Strategies to support understanding of questions at Blank Level 1 – Naming

What are Blank Levels?

Your child is developing their understanding at Blank Level 1 which means that they are learning to apply vocabulary and language to things in their environment (naming).

Your child is not yet able to describe, talk about events or stories and problem solve, for example, infer, reason, and answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions about pictures and spoken scenarios, information and experiences. This also applies to their emotional understanding.

Strategies to support understanding

• Use single words to label objects  and comment on the ‘here and now’, for example, “ball”, “water”, “outside”, “more”
• Offer choices with visual support, for example, “apple or biscuit?”

Examples of visual support

• Objects of reference
• Using signs and gestures
• Makaton
• Photos
• Symbols 
• Visual timetables 
• Now and next boards

Examples of questions at Blank Level 1 – Naming

Ideas for activities

• 1 key word level activities
• Lotto boards
• Feely bag
• Treasure hunts (depending on joint attention)

Avoid

• Phrases more than one word long such as “kicking ball”
• Concept words such as big and small
• Wh- question words such as who, what is it, what doing, where, what like?
• Questions asking for a recall of an event such as ‘what happened?’
• ‘Why’, ‘how’, ‘when’ questions, for example, ‘why did you do that?’, ‘how did that happen?’

Classroom learning ideas

• Pre-teach noun vocabulary using a simple vocabulary mat
• Use matching lotto games
• Play sorting games – sort pictures into ‘what’ and ‘who’
• Work on listening comprehension such as ‘Point to…’, ‘Find me a …’ – Use anything where the child can see a picture representation e.g. vocab mat, picture book, video clip, real object.
• Work on talking and naming, for example, ‘What is it?’ – response can be a spoken word, choice of a picture or Makaton sign.