Core word teaching strategies

12 minute read

Strategies for teaching core words can include: planning core words based on activities or communication functions, teaching using the core word of the week, or using the Descriptive Teaching Model.

Core words are an essential part of any balanced Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system.

What are these core words? Why should we use them? And most importantly, what are some practical tools and strategies that can help us implement a core word approach?

What are core words?

While spoken language has at least 250,000 words, a list of only 200 words accounts for about 80% of the words you use every day! These words are called “core words”.

Core words are usually:

verbs (“go”, “come”),
adjectives (“good”, “little”),
prepositions (“to”, “on”),
pronouns (“you”, “that”),
articles (“the”, “a”), and
conjunctions (“and”, “but”).

Only about 10% of the first 200 core words are nouns, and these nouns are very general (“girl”, “house”) rather than specific (“porcupine”, “celery”).

AAC learners need quick access to these core words. It gives them a powerful and flexible tool to communicate whatever they want to say.

Some AAC learners rely on preprogrammed sentences or phrases such as “I want” and “I see”. With core words, they can choose from a small set of words to create their own sentences. Then they can express ideas, and even work on grammar.

Some AAC learners only have the chance to make choices from photos of objects. With core words, they can learn to communicate for a wide variety of reasons.

Some AAC learners are given new curriculum words for each new lesson. With core words, they can build their language skills by using flexible words to answer questions about any topic.

Don’t forget fringe words and the alphabet!

Core words are essential, it does not mean that we do not provide other important vocabulary. Core words should be within an AAC system alongside “fringe” words.

Fringe words are very specific words. They have a more narrow meaning than core words. They describe particular things.

Fringe words are usually:

nouns, and
more specific verbs (“leap”, “dice”), and
more specific adjectives (“elegant”, “delicious”)

Each individual fringe word is not used as often as a core word, so AAC systems are usually arranged with the core words on the first, or “home” page, and fringe words are located in other folders.

All fringe words are not equally important for every person. Everyone has certain subjects that they really love to talk about. The important things in our lives: favorite people, places, and thing. These words are different for each person. These personal fringe words need to be added to the AAC. We want to make sure these words are available and easily to reach in the fringe folders.

Also, all AAC systems should have access to a keyboard. This allow an AAC learner to start scribbling/writing with a keyboard as soon as possible. They can do this even if they haven't learnt to read and spell.

Core words, with easy access to fringe words and a keyboard, make up a balanced AAC system. This allows for powerful and independent communication for AAC learners.

4 challenges to teaching core words

For many years we have taught AAC users to make choices or name objects, so as an AAC community teaching the “fringe”/noun words seems to come easily.

Many people find core words harder to teach. These are our challenges:

Core words are more abstract, and less “picturable”;
Many core words have multiple meanings;
When starting with a core word board, people may seem overwhelmed with all the words on one page;
Choosing a place to start teaching core words can feel complicated.

So where do we start? The answer actually turns out to be simple - we teach core words by using them on the AAC system while we talk.

Modeling core words

Core words can be taught in the same way as any words on the AAC system. We model core words as often as we can in everyday situations. When modeling, we point to core words on our AAC system as we talk with AAC users.

Watch Amanda and Abby model core words on quick communication boards in poster.

Core word modeling during the game "Headbandz".

As you start you may wonder: Which words should we model? What kind of word combinations should we model?

4 Strategies to teach core words

Here are 4 approaches to help you teach core words.

1. Choosing core words: Communication Functions

Choosing words based on different communication functions can be an effective place to start.

Often an AAC learners' communication development is restricted. This happens when we only model to request or make a choice. These are relatively easy to teach, and give learners early success. However, there is so much more to communication! What if all we could do was request? How much would we have inside that we couldn’t express?

Instead, let’s look at different communication functions! Consider all the different reasons we communicate. This helps us find many core words that will help an AAC user build language for communication.

Here are a few basic examples of using core words within some different communication functions.

Communication Function	Core words	Core words with fringe
Requesting	want, want that, want different, want more, I want	want food, want to play, I want red, I want to watch TV
Protesting	not, not that, stop	not red, not that game, stop that music
Commenting/ directing	get, get it, get that, I get that put in, put it in, take out take it out make more, make big do, do it, I do it, I do it now see, see them give me, give me that	get the blue one, put your hat on, make a cake, do more swinging, I see the car
Asking for information	what? what that? where? where go? who? who go?	what are we doing? where is Dad? who is going to the party?
Giving opinions	like, I like that not like, I don’t like it good, bad, that good, that bad	I like chocolate, I don’t like spiders, Pizza is good, Mondays are bad
Tell news	I go, I see, I eat, I went, I saw, I ate	I went to the park, We saw Nana, I ate pizza for dinner on Saturday
Please note: When modeling these words and sentences, you may provide a full verbal model, while only pointing to some of the words on the AAC system. For example, you might say “You need to put your hat on,” while pointing to “put” and “on.”

Now, think about how you can put this into practice. What are the current communication functions the AAC user is using? Which different communication functions can you teach? Which core words would help achieve these?

2. Choosing core words: Activity-based

It can also be useful to select core words that are used to communicate during a specific, frequently occurring activity.

We do not need to develop an activity-specific board for this. Instead, let’s see if we can use our core words on the AAC system, with some use of fringe folders.

