exemplar activities

Unit 3 Activity 5 - Functional use of communication

Use augmentive means of communication to involve all students in taking the daily class register.

Aims:

To turn ‘register time’ with my group into an interactive process.

To enable Mark, a new boy to learn names of pupils.

Objectives:

To make easy to use picture registers.

To use ‘big mac’ switches for questions and responses.

To help 3 pupils learn to read names of fellow students.

Register time with my group is a mixed affair. Pupils’ abilities range from very verbal; understanding complex questions, to pupils who have little eye contact and are only able to respond to their own names with prompts.

As part of the NOF I thought it would be an idea to look at how we cold use augmented means of communication to make it possible for all students to take part.

Senior 4’s register has a strip of very rough sandpaper on the outside and a photo of the class. I made a smaller register by taking a photo with the digital camera, laminating it and putting on a similar strip of sand paper. With a large ribbon, this makes an object of reference which pupils can take with them to the office when it is their turn to fetch the register. (It also doubles as an OOR for staff if they see Lee wandering the building looking lost!!)

By using the digital camera and Inclusive Writer, I have made small sets of photos of the group in alphabetical order. These are on large key ring fastenings. Pupils are able to turn the ‘pages’ of the key ring as we do the register and point to individuals. This way, Mark, a new boy tomorrow, will be able to learn the names of the group quite quickly.

We also have a set of names only on similar rings, for 3 pupils to learn to read peers’ names without the aid of photos. These are proving tricky as we have a Craig and Chris, and a Jessica and James. Pupils are having to look beyond the initial letter each time.

In the class we have 2 big mac switches. One we use for a ‘good morning everyone’ greeting, and the other for ‘Where is…?’ These are passed round the group to appropriate people in order to either respond to their name, or to ask the question ‘where is Jessica? along with the photo cards. I have put Inclusive Writer symbols on to the big macs.

S4 have only just started this process, but the photos on key rings are proving popular.

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