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Learners may have difficulties expressing their own ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Tip or Idea: Name the emotions. Use puppets, flashcards or simply hide and uncover your own face. Who can be first to name the emotion? Extend by giving a reason why e.g. He is happy because…
Learning Village resource: Feelings Snakes & Ladders game - land on a picture. Describe it and move forward 1 space! (I am happy when…/I am sad when…/I am shocked when…)
Progressing from single words to full sentences is essential for learners’ confidence and access to the curriculum. The first goal is to build vocabulary and meaning. Start with key vocabulary using visuals, repetition, and word banks. Next, support learners with sentence stems and substitution tables to build phrases and gradually progress to expanding sentences with adjectives and conjunctions.
Learners with speech and language difficulties may find it difficult to remember words or think or the word they want to use when they are talking.
Tip or Idea: Think of a category such as ‘animals’ or ‘things in a kitchen’ and then see how many words you can name. Each time you think of a word place a Lego piece on top of another and see how tall a tower you can build!
Understanding the needs of your learners is essential. Learners who use English as an additional language may also have additional learning needs, and sometimes separating language needs from learning needs can be challenging. Assessment results and classroom work offer some insight; however, taking the time to carefully observe your learners’ behaviours can provide a deeper appreciation of their needs. This can help you consider necessary adjustments or interventions, or support further assessments of specific SEND needs.