Minspeak for Kids By Gail M. Van Tatenhove

An instructional booklet for use in inclusive classrooms The book is intended to be used in an inclusive classroom to help the other children in the classroom understand some basic principles of Minspeak so these children can learn along with and help the classmate, as appropriate, to use the Minspeak device. ©Gail M. Van Tatenhove, 2005 Minspeak® is a registered trademark of Semantic Compaction Systems.

Your friend uses a very special machine to talk with you. Emphasize how exciting and cool it is to have someone in their classroom who uses a special machine to talk. Try not to embarrass the child using the AAC technology. Spend a minute talking about how all people use different kinds of tools to help them - maybe glasses, or a cane, or something else.

Which one does your friend use? Identify the device the child is using in the inclusive classroom. The device, based on the program the child is using, might not look exactly like these pictures.

Your friend’s machine has many, many words and sentences in it. under eating drink hungry where Your friend’s machine has many, many words and sentences in it. that Ask the children how many words they think they can say. 100, 1000, 10,000, a million. Emphasize the their classmates needs lots of words too she he/she can talk in class and have fun with his/her friends. tomorrow food sleep thinking yum I am going maybe

The machine TALKS, but only when you follow the rules. Children in classrooms understand about rules. Draw a parallel between class rules and rules for how the machine talks. Children might bring up special rules about using the AAC device, like not touching it, or waiting for the child to talk, etc. Find out from the teacher if there are any special class rules about using the device. The rules that children are going to learn in this booklet are NOT about safety or personal respect for the device, but how the Minspeak software works.

The name for these special rules is ……. k Minspeak Kids enjoy spelling out the name of the rules letter-by-letter and then doing a “shout” of the word “minspeak.”

Rule #1: Minspeak Uses Pictures Hold up 1 finger and read the first rule.

I know you can tell me the names of these pictures, but can you find them on your friend’s machine? Point out additional pictures on the child’s device (or a similar device available to you for this demonstration). Ask the kids to find a variety of pictures and name them. Have props of these objects handy for the demonstration. Show the prop and find the picture on the device.

Rule #2: Minspeak Pictures Mean More Than 1 Thing! Hold up 2 fingers and read rule #2. Emphasize that there is something very special about how Minspeak uses these pictures.

This is an APPLE. That is the NAME of the picture This is an APPLE. That is the NAME of the picture. But it can mean other things too. group it goes with? do with it? Focus on 1 picture. Probe for the kids to give multiple meanings for this picture? What do we do with an apple? Eat it. What group of things would an apple go with? With clothes? With vehicles? With food? How would you describe your tummy and how you feel when you want food? Hungry What else does an apple make you think of???? what else? describe why you use it

Try This One! group it goes with? do with it? what else? Probe for the kids to give multiple meanings for this picture? What do we do with a glass or can or juice? Drink it. What group of things would juice go with? With clothes? With vehicles? With beverages? How would you describe your mouth and how you feel when you want a drink? thirsty What else does juice make you think of???? describe why you use it

Try One More! group it goes with? do with it? what else? Probe for the kids to give multiple meanings for this picture? What do we do with an dice? Play with it. Roll it. What group of things would dice go with? With food? With beverages? With games? How would you describe how these dice? little What else does dice make you think of???? describe why you use it

Let’s push the picture on the machine and try to make it say one of those words. Push JUST the picture of the apple, juice, or dice and wait. Encourage the children to listen carefully and try and hear the machine talk. The machine SHOULD NOT say anything, but there’s always a kid who heard something. Ask and say, “Why didn’t it talk? Maybe our 3rd rule will help us.” Shhhhhh Listen carefully.

Rule #3: Minspeak Pictures go together, like friends, BEFORE they talk! Hold up 3 fingers and read rule #3. Emphasize that we need to learn about these friends to make the machine talk. If the student in the classroom using AAC is using a SINGLE HIT program, adjust this rule, as needed. Most single hit programs involve some navigation to pages, or selecting vocabulary from Activity Rows. This booklet does NOT address those paradigms for organizing vocabulary. It only covers classic Minspeak.

Here are some Important Friends that need to come along! Mr. Action Man or Herb the Verb Art Tist Start with only 3 friends: Mr. Action Man, also known to his friends as Herb the Verb (verbs); Art Tist who loves to paint (adjectives) and Grandma Hubbard, or Old Mother Hubbard (nouns). If possible, use costumes for these 3 characters and dress up 3 classmates as these three characters. Herb the Verb = a cap, bucket, and tool to hold Art Tist = a paintbrush and paint box Mother Hubbard = glasses and apron, with a box with things in it, like a cupboard Grandma Hubbard

What picture do you need? Can you say .... eat drink play What picture do you need? Get your props of the APPLE, DICE, and JUICE CAN. Have 3 volunteers from the class, each holding 1 of the props. If the class is getting too wild or chaotic, you hold the objects. To say eat, what picture to we need (have the kid hold up the apple) - you press the APPLE picture on the device. What friend comes along (Herb - have his stand next to the kid with the apple) - you press the VERB icon. Do the same for drink, and play. What friend comes along?

What picture do you need? What friend comes along? Can you say .... hungry thirsty little What picture do you need? Repeat the procedure, this time having ART TIST be the friend that comes along. What friend comes along?

What picture do you need? Can you say .... food beverage game What picture do you need? Repeat the procedure, this time having Grandma Hubbard be the friend that comes along. What friend comes along?

Rule #4: Minspeak Pictures Go Together In PATTERNS Hold up 4 fingers and read the rule. Emphasize that this is the last rule. Elementary school children work on patterns and they should be familiar with this concept. Ask for examples of patterns they have learned about already.

Patterns make learning the codes very easy Patterns make learning the codes very easy. Once you learn the pictures and the patterns, learning Minspeak is easy! Discuss how they have learned 1 pattern, being PICTURE + FRIEND. Show how to expand that pattern by pressing PICTURE + PICTURE, then the FRIEND. Point out the ICON PREDICTION lights and explain they are like “team mates” saying “pick me, pick me.” Picture + FRIEND Picture + FRIEND

Explore New Friends and A New Pattern + Picture Explore some of the Closed Class patterns, using the icon prediction lights to let kids discover words. If you have time, you could introduce the characters that go with these parts of speech. Interjection Joe = he has a megaphone and is always adding little comments (interjections) The Determinator = he has a pointer wand and points out stuff (determiners) Connie Junction = she likes to join things together (conjunctions) Bob the Builder = he likes to put things in different places (prepositions) The Riddler = he asks questions all the time Al Verb (or Ed Verb) = he is always adding describer words to what his brother Herb is saying (adverbs)

Time for a Test! What are the Four Rules of Minspeak? Ask the children to repeat with you the four rules of Minspeak, saying them together.

The 4 Rules of Minspeak Minspeak uses pictures Minspeak pictures mean more than 1 thing. Minspeak pictures go together, like friends, before they talk. Minspeak pictures go together in patterns. Check how you did with the rules and congratulate the kids.

THE END