Shared Reading with AAC Users

I touched on this topic a little bit when discussing use of storybook apps.  I wanted to come back to it again (and I'm sure I will yet again).  
Shared book reading is all about increasing interaction and engagement.  It is all about increasing language.  How better to get kids talking about what they know, what they have experienced, and expanding their knowledge to new things?

SO, what should you do?  

1. Read books to/with the child/student.  Read many different types of text, and find books that interest the student(s).  Read the same book multiple times. Elicit responses to the story by providing:

• binary choices
• cloze procedures
• open-ended constituent (Wh) questions
• open-ended comprehension questions

2. Scaffold (support) language use by using:

• text/print references “Look at the ____”
• provide a cloze procedure “The boy is ___”
• use expansion “Yes, the boy is ____”
• give binary choice “Is the boy sitting or swinging?”
• model on the aac system
• give open-ended questions “What is the boy doing?”

3. Use leveled readers that have a simple story plot and use high frequency words.

Before reading: select and display the target words for the week, describe what the story is about, find the target vocabulary word(s) on the aac system and use it/them in a sentence.

During reading check for comprehension and provide opportunities for retrieving the target word(s) through questions with binary choice, cloze sentences, open questions, etc.as listed above.

After reading, review the story and, using the illustrations or a story map, retell the story.  Model target words in a variety of activities.

Happy reading!