Talking Core with Different Levels of Communicators
A good teacher steers language instruction with core to support all students at their level. By grouping the students into three categories of language users, a teacher or therapist can design instruction accordingly. Core boards can be used within inclusive classroom by all students. Learn more about what is core here.
- Fluent: Children who fall within the typical range and are fluent language speakers
- Utilize core boards to construct more complex and creative sentences
- Develop strong foundational skills in grammar such as verb tense and sentence structures
- Encourages slowing rate of speech and ensure listener comprehension
- Apply their new knowledge to growth in early literacy
- Beginning: Developing language skills, possible language impairments or English as a second language.
- May not grasp the nuisances of core language
- Benefit from the more focused instruction in areas such as multiple meanings, pragmatic language usage, prepositions, and varied sentence structures
- Understanding how structure affects meaning: there it goes – it goes there
- Board provides support for multiple communication intent: questions, comments, directions, etc.
- Emerging: Emergent communicators with severe delays
- Access to vocabulary for basic communication needs
- Motivated to join their peers in communicating
- Board simplifies communication: less demands on memory, less physical effort, immediate results
- Authentic communication experiences
- Facilitate construction of non-rote sentences
- More independence – less prompting
- When peers used the board, they became the recipient of a more comprehensive and intensive core program
To develop a quality language-rich program, a teacher or SLP should consider each category of language user and how to meet each of their needs. Core vocabulary instruction can support and enrich communication opportunities for all students.
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