Learning Experience

Experience 1: Guess Who

game (18/10)
Rationale/Experience:
Implemented
a
game
between myself and Kosta.
The use of a game will
provide a more engaging
stimulus which Kosta can be
involved with. The particular
choice of the game Guess
Who has a premise that
players
will
take
turns
guessing
and
asking
questions and will promote
Kostas understanding of turn
taking within conversations
and will also promote his
communications
skills
as
there are set times in which
he will have the opportunity
to communicate. My role was
to ask questions to Kosta and
for Kosta to respond, and vice
versa.

Analysis and evaluation

Context: Kosta had just arrived at the
centre and was looking for something to
do. I suggested that he come and play
Guess Who with me.

Strategies:
- Clarification questions
on what he sees in
order
to
extend
conversation (e.g. What
sort of dinosaur is
that?)
- Non-verbal
cues
(urging with eyes) to
assist
Kosta
with
understanding
the
reciprocal nature of the
game
- Speaking slowly and
clearly
- Giving Kosta adequate
time to respond
Experience 2: Dramatic play
(18/10)
Rationale/Experience:
Setting
up
police
and
firefighter dress up clothing
and items. Promote childrens

Follow up:
To implement a game that may be more
engaging, easy to understand and is
appropriate for his age/processing level
(memory). The game or experience
should incorporate peers in order to
promote
maintained
conversations
between Kosta and peers (which may be
more difficult for children with SLI).
Experiences should also incorporate
Kostas interests in order to be more
engaging.

What happened:
Through the use of non-verbal language
and repetition of my turn in the
conversation (Appendix G), it can be
observed that Kosta may have not been
as comfortable playing with me, or
understood the game or question I was
asking. The game was not effective at
assisting Kosta with having a sustained
shared conversation. The time given for
Kosta to respond was adequate as he
was able to respond appropriately to the
repetition of the question. Maintaining
an image of an object in order to ask
questions and to respond to questions
may be a difficult concept for children at
that age level memory processing
needs to be gauged and measured prior
to implementing experience.

Context: Kosta has put a police hat on,

and another child (All) has a pair of
handcuffs. I ask them what police
officers do (Response: fight bad guys)
and suggest that they should play police

representations
in
their
understandings
of
emergency helpers and their
roles, as well as promote
sustained conversation/role
play between Kosta and
peers.

and robbers. Kosta said he would be the

police officer and All said they would be
the bad guy.

What happened:
This experience was effective at
maintaining Kostas engagement as it
was stimuli he showed interest in, and
Strategies:
thus was also able to sustain a
- High energy to keep conversation (Appendix G).
children engaged and
excited
Although the conversation was primarily
- Modelling
between myself and Kosta, or myself
appropriate/correct
and the peer, the children were still
language/sound effects observed to playing with each other
(e.g. firetruck, hose, afterwards (laughing, running dialogue
hand cuffs, helmet, involved calling each others names and
badge, shield etc.)
occasional short/one-word responses)
- Speaking slowly and making the experience more effective at
clearly to Kosta
maintaining relationships between Kosta
and
peers,
and
not
necessarily
sustaining a conversation between self
and peers/educators.
Follow up:
To
continue
having group
based
experiences that are less dependent on
me as an educator to scaffold
conversations

to
encourage
conversations between Kosta and peers.
Incorporate experiences that are more
focused on verbal dialogue as opposed
to interactions that may not involve
verbal/non-verbal language in order to
focus
on
promoting
sustained
conversations.
Experience 3: Community
book (28/10)
Rationale/Experience:
Using the community book as
a stimulus for conversation
stemmed
from
an
observation of his tone when
engaging with the book
(Appendix G 21/10).
Strategies:
- Clarification

questions

Context: Kosta is sitting at the drawing

table. I walk over to the table and bring
the community book and flip open to the
page of the firefighters.
What happened:
Kosta immediately came over to me and
looked at the book. I initiated the
conversation whilst pointing at the
pictures. Kosta left the conversation and
he saw other peers making something.

on what he sees in
order
to
extend
conversation (e.g. What
were you doing here?)
Gestural cues (such as
pointing)
and
a
proximity
prompt
(putting book closer to
Kosta) in order to
provoke conversation
Speaking slowly and
clearly
Giving Kosta adequate
time to respond

The outcome was met through the use of

gestural cues and clarification questions
(Appendix G).
Follow up:
Continue
using
Kostas
observed
interests in order to engage him in
sustained conversation. Incorporating
his peers in experiences would assist
with keeping Kosta engaged with
stimuli/experience and enable him to
continue maintaining relationships with
peers.

