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Language-for-Thinking-colour-edition-sample-pages 3 PDF
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Language
for Thinking
A Structured Approach for Young Children
The Colour Edition
All rights reserved. The whole of this work, including all text and illustrations, is protected by copyright. No part
of it may be copied, altered, adapted or otherwise exploited in any way without express prior permission, unless
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from the publisher, on behalf of the copyright owner.
PART 1
Introduction 3
How to use this resource 5
PART 2
Assessment pictures and record sheets 24
Assessment texts 33
PART 3
Scenarios 36
Scenario texts 136
PART 4
Attendance sheet 156
Worksheets 159
Question symbols 169
Frequently asked questions 171
Assessment sample answers 173
Assessment and scoring guides 181
Bibliography 183
v
We would like to say ‘thank you’ to the following people who provided valuable input to
the development of this programme at various stages along the way:
Annabelle Burns
Courtenay Norbury
Jennifer Gibson
Jessica Peel-Yates
Joe Burlington
Kerry Bray
Laura Lyons
Marie Gascoigne
Nigel Branagan
Philippa Trehearne
and all the children who participated in the trialling of this resource.
We would like to thank our partners, Kevin and Steve, for their encouragement, support and
babysitting.
vi
Despite the popular perception that children learn language just as plants grow given
water, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the rate at which children acquire
language differs considerably. This may be obvious when we listen to the different
ages at which children start saying ‘doggie’ but is less apparent when we look at the
abstract language and problem-solving skills of older children. The differences between
children using their first words may be easier to spot, but they are not necessarily
more important. In fact, one could argue that it is the child’s ability to negotiate his
way through the cut and thrust of the playground that really marks him out at school.
And, as captains of industry are always telling us, one of the keys to success in later
employment is effective communication skills. The older child who has difficulties putting
thoughts into words is vulnerable for all sorts of reasons.
Of course, one could say that we ought to have a more inclusive society where the
whole range of children is included to the best of their abilities. However, the fact that
we are constantly reminded of the inclusion agenda only goes to show, in a somewhat
paradoxical fashion, what a long way we have to go. On the whole, physical disability
has received more attention than more subtle communication or intellectual abilities. In
essence, if the public cannot see the difficulty, it does not exist.
This, then, brings us around to what should be done about children who have language
learning difficulties. We know that speech and language therapy can be effective in
bringing on the speech and language skills of preschool children. There are now a
number of studies that tell us that this is possible. But we still know precious little about
how to go about doing this for older children. It is not that many of these children
are not being provided with help by educationalists and therapists across the UK and
elsewhere, it is simply that there is little consensus as to what helps them most. Should
it be a question of trying anything and seeing how the child responds, or should we take
a more scientific approach to the teaching of language skills? I would wholeheartedly
support the latter approach. Individualised child or therapist relationships are important,
but they are no longer the main business of therapy. There is now a public dimension
which requires therapists to open up what they are doing to public scrutiny.
The first step along this path is to recognise the commonalities in what therapists
and educationalists do when providing educational support. The second step is the
vii
Language for Thinking
Language for Thinking is just such a programme. It has been written by two speech
and language therapists who have spent the majority of their professional lives not just
working with language-impaired children but also working with them alongside teachers.
They have adapted a model originally developed by Marion Blank for use with all children
to the needs of those children who have marked difficulties. Rather than targeting
the specific structures of language, they aim to focus on the child’s verbal reasoning
skills. In other words, the need to talk about something comes first and the language
structures follow. The authors emphasise the child’s capacity to infer meaning. For them
this is the only way of fostering meaningful language in children who find the whole
process of language learning difficult.
It is not just a matter of what we do. We also need to be able to demonstrate that what
we are doing is achieving what we say it is. All too often, practitioners assume that what
they are doing is a ‘good thing’, but when you ask them how they know this is the case,
they are not always so clear. In this programme we have a procedure for monitoring
progress towards specific targets. The fact that teachers and therapists can now share
their targets will help all parties. One of the great benefits of this programme is that it
tackles head-on the issue of language comprehension. All too often, such programmes
focus on the grammatical skills of the child at the expense of his verbal comprehension,
his ability to infer meaning from what he hears. In all, this package is a welcome addition
to the arsenal of both the speech and language therapist and the teacher working with
the child with language learning difficulties.
