There’s nothing better than seeing that look on your student’s face when he (or she) realizes that he just produced that long, grammatically complete sentence filled with descriptive words that he’s been working on.
Below are five simple but effective, research-based strategies that I use when teaching my students how to describe items and increase their oral and written language skills.
Tip 1: Gather Baseline Data
It’s important to gather and to analyze baseline data to determine where to start. You can do this by showing your students a few familiar items or pictures and asking them to tell you as much as they can about those items or pictures. Here are some things to look for and to use as a guide when developing measurable goals and objectives:
- How many critical features did your students use to describe each object (without ANY prompts)?
- What kind of critical features are your students using (i.e. object function, category, by what it looks like, by location, by its’ parts, etc.)?
- What kind of responses are your students providing? (i.e. single words, 2-3 word phrases, 4+ words, complete sentences, incomplete sentences, etc.)
Tip 2: Use a Multi-Sensory Learning Approach
Research has shown that the most effective way to teach students how to describe items is using a multi-sensory approach. This includes, but is not limited to, using visual supports, graphic organizers, chants, color coded beads, and/or picture prompts.
According to Robles et al., when a teacher talks and students are just listening, only approximately 20% of students in the classroom learn. In contrast, it was found that 80% of students learn under a visual or kinesthetic style, suggesting that the best way to reach the highest number of students is through a multi-sensory learning approach.
Using a multi-sensory approach allows you to “get the most bang for your buck”. You can target multiple language areas and language objectives at the same time. This approach also helps to teach students valuable strategies such as how to organize language elements and to give more detailed descriptions that can later be transferred to writing activities.
Tip 3: Scaffold
Once you’ve gathered your baseline data, use that data to guide where to start therapy with your students. Then utilize scaffolding to model language that is slightly above where your student currently is functioning.
Tip 4: Reduce the Complexity of the Task
Analyze your students errors. Then use task analysis to determine where the breakdown is occurring. Provide visual supports, oral and/or written answer choices, reduce the number of answer choices if needed, simplify the language of the task, or change the modality (i.e. provide options for your student to write, type, or orally describe the item). Gradually move up the prompting hierarchy and reduce the amount of prompts you’re providing your student.
Tip 5: Collaborate with Teachers, Parents, and/or Caregivers to Maximize Generalization
Be sure to share any visual supports and/or strategies that have been effective with your students with teachers and caregivers. Have your students practice the same or similar targets in his or her classroom setting or at home to increase the number or repetitions and to encourage generalization across all settings.
Have fun with it!
You can do it! It takes time to teach kids how to describe items, but your students will be using amazing vocabulary and descriptive words to describe objects before you know it!
Need more?
If you try these ideas but are still looking for some helpful resources to get your students describing items, click here for my FREE Describe It! Mini-Unit and my FREE Printable One Sheet Describing sampler based off of these two BEST selling resources. Click here for my FREE Compare & Contrast Mini-Unit, a companion resource to Describe It!
If you like the free mini-unit, you can grab the ENTIRE Describe It! resource here!
Looking to continue building on to your student’s descriptive skills and move on to comparing and contrasting? Check out my companion Compare & Contrast It! resource here, or grab the money saving bundle that includes both products here!
Sources:
Robles, Teresita del Rosario Caballero & Uglem, Craig Thomas Chase. 2003. Multisensory Instruction in Foreign Language Education.
