If you work in the schools, your word retrieval therapy will probably get rolling again Monday morning. Here’s a “building a snowman” dialog to get you started. Depending on the age of your students, you can demonstrate it for them, video older students acting it out, or have them read it themselves. Working on awareness? Have them identify the retrieval problems they notice. Working on strategies? Have them identify how they could help themselves come up with the word. Kids love to watch themselves on video. Record their own “presentation,” then ask them to analyze it
Dan: Hey, Sara! It snowed last night! Do you want to make a scarecrow?
Sara: A scarecrow? How do we make a scarecrow in the snow?
Dan: Oh, you know…one of those thingies…
Sara: Thingies?
Dan: Yeah, those thingies with the 3 white balls…
Sara: Do you mean a snowman?
Dan: Oh, of course, a SNOWMAN! We can roll the balls in the snow, then add a face with whatchamacallit…the black stuff from the barbecue grill.
Sara: You mean charcoal?
Dan: Yeah, charcoal! And for the nose, we can use one of those green, I mean orange, vegetables…not lettuce, they’re called uh, uh, uh, you know, the long pointie things that rabbits eat.
Sara: Do you mean carrots?
Dan: Carrots! We can make a face with charcoal and carrots, and put a mitten around his neck.
Sara: I don’t think you mean a mitten. Do you mean a scarf?
Dan: Of course, a scarf! We can borrow one from my dad, I mean, my mom.
Sara: Before we go outside, though, let’s really bundle up! It’s really cold out.
Jan: Good idea. First, I’ll put on my …those warm pants that keep you dry in the snow…
Sara: Snowpants?
Dan: Yeah, snowpants. And I’ll zip up my coat, I mean, jacket, then put on my hat and scarf, and last of all, I’ll put on my gloves, er, mittens.
Sara: I’m glad you’ll dress warmly. We’ll have fun making our scarecrow…I mean, snowman.