Experience 4: I Spy game

(28/10)
Rationale/Experience:
I
Spy based game. To ask
questions in response to each
others/educators questions
in order to find the correct
dinosaur/Transformer. Follow
up from an evaluation of
attempt at Guess Who game.
Incorporating
Kostas
interests of vehicles and
dinosaurs will make the
experience more engaging
for
Kosta
and
promote
conversation. This game is a
follow up from the Guess
Who game and eliminates
the
process
of
asking
questions which may assist
with
the
process
of
maintaining
a
sustained
conversation.
Strategies:
- Clarification questions
on what he sees in
order
to
extend
conversation (e.g. What
sort of dinosaur is
that?)
- Verbal
inflexion
prompts/cues
(pointing)
to
assist
Kosta
with
understanding
the
reciprocal call of the
game.
- Speaking slowly and
clearly
- Giving Kosta adequate
time to respond
- Provide
positive
reinforcement through
praise,
and
acknowledge attempts
at conversing
Experience

5:

Whats

Context: Kosta is sitting at the library. I

dig through the pile and find some books
that he may be interested in and present
them to him to choose from.
What happened:
We read two books together. By having
knowledge of the content in which Kosta
has, the questions asked were effective
in provoking a response (i.e. Who does
Bumblebee fight with?). Kosta was able
to respond using 2-3 words per turn,
suggesting that experiences involving
statements maybe more effective and
assist Kosta with maintaining a sustained
conversation. Kosta appeared to be
engaged with the book and was able to
meet the outcome averaging at seven
turns per conversation throughout the
experience (Appendix G).
Follow up:
To continue using Kostas observed
interests in experiences in order to
engage him in sustained conversation.
Knowledge of Kostas interests and
gauging when to respond is also helpful
in
maintaining
engagement/interest
(from Kosta) and helping him feel safe
towards me as an educator.

the Context:

time Mr Wolf? (1/11)

Rationale/Experience: The
use of the game is aimed at
extending on the initial Guess
Who experience and the I
Spy
game.
The
game
requires the players to take
turns
and
answer
each
others
call.
The
game
mimics the conventions of a
conversation and requires all
parties to respond. Through
the use of a game which can
be implemented with small
groups of children, not only
will it be encouraging Kosta
to communicate with peers
but also assist Kosta with
maintaining
positive
relationships with peers. By
having Kosta play the wolf,
Kosta is able to change his
responses and respond to
what his peers are doing. The
responses are short which
may assist with having a
sustained
conversation
(Observation from I Spy
Game Appendix F).
Strategies:
- Scaffolding questions in
order
to
promote
understanding
and
clarify
Kostas
understandings/statem
ents (if needed)
- Gestural prompts/cues
(hand gestures and
pointing at the traffic
light) to assist Kosta
with understanding the
actions he would need
to take
- Verbal
inflexion
prompts on key words
to assist Kosta with
understanding
the
reciprocal call of the

We had just gone outside for free play. I

was holding my traffic light and asked a
few children (including Kosta) if they
would like to play Whats the time Mr
Wolf?
What happened:
Kosta
was
able
to
sustain
a
conversation/role play between himself
and his peers after the initial modelling
of language/inflexion prompts and
scaffolding questions after each of
Kostas responses (Appendix G). The
game was able to meet the outcome and
was effective at assisting Kosta with
sustaining a reciprocal dialogue with
peers whilst still maintaining the
relationship through play (Appendix G).
Scaffolding questions were useful in
assisting Kosta with understanding the
content (traffic lights in correlation with
movement and time) but also in knowing
what to do and say within the game.
Follow up:
Scaffolding questions and experiences
that allow Kosta to converse through the
use of shorter statements and easier to
understand concepts should continue to
be implemented in order to promote
sustained conversations. Small group
based experiences should also continue
to be implemented in order to promote
maintained
positive
relationships
between Kosta and peers.

game.
Speaking slowly and
clearly
Giving Kosta adequate
time to respond
Positive
verbal
reinforcement of praise
to
acknowledge
responses

Experience 6 (spontaneous):
Creating rain sticks (1/11)
Rationale/Experience:
Kosta
was
engaging
in
parallel play next to a group
of peers who were putting
sand into postal tubes. I
asked the peers about the
sounds the sand made. This
led to a discussion about rain
sticks. I then suggested that
the peers (and Kosta) to
make rain sticks together.
Providing a group experience
with peers will assist Kosta
with
maintaining
relationships with peers.
Strategies:
- Clarification questions
on what he puts in his
tube/the sounds he
thinks they will make
(e.g. What else could
you put in your tube?
What does that sound
like?)
- Gestural
cues
(e.g.
pointing at the tube)
- Speaking slowly and
clearly
- Giving Kosta adequate
time
to
respond/providing
Kosta
with
an
opportunity to share
about what he has
placed in tube

What happened:
Kosta appeared interested in the
experience after seeing that his peers
were excited and wanted to do the
experience. Through his questions, Kosta
demonstrated that he felt comfortable
around me as an educator and was
willing to ask questions (Appendix G). By
having his peers engaged in the
conversation, maintaining a sustained
conversation was easier to do as they
would
also
agree
with
Kosta/his
questions and provide provocative
statements in which I could use to ask
Kosta questions with - enabling the
outcome to be met.
Spontaneous experiences may be more
effective at gauging Kostas interest and
engagement/comfort around me.
Follow up:
To continue incorporating his peers in
experiences in order to assist Kosta with
continue maintaining relationships with
peers. As spontaneous experiences may
be more effective than planned, I should
do a combination of both spontaneous
and planned with Kosta and his peers in
order to promote safe and trusting
relationship between myself and Kosta.
Incorporating the interests of his peers
will
also
assist
with
sustaining
engagement from all children involved
(including Kosta).