Way back before iPads
… before interactive whiteboards …
we were using what we called Story/Song/Poem
Boards to provide students with greater exposure to picture symbols within
a visually-supported, highly interactive format. This format was great for providing
differentiated instruction and seemed to have ‘something in it for everyone’ in
a mixed ability classroom.
Song/Story/Poem Boards were a natural extension of the felt
board concept used in many preschool classrooms at the time. These 22” X 22”
laminated black poster boards typically included a scene and laminated manipulables
that could be moved around and attached to the scene with Velcro. Most
materials were created using the visuals provided by the symbol set. In
contrast to the felt board, the Song/Story/Poem boards had the distinct advantage
of providing symbol sentences to be read. These tiled picture symbol sentences
were either velcroed or attached as a unit, ringed together to the bottom of
the Song/Story/Poem Board.
When using a Song/Poem/Story
Board, the facilitator would ‘read’ the symbol line, add the
dual=representation symbol to an intentional space left in the line, then proceed to concretely use the
appropriate manipulables to act out (on the scene) what was just read. The rhyming words and/or the slot-filler
items for a Song/Poem/Story were typically created as detachable Dual=Representation symbols
(PictureSymbol=PrintedWord). The fact that they were created as ‘loose symbols’
allowed the facilitator to ‘drumroll’ their introduction into the story/song/poem
… showing the card, sometimes paired with its corresponding tangible object …
then ceremoniously placing it in the symbol sentence … then flipping it to its
opposite side to reveal an alternate way of saying the exact same word. In
‘younger’ classes we typically started with the picture symbol side then flipped to the printed word side for extra
print stimulation. In ‘older’ classes the printed
word side was shown first, then flipped over to the picture symbol side to
confirm/negate the identity of the ‘mystery’ printed word. In short the
Dual=Representation Symbols used within a slot-filler format using a
Song/Story/Poem Board provided the educator with a series of great ‘teachable moments’.
Obviously Animated
Step-by-Steps™ are the current digital version of these earlier Song/Story/Poem
Boards. Here are some examples of Songs/Poems that had an earlier life as a
Song/Poem Board.
Animated Step-by-Steps™ do have several advantages over Song/Story/Poem
Boards. They have the advantage of offering a greater literacy component (remember the picture symbols only appear
after the text on the page has been read) and the animations can be triggered
using remote switch access, either
bluetooth or infrared. See the earlier post (http://bit.ly/1PQxxIk) for further information re: establishing
remote access. I also like the fact that I can provide ‘in classroom’ switch
training for students in need of greater practice. See an earlier post for
information on using the ‘safe zone’ for this purpose (01-26-15 The Safe Zone:
A Must for Switch Users; http://bit.ly/1M1UCp5) I did, however, miss being able to use those loose
Dual=Representation Symbols with students with evolving joint attention skills
(i.e., the picture symbol could be placed in their visual field). Eventually I
realized that we could ‘have it all’ …. we could still incorporate Dual=Representation
Symbols by having the classroom assistant introduce each Dual=Representation
Symbol to that child at the appropriate moment while the Step-by-Step™ was
unfolding on the interactive whiteboard.
As an aside: Staff at United
Cerebral Palsy of Staten Island (fans of the Song/Story Board format) have just purchased the current library of 75
Animated Step-by-Steps™!
This library will be perfect for their population of students.
This library will be perfect for their population of students.
…’til the next post
(new posts every Monday)
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©2015 Carol Goossens’, Ph.D.
Augmentative Communication Consultant
Speech-Language Pathologist
Special Educator
