Category Archives: Strategies

How can we make our word finders better “describers”?  I like to use the Expanding Expression Tool, or EET. Many thanks to Sara at Expanding Expression.com for her permission to talk about the tool.

The EET is a great tool for promoting a variety of expressive language goals.  According to expandingexpression.com, it promotes a variety of oral and written language skills, including vocabulary comprehension, defining and describing, making associations, stating functions, categorization, and similarities and differences.  That almost sounds like a list of different word finding strategies a child can use, doesn’t it?  And it’s multi-sensory!

I modify the program a bit to promote word retrieval.  When a child is stuck on a word, how can he describe it to his listener so his listener knows what word he is searching for?  What are an object’s “salient characteristics”?  In other words, what makes it what it is?  I remind my students that it will not help their friends know they are talking about a “chair,” if they describe it as “blue.”   It is often most helpful to name the category  (furniture) and 2 or 3 important details (one person sits on it, it has a seat and 4 legs).  The EET uses a green bead to represent “group,” or the category.  Each bead reminds a child to provide different information about the object he is describing.  Green:  group, blue: do (“what does it do?” or “what do we do with it?”), and so on.  It wouldn’t be fair to say  too much about the program; I would rather you learn more about it and purchase it from Expanding Expression.

Sometimes  I use the tool as a game.  The object is to use such amazing descriptions that your “opponent” identifies the described mystery object with as few hints as possible.  Anytime I call the activity a “game” and add some competition, the kids are more motivated.

When I first introduced this tool to my students, I received a voicemail from one of my “speech parents.”  She explained that the EET was used throughout the school where she taught, and sang to me the song they used to teach the mantra!  To the tune of “Skip to My Lou,” they sang “green, group, blue, do, what does it look like? what is it made of?”, etc. etc..   I immediately taught it to my speech kids, and I still use the song to help myself remember the meaning of each of the beads.  I also make mini-tools using plastic beads from a craft store.  Each student gets one to use as a bookmark or a backpack “charm.”

It’s important to remember that once a child does come up with the word, he should anchor it in his repertoire to make it easier to retrieve the next time.  To anchor it, please refer to my post of November 4, citing Diane German’s Word Finding Intervention Program -Second Edition  (German,  2004).

Do you have other ideas for promoting a child’s “describing” skills?  Please “comment” at the bottom of this post or send me an email!  I would love to hear your success stories!

Sometimes  children with word finding difficulties need help visualizing the context of the words they need.   I find that  kids can sometimes retrieve the word for which they are searching when I help them “picture it.”  On November 2, I posted the acronym “Silly Sally Always Draws Fuzzy Pandas” created by my colleagues Sarah Mendoza and Tara Brooks.  The “P” in Pets stands for “picture it.” In FAVOR-C, the “V” stands for Visualize.  Either acronym can help students remember to try a variety of strategies when they get stuck on a word.

“Make a movie in your head.”  “Make your brain be a camera.”  Describe visualizing in words they understand.  These phrases have worked for me.

If my student is having trouble retrieving the word for her after-school snack, I have her visualize her kitchen:  “Walk in the door and put down your backpack.  It’s time for an after-school snack!  Do you see the kitchen table and the cupboards?  Do you see your fridge and the stove?  Look in the  refrigerator – what do you see?  What color is the counter top?  What else do you see?”    If she can’t retrieve the word for that new piece of science equipment, I have her visualize the science lab: “Pretend you are walking to your station.  You can see the microscope, the Petri dish, and your notes.  Tell me what it looks like.”

Of course, it’s important to remember that what Olivia visualizes may be different than what Andrew visualizes.  When asked to visualize her bedroom, Olivia may use words like “pink,” “fluffy” and “stuffed animals.”  Andrew may use words like “camo” “video console” and “Legos.”   I became very aware of seeing a room from different perspectives when I realized that what I visualized when I thought of my office was my cutesy bulletin board and organized bookshelf of therapy materials.  What my students visualized, however, was the room from the opposite side of the table:  my cluttered desk, distracting computer screen, and stained coffee mug.  Ugh! What a lesson in visualizing!

Try “visualizing” as one strategy in your student’s arsenal of strategies.  Always encourage him to think about what helps him “find” the words he needs. Help him become aware of what works for him.  As he becomes more aware, he can be a better self-advocate.