This week I want to continue to share about how to incorporate and use AAC systems with activities you are already doing with your students.  I have created lots of different task cards to target different language skills and this is another good time to use those AAC systems.  Previously I shared about using some different task cards with AAC systems and you can click the link to read ideas from that post – Using AAC with Task Cards.

Now I’ll go through some different task card sets and how to use AAC with them.  What Doesn’t Belong Cards are great to use with AAC systems.  Level 1 – I name the items on the card for the student and then I read the fill in the blank sentence.  “The ­­­___ doesn’t belong because ___.”  Usually the student will point to the picture on the card to determine which item meets that statement.  Then I have him/her find the item on their AAC device.  For example, the spoon does not belong with the tools.  The student would navigate the device and find the “spoon” icon on their device.

Level 2 – For my higher level students I can make them use a longer phrase or identify why the item does not belong in the group.  For example, instead of just having my student find “watermelon” they could say “watermelon not vegetable” eventually the student may work on formulating a more complete phrase/sentence such as “the watermelon is not a vegetable”.  This is a little more advanced then my students’ skill level and use on their devices right now.

Receptive Category Cards are another way to build up vocabulary skills.  These are good practice for the student to navigate to the correct category in order to find the item which meets the description.  Level 1 – I again first name all the items on the card or have the student point to the items as I name them.  Then I read the sentence to the student.  “Find the fruit”.  After the student points to the picture of the pineapple I have him/her find the item on their device.  Sometime I even have my student select the correct category symbol from a visual board of category symbols and pair it with the correct picture on the receptive category card.

Level 2 – Again for higher level students I just work on expanding those utterances on their device or answering questions about the items.  Instead of just selecting the “lemonade” picture to identify the drink the student could formulate “drink lemonade”.  You could ask “how does the lemonade taste?” and the student could find the “sour” icon on their device.

Time Preposition Task Cards target those tricky “in”, “on”, and “at” time concepts.  I created a set with visuals and a set with just the written sentence.  Level 1 – I usually read the sentence providing either two or all three choice answers.  For example “school is over in 3 o’clock or school is over at 3 o’clock”.  Then the student would select the “in” or “at” word on their AAC device to correctly complete the sentence.  Level 2 – Your student could work on formulating the entire sentence on their device.  “School is over at 3 o’clock”.  That is definitely more challenging.

Non-Example Task Cards focus on that “not” concept which can be very difficult for our students.  Level 1 – I point to each picture on the card and name them for the student.  Then I read the sentence.  “Find the one that does not have a shell.”  After the student points to the correct picture on the task card I have him/her navigate to find the item on their AAC device.

Level 2 – You can work on having the student use a complete sentence.  Instead of just saying “soup” the student could formulate “soup is not cold” or “soup is hot”.  This can be pretty hard for most of our students.

Association Task Cards require the student to identify which 2 items from a group of 4 items have a relationship and then if they can determine why.  Level 1 –the student could just identify the 2 items which are associated with each other such as “eyes” and “glasses” and select those picture on their AAC device.  It’s an easier task to just identify which 2 go together and then also easier to find those items on their device such as “chicken” and “eggs”.

Level 2 – I would work on having the students identify “how” the items go together.  So for the spider and the web card the student can find “build” which I would take.  Your student may even be able to formulate “spider build web” which would be amazing.  You can work on some of the grammar later.

There are also different grammar task cards you can use with your students.  For example, you can use either the Is/Are or Has/Have Cards from the Helping Verb Grammar Card Set.  Have your student select the correct helping verb on their device to complete the sentence.  Hope this helps with some new ideas!