by Megan | Apr 6, 2026 | AAC, blog, book recommendations, core vocabulary, emergent literacy, fringe vocabulary, modeling, tips, training, Uncategorized
One of the questions I hear all the time
“But what am I supposed to model?”
This is one of the most common questions I hear when I share about shared reading, and it makes sense. As professionals, parents, and caregivers of AAC users, we want to be doing what feels helpful, meaningful and supportive.
There are a lot of different words you could model during shared reading with AAC users, and that can definitely feel overwhelming. The good news is: you don’t need to model everything, and there are no perfect words you have to choose in order for shared reading to be meaningful.
You do not need to model everything
When you think about shared reading, you may immediately think about reading the text on the page. However, if you have read my previous posts about what shared reading is, and how to start shared reading, you know that shared reading can look a lot of different ways.
Shared reading is not about covering all the text in the book or modeling every word. In fact, you do not even have to model words directly from the text. You can model words that describe the pictures, words that connect to something the learner notices, or a word or two you chose ahead of time that you can naturally repeat throughout the reading.
Remember that connection is the goal during every shared reading opportunity, so if modeling words feels overwhelming and starts to take away from the connection, it is ok to scale back the amount and variety of words you are modeling.
Start with a few core words
If you are just getting started with shared reading or reading a book that is less familiar to you, it might be helpful to read through the book ahead of time and jot down a few possible words on sticky notes. You can place the sticky notes right on the pages, so the words will be there when you are ready to read.
To keep things simple, focus on just a few core words.
While there are no “right” or “wrong” words to model, these are words I have found myself using across many different books:
- look
- turn
- more
- again
- go
- like
- stop
- big
- little
- funny
Starting with core vocabulary can be especially helpful because these words are flexible and naturally show up across routines, conversations, and books. That makes them easier to model consistently.
I also love modeling core vocabulary during shared reading because the words do not stay stuck inside the book. They can carry over into the child’s day, helping build connections between the story and real life.
You can also model fringe words that matter
While core vocabulary might be the go-to vocabulary to model during shared reading, don’t forget about fringe vocabulary.
Story-specific words and themes absolutely have a place in shared reading, especially when they connect to what catches the learner’s attention. That might include:
- animal names
- food
- characters
- actions from the story
- favorite objects or themes
Core words may show up more often, but fringe words can sometimes be the thing that helps build excitement and buy-in. If a fringe word is meaningful, interesting, or motivating, it is absolutely worth modeling.
Model comments more than questions
If you read my previous post about starting shared reading with AAC users, you know that shared reading is NOT about performance and is not a test.
It can be easy to default to questions such as:
- What is that?
- What color is it?
- What is he doing?
- Can you point to…?
But one powerful shift is to model comments more often than questions.
Some examples of comments you can model during shared reading include:
- I like that.
- That’s funny!
- Uh oh!
- Look!
- Let’s turn the page.
- Wow!
- There he goes.
- I see it.
Comments are a great way to draw attention to the illustrations, the action, and the emotional moments in a book. They often feel more natural, and they help build interest and connection without putting pressure on the learner to respond in a certain way.
Model feelings, actions, and surprises
Books are full of feelings, actions, reactions, surprises, and opinions. That is part of what makes them such a natural space for communication.
These kinds of words can be great choices to model during shared reading:
- happy
- sad
- funny
- wow
- uh oh
- go
- fall
- open
- like
- don’t like
Modeling these words in the context of a book makes language feel more natural, meaningful, and fun rather than like a drill.
Let the book guide you
By now, hopefully the pressure is starting to come down.
Not only do you not have to model every word in the book, you also do not have to model the exact same words every time. In fact, shared reading often feels more natural when you let the book guide what you model.
Some books lend themselves to movement and action words so you might model more verbs. Some books bring up strong feelings, so you may model emotion words. Other books naturally invite commenting, predicting, or repetitive modeling.
Whatever book you are reading, think about a few core and fringe words you might want to use, but do not feel like you have to stick to those alone. Trust your instincts and model what feels natural in the moment. That is often where the best connection happens.
Keep it natural
Nothing disrupts connection during shared reading faster than making it feel like a task that has to be completed.
We want shared reading to feel inviting and enjoyable so that learners will want to return to it again and again.
As you plan for shared reading, keep these ideas in mind:
- Model naturally, not constantly
- You do not have to model on every page
- The goal is connection and access
- Repeated, meaningful models matter more than frequency alone
- Follow the child’s interest when possible
And remember: there is no one way shared reading should look. There can be lots of movement, only a little reading, repetitive reading of favorite pages, or lots of page flipping. It all still counts.
You’ve got this!
You are ready to start shared reading right where you are.
Keep these ideas in mind:
- Start with a few words.
- Let the book help you.
- Comments count.
- Repeated words are powerful.
- You do not need to do it perfectly for it to be meaningful.
If you want more support in figuring out what to model, how to get started, and how to make shared reading more accessible, I go deeper into all of that in my e-book, Shared Reading with AAC Users: A Neurodiversity-Affirming Guide.
by Megan | Dec 16, 2023 | AAC, aided language input, aided language stimulation, blog, continuing education, core vocabulary, fringe vocabulary, modeling, prompt hierarchy
It’s the busiest time of the year! Wrapping up the year, buying gifts for all you love, finding time to celebrate with all your friends and family, you may feel like you are running around endlessly, the last thing you should have to worry about is making sure you have all of your continuing education units (CEUs) done to renew your licenses and certifications. 🤪
Before you close this window and start running around again, take the time to read to the end of this post, ‘cause I’ve got a way for you to rack up a bunch of CEUs for FREE! **Bonus if you want to learn more about AAC – these CEUs are AAC focused**
Ready to get started? Here we go!
