101 Ways to Use a Sequential Message AAC Device to Access the Curriculum

Compiled by Toni Waylor-Bowen, Ph.D. & Jessie Moreau, M.Ed., NBCT; March 2007

ELA/Reading Comprehension
• Recite a repeated line in a story/play/poem/speech
• Read from a story, chapter book, newspaper, magazine
• Name the characters in a story
• Sequence events in a story/chapter
• Give important details in a story/chapter / recall facts
• Ask questions (who, what, where, etc) of others about a story/chapter
• Give “stage directions” to others in a play
• Follow the steps in multi-step directions/task analysis (e.g., recipe, simple machine)
• State the logical order of information in a non-fiction text
• Give timeline information about a person in a biography
• Retell familiar events/stories to include beginning, middle, and end
• Name vocabulary words and define terms

ELA/Listening/Speaking/Viewing
• Answer questions during calendar/schedule time
• Uses oral language for different purposes: to inform, to request, to entertain
• Recite the Pledge of Allegiance
• Tell others about an event that happened (at home/community/another class)
• Ask questions of others about their evening/weekend/special event
• Ask survey questions of others
• Repeat auditory sequences (letters, words, numbers, rhythmic patterns)
• Present an outline of a group report or class project to others
• Identify people to participate in a group project/play a game/determine “Who’s next?”
• Interview a guest or teacher new to the school
• Sing the chorus of a song or music/video
• Recite Nursery Rhymes
• Recite a poem
• Call items for Bingo games related to curricular themes (especially fun with a randomizer)

ELA/Writing
• Sequence items to go into a story
• List adjectives/adverbs to go into a story (especially fun with a randomizer)
• Provide vocabulary to be included in a story
• Give details about different parts of a class story

Mathematics/Numbers and Operations
• Count forward
• Count backward
• Count days of the week/month/year
• Count sets of items
• Count using 1-1 correspondence
• Recite prime numbers with visual models for identification
• Skip count
• Recite addition/subtraction/multiplication facts
• State money amounts (by dollars, quarters, dimes, etc.)
• Identify parts of a whole (fractions)
• Identify numerals in expanded notation (9 thousand, 3 hundred, fifty, five)
• Identify and order percents
• Identify and order decimals
• Identify numbers on a number line

Mathematics/Measurement
• State the order of objects based on a dimension (e.g., big/bigger/biggest, long/longer/longest)
• State time (hour/half-hour/quarter-hour)
• Count the increments while measuring (for length, capacity, time, temperature, etc)
• Counts items used in the formula to determine area, capacity
• Give steps in formula for finding volume, surface area, etc.
• Name measurement-related vocabulary words and define terms

Mathematics/Geometry
• Count the number of shapes/solid figures identified in the class, school, community
• Name the various types of geometric shapes when shown the same
• Count the number of sides, edges, vertices, in plane and solid figures
• State the properties of different shapes/solid figures (i.e., a triangle has three sides; a cube has 12
edges)
• Count points on a grid
• Name geometry-related vocabulary words and define terms
• Choose geometric figures then identify them with visual/tactual manipulatives

Mathematics/Data Analysis and Probability
• Count/name the items that are part of the survey
• Count the number of responses/tally marks for each item on a table/chart/graph
• Skip count number of responses when using different scales
• Estimate number of items in a set
• Predict the probability of a given event (i.e., numbers on dice, colors of M&M’s) for experimental
probability activities (randomizer device works best)

Mathematics/Algebra
• State items in a pattern
• Skip count
• State addition/subtraction/multiplication/division rules
• Tell other strategies for solving problems (mnemonic devices)
• Count using ratios/fractions (i.e., 1/3, 2/3, 1; ¼, ½. ¾, 1)
• State formulas for solving problems
• Announce simple equations for students to solve
• Describe simple story problems for students to solve
Science
• State science-related vocabulary words and define terms (“A mineral is made from non-living
substance found in nature.”; “A rock is made from minerals.”)
• Describe items being used in the science task (i.e., minerals, rocks, animals, habitats)
• Describe common features between items (i.e., both the tiger and polar bear use camouflage, both
the bat and possum are nocturnal)
• List reasons/outcomes (i.e., pollution is caused by littering, pouring items in streams or rivers…)
• List items (i.e., major organ systems, names of the planets, items that can be recycled…)
• Sequence items (i.e., life cycles, planets in order from the sun, steps in the water cycle)
• Explain steps in an experiment
• Describe changes in items before, during, and after an experiment
• State parts of a whole (i.e., parts of a cell)
• State parts of a group (i.e., animals that are vertebrates, types of habitats)
• Call items for Bingo games related to science standards (especially fun with a randomizer)
• Describe physical attributes of items (i.e., shape, color, size, hardness, texture)
• Describe characteristics (i.e., habitats, cloud formations, hurricanes, physical/chemical changes)
Social Studies
• List items (individual freedoms on Bill of Rights, original 13 colonies, )
• Sequence items (steps in the producer/consumer cycle)
• State items in first/then and if/then format (“First England wanted to tax, then America wanted independence”)
• Give a timeline of events (history of music, transportation, important persons, events in a decade)
• List key individuals (presidents, world leaders, Civil Rights personalities, famous Georgians)
• List reasons for an event
• Recite lines in a play/music video/skit about subject/time period
• List items/places in governmental jurisdiction (city, state, country)
• List states in regions of the United States
• List countries on different continents in the world
• List cultures (Indian tribes living in Georgia)
• State/list items related to a culture (common words in different languages)
• State social studies-related vocabulary and define terms
• List/describe geographic regions
• List major products of a state, region, country
• Call items for Bingo games related to Social Studies standards (especially fun with a randomizer)
• Sing a song or chorus from a song of a country being studied
• List cultural achievements in the fields of art, music, literature, theater, movies/TV

The following devices allow for sequential messaging:
LITTLE Step by Step Communicator (AbleNet)
BIG Step-by-Step Communicator (AbleNet)
Step-by-Step Communicator with Levels (AbleNet)
Sequencer (Adaptivation)
Partner One/Stepper (AMDi)
* Big Talk Triple Play (Enabling Devices)
Step Talking Sequencer Switch Plate (Enabling
Devices)
* Randomizer (Adaptivation)
Press Your Luck w/ Built-in Sequencer (Enabling
Devices)
* These devices offer randomizing options.
(Device list adopted from GPAT's list of Assistive Technology D