Lesson 109


Lesson 109
Book
Attaching Meaning to the Pattern of Short Phrases


     

     

Objectives

To teach your child to

a) understand a variety of short phrases based on their pattern
b) try and approximate the pattern of the phrase while vocalizing

Points To Remember

1. Your child will need a lot of modeling before he begins to understand the patterns of phrases.

2. Use fun activities that will engage your child and help him attend to the phrases.

3. Patterned phrases that accompany actions are the easiest for the child to understand.

Method

This is a structured activity to help your child understand a variety of phrases during play activities as well as routine activities through the day. You can choose different types of craft activities or anything else your child enjoys. As usual, snack activities can be used for this purpose.

Watch the video clip for an example of a craft activity being used to develop comprehension of phrases based on their pattern.

Then follow the instructions given below:

1. Choose an activity where you can use use phrases that contain common words such as 'more,' 'turn,' 'push,' 'open' etc., which you will use throughout the day in other context, providing repetition. These should have varying intonation patterns and lengths. Don't worry if your child does not understand the individual words; we are helping him to understand the whole phrase based on its intonation pattern. Decide which phrases you will emphasize during your activity. At this stage, it is ok to occasionally use repetitive words instead of a phrase as you saw in the video clip.

2. Model the activity once all the way through with your child listening. Talk about what you are doing using the phrases you chose. Use acoustic highlighting to emphasize the phrase. Alternate long and short phrases, as well as a single-word phrase ("Stop!") and repetitive action words ("dip, dip, dip!").

3. Once you have finished, wait for the child to vocalize for his turn.

4. Use the same phrases as the child does the activity. Many children might try and imitate the phrases at this stage. This is ok -- do not try to correct what the child says at this stage. Do not worry if your child doesn’t try to imitate! Our goal here is for him to understand the phrases, not necessarily say them.

5. Repeat the activity again - either you or the child can do it. Use the same phrases again! you can continue this way till you feel the child is tired of the activity.

Notice that in this simple activity there is no testing to see if the child ‘understands’. We want to provide lots of repetition with the phrases first before we attempt to ‘test’. In fact, when the child understands a phrase, he/she will often do the action without being prompted or asked to do so.

Here are some phrases to get you started:
"I want more ______"; "Open the ______"; "Ouch! That hurts!"; "I am hungry! I want to eat!"; "Yuck! No, thank you!"; "Brush, brush!" (teeth or hair); "Where is _______?"; "Shhhh! It's time to sleep!"; "Sooooo big!"; "Pop!";

Video Clips

CLIP 1




Modifications

What Next

1. Continue with each set of phrases until your child is beginning to do the action when you say the phrase. For example, when you say "Open the door!" -- he opens the door, when you say "Squeeze (or cut) the lemon!" - he does the appropriate action on 4 out of 5 opportunities.

2. Continue Lessons 105, 106 and 107 and 108 while doing this activity. You should be doing all these activities throughout your day, in addition to at least two half hour periods of structured activities for a child up to 2 years of age. For children between 2-3 you should be able to do two blocks of about 45 minutes each of structured activities. For children 3 and older, make sure you do at least one hour of structured practice daily.

3. Add on phrases related to a variety of concepts such as: a big piece of -----, a little bit, lots of juice, one more cookie please, Be careful! the knife is sharp! etc.