WordBurst-Game of The Week March 8, 2008

Word Burst is a game I purchased through LinguiSystems, a company that specializes in speech and language materials. Word Burst is a word recall game. This game provides word retrieval practice using three main techniques: Visual Imagery, Synonyms, Word Association and Sound/Letter Cueing. I use this game with groups, teams and individuals. I may use this game as a quick 5 minute filler or for a whole session. I have been able to easily modify this game to fit with all levels and disabilities.

The Original Rules:The game consists of 100 cards, 25 in each of the categories mentioned above. Each card has 10 examples. To play the game you pick a category and place it in the red plastic sleeve, which makes the words visible. Then ask:

Visual Imagery Cards-Name all the things you might see in a kitchenSynonym Cards-present a word and have the student generate a synonymWord Association Cards-Name all the things that have to do with campingSound/Letter Cueing Cards-cue initial sound of a targeted word within a category (such as things that come in pairs, green things)
Using the grease pencil, you check off matching or correct answers or write in plausible responses. The kids find the grease pencil a bit of a novelty since overhead projectors are passé. Even the red plastic sleeve fascinates some of them even it is so old fashioned looking.I guess the idea is to tally up correct responses.

Modified Way to Play:Skills Targeted: Word finding strategies and Vocabulary, Pragmatic skills

• I modify this game in so many ways depending on the students I am working with it is almost impossible to list them all.
• I often review the word retrieval strategies targeted in this game. I have made up a set of strategy cards from the information provided in the WordBurst instruction book that I give to each student (see below)
• Some of the Vocabulary is higher level so I may omit certain items or provide additional cueing.
• I will write answers on a big board to get everyone more involved
• I will occasionally have the kids write out their answers then compare
• I let the students challenge me with items. I think it is good for them to see adults struggle with retrieval tasks to let them know you do not have to be perfect
  
  
  Strategy Reference Cards: Word Retrieval Strategies

Visual Imagery
Create a picture in your mind of the item or its associated environment. For example, for“Things You See at a Grocery Store”,You might say, “close your eyes and paint a picture of a grocery store. Imagine that you are walking down the fruits and vegetables aisle”.Tell us what you see.

Word Associations
Recall words by identifying related items such as objects, parts, descriptors and object/functions. For example, for bird, you might say, “nest, wings, fly, chirp” or “beak”.

Sound/Letter Cueing
Recall a given word by cueing with the initial sound or letter. For example for flowers, you might say, “It starts with the sound d.” The player says “daisy”

Synonyms
Think of a word that has a similar meaning. For example, for “big” you might say “large, huge” or “tremendous”.

Such and Such-Game of the Week February 10, 2008

Such and Such is one of the newer games in my collection. The answers come in pairs. Every response is ________ and _______. Such and Such comes from Patch Products. http://www.patchproducts.com/

The Original Rules:Each card contains 5 questions. Teams or individuals take turns reading the questions to each other. If you answer 5 out 5 correctly, you receive 5 points. You can brainstorm but answers must be presented as a pair. Players have 40 seconds to answer 5 questions. If you or your team passes on a clue, you cannot go back. The first team to reach 30 points wins.

Modified Way to Play: Skills Targeted: word relationships, auditory comprehension, pragmatic skills, word retrieval, general knowledge of our culture

• When working with a group I am usually the only one to read the clues and keep score.


• We may play individually or with teams depending on the student’s individual goals.
  
• I usually have to go through several cards to find appropriate cues that the students have a good chance of knowing. That is the one drawback to this game. A junior version would be great.
  
• If necessary, I will rephrase or repeat the cues.
  
• Sometimes I will play the game with them and make it the students against me. That is to show them that the answers are sometimes a little difficult and that I can’t get them all correct. The kids love it when they stump me.
  
• These clues are fairly easy to read. However, if there is a problem I have the students spell out difficult words so I won’t see the answers.
  I like the idea that the students have to come up with 2 related answers. It makes it a little more challenging and the students start to think about words and how they can relate to each other. The relationships vary and involve people, places and things. I have only used the game in therapy for a few weeks and so far, the older students seem to like it. The only drawback is that I have to flip through the cards to find appropriate cues but it is doable. The variety of the cues makes it versatile when working with middle school aged language groups where the abilities of the students often vary. Such and Such is recommended for ages 10 and up.

Sample Descriptions: Click on picture