AAC Language Lab

Target Vocabulary:

1. down
2. in
3. out
4. up

Target Language Skill: saying prepositions to show position

Suggested Objectives:

1. The person will request to get out of something by saying "out", "out please" or "take me out."
2. The person will request to get in something by saying "in", "in there" or "put me in".
3. The person will engage in dramatic play by directing another person using "out", "in", "up" and "down".
4. The person will engage in a cooking activity by directing another person using "out", "in", "up" and "down".
5. The person will engage in an art activity by directing another person using "out", "in", "up" and "down".
6. The person will describe pictures with these concepts embedded in them.
7. The person will write a short story using the prepositions "out", "in", "up" and "down".
8. The person will read a book and locate/say the prepositions "out", "in", "up" and "down".

Teaching Activities:

A. Speaking

1. This lesson presumes that the person is spontaneously saying one and two word combinations and may have some concept of prepositions. If not, be sure to work on the concepts of "out", "in", "up" and "down" while you are completing these lessons. Remember, people learn words both receptively and expressively. Concept development will happen while working on expressive language.
2. Have person request to get out of his/her chair by saying "out", "out please" or "take me out" prior to performing such action. This can happen in the home or while at school. This same process can happen for getting out of bed or a car.
3. Have person request to get in his/her chair by saying "in", "in there" or "put me in" prior to performing such action. This can happen in the home or while at school. This same process can happen for getting out of a bed or a car.
4. Have child pick a motivating dramatic play activity such as cars, doll house, kitchen or dress up. Explore the items to play with and begin modeling simple phrases with the toys such as "car going up", "get in bus", "mommy come in", "baby go up", "take it out", "too hot, put it down", "put it on" or "take it off". Then have child begin directing the play by using similar phrases. If the child is at the single word level, have him/her use the prepositions in isolation. For example, when he/she says "in" the driver of the car could be placed "in" the car, the baby could be placed "in" the bed, the cookies could go "in" the oven and the clothes could go "in" the dresser. If the child is using short phrases or sentences, the following phrases could be used in the previous examples: "put him in car", "put baby in bed", "put them in oven" and "put them in dresser". This same concept can be used for "out", "up" and "down".
5. Have person direct a cooking activity using the following words and phrases. If the person is at the single word level, have him/her use the prepositions in isolation. For example, when he/she says "out" the cake mix can come "out" of the box, the pizza can come "out" of the oven, the eggs can come out of the refrigerator or the ketchup can come "out" of the bottle. If the child is using short phrases or sentences, the following phrases could be used during cooking: "take it out", "take them out", "put it in", "put them in", "turn it up" or "turn it down".
6. Have person direct a motivating art activity using the following words and phrases. If the person is at the single word level, have him/her use the prepositions in isolation. For example, when he/she says "up" the art partner can make the crayon or marker line go "up" and conversely if he/she says "down" the art partner will make the line go "down". If the child is using short phrases or sentences, the following phrases could be used during art activities: "take it out", "take them out", "put it in", "put them in", "make go up" or "make go down", "put (circle) in _____", "move it up" or "move it down".
7. Present person with pictures depicting the prepositions "out", "in", "up" and "down". . Ask person to describe the picture. He/she can use the carrier phrases, "It is______" or "He/she is _______". For example, "He is in the car.", "The balloon (it) is up." or "She is out of the box." Be sure to do one example yourself to model what you are expecting from the person.

B. Reading

Have the person pick a book that interests them. Let him/her know that the purpose of reading the book is to locate and say "out", "in", "up" and "down" in the story. While reading the story together, every time one of these prepositions is spotted prompt the person to say that preposition on his/her AAC system. Review the location of these prepositions on the AAC system before you begin reading the story.

C. Writing

Using the writing process, have the person write a story using "out", "in", "up" and "down". Have the person brainstorm a main character, for example, a grasshopper. From there have the person come up with where the grasshopper will go "in", where he will go "out", what will go "up" and what will go "down" . The title of the story could be... "Grasshopper Goes for a Walk" and the opening sentence could be... "One day, a grasshopper went for a walk in the forest..." If your student is not ready to write an entire story, make up a cloze practice story where the student fills-in all necessary prepositions.

D. Generalization

Throughout the day, be on the lookout for times and places you can model these prepositions. Remember, these are core words and we use them often. We go "out" to lunch. We ask, "What's up?" We say, "I'm down with that." We wonder, "Are you in or out?"

© 2009 Prentke Romich Company
keb 08/12/09