We need to promote language in all children because we know children with robust language skills are among the higher achievers. If we do not do everything we can to promote the development of children's language in our settings, at every opportunity, it can potentially hold back their thinking, learning skills and ability to build relationships. We have all spotted children in our settings with speech and language difficulties haven't we? These children present us with a variety of symptoms helping us to diagnose that they may need help such as; Having difficulty remembering words so they frequently pause and add fillers eg, 'erm', 'you know', 'thingy' Putting words, phrases, sentences and/or events in the wrong order Using body language and gestures to convey needs and information Physically taking you to what they need or want to show you Using another child to talk for them or waiting expectantly for the adult to 'fill in' 'explain' or finish sentences for them Not wanting to talk or only talking in limited situations Using simple sentences or simple words Using key words but leaving out grammatical detail e.g. 'she', 'it', 'a', 'the' etc. Leaving out word endings Using the wrong words Maybe it's because I'm a chocoholic, maybe it's because I hate to throw anything that can be recycled away, maybe it's because I have a 'containment schema' and just love a variety of different containers you can put things in, but ever since qualifying as a teacher I have found many different uses for empty biscuit boxes and tins in the classroom and beyond. My husband laughs at me for using an empty Ferrero Rocher box to keep my earrings in and wonders why I can't use a jewellery box like everyone else. Whatever the reasons are, there's no doubt that my little obsession with boxes causes a lot of chatter which is why they are an ideal cheap resource to share ideas about how to promote the development of speech and language in settings. I hope that you can use and adapt this idea and that it works as well for you as it did for me. What you need An empty biscuit box container which has held biscuits in place e.g. Milk Tray or Ferreo Rocher An interesting array of small (both familiar and not) items to fill each space with such as cotton wool, blu-tac, buttons, marbles, stamps, coins, a balloon, paperclips, googly eyes, tinsel, decorative bows, precious stones, the bud of a flower, a thimble, a screw, twig, magnets, tissue paper, a crystal, chalk, corrugated card, a wooden peg, ribbon, bubble wrap etc. Simply Irresistible You can fill your empty biscuit box compartments with absolutely anything you choose. The list above is simple to give you a few ideas but is by no means an exhaustive one. Use items that are in and around your setting, invite the children to bring things in or bring some in from home. However, be aware that the more unusual items will have that all important novelty factor and what I call the 'Irresistible edge' thus promoting more discussion amongst the children as they look at it, consider what it is and explore it with their senses. The invisible internal conversations children have in their minds, (before they articulate what they are thinking into speech that we can hear and assess), are just as important as the speech we hear. Thus we need to stimulate and promote these with irresistible resources and activities that children can't help exploring, investigating and talking about. What to do Fill your biscuit box with the chosen items. For example, I used a golden square shaped Ferrero Rocher tray that held 16 biscuits and placed in each space: 1. a glittery hedgehog fur cone Christmas tree decoration 2. a small blue star shaped bow 3. a small pink start shaped bow 4. some foreign coins 5. some copper 1ps and 2ps 6. some silver 5ps and 10ps 7. some tinsel 8. some bubble wrap 9. 20 tiny googly eyes 10. a safety pin 11. a stamp 12. a colourful piece of stretchy Lycra 13. a yellow plastic clasp (to keep cereal, rice and pasta packets sealed) 14. Micropore (soft medical tape) 15. cellotape 16. tissue paper 17. wool 18. a silk pouch with a soapstone necklace inside 19. blu-tac 20. a hairband. Invite the children to sit in a circle with you around the biscuit box. (PSED - seek and delight in new experiences, also demonstrate flexibility and adapt their behaviour to different events, social situations and changes in routine. CLL - Respond to simple instructions) Explain that you want them to look some interesting items just using their eyes at first. (CLL - Respond to simple instructions and are intrigued by novelty events.) Model what you would like them to do by explaining "We are going to take it in turns to crawl into the middle of the circle and choose something that we would like to talk about from the box. I have chosen the wool because it makes me want to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep...shall we all sing that together before James chooses something he would like to talk about?" (CLL -Join in with repeated refrains and anticipate key events and phrases in rhymes and stories and enjoy rhyming and rhythmic activities.) One at a time invite the children to choose something. They may talk about it voluntarily but they may need support from their peers or you who can pose questions such as; 1. Why did you choose that? 2. What does it feel like? 3. What is it called? Or what does it begin with? (CLL - Hear and say the initial sounds in words and know which letters represent some of the sounds) 4. What does it do/do you use it for? 5. Why do you like it? 6. What colour is it? 7. How many are there? 8. Who would use it? 9. How does it work? 10. Where would you find another one? 11. Is it the same as anyone else's? 12. Is there something a little bit different? (PSED - Work as part of a group taking turns and be confident to try new activities and speak in a familiar group CLL - Use simple statements and questions often linked to gestures. Question why things happen and give explanations. Begin to use more complex sentences and interact with others, taking turns in conversation. Extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words.) It is very important to develop children's positive attitudes to literacy, in the broadest sense and from the earliest stages in partnership with parents and carers. One way to get parents involved in this activity is to invite them to bring in a little surprise for the biscuit box, (a little like parent's 'show and tell!') that way their child can choose something and will be involved in helping their parent at home to as well, provoking more discussion and bringing more novelty items for the children to explore in the setting. Children will feel very proud