Introduction

No Pens Day Wednesday lesson plans have been created by practising early years teachers and speech and language therapists. These have then been quality assured by a specialist speech and language therapist to ensure they are fit for purpose.

These plans were developed following popular demand from early years settings wanting to take part in No Pens Day Wednesday and to also support settings to implement the SEND Reforms, which place a focus on supporting all children with SEND, from 0-25. The lesson plans provide an example for early years settings to adapt and build on, though they can be used as they are if this fits in with your planning. All plans that are new for 2015 are marked like this *New for 2015*.

Lesson plans aim to follow good practice principles; e.g.

·  Identifying explicit learning objectives, based on the early years foundation stage (EYFS).

·  Encouraging the use of visual supports to encourage understanding and learning.

·  Including plenary sessions that allow for consolidation of learning.

There are plans available for ages 0-2 and preschool (ages 3-5). Each plan has some ideas for differentiation, which can provide ideas to support with different levels of development.

A communication and language objective has also been identified for each lesson. Some have been taken from EYFS guidance, whilst others have been taken from our Universally Speaking guides (available to download and order for free from www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/universallyspeaking), which track speech, language and communication development throughout the early years.

How do no pens activities support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)?

The aim of No Pens Day Wednesday is to include all children in spoken language activities to support their learning. This includes children who require SEN support, many of whom will have speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

The SEND Code of Practice, which came into effect in September 2014, emphasises the importance of all teachers and early years staff playing an important role in identifying and supporting those who have SEND. By taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday you will be able to access and put in place lots of great ways to build in quality support for all children’s communication across the school/setting. This is an important part of removing barriers to learning and engaging in inclusive practice. You’ll also be able to access information and guidance that can help you better understand how to identify and support children who are struggling.

By placing a focus on spoken language in your setting, you may find that you’re more able to spot those children who are struggling with their speech, language and communication development. For those children who have already been identified as requiring SEN support, placing a focus in spoken language means that you are encouraging them to develop their skills in this important area, which is the foundation for so much of their learning.

Lesson plans could also be adapted to link with any objectives that have been set by specialist colleagues, such as a speech and language therapist.

You can find out more about identifying and supporting children with SEND, and in particular those with SLCN in our pack of strategies for every classroom, which can be found in the information for staff section of our website. Early years practitioners may also find some of the information available on the early years page of The Communication Trust website useful.

0-2 lesson plans

6-12 months – Listening and Attention, and Speaking *New for 2015*

Target age: 6-12 months / Activity: Ready, steady, go! / Date: / Area of learning: Listening and Attention, and Speaking
Characteristic of learning:
Playing and Exploring / Links to development matters:
Listening and Attention
·  Concentrates intently on an object or activity of own choosing for short periods
·  Reacts in interaction with others by smiling, looking and moving
Speaking
·  Communicates needs and feelings in a variety of ways including crying, gurgling, babbling and squealing
·  Uses pointing with eye gaze to make requests, and to share an interest
Activity - 1-2 children / Differentiation / Resources
Starter
Encourage children to share interest in an object (joint attention) through simple cause and effect activities e.g. winding up a toy and watching it go, waiting for a pop up toy to pop, pressing a button on a toy that makes a noise etc. Gain the child’s attention by having fun with the toy and encouraging them to play with and explore it. / You can choose a toy that will mean the child has to wait a shorter or longer time for the ‘go’ to happen / A cause and effect toy that will lend itself to a ready, steady, go game
Main/Activity
Develop the activity in to a ‘ready, steady, go!’ game, where the child is encouraged to maintain their attention and wait for the adult to say ‘go!’
Use lots of non-verbal interaction to get the child excited and to anticipate what might happen! Eye contact, an excited facial expression and tone of voice, will help to keep the child interested so they will want to know what happens next! Say ready, steady....slowly to help to gain and maintain the child’s interest.
Once the child is showing that they are eager to see what might happen next, say ‘go’ and complete the associated action with the toy, e.g. knock down the tower, or let the wind up/pop up toy go! Watch the child’s reaction and see if they look at you or show you or make a sound that indicates that they want to do it again! Use language associated with your actions to help develop language skills e.g. ‘let’s do more building’ ‘let’s see if it pops up again!’ etc. / Adapt your language levels to the child’s level of understanding – use single words and simple, short phrases. Repeat these as you play to help understanding
Plenary: Use specific praise to summarise all the lovely behaviours that you observed during the session – good listening, looking, playing, talking etc. Use the opportunity to repeat lots of the language that you used during your play and looking at and talking about what you played with.
Assessment for Learning:
Observations – Was the child able to wait? How did they communicate with you that they were excited/scared/happy? What was their reaction to the ‘go?’ Did they let you know that they wanted you to repeat the activity, if so, how did they do that? Did they copy any language that you used, or use any of their own words or vocalisations?
Practitioners to make observations and/or take photos for the children’s learning journeys/profiles.

