Did I mention the 36 FREE Core Lesson Plans?

Hey Tek-ninjas! In the past I blogged about the 36 Core Lesson Plans with the accompanying 108 Core Books from Tobii Dynavox. I'm bring them up again for a few reasons.

• They are an amazing resource
• They are still free
• When the Tobii Dynavox website got a face lift, they were relocated.
• They are available to ANYONE!

So first, the Core Books and Lesson plans live in the Tobii Dynavox Learning Hub. It's free to make an account and access these resources and more. The lesson link is here. 

In this blog post I discuss how to open and download the books into iBooks on your iPad, allowing you to always have the books regardless of whether you have access to wifi or no. Similarly, if you don't have an iPad, say maybe you are on a Chromebook, you can save them as pdf's, or as some school districts have done, print them, and bind them. 

A reminder, these are made by Tobii Dynavox - designed to teach Core Language. So, the lesson structure really supports Snap Core First, BUT... you can utilize these lessons (adjusting for location type info) with ANY AAC intervention, and have really robust, research based lesson plans. The lessons are written by SLPs, for the lay-person...with literal scripts to follow.  Meaning, they are ideal to send home as homework for families, or send to schools to collaborate with school-based SLPs, teachers, and TAs. 

For my teachers I just want to note what you are likely already thinking... Core words and Sight Words have a lot of overlap.... and this can provide you with an amazing opportunity to have a really powerful inclusion model where you are instructing/reinforcing Sight Words and Core Words simultaneously. AND, bonus - if you are a teacher in NC at least, my guess is you have a Professional Development goal which you are responsible to your administrator of "Integrating Technology into your Instruction"... project a Core Book onto your Smart Board, and offer group instruction, invite your SLP to collaborate with you...Gosh, I'm giddy thinking about the possibilities of this opportunity!

Happy therapy!

Tools to Support Communication with Your Child

Hey Tek-ninjas! This post goes out to parents specifically. Clinicians, if you are working with families using AAC with a Core Language approach, this content may be useful, even if they are using other products. 

Just because you're at home doesn’t mean you have to stop working on growing your child’s communication skills. Tobii Dynavox offers some terrific ideas of how you can use core vocabulary to support communication with your child.

As you likely know, Core words have application throughout your child’s day, and they are words they hear others use all day long. Core words can also help your child understand the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Follow this structure for introducing core words to your child at home. 

Find It

This means showing your child where the core word is on the device. 

Use It

Once you and your child know where to find the word, you can start using it throughout the day. 

Read It

Use these free Core First Learning Books that target one core word per book. 

Want more information on introducing core words, implementation help, and a helpful video? Click here! 

To find all Tobii Dynavox Coronavirus related resources, click here. Additionally, Tobii Dynavox is offering a lot of free live web events. And don’t forget to check out their Learning Hub for free on-demand courses that also provide ASHA CEUs.

And finally, for more “At home learning” resources, click here.

And remember: wash yer hands!!

Two Great Ideas: Core Words & iBooks

Hey Tek-ninjas! I'm excited to share a free resource with you. This is specifically useful if you are teaching Core Words, and/or reading skills to your people. I did touch on these books in a blog awhile back, but I'm really excited about using iBooks with them.

Tobii-Dynavox offers a selection of books that can be viewed on pretty much any computer. If you make a free account at mytobiidynavox, you can download these books, and lesson plans that come with them.

Like I noted, you can view these books on any computer. Or you could print and bind them. Or... and this is the solution that I really like... if you have an iPad, you can save the books in iBooks, and access them anywhere, even without wifi.

Take a look at the video to see the process.

Incidentally, if you really like these books, and prefer old-fashioned paper-back, you can purchase 36  of the books here, for $169.50.

ADDENDUM: Hey Tek-ninjas, I’ve had a professional license with Tobii-Dynavox for so long that I forgot that if you don’t have a professional license your myTobiiDynavox webpage looks different. Some of you may not have set up a professional license yet and so you’re not able to find these great resources. Take a look at this quick video as it will show you how to set up that professional license. Again, this remains free. Incidentally, the Professional account also affords you a free copy of Snap + Core First.

Happy therapy!!

"How do I Teach Core...Like fer real"...

Hey Tek-Ninjas! More than occasionally speech therapists ask me "how to teach core language, like fer real". (Disclaimer: no SLP I know actually speaks like this) I routinely direct them to make a free Professional account at www.mytobiidynavox.com. The answers and the materials are there. For free. Fer real. 

Core language is ideal because 85% of the words exchanged in everyday communication come from a relatively small pool of roughly 300 words. By providing systematic instruction in these words, we give people increased power as communicators and target their literacy skills at the same time. Words like "I", "Want", "More", "You" generalize across so many conversations. Mastering them opens up true spontaneous conversation. 

Tobii Dynavox offers free research-based instructional routines, found the in the Quick Lesson Guide.  And, while I'd like you to jump both feet first into the Tobii Dynavox world, I'd like to point out that you can use these lessons with anyone learning core language.  

Within the Professional account you can find books created specifically with a Core strategy in mind and maximize use of the target words in connected texts that support comprehension and engagement. Activities are intended for classrooms, therapy, or home use. Each word unit comes with word-byword Lesson Plans, so you know what to do to get started on Monday morning

Within the account, you can also print out overlays for a variety of tech devices. 

Even if you aren't a "professional therapist", you can also find much of this content in Pathways for Snap, another free tool that runs on iOS or Windows 10. 

Happy Therapy!