Name of teaching material
Let’s play at a zoo self-made product
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| Target |
Target Elementary school children Children who can transmit what they want by using words (such as saying “trampoline” and “camera” to express what activity they want to do and what they want to use) Children who like to make simple toys using blocks and/or clothespins, manipulate miniatures and play simple pretend Children who have visited a zoo with mates or family, have had a pet animal(s) and can look at and touch animals |
|---|---|
| Disability category | mentally challenged autism |
| Teaching units / Applicable scenes | Japanese |
| Specific purposes | To assist children express actions of an animal figure in a box representing a zoo using three-word sentences |
| Considerations for disability characteristics |
Considerations for disability characteristics Play equipment familiar and favored by the child and exercise toys used at PE are drawn on the inside surface of the box representing a zoo. Mini figures of the child’s favorite animals, which have dimensions that are easy to handle in the box, are used. As the child plays with the figure, the teacher says sentences expressing the action of the figure, such as “The elephant is drinking water”, and encourages the child to combine word cards to help the child recognize nouns and verbs. In the photos shown above, three word cards are shown. Of the three, the last one with no illustration expresses the verb meaning “to drink”. The order of the cards reflects the most common word order of three-word sentences in Japanese, which is the subject (elephant), object (water) and verb (to drink). |
| Expected effects and results |
In our school, children initially used onomatopoeia words (such as “gokugoku” for drink and “pyonpyon” for jump) instead of verbs. Gradually, they started to answer the correct verb, “nomu (drink)”, when the teacher asked, “What is “gokugoku?” and became able to form three-word sentences. Today, children sometimes lay down incorrect word cards intentionally to enjoy the teacher’s response of “Wrong!” |
| How to use |
How to use 1. Prepare a box representing a zoo, a mini figure(s) of an animal favored by the child and word cards preferably with illustrations. Place them on a desk. 2. Play zoo pretend play with a child one on one. Play together by moving the mini figure of an animal inside the box that has pictures drawn. 3. Say words describing the action of the figure manipulated by the child, such as “The elephant is drinking water”. 4. Ask the child to choose and combine word cards that match what the teacher said and to compose a three-word sentence. The action of the animal figure is to be expressed by combining noun and verb cards. 5. Read the three-word sentence composed by the child aloud. 6. Ask the child to imitate you and to read the cards aloud. |
| Related teaching materials and information | |
| Useful for other students |
- Informant Special Needs Education School for Children with Autism, University of Tsukuba
- Keywords three-word sentence, representative play, word card
- Created 2024-04-16 11:48:20
- Updated 2024-04-16 15:55:09