James Law
Director, Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research
Queen Margaret University College
Edinburgh EH12 8TS
viii
The resource
provides a clear structure to help children’s language develop from the ‘here and
now’ to the ‘how and why’
can be used flexibly with whole classes as the basis of a literacy lesson, small groups
or individual children
three parallel assessments of language: they can be used to determine each child’s
starting level and assess progress
ix
Introduction 3
The children 5
Language levels 6
Presentation styles 8
Monitoring progress 12
Individual targets 21
Abstract questions are integral to developing children’s thinking and learning. Children
need to be able to respond to questions such as the following:
Most children learn to respond to abstract language, such as this, naturally, but a number
do not. For those who do not, this may be for a number of different reasons:
Limited life experience or knowledge will also impact upon a child’s ability to understand
social situations.
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Language for Thinking
To ensure children have every chance of success, the scenarios in this book are all
adapted to reduce the language load. This is done by
This allows the children to develop their ability to answer increasingly complex questions
without being too limited by language factors. They can practice their skills in a
supportive context, before applying them to class and social situations.
This edition
Language for Thinking was first published in 2005, and since then it has established
itself as one of the most widely used interventions for children and young people with
speech, language and communication needs in the UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exploring-interventions-for-children-and-
young-people-with-speech-language-and-communication-needs-a-study-of-practice.
This new edition provides downloadable colour images as well as modernizes some of
the images and updates the approach.
Website
Our website www.thinkingtalking.co.uk gives details of our practical training courses and
information on how to contact the authors. Please do let us know how you get on.
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The children
Whole class
As being able to answer increasingly abstract questions is such an important part of
learning, this resource can be used as a structured way of teaching these skills to
typically developing children aged between four and seven years. By projecting the
images onto the interactive whiteboard and asking the different levels of questions, a
differentiated whole class discussion can be facilitated.
Children with less obvious oral language difficulties may begin to struggle when they
start to read. The beginner reader must spend so much energy on decoding that some
find it harder to interpret the meaning beyond the most concrete level. Text also gives
the reader fewer clues than oral language does, where situation, facial expression and
intonation support the intended meaning.
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Language for Thinking
Language levels
As a child develops language for thinking, he moves from being able to answer concrete
questions (‘here and now’) to being able to answer more abstract questions (‘how and
why’). To provide a structure to the teaching, the transition from concrete to abstract
has been divided into three language levels: A, B and C.
Language Level A
At this level the child selects information from what is provided, so it is very much
based in the ‘here and now’. The child does not need to use any specific world
knowledge, he just needs to listen to what is said and what he can see and then
identify the right information. More abstract questions may also be used but only
if directly related to the child’s own experiences, that is, the child is stating what
actually happened to him: for example, ‘How did you feel?’
Here are some examples from this resource:
Who went swimming?
What were Lisa and Jane talking about?
What is Billy wearing?
Language Level B
The child selects information from what is presented and combines this with his
world knowledge. The child must organise his thoughts into a logical sequence. This
is when a child starts to make simple inferences (reading between the lines) and
predictions. The child also starts to have to listen more closely to language rather
than predict from what he sees and knows; for example, ‘Tell me something we eat
that is not a fruit’ requires a greater depth of skill than ‘Tell me something we eat’.
Here are some examples from this resource:
Tell me how the children planted the seeds.
How does Suzie feel?
What is something you shouldn’t do with a book?
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Part One - The ‘Blank’ model
Language Level C
This, the most abstract level, requires the child to use ‘language to predict,
reflect on and integrate ideas and relationships’ (Blank et al, 1978a). This is true
language for thinking. The key question at this level is why, for example, ‘Why
will X happen?’ and ‘Why shouldn’t … ?’ The child is also expected to talk about a
variety of possible outcomes that may not be immediately obvious (such as ‘What
would she do if … ?’) as well as reflect on his own understanding (eg ‘How can you
tell?’).
Here are some examples from this resource:
How do you know how old Caroline is?
What is the same about grandmothers and grandfathers?
If Jamal didn’t have a tray, what could he do?
In brief there are four levels to the Blank model. Children start with the most concrete
language at level 1 and move to the most abstract (level 4). Most children proceed
through these stages as their language skills develop, but some need extra support. In
the ‘Language for Thinking’ programme, the three language levels (A, B and C) generally
relate to Blank levels 2, 3 and 4. Language Level A represents the most concrete level of
language and Level C the most abstract.
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Language for Thinking
Presentation styles
Each of the scenarios may be presented in different styles, depending on the children
you are working with and their language and literacy levels. It is most effective to
develop oral language skills before moving on to reading comprehension as most
children need to develop their language skills first, without involving reading, so it is
recommended that you start with Picture and talk. Others can cope with adding the
complexity of reading, but in our experience these are the minority. If in doubt, start
with Picture and talk.
Text alone
The child reads the story for himself. The adult then asks the questions orally. At this
stage the child must find all the necessary information in the text. This is the most
abstract and therefore most challenging style of presentation.