6-12 months – Listening and Attention, and Speaking *New for 2015*

Target age: 6-12 months / Activity: Musical bottles / Date: / Areas of learning: Listening and Attention, and Speaking
Characteristic of learning:
Playing and Exploring / Links to development matters:
Listening and Attention
·  Concentrates intently on an object or activity of own choosing for short periods
·  Reacts in interaction with others by smiling, looking and moving
·  Has strong exploratory impulse
Speaking
·  Communicates needs and feelings in a variety of ways including crying, gurgling, babbling and squealing
·  Practises and gradually develops speech sounds (babbling) to communicate with adults
·  Frequently imitates words and sounds
Activity - small group – 2 - 4 children / Differentiation / Resources
Starter
Prepare the bottles beforehand so that they are ready and filled with different materials. Place them on the floor so that children can access and explore them easily. / If children are not yet able to sit up and explore the bottles by themselves, sit them with an adult to support them.
For older children you could make the bottles together as part of the activity and use more sensory vocabulary; talking about how the different materials feel, smell etc. / Small, plastic bottles half filled with different materials – dried pasta, oats, glitter, sand, water, rice etc. Use food colouring too if you want to make the bottles look more appealing and allow you to model colour vocabulary too.
Main/Activity
Allow children to explore and play by themselves, but encourage interaction and exploratory play by modelling shaking the bottles and talking about what they sound like, what they look like etc. Use lots of repetitive language and sounds during the play and extend what the children are doing, following their lead. Experiment with shaking fast and slow, loudly and quietly, on their own, two at a time etc.
Throughout the activity, comment on what children are doing – use simple, repetitive language Make sure that throughout the activity you’re commenting on what children are doing, using simple, and lots of non-verbal communication like eye contact, pointing and gesture to help children to understand and to engage and maintain their interest in the activity. / Support children to understand by keeping your language simple, using single words and simple phrases e.g. ‘shake shake shake’ ‘stop’, ‘go’, ‘more’ ‘shhhh quiet’ etc.
Plenary: Use specific praise to summarise all the lovely behaviours that you observed during the session – good listening, looking, playing, talking etc. Use the opportunity to repeat lots of the language that you used during your play and looking at and talking about what you played with.
Assessment for Learning:
Observations – What was the child’s exploratory play like? How was their interaction with you/the other children in the group? Did they use any words as they played? Did they attempt to imitate any new vocabulary or sounds?
Practitioners to make observations, and/or take photos for the children’s learning journeys/profiles.

