Core Communication Word ‘Not’

Teaching core communication word ‘not’ is easy. There are lots of opportunities throughout the day to do so. I will share some ideas and an interactive adapted book – FREE. What are we waiting for. Let’s go!

Ideas to teach – core word ‘not’

Of course we will be advertising the core communication word ‘not’, everywhere. Send newsletters home. Put an advertising poster on the door to class. Place symbols around the room. And of course ensuring staff and parents know where to locate ‘not’ on the different systems in use. Then we model, model, model. For more detail on how to do this and to download a free communication board please click here. The following are two ideas for teaching the core communication word ‘not’.

Teach during Eating

You may not find a multitude of different ways of using core communication word ‘not’ during eating. However, there is a high frequency potential. If your class is anything like mine, the last one gets used a lot as others discard unwanted food onto the plates of peers!

1 word	2 words	3 words
not	not like	not like it/that/this/eat or fringe food/drink
not	not want	not want eat/drink/that/it/this
not	I not	I not got
not	it not	it not my

Teach During Play

1 word	2 words	3 words
not	not up	not up down
not	not here	not sit/want here
not	not little	not little big
not	not that	not want that/it/this/do (fringe toy, person or activity)
not	not here	it not here
not	not like	not like fast/it/that/this (fringe toy or activity)
not	you not	you not like/want/go/come
not	not want	not want go/off/on/ (fringe-colour)
not	not turn	not he/she/ turn
not	not there	not put there

Explicit teaching of Core Word ‘not’

• morning message: ensure ‘not’ is written and used in the morning message daily e.g., ‘It is not sunny today’; ‘(child/adult) not here today; ‘We are not cooking today?’
• Shared Stories By Title: ‘I Am Not Going To Get Up Today’ (Dr Zeus). Utilise any story that has ‘not’, featured in the title or within the story e.g., The Little Red Hen; Have you go my purr?; use descriptive teaching i.e. replace don’t with not ‘Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas’;
• Research on Tar Heel Reader. Here is a fun one.
• Adapted or Interactive books: I have adapted one FREE based on ‘Have you got my purr?’ (see the bottom of the post)
• Predictable chart writing: use ‘not’ as a key word in the repeated sentence e.g., I do not like …; I do not purr I woof; Not me said … etc
• Centre or task box: interactive books; matching of the core symbol; locating and daubing (dotting) the ‘not’ symbol; circling or pegging correct or ‘not’ picture categories e.g. pig or not? and the picture is of a cow etc.

Time to Teach

Ready to teach? Go forth and get your core on. Be excited and dramatic when teaching and modeling the core words. It will engage the students. Point to the symbol and say it. Have fun. You’ve got this.

Aroha, Ann

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Download my ‘Have You Got My Purr’ core book here.