Understanding and Using Spoken Language

Games and Activities for 7-9 year olds

Catherine Delamain, Jill Spring

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781351131292
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Understanding and Using Spoken Language is a collection of original games and activities designed to help and support children aged from 7 to 9 years.

The book seeks to address language and communication diffi culties for children aged 7–9 by providing a range of fun and engaging activities. The activities focus on both social and language development in areas such as body language, independence, emotions, listening, speaking and auditory memory. The book includes:

?? Over 150 games and activities, which are differentiated for different ages and levels of ability;

?? A clear aim, equipment list and instructions for each activity;

?? Photocopiable templates for ease of use;

?? Supplementary resource sheets including pictures and scripts to use with the activities.

Now fully revised and updated in line with current policy and legislation, this book includes material to create an effective speech and language therapy programme in consultation with a therapist. The activities are easy to set up and can be carried out by teachers, classroom assistants or volunteers. This is a unique manual that will be an essential addition to the materials used by professionals working with young children.

Understanding and Using Spoken Language
UNDERSTANDING SPOKEN LANGUAGE

Active Listening and Memory

1. Stage I
   1. Greetings Card
   2. Harriet's Hats
   3. Waiter!
   4. Railway Stations
   5. Give it a Name
   6. Fill in the Gaps
2. Stage II
   1. Mrs Chatter's Shopping
   2. Character Sketch
   3. What were they Doing?
   4. Word Alert (1)
   5. Whose Birthday?
   6. Commercials
3. Stage III
   1. Stop Thief!
   2. Poetry Please
   3. Word Alert (2)
   4. Tombola
   5. Get Organised!
   6. Calendar
4. Stage IV
   1. Ask me a Question
   2. Word Alert (3)
   3. Story Map
   4. No!
   5. For and Against
   6. Training Sessions

Stage 1

Greetings Card

Aim

To be able to follow instructions to make a simple greetings card.

Equipment

Drawing equipment, card and a selection of decorative materials.

Preparation

You will need to decide what sort of card it is to be, and jot down the basic instructions for making it. (See examples below.)

Activity

Explain to the children that they are each going to make a card. Tell them what the occasion is, and who the card might be for. Each child should be able to reach the materials easily. They must listen carefully, and try to do exactly what you tell them. Sometimes they will need to choose their own colour, and at other times they must use the colour you suggest. Read each part of the instruction twice before anyone is allowed to start. Allow the children to complete each instruction before giving the next. At the end you can check that everyone has added all the decorations and details you suggested.

Example

A birthday card for Gran

Fold your piece of card in half. Draw a big flower on the front of the card. Colour the petals red or yellow. Choose four shiny sequins from the box. Stick one sequin in each corner on the front of the card. Open up the card. Choose a piece of coloured tissue-paper from the box. Cut it into a flower shape. Stick it on the right-hand page. Write ‘To Gran’ at the top. Write ‘Love from, and then your name’, in red under the flower.

Harriet's Hats

Aim

To be able to follow instructions relating to pattern and colour.

Equipment

‘Harriet’s hats’ template from Teaching Resources.

Preparation

Write simple descriptions of seven different hats, one for every day of the week. Write the descriptions on a large sheet of paper. Mark which hat refers to which day (see examples below). Copy the hat template for each child

How to Play

Give each child a ‘Harriet’s hats’ sheet, and a supply of colouring pencils or crayons. Tell them that Harriet loves hats and wears a different one every day of the week. Describe the first hat, and give them time to colour it according to your description. Continue until all the hats are coloured. Now the children must cut out the individual hats, following the dotted lines. They should write their initials on their hats. You can then collect all the hats and shuffle them. Put the sheet with the descriptions of the hats up so that everyone can see it. Ask a child to pick a hat from the pile, and see if they can identify which day it belongs to by its colour and pattern.

Example

On Mondays Harriet liked to wear the white hat with purple spots.

On Tuesdays she always wore the red hat with the black feather.

On Wednesdays the green and yellow stripy hat was her favourite.

Thursday was the blue and white check hat’s turn.

Friday was market day, so she wore the yellow hat with an orange bow.

On Saturday she went to watch football, wearing the green hat with black stars.

On Sundays she always wore the pink and blue stripy hat.

Waiter!

Aim

To be able to remember a list of instructions.

Equipment

Food pictures from Teaching Resources.

Preparation

Copy two sets of the food pictures, and cut them up into individual pictures.

Activity

Separate the children into three or more small groups, sitting at separate tables. Choose someone to be a waiter, and someone to be the chef. Put one food picture onto each table, which the ‘diners’ look at and then turn face down. Lay out the second complete set in front of the chef. The waiter then visits three or more tables and takes their orders, which will be the items on their concealed pictures. He goes to the chef, tells him what has been ordered (three or more items), collects the appropriate pictures and takes the orders back to each table. The ‘diners’ check to see if they have the right order. Then change both waiter and chef, and give out another set of orders. Repeat the activity as often as time permits.

Example

An apple.
A glass of cola.
An iced bun.

Tip

You can make the memory load harder by letting each table order two or more items.

Extension

Children could suggest different food items, and make the pictures using a computer graphics programme. Menu cards could be made in Design and Technology. Add a bit of fun by allowing the ‘diners’ to criticise their orders – for example, burnt, undercooked, no chips – and getting the waiter to relay the criticisms to the chef.

Railway Stations

Aim

To be able to remember and spot the instruction that applies to you.

Equipment

None.

Activity

Seat the children one behind the other in a long line, on chairs, a bench, or the floor.

Explain that they are on a train. At every station there are people on the platform selling things to eat and drink. Each child will be told what they are allowed to buy, and when the train stops at a station where those things are being sold, they can get off the train. Decide on four different types of refreshment. Tell the first four children what they can buy – for example, apples, chocolate, orange squash, ice cream. Repeat the same sequence for the next four and so on, until everyone knows their snack. Then set the train going, and talk about its journey, without making the instructions too clear or direct. (‘The train is slowing down for Notown. I can see the man coming along the platform. I think he has a tray of chocolate.’) The children who were told they could buy chocolate get off the train, with or without reminders. Set the train going again. (‘Right, off we go again. The next station is quite soon. Oh yes, here we are – there is a man selling lovely ripe apples and pears.’) The game ends when everybody has got off the train.

Extension

Make it harder by ‘wrapping up’ the instructions – for example, ‘There’s a man selling lollipops and chocolate and mugs of coffee.’

Give it a Name

Aim

To be able to think of a suitable title for a short story.

Equipment

‘Give it a name’ texts from Teaching Resources.

Activity

Explain to the children that you are going to read them a very short story. The author has given it a name, but the publisher does not like what has been chosen. The children are to think up a better title. Read the text a couple of times, and then ask for suggestions for good titles. These could be written up, or recorded on to audiotape. Then go through the various suggestions, asking for a show of hands to vote on the suitability of each one. The most popular title is chosen for the story.

Extension

The children could continue the story as a creative writing activity, or prod...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Introduction
• How to use this Book
• 1 UNDERSTANDING SPOKEN LANGUAGE
• 2 USING SPOKEN LANGUAGE
• 3 TEACHING RESOURCES