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Framing Sheet

Spotlight:

Frame(s):

Formal:

Embedded:

Spontaneous:

Roles:

Guide:

Student:

Pattern or System of Interaction

Challenges:

Mastery as a Reinforcer:

Scaffolding:

Zone of Effective Coordination:

Variations of the Challenge:

Informal Frames:

Spontaneous Frames:

Notes:

Spotlight:  Student recognizes when topics change in conversation and makes relevant utterances

Frame(s):

Formal:

• Guide and another model hold a conversation.  Student raises hand when she notices a change in topic.  At that point, the Guides stop and ask,

“What are we talking about now?”
“What were we talking about?”
“How did you know the topic changed.”
“What might you say next?”  “What else?”

• Tape record conversations and do the same thing – stopping the audio when the Student recognizes the topic change.  Stop the audio and replay it if the Student fails to notice and give her another chance.  Once the audio is stopped, ask the above questions.
• Look at written passages.  New paragraphs usually indicate topic changes for you – so look for fiction or novels where this isn’t always so obvious.  When you stop reading, ask the above questions.

Embedded:

• Student is prepared to listen for topic changes during social coordinated activities, but may be asked not to participate for a while – just listen.   Privately, ask the Student the above questions.
• Encourage the Student to join easier, slower conversations, perhaps with younger individuals.  Do not allow the Student to dominate or control the conversation by bringing the subject back to favored topics or staying on the topic after others have switched.

Spontaneous:

• Encourage the Student to join easier, slower conversations, as above
• Develop covert signals that the Guide can give when the Student is in the midst of error (dominating or controlling the conversation;  returning, apropos of nothing to favored topics or staying on a topic after others have switched) and that cue the Student to listen for a moment for the topic and then rejoin

Roles:

Guide: Sets up and looks for opportunities to spotlight the skill (always: this does not have to be included in the Framing Sheets for typical activities as it is implied in Guided Participation Teaching [GPT])

• See the formal, embedded and spontaneous frames above

Student:

• Pays attention to changes in topics and makes comments or utterances that allow the interaction to flow; rather than trying to control the topics or ignore topic changes

Pattern or System of Interaction

• Mainly conversational, but also in written compositions

Challenges: Student has difficulty getting her ideas out and tends to stop tracking the verbal and nonverbal events going on around her.  Student does not like to be interrupted or taken off of her topic for fear of losing her place or her control of the conversation.  Student also tends to engage enthusiastically in only a few favorite topic areas.  She tends to talk about these regardless of signs of disinterest or boredom from others.

Mastery as a Reinforcer:  Involving the Student in a wide variety of authentic activities – despite protests, should broaden her horizons.  This process should lead to conversations on more topics becoming more rewarding.

Scaffolding:

• Formal activities have the effect of slowing things down and frequent stopping to allow the Student to switch from output (talking) to input (tracking and monitoring cues of topic changes and changing feelings on the subject matter that others emit)
• Will preview with the Student the spotlight (proximity) before the activity, and then rely on short pauses to make the opportunities and challenges more noticeable and as cues to listen again and reformulate responses
• Student will learn gestural cues that Guides can use to cue the Student covertly during spontaneous frames

Zone of Effective Coordination:

• Guide increases proximity when the Student is no longer tracking and monitoring the conversation
• Guide emphasizes or adds a little more force to comments on the new topic; ignores comments that are      no longer relevant

Variations of the Challenge:  Speed up conversation and increase the number of topic changes to natural levels

Informal Frames that spotlight the same types of reference points and skill could be embedded in any other activity:

• Shopping together: Shop by topic (e.g., items needed for a recipe; fruits on the list; what will be needed for a party).  Shift topics on purpose; ignore any irrelevant conversation and provide new and different leads for the Student to catch on.
• Sports: Change directions in which the ball is to be thrown
• Activity pairs: Student first listens and then joins; Student is encouraged to take regular breaks just to listen.  Guide uses covert – pre-arranged signals that cue the Student to stop talking (outputting) and listen (input: track and monitor).

Spontaneous Frames: The Guide will change topics and use short pauses or exaggerated signals to indicate the Student is going on and on.  Guide helps with “leads” the Student can follow in order to rejoin the conversation

Spotlight:  Prosody: Student attends to how elements of prosody change the meaning of the words and phrases others use; Student learns to use prosody more effectively

Frame(s):

Formal:

• Guide says utterances in exaggerated tones, and the Student either names or selects from a list of possible emotional meanings, the intention or emotional tone of the speaker; Guide gives feedback with nonverbal smiles or nods or shaking head “No” or a facial gesture that indicates “Close, but not quite right…”
• Start with the Student’s name and say it in various ways implying various meanings or intentions… (example “Joe”)“Joe” (warm welcoming; happy; with a smile)

“Joe!” (sharp; angry; as if demanding to stop doing something he’s doing)
“Joe?!” (surprised)
“Joe” (sneering/disgusted)
“Joe?” (Really?)

