Mary Wore Her Red Dress is an Animated Step-by-Step™ that is
great for the beginning of the school year, especially during Circle Time. Mary, as the original
song suggests wears articles of clothing reflecting a rainbow of colors
allowing the class to work on both clothing names and color concepts. Of course
there are three versions offered ( regular, SymbolStix-supported, Picture
Communication Symbol-supported) so pick the version that works best for your
classroom needs.
The file also includes an alternate version that allows you
to personalize the song for the students in your class. On this page you would use the Interactive pen
tools to write in the child’s name, circle whether we should use the his or her
pronoun, circle and/or write in the desired clothing item and finally circle
its color.
If class size is
small (5-6 children) it is easy to let each child take a turn singing about
something they are wearing that day. Joseph
wants to sing about his green shirt; Kati wants to sing about her new pink dress.
If class size is
considerably larger (e.g., in a blended or regular classroom) you may wish
to randomize the process to ensure that each child receives a turn across the
school week. Obviously, you can print
each child’s name or photo on a card and simply pull it out of a bag or box.
The option I prefer, however, is using a learning fun cube from Mayer-Johnson/Dynavox (http://www.mayer-johnson.com/learning-fun-cubes-3-pack-black).
A learning fun cube has a velcro® receptive surface that allows you to velcro®
photos or cards to one of the six sides of the cube.
When school begins in the Fall, I’ve always encouraged
classroom staff to create 3 inch Dual=Representation
Name cards for every student in their class. Dual=Representation name cards
have a labeled photo face on one
side and an enlarged printed name on
the flip side.
Glue the two sides (photo, printed name) back-to-back, then
laminate and trim the unit leaving a 1/8” border. Attach a small patch of male
(hook/rough) velcro® to the top and bottom edge of both sides.
When its time for another classmate to take a turn, toss the
dice … whomever lands ‘topside’ is the lucky winner of the toss. “Bethany!
(showing Bethany’s photo face)
Bethany what do you want to sing about? You can sing about your beautiful blouse …
your snazzy socks … your spiffy pants … you pick.” (using the opportunity to explore the use of
adjectives)
If Bethany is cognitively young, she can indicate her choice
by looking at the preferred clothing item on her body. If a child is unable to indicate their choice
with natural speech, Dual=Representation clothing symbol choices or a clothing
communication display (with or without voice-output) can be introduced to allow
the child to make a choice.
After the class has sung about Bethany’s green socks, her
Dual=Representation name card is flipped to indicate that Bethany has had her
turn. If Bethany’s name ‘surfaces’ in a
future toss, a teachable moment exists, e.g., “Okay looks like this friend has
already had a turn (showing the printed name). Her name is _________. Let’s toss again.”
Many teachers like to start using the photo face side; then flipping
to the printed name side to infuse an extra literacy component. Other
classrooms might prefer to start with the printed name side (challenging
students to decipher the text); then flipping to the photo face side to merely confirm
the correct answer. “ So you think its Shakira’s turn? (showing the printed
name side). Let’s see if you’re right. (flip) Ta da! You’re right! That did say
Shakira (showing the photo face side).
Here are some other variations that might work well in your classroom:
Variation l: use
two cubes: one with the Dual=Representation names; the other with Dual=Representation
Clothing Items. “ Haley …. Shoes …. Haley’s shoes are _______. Let’s sing about Haley’s pink shoes.
Haley
wore her pink shoes, pink shoes, pink shoes. Haley wore her pink shoes to
school today.
Variation2: toss
a cube with Dual=Representation color items.
“ Red! (can be using either the color side or the printed word
side) Is anyone wearing something
red? Look around. Okay … Joey wore something red. Let’s sing
about Joey’s red __________.
Joey wore his …
In the hands of a creative teacher, this Mary
Wore Her Red Dress Animated Step-by-Step™ can be varied slightly every
other day to create renewed interest.
… ‘til the next post ….
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© 2015 Carol Goossens', Ph.D.
Augmentative Communication Specialist
Speech-Language Pathologist
Special Educator
http://animatedstepbysteps.blogspot.com
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