The students develop, based on group 

consensus, a single sentence to describe the 

ac4vity. 

– Teacher “co-‐edits” the final sentence to control 

use of vocabulary and target appropriate core 

vocabulary, but doesn't change core sentence if it 

is not necessary (e.g., small vs. li_le) 

• The teacher records the sentence on a large 

strip of a paper, called the Teacher Sentence 

Strip 

Day 2 

• Students take turns cuvng the teacher's large 

sentence strip into individual words 

– Motor and kinesthe4c aspects of defining word 

boundaries 

– Sentences are made up of words and some words even 

have words inside of them, like “the” inside of “then”) 

• Students help the teacher s4ck up the reconstructed 

sentence on the sentence wall in the classroom 

– Write each sentence in a different color or on a different 

colored paper to help with visual discrimina4on 

• The group (or individual students) read the sentence 

on the sentence wall 

• Students read earlier sentences 

15 

Day 1 

• Students use speech and/or AAC to discuss 

ac4vity 

– Aided Language S4mula4on is provided on a 

manual communica4on board to talk about the 

ac4vity and direct the students to target 

vocabulary 

– Q & A Discussion 

• What do? Where do? Why do? Who do? 

• How feel? What do you think about it? 

Day 2: Single Sentence 

• Discuss the previous day’s ac4vity using 

speech and manual communica4on boards 

• Take turns “reading/repea4ng” the sentence 

while poin4ng at each word 

– Tap and make a sound whenever reading the 

words/syllables to provide auditory feedback and 

rhythm for learning word boundaries and syllables 

(early phonological awareness) 

Day 2: The Sentence Wall 

• To move from “rote memoriza4on” of the 

sentences, the teacher has the students find 

individual words on the sentence wall 

– ALer 5 or more sentences are up there and they are 

gevng familiar with the sentences 

• Students “count” how many words they can read 

and try to beat their last word count 

• The words from a large sentence strip will be added 

to the classroom Word Wall under their respec4ve 

ini4al le_ers






Day 3: Reading Record Books 

• Each student has a Reading Record Book 

• Each student gets a sentence strip which he glues 

into his Book 

• They add “context” to the page to help define 

meaning to the words 

• They read/ trace/write the sentence with their finger 

(shows their visual percep4on and motor planning 

skills) while reading out loud to the teacher 

• Physically assist motor impaired children to hold 

book right-‐side up; move leL-‐right, top-‐bo_om; and 

trace 

Day 4: Reading Boards with AAC 

Graphics 

• By day 4, the students are doing less “rote” and 

linear reading of the sentence 

• Students con4nue to focus on the words of the 

sentence, but need to find the word outside of the 

context of the sentence 

• The graphics of the AAC system bridge the gap 

between logographic and orthographic reading 

• Make and use a Teacher RB and Student RB with 

approximately 165+ core vocabulary words 

Day 4 -‐ Word Tiles & Teacher 

Reading Board 

• The teacher pulls word “4les” from her 4le holder 

book and presents them with her Teacher Reading 

Board 

• Tiles have color backgrounds based on Part of 

Speech 

• Tiles only have 1 word above them, but a “repeated” 

picture if the picture had 2 or more words (e.g., 

“because”) 

• Each student has a Student Reading Board that 

matches the Teacher Reading Board. 

16 

Day 3 

• Review the books periodically 

– “Find the page that says …” 

• To support motor and kinesthe4c learners, students 

copy the sentence (from books) using different 

methods and mediums 

• Students get a second sentence strip (pre-‐cut by the 

teacher) 

– Students match the words of the cut-‐up sentence with the 

words in their record books 

– The words will be jumbled and then re-‐matched 

– The words will be glued into their record book 

Teacher Reading Board 

• The layout of these words is a “match” to the 

student's AAC system (ex: Unity128, Pixon) without 

color coding 

– Some pictures have 2+ words wri_en above them 

(irregular past tense, extra core words, especially “li_le 

words” for reading) 

– No color code because of mul4ple words 

• Designed for direct selec4on or quadrant scanning 

Day 4 -‐ Word Tiles and Teacher 

Reading Board 

• The student builds the sentence on the Teacher Reading 

Board by adding the color 4les over the b&w word/picture 

• Supports kinesthe4c/motor learning 

– Take 4les off the board 

– Build target sentence 

– Build other sentence 

– Put 4les back on board 

• Students use their matching Student Reading Boards 

– Match words on the Teacher Board 

– Match words from their Reading Record Book 

– Match words from the Sentence Wall 

– Match words from the Word Wall






Day 4: Using the Teacher & 

Student Boards 

• As the weeks progress, students use the 

individual words on the boards (and 4les) to … 

– Count how many words they can read 

– Build new sentences 

– Find rhyming words 

– Combine words to make compound words 

– Find words with similar ini4al sounds 

– Finds li_le words inside of bigger words 

– Make up a sentence that starts with …. 