- You will be redirected to a login page where you can create an account or, if you have an account within any Tobii Dynavox or Boardmaker programs, use that account login and password.
- After you log in you will be redirected to the Learning Hub, where you can start racking up those CEUs! Click on “Course Catalog” to see all the courses offered.
- Once you see the list of courses, you can also open the categories further to see additional specific courses.
That’s it – you are ready to rack up a bunch of free CEUs to finish out your requirements for the end of the year, or whenever you need it!
If you work through any of these courses and find one that you really like, let us know in the comments so we can check it out too!
by Megan | Nov 29, 2020 | AAC, core vocabulary, fringe vocabulary, Sensory, Storybook Sessions
Storybook Sessions: “That’s Not My Snowman”
In each Storybook Sessions post, I highlight a book that I have used, or plan to use in therapy as well as associated, extension activities that can be paired with the book to increase vocabulary comprehension, provide opportunities to express yourself verbally, written, creatively, etc., sensory exploration, fine motor practice, gross motor movements, etc. Some extension activities will focus on all of these components while others will focus more specifically on one area. Books and all materials are linked as well to provide easy online shopping so you can easily gather materials to replicate these activities and enjoy them yourself. (Simply click on the title of the book and/or material listed and you will be redirected to an opportunity to purchase and/or learn more)
Author: Fiona Watt
Illustrator: Rachel Wells
“That’s Not My Snowman”
This book, like the others in the wildly popular, “That’s Not My…” series, features various textures and sensory elements via touchy-feely patches on each page. The story line also features a simple, repetitive text: “That’s not my snowman, it’s ____ is too ____.” This repetitive line promotes basic, emergent literacy and language skills for readers, providing multiple opportunities to see and hear familiar words which will in turn, increase their comprehension and recognition of these repeated words. The various items that are featured and described in the repeated line are those that contain the different touchy-feely patches on each page (e.g., “…it’s hat is too soft.”). Featuring and describing these items provides the reader with opportunities to increase their receptive vocabulary through identifying the labeled items (nouns) as well as describing how they feel (adjectives).
As readers become more familiar with the text and associate the feel of the various sensory elements with the descriptive vocabulary provided, they will have the opportunity to use this vocabulary in their own expressive communication as they read the book and/or describe various items they interact with throughout their day. An added bonus for students who are emergent language and literacy learners, who may also be using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is that this book is full of core vocabulary that can be modeled on a communication device/system. Examples of core vocabulary within the book include: “that”, “not”, “my”, and “it” as well as the multiple opportunities to model “turn” for turning the page, “help”, “feel” for exploring the touchy-feely patches, “you” and “I” and so many more!
As you can see, there are so many reasons that this book is a no-brainer to use within my language therapy sessions but it’s a great book to read with any emergent reader and language learner to help build and refine their literacy and language skills. Reading books like this become even more fun when you pair reading with a fun, sensory based extension activity like these fun sensory snowmen.
Simple, cheap and fun = win, win, win!
Sensory Snowmen
All you need for this simple, fun, sensory extension activity is:
Materials needed for sensory snowmen extension activity.
Step 1:
- Remove the label on the resealable zipper storage bag(s) with nail polish remover. (This really works – promise! I was a skeptic too but was shocked at how easy it was to remove!)
- Dry nail polish remover residue from bag.
Nail polish remover removes labels from resealable storage bags
Step 2:
- Draw a template of a snowman on a piece of cardboard using a permanent marker.
Draw a snowman template on piece of cardboard
Step 3:
- Place resealable zipper storage bag on top of snowman template & trace onto bag with permanent marker.
- You can also encourage kids to draw their own snowman on the bag – be creative!
Place resealable storage bag over snowman template.
Trace snowman template onto resealable storage bag or let kids draw their own snowman.
Step 4:
- Place a few cotton balls inside of the bag (number of cotton balls will depend upon how full you want your bag to be as well as how big your bag is).
Step 5:
- Squeeze hair gel into the bag until cotton balls are able to be pushed around when in contact with the gel (again, the amount of gel needed will depend upon the size of the bag as well as how many cotton balls were used – not an exact measurement).
Put cotton balls and hair gel into resealable storage bag.
Step 6:
- Seal bag and reinforce with duct tape (may need to reinforce on both sides of seal to ensure closure).
Reinforce seal of resealable storage bag with duct tape and label with name.
Step 7:
- Use a permanent marker to label the bag with the name (of snowman or kiddo).
- Encourage kids to write their own name to practice emergent writing skills.
Step 8:
- Enjoy moving the cotton ball “snowballs” around within the bag to personalize the look of your snowman over and over again!
- Re – read “That’s Not My Snowman” again – while students play with the sensory snowman bags that they just created!
There are a lot of ways that you could personalize this activity even further, such as adding additional sensory elements to the bag such as sequins, small snowflake confetti, glitter, etc. – Have fun and be creative!
If you create Sensory Snowmen bags with your students, I’d love to see them! Share pictures in the comments here or tag me (@senseableliteracy) in your posts online!
Until next time – Happy Reading!
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