Auditory-Verbal Strategy
Auditory Closure
Many of you are already experimenting with auditory closure. This is just to reinforce all the good work you are already doing and to encourage you to continue to develop and use this strategy.
Definition: Auditory Closure is a technique that seeks to have a child fill in a gap in communication. With young children this is typically done with songs or rhymes or a sentence that is being modeled and practiced. Repetition or redundancy is important so that the child hears the information over and over and can fill in the missing piece.
How is this done? If the adult is singing a song or reciting a rhyme, the adult will stop before the last word in the line and use an expectant look and wait time to see if your child will fill in the gap. For example, the adult might sing “the wheels on the _________ go round and _______, round and __________, round and _________. The wheels on the _______go round and __________, all through the ________. “ Another example would be if the adult is reading a book to the child instead of asking “what does the cow say?” the adult can say “I see a cow. The cow says _________.” If the child does not fill in the gap the adult can fill in and continue. Rhythmic chants are another great way to work on this skill. You are probably using some like “Patty Cake.” Every lesson plan for Hear@Play includes some theme-based examples to add to your repertoire. At some point, with enough opportunities, the child will remember and start to insert the missing word.
Helpful Hints: Remember that a child needs to hear the same information many times before he can begin to fill in missing pieces. Sing the same songs and read the same books often to provide the redundancy the child needs. Be sure you have established joint attention and use your wait time. This auditory-closure strategy will help your child continue to build turn-taking skills, use language spontaneously and expand his/her language usage.
Many of you are already experimenting with auditory closure. This is just to reinforce all the good work you are already doing and to encourage you to continue to develop and use this strategy.
Definition: Auditory Closure is a technique that seeks to have a child fill in a gap in communication. With young children this is typically done with songs or rhymes or a sentence that is being modeled and practiced. Repetition or redundancy is important so that the child hears the information over and over and can fill in the missing piece.
How is this done? If the adult is singing a song or reciting a rhyme, the adult will stop before the last word in the line and use an expectant look and wait time to see if your child will fill in the gap. For example, the adult might sing “the wheels on the _________ go round and _______, round and __________, round and _________. The wheels on the _______go round and __________, all through the ________. “ Another example would be if the adult is reading a book to the child instead of asking “what does the cow say?” the adult can say “I see a cow. The cow says _________.” If the child does not fill in the gap the adult can fill in and continue. Rhythmic chants are another great way to work on this skill. You are probably using some like “Patty Cake.” Every lesson plan for Hear@Play includes some theme-based examples to add to your repertoire. At some point, with enough opportunities, the child will remember and start to insert the missing word.
Helpful Hints: Remember that a child needs to hear the same information many times before he can begin to fill in missing pieces. Sing the same songs and read the same books often to provide the redundancy the child needs. Be sure you have established joint attention and use your wait time. This auditory-closure strategy will help your child continue to build turn-taking skills, use language spontaneously and expand his/her language usage.