APtudinal 

• Great excitement for Monday fun 

day 

• Define selves as “readers” & 

“writers” because of successful 

engagement with text 

• Ask for stories and books to be 

read to them 

• Empowered and not afraid to try 

and read 

• Student enthusiasm increased 

teacher op4mism about their 

abili4es 

Outcomes 

Objec,ve 

• Reading primary texts aLer 4 – 6 

months of teaching on the core 

words 

• Spontaneously played with words as 

“teacher” 

– Li_le words inside of big words 

– Moving words around to build new 

sentences 

– Finding words with similari4es 

• Wri4ng more sentences than other 

children in higher grades at schools 

for learners with fewer physical and 

learning challenges 

• Second language speakers made 

significant gains in learning English 

grammar (due to color coded 4les) 

Using Core in the Classroom 

1. Pick words to use during different ac4vi4es in 

your day 

2. Create visual masks to highlight the words on 

the child's board 

3. Post reminders to use core words in 

everyday talking 

4. Use large classroom displays to exposure and 

teach target core 

17 

Day 5 

• Addi4onal 1:1 reading ac4vi4es completed 

• Focus on specific students and specific 

prac4ce that they each need 

Core Vocabulary Classroom uses …. 

• Simple core words (set of 20 – 150 – 200+/-‐) 

• Organized in language-‐friendly AAC systems (manual 

vs. SGD) 

• Represented with systema4c pictures (that can take 

you to any technology) 

• Used consistently and repeatedly in the classroom 

• Systema4cally taught & modeled in 1-‐3 word 

combina4ons (SLP, language arts, reading) 

• Reinforced with lots of visual support materials 

CVC = Objec4ves Outcomes 

• Data collected on focus group of 50 

nonspeaking students (and 200+ speaking) 

– None had a personal AAC system before star4ng 

– All had poten4al to learn language and some 

literacy 

– All were given Manual Communica4on Boards 

– All received focused instruc4on by the SLP, 

specific reading instruc4on, and daily applica4ons 

in the classroom






Objec4ve Outcomes 

• Core Vocabulary 

– 151+ core words 

– 101-‐150 core words 






• Start / End 

– 0 / 12 

– 0 / 13 

– 0 / 17 

– 10 / 7 

– 24 / 1 

– 10 / 0 

– 6 / 0 


• Reading/Wri4ng 

– Read 150 printed words 




– Find li_le words inside of big words 

– Move words around to build new 

sentences 


– 0 / 5 

– 0 / 11 

– 0 / 29 

– 0 / 2 

– 2 / 48 

– 5 / 48 

Conver4ng to a CVC Approach 

• One teacher at a 4me 

• Follow a process 

– Step 1: Train on the “CVC” Approach 

– Step 2: Re-‐engineer the Classroom 

– Step 3: Demonstrate/Collaborate with teacher on 

his/her lesson(s) 

– Step 4: Provide on-‐going collabora4on with 

gradual shiLing of responsibility from the trainer 

to the teacher 

18 


• Mul4ple word u_erances 

– Emerging morphology* 

– Consistent 3-‐part u_erances 

– Emerging 3-‐part u_erances 

– Consistent 2-‐part u_erances 

– Emerging 2-‐part u_erances 

– Some word strings 

– All 1 word u_erances 


– 0 / 9 

– 0 / 6 

– 0 / 14 

– 0 / 21 

– 2 / 5 

– 5 / 4 

– 43 / 0 

Subjec4ve Outcomes 

• More ac4ve and independent par4cipa4on in 

ac4vi4es by the students 

• More diverse language produced (beyond nouns) 

– Marking ac4on (verb), condi4on (adjec4ves) and 4me and 

place (adverbs, preposi4ons) 

• Language modeling by partners was highly beneficial 

• Increased communica4on interac4on with more 

communica4on partners across more ac4vi4es and 

sevngs

Gail Van Tatenhove

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