I met today with Dr. Diane German, who has been my mentor in the field of word finding ever since I took her course on the subject. I call her the word finding guru. I showed her this blog, my Facebook page, and my Twitter tweets. She was very enthusiastic about more SLPs, teachers, and parents becoming informed about the impact word finding can have on kids, and how we can help them. I think that’s one thing that is very special about the field of speech-language pathology – people are always networking to share ideas and best practices.
Meeting with Diane was a reminder we want to help a child get automatic with important vocabulary before he or she needs the words in conversational speech. So now is the time to introduce the Thanksgiving vocabulary and corresponding retrieval strategies needed so he can comfortably discuss his or her upcoming Thanksgiving activities. Dr. German (2005) in the Word Finding Intervention Program, Second Edition (WFIP-2) presents a 5-step retrieval procedure for improving word finding of target words.
First, select a word that is difficult for the learner to retrieve.
Second, divide the target word into syllables, reinforcing each syllable of multi-syllable words. When I do this second step, I like to have the younger kids move their entire bodies with each syllable. I borrowed Dr. Judy Montgomery’s technique of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” which she uses to promote syllable awareness for beginning readers (Montgomery, 2007). I have the kids stand up, touch their “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” for each syllable in (e.g.,) cornucopia, Mayflower, or Pilgrim. The kids are always begging for words of 5 or more syllables so they can swat their own rear end! You can also have them touch shoulder, elbow, wrist, tap out syllables, clap, or even stomp their feet. I have had third grade girls act out an impromptu rap dance to reinforce the syllables in “quadrilateral.” Get them moving and laughing! Reinforce each syllable with a movement.
Third, according to Dr. German, match same sound mnemonic cues (words that sound like the target syllable) to the “evasive” (i.e., difficult to retrieve) syllables. This helps anchor the syllables for automatic retrieval. Here are some ideas to get you started:
cornucopia – corn/coke or corn/Cody (apparently there is a popular Disney channel show about Zack and Cody)
Pilgrim – pill/grim or pill/Grinch – draw a picture with a grim-faced Pilgrim wearing a pill for a hat or the Grinch with a pill
feast – feet – draw a picture of a big platter of feet to eat
The sillier the better. The kids are engaged and start coming up with their own cues. Remember that what is meaningful to you as an adult may not be meaningful to an eight year old or a junior in high school. Be alert to the popular culture with which they are familiar. I confess that I had never heard of Zack and Cody, but my speech kids certainly knew who they were! Dr. German stresses that it is important to think of the cue as you practice saying the target word out loud. She recommends mnemonic cues be written in a “think cloud” to reinforce that one only thinks of the mnemonic cues.
Lastly, steps 4 and 5 involve rehearsal. While the learner thinks of his/her mnemonic cues, each target word is rehearsed three times alone and then in a meaningful sentence (German, 2005). When I do these last steps with my students, I modify a bit: I ask for a “word finding 5.” Each student says the word aloud 5 times, makes up a sentence using the word, then he or she gets a “high 5.”
Try to anticipate the vocabulary your students will need in the coming weeks. Recheck with your classroom teachers and get an update on their curriculum words. Don’t forget to share your ideas for mnemonic cues by replying to this post or by emailing me: jan@wordfindingforkids.com. I will add your ideas to the vocabulary list on this blog.
References
German, D.J. (2005). Word Finding Intervention Program, Second Edition (WFIP-2), Austin,TX: Pro.ed.
Montgomery, J. K. (2007b). The Bridge of Vocabulary. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson Assessment.
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