• Read short passages or phrases (as above and below)…
• Read like a robot/monotone
  • Read in monotones more like the ones used by the Student, but not in a mocking way
  • Read in an exaggerated, ham acting style (a la Pee Wee Herman; Stentorian; Shakespearean, etc.).  Exaggerate and have fun with it
  • Read like a girl; boy
  • Read with various emotions (e.g., angrily; embarrassed; surprised; disgusted…)
  • Student and Guide pick cards that have emotion labels (e.g., angry; embarrassed; surprised; disgusted…).  Cards are placed face-down.  Read passages in that tone.
• Have wordless conversations, where only sounds can provide feedback or direction.  Sound like you are actually talking, but with no words.
• Make tapes of the Guide or peers saying various things in clear, if not exaggerated prosodic tones.  Ask the Student to tell you what the speaker really means.

Embedded:

• Student is prepared beforehand to listen for certain prosodic signals during social coordinated activities. The frame includes some private verbal reminding by the Guide before starting the activity (“List to the way I say it.  I may be sarcastic – where I mean the opposite of what I say).
• Frame the activity so that prosodic tone is the signal (reference point) the Student uses to figure out what he or she is really supposed to do or how to react

Spontaneous:

• Students make utterances that are sarcastic or that infer other meanings than the [concrete] dictionary definition of the word
• TV shows and other media

Roles:

Guide: Sets up and looks for opportunities to spotlight the skill (always: this does not have to be included in the Framing Sheets for typical activities as it is implied in Guided Participation Teaching [GPT])

• Provides dynamic reference points that help the Student understand what others truly mean by way of their prosodic additions to their words.  Does this by exaggerating and amplifying when necessary or stopping for a moment as a cue to think

Student:

• Reads intentions from prosody and continues the activity or interaction by responding to both the words and gestures

Pattern or System of Interaction

• All (Sequential, Complementary, Parallel, Role-Reversed, Giver – Doer, etc.); patterns must require some vocal element in the coordination

Challenges: Student tends to lose track of prosodic elements when language is complex or interactions go on too long; slow down and shorten interactions, or stop the action for a moment to give the Student time to think and discover and adjust

Noticeable changes: Exaggerating emotional inflections to noticeable levels and then making adjustments that show accurate interpretation…

•  “Joe” (warm welcoming; happy; with a smile)
  Joins in; continues speaking or doing because of approval in the sound of the other’s voice
•  “Joe!” (sharp; angry)
  Stops abruptly; looks for reference points or cues as to what corrections or adjustments should be made or what to do instead/next
• “Joe?!” (surprised)
  Makes confirmatory gestures or statements; clarifies or restates
• “Joe” (sneering/disgusted)
  Checks self for disgusting or off-putting behaviors; looks around for any kind of feedback or reference point that will help him or her know how to adjust (Guide can help out with more explicit cues or ways of guiding the Student to relevant reference points)
•  “Joe?” (Really?)
  Makes confirmatory gestures or statements; clarifies or restates

Mastery as a Reinforcer:  Student will feel more confident that he is reading others intentions correctly, lowering anxiety and increasing the harmony and synchrony of social interaction; Student may make gains in listening and reading comprehension.

Scaffolding:

• In preliminary (formal) activities, Student will learn prosodic elements others add to utterances, as well as vocalizations (wordless sounds uttered) that discriminate one meaning of the utterance from other possible meanings as in the examples above

• Student will learn first from exaggerated/amplified cues done in formal activities.  Once the Student’s “antennae” are sensitized, we will “dial down the volume” of these cues to levels more expected in typical environments

• Will preview with the Student the spotlight (proximity) before the activity, and then rely on exaggeration/amplification to make the opportunities and challenges more noticeable
• In preliminary (formal)  activities,  Student will learn prosodic cues that Guides can use to cue the Student covertly during spontaneous frames  (exaggeration/amplification and/or combining prosodic reference points with nonverbal facial gestures or body language

Zone of Effective Coordination:

• Guide increases proximity when the Student is no longer paying mindful attention to spotlights and reference points
• Guides can actually raise the decibel level of their voices if necessary (which is generally not a good idea for other spotlights or skills)

Variations of the Challenge:  Continue to add to the list of frames where the skill is worked on.

