So many kiddos have been FLYING through the environmental print labels; it's great to see the skill generalizing when out in the community for instruction. That's right; bus trips are no longer silent but instead filled with students commenting on the environmental print they see. For some students, the simple label may be too easy so I started incorporating questions regarding function, feature, and class as well as random wh- questions into the mix. One of the favorites is a form of guessing game.
Student X: "Look, Burger King!"
Ms. C: "Wow! Tell me three foods you could eat at Burger King."
Student X: "I eat burger, fries, and chicken."
Ms. C: "That's great. I'm thinking of something red that you could put on a burger. It's a sauce made from tomatoes. What is it?"
Student X: "Ketchup on burger?"
Ms. C: "That's it! Do you like ketchup?"
...And so on. It's unbelievable how quickly commenting and conversational skills start to develop once those solid receptive vocabularies and requesting skills are built. These cards can promote other life skills, as well. The second set includes twenty four new logos and I'm sure set three will come when this busy teacher finds a bit of time.
How do you use these cards with your students? What environmental print labels are most important to learn?
Happy Teaching,
Kortnie C.
