Little Lessons are simple monthly AAC lesson plans that help teachers, therapists, paraprofessionals, classroom visitors, and families model targeted vocabulary throughout the school day.
Each month focuses on a small set of core words and related fringe vocabulary. The lessons are designed to fit into routines already happening in the classroom, so AAC can be modeled during morning meeting, literacy, play, art, snack, transitions, daily routines, and social conversations.
What’s Included
Each monthly Little Lessons plan includes:
• Targeted core words
• Related fringe vocabulary
• Quick activity ideas
• Simple questions and comments to model
• Opportunities for AAC use across the day
• Ideas that can be adapted for different students, routines, and classrooms
Rather than teaching words in isolation, Little Lessons help adults use vocabulary naturally during meaningful classroom activities.
Goals
Little Lessons are designed to:
• Increase exposure to high-frequency core vocabulary
• Support consistent aided language modeling
• Help all adults model AAC throughout the day
• Build communication into everyday classroom routines
• Support student participation in activities and conversations
• Make AAC modeling simple, natural, and repeatable
How to Use
Review the monthly target words and choose one or two Little Lesson ideas that fit your day. You do not need to complete every activity or use the calendar in order.
As you talk with students, model the target words on the student’s AAC system, classroom communication board, or visual support. Keep models short and natural, such as:
• “Want more?”
• “Put it here.”
• “Who is here?”
• “I like it.”
• “You do it.”
• “All finished.”
Students may respond using speech, gestures, AAC, pointing, eye gaze, facial expressions, or movement. Accept all communication attempts and continue modeling the words across different routines and activities.
Note
Little Lessons are the monthly lesson and activity plans. Symbol boards are separate companion supports that can be used with the lessons to make vocabulary visible and easy to access.
