“Cloze” procedures, or “fill in the blank” can help retrieve words in both children and adults. It’s almost like setting up your brain to finish a sentence. I use examples for my students like these:
When my pants are too big, I need to wear a…..[belt].
I eat when I’m hungry, I drink when I’m….[thirsty].
When I get to school, I hang my backpack in my….[locker].
Once they understand the concept, I ask them to make up their own sentences to help a partner retrieve a target word. Later, they can use this strategy to help themselves retrieve a word.
In my November 4 post, I talked about using “FAVOR-C” or “Silly Sally….” to encourage students to try a variety of strategies. The “F” in FAVOR-C stands for “Fill in the blank.” Again, different children and adults are helped by different strategies. Part of self-advocacy is learning what works for YOU.
Many commercially-available word finding resources use lists automatic associations which work the same way. But wait!! Isn’t this the word association strategy? Sure! Sometimes they overlap. In fact, a number of these strategies overlap. Think of the Venn diagrams you learned in elementary school. These strategies are not mutually exclusive. Use these overlapping concepts and overlapping language to build more connections in the brain.