showing off what their mummy or daddy chose for the biscuit box boosting their self esteem and confidence once again. Be careful to explain that it must be safe, non edible (in case of allergies) and small enough to fit into the chocolate sized space. Further ideas If you do this each week, you could explore only items made of wood/paper/fabric/glass/malleable materials etc. in the biscuit box. The more materials children are exposed to earlier on, the better their nerve endings in their finger pads will develop thus helping the development of fine motor control. ICT - use great programmes like 2simple, 2paintapicture so that children can draw and design their own biscuit box or wrapper. Allow each child in turn to take it home over the weekend and fill it with items to share from home, with grandparents and other family members getting involved. Make a chocolate wrapper collage on a giant sugar paper template of a sweet, talking about what the wrappers feel like, look like, smell like and sound like. Wrap up anything other than chocolate in chocolate wrappers. The twisting will help develop the pincer grip and the sheer delight and enjoyment of finding out what peers have wrapped up or trying to guess what's inside stimulates a lot of excited conversation! Ask the children to bring in their own empty biscuit boxes and enjoy a ‘make and do' session together where you allow the children to make their chosen item e.g. a drum, car, train, shaker, treasure chest or jewellery box. Take photos of their creations and make a book that they can look at, read, talk about, reflect on and remember. Stick a small mirror to the bottom of a small and colourful biscuit box. Explain that there is something very important and special in the box and that you want each person to look carefully inside to see what it is. Pass it round so that each child can look into the box. To build vocabulary ask them to describe what they see e.g. "I have two blue eyes, ginger hairs, two red lips a nose, and I can see my freckles and a big smile!" Cooking is a wonderful scientific activity to do with the children that provokes a lot of language and discussion as the children question why things happen, comment on changes and enjoy a very sensory experience. After making sure no one has a nut allergy, is dairy or Soya intolerant etc. you could make a box of biscuits together melting dark, milk and white chocolate into moulds and allowing the chocolate to solidify in the fridge. Wrap them in gold and silver tin foil (hang on the Christmas tree if it's that time of years) before describing the smell and taste as you devour them together for an end of term treat! Remember that children with speech and language difficulties may appear to ignore you, have difficulties following instructions or need individual instruction before they respond appropriately to a question or instruction. They may cope better with activities that do not rely on listening to language and may have difficulty remembering information because they have not really understood in the first place. Some children use strategies to cover up the fact that they have not understood by watching others, using facial expressions as a cue, changing the subject or completely avoiding activities. Look out for tell tale signs such as children who are: Having difficulty making eye contact Playing alone or with younger children Getting easily frustrated or who seem to have a shorter fuse Having inappropriate emotional responses Having repetitive interests in a single activity Unable to give or understand non-verbal communication Here are some general things that you can do to help alongside other activities that you plan to promote talk in your setting. Be face to face with the child when you talk to them. Imitate what the child says does reassuringly. Interpret the child's language saying what you think they would say if they could. Provide commentary for child's actions. Use facial expressions to emphasis meaning. Use intonation (tone of voice) to emphasise key words. Use gesture to emphasise meaning. Emphasise the child's response and adds a word or action. Repeat language to reinforce and consolidate vocabulary, pronunciation and understanding. Expand on the child's language by extending the conversation. Give attention to one child for language work but do not ignore comments from other children. Of course the best strategy of all is to love what you do, sing and dance lots and immerse the children with lots of pleasure and play with language. My godson aged 4 still thoroughly enjoys being bounced on daddy's knee to the tune of "Bum-diddi-bum-diddi-bum-diddi-bum...G -G - George, George of the jungle!" His daddy has been doing this since George was born and he still gets a lot of pleasure from it. This is because right from the womb he was immersed in the strong rhythmical pulse of his mother's heartbeat. Once born, he was rocked and soothed rhythmically, fed and bounced rhythmically and sung to rhythmically. These are all experiences which serve to develop rhythmic awareness, and because of the supportive and loving context in which these occur, the child associates them with feelings of security. Singing these songs and rhymes, playing with language and reading/telling many stories helps to develop early language skills. Through the repetition of songs and rhymes George has experienced the natural rhythms and accents of his own language and because the pace is often slower than in normal speech, this helps him to learn and gain and good grasp. Thus you will see that the first two books recommended below have a strong emphasis on finger plays and traditional nursery rhymes as exposure to these helps children to build all the prerequisite skills needed for good speech and language development. Recommended resources Nursery Rhymes published by Priddy Books hardback price £9.99 ISBN 1-84332-396-6 Finger Play & Rhymes Baby & Beyond published by Featherstone Education Ltd ISBN 978-1-906029-01-2 Dens & Shelters Baby & Beyond published by Featherstone Education Ltd ISBN 978-1-906029036 What is This? by Antje Damm hardback priced £9.99 published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books ISBN 978-1-84507-899-7 100 Ideas for Teaching Communication Language and Literacy by Susan Elkin paperback published by continuum ISBN 978-0-8264-9869-4. Foundations of Literacy by Sue Palmer and Ros Bayley spiral bound paperback published by network continuum ISBN 978-1-84706-089-1. ICT http://www.2simple.com/2paintapicture/ L is for Sheep - getting ready for phonics edited by Sally Featherstone published by Featherstone Education Ltd ISBN 978-1-905019-63
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.