AAC: Vocabulary for Content Classes
Fringe vocabulary an AAC user needs to survive middle and early high school coursework.
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
Program them before the unit, not during it. Ten minutes spent adding these to the device the week before a science unit is worth more than any amount of practice after the lab has already happened. Run the board to check recognition, then use each word in a real request: ask about a due date, ask for a study guide. The word only earns its place on the device if it gets used in the exchange it was added for.
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 take part in the exchange 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
Eight pieces of school vocabulary that are not in any core set and are needed every week: lab partner, hypothesis, due date, study guide, group work, final draft, extra credit, make-up test. These are administrative words as much as academic ones — a student who cannot say make-up test cannot arrange one, and the consequence is a missed grade rather than a missed conversation.
What to listen for
Watch for the word being used to start something rather than to answer. Due date is most useful in the student's own question about when something is due, and least useful as a label. Notice which words the student's classes actually generate — a device stocked with vocabulary nobody uses gets slower to navigate for no benefit.
Carrying it home
Homework conversations are where this vocabulary lives. Ask the family to route questions about deadlines and drafts through the student rather than the teacher email, which turns the vocabulary into something with a purpose.
What's in this activity
- lab partner
- hypothesis
- due date
- study guide
- group work
- final draft
- extra credit
- make-up test
Questions
- What grades is this written for?
- Sixth through ninth, where content classes and their paperwork start arriving in volume.
- Is it free to play?
- Yes, no login and no card. An account adds assignment and goal tracking.
- Should I add all eight to the device?
- Add the ones the student's actual schedule generates. Vocabulary that is never used still costs navigation time on every message.
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.