18-24 months – Understanding and Speaking *New for 2015*

Target age: 18–24 months / Activity: Action! / Date: / Area of learning: Understanding and Speaking
Characteristic of learning:
Playing and Exploring / Links to Development Matters:
Understanding
·  Understanding of single words in context is developing
·  Understands simple sentences
Speaking
·  Beginning to put two words together
·  Uses different types of everyday words
Activity - 1-2 children / Differentiation / Resources
Starter
Begin with a song that supports children with acting out lots of different actions – e.g. ‘this is the way we brush our teeth/brush our hair/ jump up and down/stamp our feet/eat our food’ to the tune of ‘here we go round the mulberry bush’.
Make sure you do the action as you say the word, so that children can make the link between the action and the word. / Some children might be able to choose their own action – leave time in the song to allow them to do this if they’d like to / It’s useful to have It might be useful to have some objects to help children to understand actions, e.g. a hairbrush/ toothbrush to understand ‘brushing’ food to understand ‘eating’, a cup to show drinking etc.
Main/Activity
Set out a play area where children will be able to engage in lots of pretend play; dolls, teddies, cups, food, brushes, flannels, chair, bed etc. The aim of this activity is for the adult to model lots of action words during the child’s play, and, if needed, to support the child with developing their pretend play skills.
Follow the child’s lead during their play and talk about what they’re interested in and playing with. Provide lots of models of vocabulary as they play, particularly thinking about using lots of action words to model in simple sentences, for example ‘dolly’s sleeping’, ‘teddy’s eating’ ‘you’re washing teddy’ ‘he’s jumping’ etc. / Some children may need more support at this age to help them to play – support children by showing them how to play with the toys that you’ve set out for them, e.g. showing how to wash teddy, or make a cup of tea for dolly
If children are already using lots of words, use this play opportunity to help them extend their sentences and vocabulary further – adding on new and different words to their talking. E.g. if the child already says ‘teddy eating’, you can respond with ‘teddy’s eating an apple!’ / Play activities for pretend play – dolls, teddies, food, tea set, bed, chair, brushes etc.
Plenary: Use specific praise to reward all the positive behaviours that you observed during the session – good listening, looking, playing, talking etc. Use the opportunity to repeat lots of the language that you used during your play and talking about what you played with.
Assessment for Learning:
Observations – What are the children’s play skills like? How do they engage with you and any other children during play? Do they use any language during their play? Do they copy models of vocabulary that you provide? Are there any specific areas that the child needs to be supported to develop?
Practitioners to make observations, and/or take photos for the children’s learning journeys/profiles.

18-24 months – Listening and Attention, Understanding and Speaking *New for 2015*

Target age: 18–24 months / Activity: Song time / Date: / Area of learning: Listening and Attention, Understanding and Speaking
Characteristic of learning:
Playing and Exploring / Links to development matters:
Listening and Attention:
·  Listens to and enjoys rhythmic patterns in thymes and stories
·  Enjoys rhymes and demonstrates listening by trying to join in with actions or vocalisations
Understanding
·  Developing the ability to follow others’ body language, including pointing and gesture
Speaking
·  Uses pointing with eye gaze to make requests, and to share an interest
Activity Small group 2-4 children / Differentiation / Resources
Starter
Begin by gathering some objects that relate to different songs and laying them out clearly so that all the children can see them, for example a star for ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, a boat for ‘Row, Row, Row your boat’ etc. For each object, show the children which song they relate to by singing a small part of the song.
Name all the objects clearly, using single word names and model for the children how to choose – show that you’re thinking, then choosing an object and then singing the song that’s associated with the object. / Objects that relate to familiar songs that the children know e.g. a bus for ‘The wheels on the bus’, a spider for ‘incy wincy spider’ etc.
Main/Activity
Sit in a circle so everyone can see all see the objects in the middle, and each other. Take it in turns to choose an object, then sing the song together. Give the children time to choose, watching carefully to ensure that you respond to non-verbal choice making (e.g. pointing, looking at an object, smiling when they’re shown an object), as well as verbal. Give the children time to name the object themselves, and either repeat what they say if they do name it, or model the vocabulary for the children. / Support children who might need help to make a choice e.g. offer them a choice of 2, instead of 5
For those children who are using single words to name objects, add a word to what they say so that they hear how words go together
Plenary: Use specific praise to summarise all the lovely behaviours that you observed during the session – good listening, looking, turn taking, singing, talking etc. Repeat the names of the objects that you were looking at and how they helped you sing your songs.
Assessment for Learning:
Observations – How do the children take turns, make choices, join in with singing songs and actions? What is their interaction like with adults and other children in the group? Are children familiar with a range of songs and actions? Are there any specific areas that the child needs to be supported to develop?
Practitioners to make observations, and/or take photos for the children’s learning journeys/profiles.

Under 1 - Listening and attention