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Part One - The differentiated classroom
For ‘Language for Thinking’ it is advantageous to have children at slightly different levels
as this provides extra learning opportunities. All children need to be working in the same
presentation style (one of Picture and talk, Picture and text or Text alone).
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Language for Thinking
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Part One - The differentiated classroom
6. Use strategies outlined in the ‘Helping every child succeed’ section (see page 15–17)
to support children to get the answers right.
7. If a child is still unable to answer a question, redirect it to another child. If multiple
answers are possible for a question (eg ‘What could happen next?’), ask the group
for their answers and discuss.
8. Carry out the suggested practical activities.
9. Give out appropriate worksheets for children to complete.
If you are using Picture and text, use steps 1–9, with the exception of step 3 as the
children will read the story rather than you reading it. You still read all the questions to
them.
If you are using Text alone, the children will not have the picture to refer to, so omit
step 2. It is still important to use the discussion starter as this helps children link what
they already know to the specific scenario. Instead of step 3 above, the children will
read the story. The remaining steps are the same.
Reassessment
It is recommended that each intervention period consists of 10–15 lessons.
Reassessment is an important way of measuring the child’s progress. It may be timely to
assess a child at the end of a term (semester). If you have the impression that a child is
progressing, you may wish to reassess him earlier, but avoid over assessing.
If you are working with individuals, before the session, select the questions according to
the child’s assessed level and then follow the same format as used with a small group.
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Language for Thinking
Monitoring progress
Assessment
There are three parallel assessment scenarios. Use the first one to determine where to
start. The other assessments are used for monitoring progress. The assessments are
most appropriate for use with individuals and small groups.
These assessments are working tools and not formal tests. They aim to give guidance
about where to start with a child and monitor progress. They do rely on subjective
judgement to some extent. However, you should aim to be consistent with your scoring.
Refer frequently to the scoring guides, which are given in Tables 1 and 2 (see page 13
and 14) and repeated at the back of this book.
Rereading the story is permitted, but should be recorded on the Assessment Record
Sheet. In all formats the adult asks the questions orally. Ask all the questions on the
Assessment Record Sheet in the given order. Record the child’s answers exactly as he
says them.
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Part One - Monitoring progress
Use minimal prompts and mark any prompts on the Assessment Record Sheet with a ‘P’.
For example, if the child points, prompt him ‘Can you tell me in words?’ Be generally
encouraging and accepting of the child’s answers. Repeating questions is permitted, but
should be recorded on the Assessment Record Sheet with an ‘R’.
Afterwards
Score the child’s answers using the guidance below.
Add the score in the unshaded boxes. Add up the scores for each language level.
Total all three language levels.
Allocate starting level (see ‘Knowing where to start’ in the following page).
3 points The student has understood the question and has given a relevant and
appropriate answer. The answer is accurate and does not require the
listener to interpret further. There may be minor grammatical errors but
these do not affect the meaning conveyed.
2 points The student’s response gives a clear indication that he has understood
the question. The response is plausible but it requires the listener to
interpret a little. Grammatical errors may mildly affect the meaning
conveyed.
0 points Here the answer is incorrect, inaccurate and tangential to the question
or no response is given.
For ease of reference Table 1 is reproduced at the back of this book (see page 181).
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Language for Thinking
For ease of reference Table 2 also appears at the back of this book (see page 182).
Once you have recorded the starter language level on the Attendance Sheet (master on
page 156), you are ready to start.
Ongoing monitoring
There are two options.
1 No score
When working on your own in whole class groups, your attention needs to be focused
on the children’s language and behaviour, so it will be impractical for you to record their
responses. However, by listening to children you may identify those who need additional
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Part One - Helping every child succeed
attention. Just record attendance on the Attendance Sheet (page 156) and then track
progress by repeating an assessment periodically.
2 In-depth recording
If you have two adults available, one adult can run the intervention and the other can
write down the children’s responses. These can be recorded on a copy of the answer
sheet with the child’s initials next to the answer. These responses may then be scored
later. It is important to stress that the adult writes down the child’s words verbatim.
Make sure you use the ‘Discussion starter’, which is given at the top of each scenario.
This clues the children in to the situation and gets them thinking about it. This is a
valuable part of the session and often provides an insight into children’s experiences.
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Language for Thinking
When you are starting out with ‘Language for Thinking’, it will be useful to have sight
of these strategies as reminder. A simplified version is given on the next sheet. This is
downloadable from the Speechmark website.
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Part One - Helping every child succeed
Quick
Helping every child succeed guide
‘What else … ?’
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