Common Core vs. Core
Vocabulary
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Created by Christine Kramlich, M.Ed and Kimberly Thompson, M.S./OTR-L
[email protected] 770-871-8434
Who Am I?
How to Discover Core Words
• 3 activities
• 20 words in each category
• Any common words?
• What words for all 3 activities?
Can you
pick the core?
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These are
CORE
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These are
FRINGE
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Core Words
• High frequency
• Versatile
• Universal
• Apply across environments
• Include a variety of parts of speech
• Non-picture producing
• Ex. Sight words, I, like, more
Fringe Words
• Low frequency
• Apply to limited environments
• Mostly names/nouns
• Picture producing
• Ex. Test tube, movie, line,
Bubbles
Why Core?
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300 words make up 75-85% of the words we say.
Same words across Gender
Age
Topic
Setting
Disability
Bruce Baker
The Vocabulary of Toddlers
Banajee, DiCarlo & Stricklin, (AAC 2003)
50 toddlers between the ages of 2 & 3 years
Toddler Vocabulary Arranged by Frequency Words Percentage I 9.5 No 8.5 Yes/yea 7.6 my 5.8 the 5.2 want 5.0 is 4.9 it 4.9 that 4.9 a 4.6 go 4.4 mine 3.8 you 3.2 what 3.1 on 2.8 in 2.7 here 2.7 more 2.6 out 2.4 off 2.3 some 2.3 help 2.1 all done/finished 1.0
96.3% Banajee et al.
26 core words
shown at left
comprise 96.3
percent of the total
words used by
toddlers in this
study.
Your Turn
Create sentences using 100 most frequently
used word list.
Challenge yourself with longer sentences.
Share.
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Introducing Core Vocabulary
• High interest activities
• Generalize words
• Multiple meanings of words
• Caution with academics initially
• Balloons! How can these same words
transfer to more academic activities?
Natural Language Development
• AAC Language Lab
• Apps
• Ibooks
• www.hubbardscupboard.org
• www.rigby.com
• Speech therapist
Life is about the Nouns, right?
• Curriculum
• Flash cards
• Board books
• Target vocabulary
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Strategies
• Referential vs. descriptive teaching
• Engaging Activities
• Simplify definitions
• Alternate Ways to Assess
• Modeling
What is Referential Teaching?
• Questioning with an expected response of
noun, date, or place.
• Generally requires only one word answer
• Often used with AAC users
• Often used with those who have limited
language exposure/experience
• Lots of temporary word programming
What is Descriptive Teaching?
• Emphasizes use of core vocabulary
• Uses permanent words
• Words cross curriculum
• Words generalize to a variety of
environments
• Teach concepts in vocabulary words
• Use core words to describe these
concepts
Shifting Mindset: Core vs. Target
• Referential vs. descriptive questions
Common Core: S4P3. Students will demonstrate the relationship between
the application of a force and the resulting change in position and motion on
an object.
Ref: What is the force that slows or stops motion?
Answer: Friction
Desc: What did you learn about friction?
Answer: It stops things. It slows things.
Reframe this one: What is the measure of speed in
a certain direction? Answer: Velocity
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Engaging Activities
• Friction: Where does the car go fastest?
– Vinyl, wood, carpet, ice, pavement
– Core words: fast, slow, go, stop, my, turn, I,
want, get, it, big, little, you, more, like, don’t,
work, make, need, come, put, help (look at 60
1-hit)
Simplify Definitions with Core
Words
• Identify key vocabulary
• Simplify key vocabulary
• Model core words to describe key words
Simplify Definitions
• Civil Rights Movement
SS8H11 The student will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil
rights movement.
• Identify key vocabulary: Jim Crow Laws,
Ku Klux Klan, Rosa Parks, segregation,
Plessy v. Ferguson, etc.
• Simplify Key vocabulary: segregation,
Rosa Parks, Jim Crow Laws
Simplify Key Vocabulary
• Segregation: enforced separation of
whites/blacks (whites sit there, blacks sit here)
• Ku Klux Klan: secret organization in the south
which aimed to suppress the newly acquired
powers of blacks (bad people, mean to black
people, don’t like black people)
• Rosa Parks: African American woman whose
arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott
(good lady, sat on bus with white people)
Middle School Science
Emerging Communicator
(1, 2, 3 words)
More Proficient Communicator (3-6
words)
Mars First one; hottest It is the first one. It is the hottest.
Venus Second one; like Earth It is the second one. It is like Earth.
Orbit Go around something Go around something in a circle.
Tide Water up down Water goes up and down (because
earth pulls on the moon)
Crater Big opening (in ground) Big opening in the ground made by
something big falling
Earth We live; third one We live here. It is the third one.
Eclipse Hides another One thing in the sky hides another
Model Core Vocabulary
• Need to know the device
• Be familiar with the words
• Use the same words across curriculum
• Make cheat sheets
• Touch the device!
• Laser pointer
• Flashlight
Alternate Ways to Assess
• ELACC1RL1 Ask and answer questions
about key details in a text
• Want to assess whether a student can
name a concept, try this:
More Alternate Ways to Assess
• Post Its
• A, B, C, D
• 1, 2, 3, 4
• True/False
• Spelling/What does it start with?
Elementary Language Arts
• Compare: What same
• Contrast: What different
• Character: Person
• Plot: Story about
• Setting: Where
• Conflict: Problem in story
• Author: Person who writes
Math examples
• Comparing decimals (more, less, big,
small, first, next, last)
• Reading graphs (high, low, more than,
less than, most, least, up, down, hot, cold)
• Math games (have, can, I, you, do)
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Teaching Core and Having Fun
• Pretend Play or Academic Activity
– Cooking: What words would you typically
associate with the activity?
– What are some better words?
• Turn on/off
• Get that
• Put in
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Labeling Classroom
• Traditional vs. Core
• Door = go, out, in
• Light = turn, on, off
• Chair = sit
• Desk = I sit here or you, he, she sits here
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What do the standards say?
• Core Curriculum Standards: Emphasize ability to
answer open-ended questions
• National Core Curriculum Standards: Expect
students to explain, make connections,
compare/contrast, analyze, etc.
• There is no need to “say” a particular word, but
rather “tell about and talk about” a topic
Summary
• Vocabulary of life dominated by core
• Flexible words, express any idea
• State Standard Curriculum can be
addressed using core words
• Time and energy saved by avoiding
adding unnecessary words to device
Why I do what I do
• Wants/needs became communication
• Power of a voice
• “My name is Kyleigh. I am nine years old. I am in 3rd grade. This is my
talker. It helps me speak. I like when my friends play with me. I feel happy.
We play tic tac toe and cards at school. We listen to my MP3 player at
home. I like Girl Scouts. The girls say hi to me and talk to me. They know I
am observant. I work hard at math. My teachers don’t know how hard it is.
That makes me mad. Sometimes people ask me why I am disabled. I don’t
know what to say. I wish they would laugh and joke with me. I would like
you if you would like me. Thank you for listening.
Questions/Comments
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