Page 40 - Routines-Based Early Intervention Guidebook

Routines-Based Early Intervention Guidebook

Teaching Two-Word Utterances 2.4

Physical ac vi es

Our li le guys are HIGHLY ac ve. Let’s use this to our advantage and get them
jumping, running and laughing their way into two‐word u erances. The trick is to have the

con nua on of the ac vity depend on their produc on of two‐words. For example, in order

to con nue jumping, get the ball kicked to them, or get more Playdoh, they produce two

words or a word combined with the sign for MORE or PLEASE. Here are some examples of
how almost any physical ac vity can be used to expand u erances.

1. Bubble popping: my turn, more bubbles

2. Building a tower: more blocks, went boom, size + what to make—big house

3. Jumping: I jump, you jump
4. Ball throwing: your turn

5. Stacking cups: one cup, two cups, red cup, cup please

6. Playdoh: want + shape/color

7. Knock Knock—Have a person prac ce gree ngs by going out of the room with
stuffed animals. They say, "Who is it?" Child has to say “Hi” + animal. Then move

on to the next.

School Ac vi es

U erances can be expanded throughout the day through a system of “laddering.”

Laddering is basically accep ng what the child says and going up one rung in difficulty by

giving them an example of what a bigger phrase sounds like. While it is a good idea to have
the child produce the new phrase, he doesn’t have to. Laddering is different that regular

u erance expansion because it is child‐ini ated and always spontaneous.

C h i l d : “ D o g g y ”

Adult: “Yes, big brown doggy”
Can stop here or:

Adult: “Say: big brown doggy”

C h i l d : “ B r o w n d o g g y ”

A d u l t : “ G r e a t j o b , y o u s a i d b r o w n d o g g y ! ”

Copyright © 2014 Bilinguis cs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
32