Changing Seasons

A Language Arts Curriculum for Healthy Aging

Denise L. Calhoun

• Publisher: Purdue University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781612498638
• eBook ISBN: 9781612495309
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Adult Education

Effective communication enhances quality of life. In Changing Seasons: A Language Arts Curriculum for Healthy Aging, Denise Calhoun provides a language-based, interdisciplinary program to help older adults improve their communication skills. Each activity reveals new, creative, and fun ways to get individuals to speak, think, write, engage with others, and use their imagination. As the activities promote meaningful interactions and the creation of a stimulating environment, Changing Seasons underscores the importance of sustaining quality of life as we and those we love age.

Oral Language

Oral language involves speaking, listening, questioning, and interpreting tone. The oral language activities and lessons in this curriculum focus on building vocabulary and increasing comprehension. Participants are called upon to employ higher-level thinking skills such as summarizing, predicting, inferring, sequencing, comparing, and contrasting.

Here are three suggestions to help you maintain a relaxed, friendly, and productive atmosphere during oral language lessons and activities:

1.Provide a risk-free environment where participants feel comfortable speaking up.

2.Encourage participants to share their ideas, background knowledge, and experiences and to be responsive and receptive listeners.

3.Provide fair and equitable opportunities for all participants to further develop their speaking and listening skills.

Strategies for Activities and Lessons

•Present instructions one step at a time.

•Slow down. Allow time for participants to think and reflect. Ask them to share their thoughts.

•Reduce the amount of new information presented all at once. Break the information into small bites until you know what participants can handle.

•Use short, simple sentences. Gradually incorporate more complex sentences to stimulate higher-level thinking.

•Repeat and summarize important points.

•Ask participants to repeat what was said in their own words.

•Teach self-questioning strategies to aid memory storage. For example, participants can ask themselves these questions: Can I picture this in my mind? What pops into my head when I hear this? What does this remind me of?

•Stimulate critical (higher-level) thinking by asking who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.

•Encourage participants to share what they know about a topic.

•Encourage construction of full-sentence responses.

•Allow participants to talk about what they know rather than what they don’t know. For example, ask:

What can you say about ____________?

What do you know about ____________?

Tell us about ____________.

Some participants might struggle with oral language. The following areas could present difficulties.

•Has trouble pronouncing some words. Speech is difficult to understand. Speech pattern is hesitant and unsure.

•Vocabulary is limited to familiar words. Limits use of new words in spontaneous speech. Has trouble with word associations and categorizations.

•Describes familiar objects rather than calling them by name (e.g., calling a toothbrush a “teeth cleaner”). Buys time to try to retrieve a word by saying “Umm,” “Well,” or “You know.”

Getting Started

The purpose of the following activities is to generate “quality talk.” These activities reinforce critical-thinking skills such as predicting, inferring, sequencing, recalling, paraphrasing, analyzing, interpreting, describing, and explaining. They can be used in a variety of ways.

TOSS AND TALK

Toss and Talk is a great icebreaker to get a group talking without having to volunteer. It can be used as an open-ended sequencing strategy in which each person adds to a story or adds steps to a set of directions when a ball is tossed to him or her. However, the most common use of Toss and Talk involves passing a beach ball covered with fun questions for participants to answer. The ball is passed from one person to another, and the person who receives it answers the question located under his or her right thumb.

THINK–PAIR–SHARE

Think–Pair–Share is a learning strategy in which participants work collaboratively to solve a problem or to discuss the answer to a question. The objective is to first think about a topic or response to a question and then share ideas with a partner. This technique allows for maximum participation, focus, and engagement in comprehending information.

ROUND-ROBIN

In round-robin reading, participants take turns reading a brief portion of text aloud while the rest of the group follows along in their own copy. In round-robin storytelling, one person starts the story, then in turn others add to it.

JIGSAW

Jigsaw encourages group sharing and for participants to learn specific content. ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• About the Program
• How to Use This Book
• Oral Language
• Written Language
• Seasonal Activities
• Abstract Art Activities
• Appendices
• Glossary
• Resources
• About the Author