Again, here are some examples to get you started:

Activity	Core words	Core words with fringe
Cooking	make this, make more get that, get more put in, put in there help, need help like this, not like this	make cake, get some milk, put egg in, I like the cake
Mr Potato Head	need, need that put on, take off looks good help, need help	needs eyes, put on his hat, take off shoes, looks funny, looks like a fireman
Puzzles	look, what?, where? where goes? do, I do help, need help put in, take out	what does puzzle make? where does this piece go? Put cow piece in, I can do with brother
Music	turn on, off, turn up, down what like? what next? want more, want different, do it again like, not like, good, bad	turn on iPad for music, turn on CD player, I want Keith Urban, I want to listen to more, No more GangStyle, What music do you like?
Please note: When modeling these words and sentences, you may provide a full verbal model, while pointing to some of the words on the AAC system. For example, you might say “You need to get some milk,” while pointing to “you” and “get.”

Now, think about how you can put this into practice. Think of an activity you do often. What core words could you add to your modeling? What core and fringe words could you combine for longer sentences?

For many ideas on how to integrate core words into common activities, go to the AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom. In particular, check out the Core Word Planners and Core Word 5 Minute Fillers.

3. Choosing core words: Core Word of the Week

Another way to structure the process of teaching and modeling core words is to schedule a set of words to focus on each week or month. This makes modeling more manageable. We should keep adding new words regularly. Combine these with words from previous weeks. In the end, we will teach a full vocabulary with many core words. The approach works because invariably, the team will find that any core word can be used many times throughout the day. In addition, each core word can be easily combined with other words to make many useful messages.

Core Word of the Week has recently become quite a popular approach. We can find many useful resources in this area.

Here are a few examples of core words to focus on and some example combinations that you can model:

Core word	Core word combinations	Core words with fringe
do	do, I do, you do, we do, do more, do different, not do, what do	Mummy do it, We do painting, You do different work, not doing trampoline today
good	good, that good, she good, he good, not good	I am good at writing, Jessie is a good dancer, painting looks good, pizza tastes good
like	like, I like, he likes, like to go, not like, what like	I like skating, My brother likes to sing, we like to go to the park, I do not like snakes
Please note: When modeling these words and sentences, you may provide a full verbal model, while only pointing to some of the words on the AAC system. For example, you might say “I am good at writing,” while pointing to “I” and “good.”

To help you plan how to use this approach, here are a few things to consider: What core words might the AAC user already know? What additional core words would be functional and useful words to teach? Can your environment consider adopting the Core Word of the Week approach?

For many ideas on how to use the Core Word of the Week approach, check out the AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom. The Core Word of the Week Planners and Displays are designed to support this approach.

4. Descriptive Teaching Model

The Descriptive Teaching Model, developed by Gail van Tatenhove. It is a useful technique in many educational environments. It is a way of using core vocabulary to describe academic concepts, rather than programming a large number of specific fringe vocabulary words.

Proloquo2Go on iPad with core words and diagram of butterfly life cycle — Core words can be used to describe many topics, including the life cycle of the butterfly.

Often AAC users are asked to memorize specific nouns to answer academic questions. With this teaching strategy, the AAC user can combine core words to describe the concepts in the lesson.

For example, in a lesson about the life cycle of the butterfly, the teacher may ask the student about the chrysalis stage. The teacher could ask a closed question with one correct answer, such as “What is the name of the third stage of a butterfly’s life?”. To answer this question, the student has to have “chrysalis” programmed into his system, or at least have a paper choice board with the stages represented.

Using the Descriptive Teaching Model, the teacher could instead ask “What happens during the chrysalis stage?”. The student could answer using core words: “It sleeps inside.” ; “It changes to a new thing.”; “It turns pretty.” Each of these sentences shows that the student understands this stage of the life cycle. The student is also learning words they could use again.

The Descriptive Teaching Model has several advantages:

It gives the AAC user more practice finding core words and combining them into meaningful sentences.
Because modeling is also required, it requires the teacher to think about how to translate concepts into core words. This encourages teaching concepts at a deeper level.
It requires the AAC user to think more deeply and creatively about a concept in order to describe it their own words.
It saves time spent programming and learning how to find infrequently used words.

Do more with core!

All of these strategies encourage teaching core words in natural contexts. We model words to communicate during real, fun activities. This helps AAC users learn the meaning of core words and how to use them to communicate.

In the end, we all have the same goal for the AAC users – to give them the ability to communicate their thoughts clearly to anyone they need to talk to. Core words can do this!

Follow the links below for more strategies to build language and communication:

Links & References

Ahern, Kate. (2015). Descriptive Teaching Model (DTM). [Blog post]
Ahern, Kate. (2012). Motivate, Model, and Move out of the Way!. [Blog post]
AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom. (2016). Academic References. [Full reference list]
Farrall, Jane. (2015). Implementation of iPads for AAC in a Specialist School. [Blog post]
Independent Living Center WA. Core Vocabulary and Descriptive Teaching in AAC. [Handout]
Marden, Jennifer. Teaching with Core Words: building blocks for communication and curriculum. [Blog post]
Snodgrass, M., Stoner, J., & Angell, M. (2013). Teaching conceptually referenced core vocabulary for initial augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 29, 322–333.
Van Tatenhove, G. M. (2009). Building Language Competence With Students Using AAC Devices: Six Challenges. Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 18(2), 38–47.
Van Tatenhove, Gail. (2013). Core Counts: making activity based instruction count with core vocabulary. [Video presentation]
Van Tatenhove, Gail. Extreme Makeover: The AAC edition. [Past presentation handouts]
Van Tatenhove, Gail. Core Vocabulary with Emergent and Context-dependent Communicators in Special Education Classrooms. [Past presentation handouts]
Zangari, Carole. (2013). Teaching Core Vocabulary. [Blog post]
Zangari, Carole. (2012). Vocabulary Instruction In AAC. [Blog post]