AAC Story Telling
Use AAC to retell a simple story sequence.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Do the pages in order and do not skip the retell. Each page is a single message, so the load is low; the work happens on page eight, where the student has to hold the sequence and produce it without the pictures carrying it. When they add a feeling word on the next page, that is the beginning of story grammar rather than a picture sequence. The last page — a story about their own day — is the one to keep coming back to across sessions.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentSet up the moment, then wait with an expectant look for 10 seconds.Log as correct
- GesturePoint toward the device or the right area of the page.Log as cued
- ModelTouch the symbols on the device yourself while you say the message.Log as cued
- Partial physicalOnly if the team agrees and the student accepts touch: a light touch at the elbow toward the page. Never press the symbol for them.Log as cued
Adjust it
Fewer symbols on the page, and model the message several times before you expect it.
Wait longer before prompting, or expect one more symbol in the message.
Matching IEP goal
During structured activities, Student will use their AAC system to combine symbols into a message in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a gestural prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
A seven-page sequence built for a device: boy go park, boy play swing, boy fall down, boy hurt or sad, mom help boy, boy feel better, boy go home. Then three harder pages — tell the whole story, tell it again adding one word about how he felt, and tell a story about your own day in five messages. Narrative is usually taught in speech and rarely on the device, which leaves AAC users with requesting fluency and no way to say what happened.
What to listen for
Watch whether the sequence survives without the page prompts. Many students can produce each message and still cannot order them, and that gap is the target. Listen for the internal response — hurt, sad, feel better — because a sequence of actions with no emotional line is a description, not a story. Adding one feeling word is a real milestone.
Carrying it home
Retelling the day at dinner is the same skill. Ask for three messages about what happened, in order, and resist filling in the middle one. A photograph from the day gives the student something to build the sequence around.
What's in this activity
- Page 1 — Use your device: "boy go park"
- Page 2 — Use your device: "boy play swing"
- Page 3 — Use your device: "boy fall down"
- Page 4 — Use your device: "boy hurt / sad"
- Page 5 — Use your device: "mom help boy"
- Page 6 — Use your device: "boy feel better"
- Page 7 — Use your device: "boy go home"
- Now tell the whole story with your device, page by page.
- Tell the story again and add one word about how he felt.
- Tell a story about your own day using 5 messages.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- First through fifth grade, and older students who are combining symbols but have not been asked to narrate.
- Is it free?
- Yes — every page plays without an account or a card.
- My student produces the messages out of order. Where do I start?
- With three pages, not seven. Order is a separate skill from message production, and it is easier to build on a short sequence the student can already say.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.