About this activity
Twelve objects with a three-part description each: apple is red, round, you eat it; ball is blue, bouncy, you throw it; chair is wooden, tall, you sit on it; spoon is shiny, small, you eat with it. Three attributes is the standard frame for early describing goals, and having the model in front of the student is what makes the frame learnable rather than something they are asked to invent.
How to use it in a session
Show the model, then take one attribute away and let the student supply it, then take two. Fading the support in that order gets to independent description faster than asking for all three from the start. Function is the attribute to hold on to longest — you eat it and you write with it are the hardest to produce and the most useful for word finding. Ten minutes covers the twelve with fading.
What to listen for
Listen for which of the three is missing. Colour is almost always available, size usually, and function frequently not — a student who says an apple is red and round has described its appearance and not what it is for. Notice whether the descriptions distinguish the object: red and round also describes a ball, and a description that does not identify the item is incomplete even when all three slots are filled.
Carrying it home
Describing games while tidying up work well — what colour, how big, what do we use it for. Three questions per object and no preparation, and the third one is the one worth insisting on, because function is the attribute children skip.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third, and it suits older students with word-retrieval goals.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all twelve cards play free.
- Why three attributes?
- Because it is enough to identify most objects and few enough for a young child to hold. Colour, size and function cover appearance and purpose, which are the two routes into a word.