Symbolic Communication Levels and Literacy Levels

1. Symbolic Communication Levels and Literacy Levels

2. Levels of Symbolic Communication • Awareness • Not yet using symbols • Pre-symbolic • Beginning with symbols • Early Symbolic • Moving forward with symbols • Symbolic • Going far with symbols • adapted from Browder, Wakeman, and Flowers, AERA Presentation, 2007.

3. Awareness Level • Students at the awareness level may have no clear response and no clear intent or objective in communication. • They communicate pleasure, displeasure and state of being by such means as: • Postural shifting • Limb movements • Head movements • Facial expressions • Vocalizationadapted from Browder, Wakeman, and Flowers, AERA Presentation, 2007.

4. Awareness Level When teaching students at the awareness level: • Respond to communicative attempts as if they were intentional (Use shaping to build intentional communication.) • Give opportunities to respond before prompting • Use real objects when possible • Expose them to symbols and words • Teach broad access skills • Model, Model, Model, and Model

5. Pre-symbolic Level • Students at the pre-symbolic level demonstrate purposeful, intentional communication but do not yet use symbolic communication. • They communicate by such means as: • gestures • eye gaze • purposeful moving to object • sounds adapted from Browder, Wakeman, and Flowers, AERA Presentation, 2007.

6. Early Symbolic Level • Students at the early symbolic are beginning to use symbols for communication with limited vocabulary. • They communicate by such means as: • Objects • Tactile symbols • Digital photographs • Picture icons adapted from Browder, Wakeman, and Flowers, AERA Presentation, 2007.

7. Symbolic Level • Students at the symbolic speak or have a vocabulary of signs, pictures to communicate. • They communicate by such means as: • Speech • Sign Language • Dynamic Display Devices with an extensive vocabulary adapted from Browder, Wakeman, and Flowers, AERA Presentation, 2007.

8. Types of Symbols • Abstract Drawings • Realistic Drawings • Photos • Tactile symbols • True Object Based Icons

9. Abstract Drawings Boardmaker Symbols by Mayer-Johnson

10. Realistic Drawings Boardmaker Symbols by Mayer-Johnson

11. Photos Photos provided by : http://www.flickr.com/photos

12. Tactile Symbols Tactile Symbols from Texas School for the Visually Impaired

13. True Object Based Icons

14. Direct Selection Pointing Touching Taking Eye gaze Scanning High tech Low tech For students who have limited or no intentional responses, shape communicative behavior by attaching meaning to postural shifting, limb movements, head movements, facial expressions, vocalization, etc. Methods of Communicating

15. Instructional Considerations • Always pair the student’s current level with the next level up plus the word in print or in Braille. • Model use of the student’s communication system.

16. Literacy Levels • Emergent Literacy • Transitional Literacy • Conventional Literacy Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

17. Emergent Literacy Level Students are in the very beginning stage of literacy. There are NO prerequisites. There is no such thing as 'not ready for'! • Minimal-to-no interest in text • Little attention during book reading or elsewhere • No comprehension of graphics • Apparent disinterest in computers • Struggling or inconsistent access to the computer • Minimal engagement with a communication partner • Minimal engagement during read-alouds Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

18. Emergent Literacy LevelInstructional Insights • Allow for lots of repetition with the same materials • Give exposure to lots of different types of materials • Watch for student responses and start to identify student preferences • Get students interacting with the book. Ask about graphics, allow students to • participate in reading especially with repeated lines, make predictions about words • Relate everything possible to the student's own life and experience Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

19. Transitional Emerging Literacy Transitional readers can read and understand familiar text (e.g., stories for which they have had multiple exposures). They have few if any strategies for reading words on their own and are inconsistent in reading even familiar words across a variety of contexts. • Shows interest and engagement in text • Attends to graphics • Interacts with the person reading the story • Can identify a handful of letters or words (even if inconsistent) • Can utilize rhyme, rhythm and/or repetition • Can fill in repeated lines (repetition) • Can predict a rhyming word (rhyme) • Rocks or claps in sync with a story (rhythm) Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

20. Transitional Literacy LevelInstructional Insights • Start to expect students to independently read some of the words in connected text. • Encourage the use of cues including initial letter, repetition or rhythm of text and pictures. • Increase opportunities for repetition by selecting preferred books and other text types. • During this level, it is important to read the same text multiple times. Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

21. Conventional Literacy Conventional readers can independently decode and understand unfamiliar text at their level. • Uses simple decoding strategies • Number of words on the page ("Old Black Fly"-child reads, "Shoo Fly Shoo Fly Shoo Fly Shoo") • Rhyme, Rhythm/Repetition ("Brown bear"-Child reads, "animal name, animal name, what do you see") • Typical inaccuracies • Length of word (correct word is elephant-child guesses hippopotamus) • First letter (correct word is mother-child guesses mister) • First letter plus picture (correct word is swing, child guesses slide by looking at a picture of a playground and seeing the letter s) Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

22. Conventional Literacy LevelInstructional Insights • Make sure the emphasis is not completely on word identification and phonics at this level. • Provide daily, meaningful purposes for reading and reading text at the right level. • Provide access to more than 6 different books and other texts at the appropriate level EVERY day. Musslewhite, Caroline and Erickson, Karen and Ziolkowski, Ruth. "The Beginning Literacy Framework." (2002) Web.12 Jul 2009. <http://www.paec.org/fdlrstech/files/pdfs/readingPdfs/begliteracyframework.pdf>.

23. Literacy Rubric Assessment http://sda.doe.louisiana.gov/ResourceFiles/Kathy%20Staugler%20Literacy%20rubric%2007.pdf