Informal Frames that spotlight the same types of reference points and skill could be embedded in any other activity:

• Shopping together:

Warm welcoming; happy tones in the words
Continues doing what he is doing because of approval in the sound of the other’s voice

“Sharp; angry
Stops abruptly; looks for reference points or cues as to what corrections or adjustments should be made or what to do instead/next

Surprised
Makes confirmatory gestures or statements; clarifies or restates

Sneering/disgusted
Checks self for disgusting or off-putting behaviors; looks around for any kind of feedback or reference point that will help him or her know how to adjust (Guide can help out with more explicit cues or ways of guiding the Student to relevant reference points)

Really?
Makes confirmatory gestures or statements; clarifies or restates

• Sports: The Student responds to prosodic meanings in the play rather than just the words; insert vocal sounds as cues to how you feel about an event or the Student’s actions; make a rule that no one can use words – only sounds and gestures while playing
• Activity pairs: Student performs activities with a peer using only sounds and gestures

Spontaneous Frames: The Guide will vary activities in ways that require interpreting sarcasm or emphatic tones

Spotlight:  Personal Space: Student recognizes nonverbal, natural reference points that indicate whether he is appropriately close, too close or not close enough

Frame(s):

Formal:

1. Student and Guide walk towards or away from each other and the Student learns to move in or out based on various nonverbal cues given by the Guide;
2. Student and Guide throw the ball back and forth, throwing the ball pretty hard; the Student either backs up or throws the ball softer when close and does the opposite when further away

Embedded:

1. Student is prepared to look for certain “back off” signals during conversations. The frame includes some private verbal reminding by the Guide before entering into the room.
2. Student learns to observe the spacing used by other peers when they set up their chairs to watch a movie, or as they take seats in the lunchroom.  Student also makes adjustments as needed when nonverbal signals of discomfort with closeness become evident, or the Student is so far away that coordinated social interaction is no longer possible.

Spontaneous:

1. Students gather around as a peer shows a new game on his cell phone
2. A Student pulls out a deck of cards and other players join

Roles:

Guide: Sets up and looks for opportunities to spotlight the skill (always: this does not have to be included in the Framing Sheets for typical activities as it is implied in Guided Participation Teaching [GPT])

• Provides dynamic reference points for how close the person should be (e.g., leans backwards when too close; cups ear or leans forward to indicate the Student is too far.  The Guide exaggerates the cues/references or even stops the action and then “dials them down” as the Student becomes sensitized to the nonverbal signals (reference points).

Student:

• Moves back when he sees the characteristic nonverbal behaviors of others when they feel crowded; moves in when the person stops paying attention to them or shows signs that they cannot hear or see what the Student needs them to

Pattern or System of Interaction

• All (Sequential, Complementary, Parallel, Role-Reversed, Giver – Doer, etc.)

Challenges: Student tends to forget when excited or highly aroused in a positive or negative way.  Will start with low key and explicit cues in low- to medium-key activities

Noticeable changes: Exaggerating closeness/farness to noticeable and unworkable extremes and then making adjustments to get the closeness about right

• too close for comfort; too far to remain coordinated in the back-and-forth
• too close or too far to throw a ball;
• too loud talking when close, not loud enough when far;
• exaggeration of nonverbal signals other people typically send when uncomfortable and farness

Mastery as a Reinforcer: Student will enjoy the formal exercises as they are game-oriented; Student will experience more success and less rejection from others; negative prompts will no longer be required (e.g., “Don’t…” “You can’t…” “Move away…” “Stop,” etc.).

Scaffolding:

• In preliminary (formal) activities, Student will learn facial gestures and body language others      give to signal too close or too far

• Student will learn first from exaggerated/amplified cues done in formal activities.  Once the Student’s “antennae” are sensitized, we will “dial down the volume” of these cues to levels more expected in typical environments

• Will preview with the Student the spotlight (proximity) before the activity, and then rely on exaggeration/amplification to make the opportunities and challenges more      noticeable
• In preliminary (formal) activities, Student will learn facial gestures that Guides can use to cue the Student covertly during spontaneous frames

Zone of Effective Coordination: This lesson is all about the Zone of Effective coordination.  We will try to both set up activities where errors of proximity are noticeable to the Student but not embarrassing or overwhelming

Variations of the Challenge:  Continue to add to the list of frames where the skill is worked on.

Informal Frames that spotlight the same types of reference points and skill could be embedded in any other activity:

• Shopping together: The Student starts and stops pushing the cart when the Guide stops walking.  The Student stops filling the bag when the Guide’s face indicates that they have enough.
• Sports: The Student responds to stops in the play; hand signals for “Time Out”
• Activity pairs: Student performs activities with a peer or the Guide that require a certain proximity

Spontaneous Frames: The Guide will vary activities in ways that require adjustments in closeness/farness (e.g., by lowering, raising voice; passing materials back and forth; etc.)