Expanding Expression Fun

How:

The Expanding Expression Tool (EET) is a tool to help students organize information so they can provide better oral, and later on, written descriptions. The actual tool is a strand of beads named “ETCHY”. Each bead stands for a different concept or question:

  • Green stands for "group" (category of an object)

  • Blue stands for "do"
    (what an object/animal does or what you do with it)

  • The eyeball stands for "what does it look like"
    (such as shape, size, and font-weight:600; color)

  • The wooden bead stands for "what is it made of"
    (what an object is made of or a person's character traits)

  • Pink bead stands for "parts" (parts of a person, place, or thing)

  • White stands for "where" (where you can find it or might see it)

  • Orange question mark bead stands for "what else do I know?"
    (any additional facts or information)


Use this tool at home to talk about and describe both familiar and new vocabulary words. Working with the EET will help to build your child’s language skills and help to increase their knowledge of categorization, association and object function as well as recognize similarities and differences between objects.


We’ve also attached an EET Calendar for you to do with your child!

- EETCalenders


Categories:

How? Children can practice naming categories (e.g, food, clothing, animals, etc.), list items in a specific category (e.g., fruit banana, apple, orange, etc.), and sort items into groups when given real objects or pictures.

Why? Teaching categories is important for vocabulary development. Children can use the skill of grouping items, based on similarities and differences, to learn new vocabulary.

Home activity: Have your child sort household items into groups or ask them what other objects go into a given group (e.g., Your child is eating a banana and you say, “A banana is a fruit. Can you think of any other fruits?).


Why:


The EET helps to provide a framework to teach students to organize information so they can provide better oral, and later written, descriptions. Working with the EET will help to build students’ language skills and help to increase their knowledge of categorization, association and object function as well as recognize similarities and differences between objects.